Word to LIve by & Reagan Forum

Words To Live By - The Middle East

Forty years ago this month, President Reagan responded to the crisis in the middle east by announcing the deployment of American forces as part of a multinational peacekeeping force. This will prompt a more interesting discussion for this podcast, of the rules of engagement, which President Reagan asked to be reviewed after the bombing of the US Marine barracks October 23, 1983 which killed a significant part of our peacekeeping force, taking the lives of 241 American soldiers as they slept. The president said it was the saddest day of his presidency, perhaps the saddest day of his life.

A Reagan Forum - RISE 2022 Supreme Court Justice Panel

In 2018, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute hosted its first annual RISE conference. Standing for the Reagan Institute Summit on Education, RISE 2018 was a day-long bipartisan conference assessing the American education landscape in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the seminal report: A Nation at Risk. RISE 2018 took place on April 12, 2018 in Washington, D.C. There were over a dozen panels in the day-long session focusing on the state of education, reducing recidivism through postsecondary education opportunities, the need for broadband access throughout schools and more. The closing panel was entitled An Educated Citizenry and it was a discussion between US Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett, as moderated by Dr. Akhil Reed Amar, a professor of law and political science at Yale University. During the hour long panel, the justices discussed everything from the importance of engaged citizenry and getting involved, to dealing with dissenting opinions, to the importance of just breaking bread with your fellow colleagues or classmates to connect on a more one-on-one level.

Words To Live By - Welfare Reform

Recall that Governor Reagan began his first term as a novice who promised to squeeze, cut and trim the costs of government. By 1971, he was an experienced politician with an able finance director in Verne Orr and a competent chief of staff in Ed Meese. So they got to work. And in a sweeping welfare reform program, Governor Reagan stiffened penalties for fraud, removed employed recipients from welfare, and required adult children to help support their parents on welfare, among other changes. By 1974, welfare caseloads dropped 20 percent, benefits rose 43 percent for residents with no income, welfare fraud cropped and California saved hundreds of millions of dollars. Reagan, as governor and as president always struggled with the idea of welfare because, as he said, “the principal issue in any welfare reform proposal is whether or not it'll help people become self-sufficient and lead a full life or keep them in a state of dependency.” It’s a question Americans struggle with to this day and Reagan, after leaving Sacramento and before the White House, delivered several radio addresses on the subject. So in today’s podcast, we’ll listen to a few good ones and let him tell the story. Let’s start with December 1976.

A Reagan Forum - Ari Fleischer

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we go back one week for our in-person event with former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. Ari joined us to discuss his new book, Suppression, Deception, Snobbery and Bias: Why the Press Gets so Much Wrong – and Just Doesn’t Care.

Words To Live By - Grain, Soviets, and the American Farmer

So let’s take a look at some current news on grain and the Ukraine. It’s been reported that Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are due to sign a deal aimed at resuming Black Sea grain exports from Ukraine, which have been severely hampered by the war there. Russia's Feb. 24 invasion has stalled exports from Ukraine's ports, leaving dozens of ships stranded and some 20 million tons of grain stuck in silos at Odessa. Moscow has denied responsibility for worsening the food crisis, blaming instead a chilling effect from Western sanctions for slowing its own food and fertilizer exports and Ukraine for mining its Black Sea ports. However, in July 2022, drone footage revealed that Russia was setting Ukrainian wheat fields on fire, thus putting a massive strain on the country's grain exports. Those battered and harassed Ukrainian farmers are racing to save their crops from Russian shell strikes. So, here we go again playing the grain game. Let’s go back 40 years ago to August 1982, when the Russian grain embargo had just been lifted and President Reagan worked to help the American farmer.

A Reagan Forum - Great Communicator Debates 2022

For years, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation has been hosting a national Great Communicator Debate Series in which high schoolers grades 9 through 12 across the nation compete for their share of $50,000 in college scholarships. The final debates were held in the Reagan Library’s Air Force One Pavilion on July 23, 2022, with the scholarships for the winners being supported by an endowment fund created through the generosity of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. In this week’s Reagan Forum Podcast we bring you that national championship debate.

Words To Live By - The President’s News Conference

Today’s subject? The Presidential Press Conference. We’re going to cover his July 1982 press conference which President Reagan noted in his diary that…went well – after feeling less than pleased about previous press conference. When and why did this tradition start? Since Woodrow Wilson held the first presidential press conference in March 1913, all of his successors have used the sessions as a basic part of their publicity strategies. The sessions have survived because reporters found them useful for developing information, citizens saw them as valuable for making judgments about their chief executives, and presidents and their staffs saw them as a primary strategy for explaining their policies. Of course, presidents could give speeches laying out their policies, but press conferences have become a major way to explain the intricacies of those policies as the proposals made their way through the legislative process.

A Reagan Forum - Nancy Reagan Stamp First Day Issue

Last week we brought you the program for the Nancy Reagan Forever Stamp artwork unveiling held with Dr. Jill Biden at the White House. In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we are going full circle by sharing Mrs. Reagan’s 101^st birthday program on July 6, 2022. During that event, the United States Postal Service joined us again, this time for the first day issue of the stamp. During this program, remarks were made by Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service Louis DeJoy and Dennis Revell, Mrs. Reagan’s former son-in-law.

Words To Live By - Captive Nations and Ukraine

In light of the war in Ukraine, we thought that looking back to Ronald Reagan’s ideas on human rights and the captive nations might be pertinent. Going back to 1975, Ronald Reagan opposed President Gerald Ford’s signing of the final act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe – known as the Helsinki Accords on August 1, 1975. Why, you ask? Well, he objected on the ground that it codified the captive nation status of Eastern Europe; that the Soviet Union and other communist states routinely violate human rights; and once again, that such states cannot be trusted to honor agreements.

A Reagan Forum - Nancy Reagan Stamp Unveiling

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we are sharing a special program with you. From July 6, 2021 through July 6, 2022, we are honoring the 100^th year since Mrs. Reagan’s birth with a national centennial celebration. As part of the centennial celebration, the United States Postal Service has honored Mrs. Reagan with a forever stamp, which will go on sale on July 6, 2022, her 101^st birthday. On June 6, 2022, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden hosted the Nancy Reagan Centennial by unveiling the artwork. Joining Dr. Biden for the program was Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service Louis DeJoy, Reagan Foundation and Institute Chairman Fred Ryan, and Ann Petersen, Mrs. Reagan’s niece.