Word to LIve by & Reagan Forum

State of the Union

On January 27, 1987, President Ronald Reagan delivered his sixth State of the Union address, calling for cuts in domestic spending, an increase in the defense budget, and an assurance of no tax increases. But before he delivered the speech to Congress, he prepared a radio address to the nation, to be delivered several days before his annual State of the Union Address. Inspired by FDR’s Fireside Chats, Ronald Reagan felt there was an intimacy to radio which could not be replicated. And this intimacy provided an opportunity to touch the American people in a completely unique way. So, on January 24, 1987,  in this informative address, the President gave the American people a little history on the State of the Union tradition.

F-117 Stealth Fighter and Abrams Tank Dedication

This week’s Reagan Forum Podcast will be a little different, as we will spend it by honoring the expansion of the Reagan Library Peace Through Strength Pavilion.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

In this podcast, we’ll look back to a few addresses delivered by President Reagan in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. As you recall, beginning almost immediately after King’s assassination in April 1968, members of Congress proposed that his birthday ought to be a national holiday, but bills mandating the occasion went nowhere. The effort received more publicity when, after about a decade, shortly after the failure of a bill that was introduced by Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan in September of 1979, Stevie Wonder released a song called “Happy Birthday.” Despite its cheery title, it was specifically meant to make a case for the holiday, calling out anyone who didn’t support the idea. In 1982, Coretta Scott King and Stevie Wonder presented a petition with more than six million signatures in support of the holiday to the then speaker of the house. In November 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill establishing the third Monday of January as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday.

2021 Reagan National Defense Forum Peace Through Strength Award Ceremony

In this week’s Reagan Forum Podcast we go back one month to our 2021 Reagan National Defense Forum. But rather than share one of the panel discussions, as we’ve been previously doing, this podcast is going to focus on our annual Peace Through Strength Award ceremony. Presented at each Reagan National Defense Forum since 2013, the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award recognizes those who have applied, with constant purpose, a strategy to strengthen our armed forces, support our military men and women striving around the world, reinforce our nation’s defense systems and safeguard the lives and interests of the American people.

Global New Year’s Greetings

Delivering a warm New Year’s greeting to the American people was always an important tradition for President Reagan. And these greetings reflected more than the extension of glad tidings and joy. By January 1982, 40 years ago, he had been in office 11 months, he already witnessed the successful passage of his economic agenda and, interestingly, began to transition to a global strategy with speeches throughout the year, echoing his intentions.

Football

As we approach a new year, let’s throw a Hail Mary pass to one of President Reagan’s favorite sports….football. So in this podcast, we’ll cover his thoughts on sports, his New Years Address, 40 years ago on January 1, 1982 when he focused on the Rose Bowl competitors, Iowa and the Washington Huskies, we’ll catch his Remarks at the opening of the Champions of America exhibit, and we’ll listen to his interview with Tom Brokaw at Superbowl 20 in 1986.

Crisis in Poland

In June of 1982, President Reagan delivered a prophetic address to British members of Parliament at Westminster on June 8, 1982. In that speech, he said that the Soviet Union, the home of Marxist Leninism, was gripped by a great Revolutionary crisis. And the pivot of that crisis was…Poland, which was still under martial law in 1982, first imposed in December 1981. 40 years ago this month.

Christmas

As we sit between Christmas and New Year’s, we take time to reflect on the year past and the year ahead. From all of us at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, we wish you and your family the happiest and healthiest of holiday seasons. In this week’s A Reagan Forum Podcast, we’re going to go listen to some of our “Best Of Ronald Reagan” podcasts to help keep you in the holiday spirit.

Mark Esper and Leon Panetta

As we continue to bring you some of the panels and discussions at last month’s Reagan National Defense Forum, in this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we’ll look at our closing session, entitled “Enduring challenges and strategic choices; a conversation with former secretaries of defense.” The panelists included two former secretaries of defense – The honorable Mark Esper and the Honorable Leon Panetta. The conversation was moderated by Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer.

Environment

There’s a lot of talk about the environment these days – climate change of course – but also many other issues. With those issues top of mind, let’s take another look at those seminal radio addresses, written in the late 70’s. Initially, when he set out to write these essays, there was no special plan to cover particular issues. From 1975-1979, he chose various topics week by week, choosing ones that he thought were timely. The result was nonetheless a blueprint for the policy issues that were important to Reagan from 1975-1979.