Word to LIve by & Reagan Forum

Words To Live By - The President Returns to His Alma Mater

It’s commencement address season and like all American presidents, our 40^th delivered quite a few. One of his most memorable was at his Alma Mater, Eureka College on May 9, 1982, celebrating the 50^th anniversary of his class of ’32. So in this podcast, we’ll listen to an excerpt from that historic Commencement address in which he used the occasion to launch the START program for reducing nuclear weapons for both the United States and Russia. In the second half of the podcast, we’ll hear his speech after he had been inducted into Eureka College’s Athletic Hall of Fame – get ready to smile and laugh. It’s a classic.

A Reagan Forum - Former United States Attorney General Bill Barr

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we go back just over one week to our Reagan Forum with Former Attorney General Bill Barr. This wasn’t just a regular Reagan Forum – it was also our first Reagan Book Club event, a membership program which connects like-minded individuals with exclusive reading materials, impactful experiences with world-class authors, and a passionate community to cultivate meaningful connections and thoughtful discussions about the history, state and direction of our nation. Bill Barr came to the Reagan Library to discuss his new book, One Damn Thing After Another, his candid memoir which takes readers behind the scenes during seminal moments of the 1990s, from the LA riots to Pan Am 103, to 30 years later while facing an unrelenting barrage of issues, such as Russiagate, the COVID outbreak, civil unrest, the impeachments, and the 2020 election fallout.

Words To Live By - Softening Congress

By May, 1982, the President’s economic reforms were just starting to kick in, slowly. Once his economic reform package passed in August 1981, he relied on Republican Congressional support to reassure their constituents to have faith that the reforms would eventually kick the economy into full gear. As you might recall, Republicans were in the minority in the House with Tip O’Neill as the Speaker. In the Senate, Republicans held a small majority, only 53, seats with Howard Baker as Majority Leader.

A Reagan Forum - Congressman Will Hurd

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back a week to April 21, 2022 for our in-person event with American politician and former CIA clandestine officer who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 23rd congressional district from 2015 to 2021, William Hurd. Congressman Hurd came to the Reagan Library to discuss his latest book, “American Reboot: An Idealist’s Guide to Getting Big Things Done,” a bold political playbook for America rooted in the timeless ideals of bipartisanship, inclusivity, and democratic values.

Words To Live By - Oil and OPEC

As you perhaps recall, in the late 1970's, the energy crisis was in full swing. The price of gasoline and oil were soaring as we waited hours in gas lines and worried about a shortage of heating oil in the winter. Demands for more energy ran up against serious environmental concerns. Sound familiar? Over a 5 year period, Governor Reagan, then out of office, delivered 85 broadcasts on the energy problem and environment – we’ll listen to two of them today…one entitled OIL I and the other entitled OPEC.

A Reagan Forum - Senator Tim Scott

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back only a few days to April 19, 2022 for our in-person event with United States Senator Tim Scott, who was a speaker in the Reagan Foundation’s Time for Choosing Speaker Series, a new forum for leading voices in the conservative movement. Tim Scott grew up in a poor, single parent household in South Carolina. But after graduating college and building his own successful small business, Tim Scott developed his mission statement he still lives by today – to positively affect the lives of a billion people. He current serves as the Senator from South Carolina after first being appointed to the position by Governor Nikki Haley in 2013 and then winning his seat in a special election in 2014. He was elected to a full term in 2016.

Words To Live By - Nuclear Weapons

40 years ago on April 15, 1982, President Reagan met with reporters in the Oval Office to announce his plans to speak to the United Nations’ Arms Limitation Conference in June. He also suggested that General Secretary Brezhnev of the Soviet Union would do the same. And he hoped he could meet with the elusive Soviet Leader during the Conference. Ultimately, Brezhnev did not attend the Conference but sent Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet Foreign Minister, in his place. Rumors were that Brezhnev was in poor health, and yes, ultimately confirmed by his death five months later in November 1982. But just a few days after President Reagan met with those reporters in the Oval Office in April, he felt compelled to report to the American people his approach and his strong beliefs on the subject of nuclear war and delivered this radio address on April 17^th.

A Reagan Forum - Governor Kristi Noem

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back only a week to April 6, 2022 for our in-person event with Kristi Noem, the Governor of South Dakota, who was a speaker in the Reagan Foundation’s Time for Choosing Speaker Series, a new forum for leading voices in the conservative movement. Kristi Noem has served as the 33^rd governor of South Dakota since 2019, and is the state’s first female governor. In addition to serving as Governor, Kristi Noem is a wife, lifelong rancher, and small business owner. Despite all of this, she says that her greatest accomplishment is raising her three children.

Words To Live By - Soviet Aggression, Part II

As the world watches the Soviet Union march through Ukraine, terrorizing and pillaging, we’ll go back to the words of Ronald Reagan in his autobiography when he noted that in the 70’s, the Soviets interpreted our hesitation and reluctance to act, along with our reduced sense of National self-confidence, as a weakness and exploited it to the fullest, to create a communist dominated world.

A Reagan Forum - Justice Amy Coney Barrett

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back just a few days to April 4, 2022 for our in-person event with Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Previously, Amy Coney Barrett served as a law clerk for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1997 to 1998, and for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1998 Term. After two years in private law practice in Washington, D.C., she became a law professor, joining the faculty of Notre Dame Law School in 2002. She was appointed a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2017. During the event at the Reagan Library she sat on stage in conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Board Chairman Fred Ryan.