Word to LIve by & Reagan Forum

Words to Live By – Cars, Chrysler and Ronald Reagan

So today, let’s talk about cars, Chrysler, Reagan and…a looming recession. 40 years ago this week, President Reagan addressed the Chrysler plant in beautiful downtown Fenton, Missouri to stoke the fires of recovery and encourage the employees to stay the course. Recall that President-elect Ronald Reagan endorsed the government bailout of Chrysler during the campaign, reversing his initial position, but really never changed his fundamental belief that automakers should stand on their own without government backing. Let’s listen to the President in February 1983 when the economy was just starting to turn around. His hosts were Lee Iacocca, Senator Danforth and Governor Kit Bond.

A Reagan Forum – William Inboden

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back two weeks to January 18, 2023 for our in-person event with William Inboden for his new book, The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War and the World on the Brink, an account of how Ronald Reagan and his national security team confronted the Soviets, reduced the nuclear threat, won the Cold War, and supported the spread of freedom around the world.

Words To Live By – Anatomy of a State of the Union Address

At the time of this writing, the date for President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address has not been announced, only a general time frame that it will likely be delivered in February or March. In 1983, President Reagan’s State of the Union Address was given on January 25, 1983, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 98th United States Congress. So today we’re going back 40 years to 1983. We’ll just listen to a few sections since this is quite a lengthy address. The thing to remember here is that the President has been in office for two years, so he has had a chance to begin rebuilding the military, start establishing ground rules in dealing with the Soviets, and finally, developing policies to strengthen the economy and just beginning to see growth.

A Reagan Forum – Peace Through Strength Award Ceremony

Every year, the Reagan National Defense Forum seeks to honor individuals who have spent their careers cultivating American strength at home to ensure peace abroad. This year, the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute presented the 2022 Peace Through Strength Awards to former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and former Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre. Mark Esper and John Hamre are emblematic of that kind of patriotic service and selfless dedication to their country. Their speeches both reflect on President Reagan’s legacy of “peace through strength” and what it means for today’s world.

Words To Live By – Leadership, Reagan Style

In January 1983, 40 years ago, the President began his third year in office, working desperately to improve the economy while determined to convince the American people that the best was yet ahead. As a true leader, he met with his Executive team, exactly two years after his inauguration, to introduce two new cabinet members and to rally his executive squad to keep pushing the ball up the hill. His remarks are funny, inspiring, engaging and a perfect start to working with a brilliant team of individuals. We thought you’d like a taste of our 40^th president’s leadership style in this new year: his vision, communication and optimism. You’ll hear him announce that Elizabeth Dole would replace Drew Lewis as Secretary of Transportation and Margaret Heckler would replace Richard Schweiker as Secretary of Health and Human services.

A Reagan Forum – Projecting Strength

In this week’s Reagan Forum Podcast we continue our month long look back to our 2022 Reagan National Defense Forum. Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer facilitated the Reagan National Defense Forum’s closing plenary session featuring a conversation with former Secretaries of Defense Leon Panetta and Mark Esper and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. The discussion focused on how the United States should address the many threats to our national security. From the vantage point of having served in the highest positions of the U.S. government, panelists emphasized the importance of a “peace through strength” approach to American global leadership from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East to Europe.

Words To Live By – Strategic Arms Reduction

President Reagan’s courage as a leader, skill as a diplomat, and his willingness to confront communism around the world played a major role in ending the domination of the Soviet Union. He developed and applied with constant purpose a strategy not simply to contain communism, but to end it, and he achieved this goal across much of the globe. Ronald Reagan entered the White House determined to restore the strength of the U.S. military. He insisted on military might not for its own sake, but to discourage threats to American interests, defend freedom around the world, and bring the Soviet Union to the bargaining table. So in January 1983, 40 years ago this month, he faced the press, holding a news conference to clarify his position on Strategic Arms Reduction. In this podcast, we’ll focus on his resolve to clearly define, in his words, what his intentions were. To provide context, the leader of the Soviet Union at the time was Yuri Andropov…Gorbachev would not enter the scene for over two years. Also, this News Conference preceded his Evil Empire Speech AND his speech on SDI – his Strategic Defense Initiative – by two months.

A Reagan Forum – Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marking the first major conflict in Europe since World War II, the United States can no longer be assured of a peaceful continent across the Atlantic. During the 2022 Reagan National Defense Forum’s 4^th panel of the day, a panel moderated by FOX News Channel’s Jennifer Griffin and comprised of Senator Joni Ernst, Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes, Chief of Space Operations General Chance Saltzman, and Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth looked at how an engaged United States and a reinvigorated NATO represent the best path for peace and stability in Europe.

Words To Live By – Illegal or Undocumented, What did Reagan Do?

Today, we’re being instructed to call them undocumented but most of us still refer to those in this country illegally as…illegals. In the heated debate over immigration reform — despite the politicians and our current president choose to ignore the serious problems, the question that might be asked is “What would Ronald Reagan do?”

A Reagan Forum – Avril Haines

In last month’s December 15^th podcast, we shared our 2022 Reagan National Defense Forum’s Keynote Address. In January’s podcasts we will share four additional panels with you. As previously shared, the Reagan National Defense Forum has quickly become one of our nation’s premier gatherings for defense and national security experts. The Defense Forum brings together leaders from across the political spectrum and key stakeholders in the defense community, including Members of Congress, current and former Administrations officials, senior military leadership, industry executives, technology innovators, and thought leaders. Their mission is to review and assess policies that strengthen America’s national defense in the context of the global threat environment. In this year’s fireside chat, United States Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines joined Andrea Mitchell of NBC News for a moderated discussion about the pressing security issues facing the United States. Director Haines provided her unique perspective on a multitude of national security matters, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, the protests in Iran and China, and North Korean nuclear tests. She highlighted the role the intelligence community plays in keeping America safe.