Word to LIve by & Reagan Forum

Words To Live By – The Olympic Torch

On Friday, April 26, the Olympic flame for the 2024 Paris games was officially handed over to a delegation from the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee during a ceremony in Athens Greece. The ceremony took place at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens where the modern Olympics were first opened in 1896. At that time, the Olympic flame was passed to the delegation representing the country that will next host the games. And that is, of course, France. But to reach France from Greece, the torch will cross the Mediterranean on board the Belem, the majestic 3-masted ship owned by the Belem Foundation. It will cross the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans as part of the Oceans Relay to reach six French overseas territories: Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Reunion Island. Once in France, the flame will travel to the Lascaux caves, the Alésia archaeological site, the medieval city of Carcassonne, the Palace of Versailles, and many other sites. It will light up many of France's architectural masterpieces, beginning with the world-renowned site of Mont Saint-Michel. It will also visit places of remembrance, such as the Verdun Memorial and the D-Day Landing Beaches. 40 years ago in 1984, the Olympic torch crossed America to reach the West Coast, Los Angeles, for the official games. One of its first stops was Washington, DC where it stopped at the White House. In this podcast, we’ll listen to the President’s wonderful remarks delivered on the South Lawn.

A Reagan Forum – Anita McBride, Diana Carlin, and Nancy Kegan Smith

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we present three co-authors – Anita McBride, Diana Carlin, and Nancy Kegan Smith – who joined us at the Reagan Library on May 8, 2024, to discuss their new book, Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women. The discussion surrounded their groundbreaking book, showcasing the evolutionary role of the First Lady and its historical importance in the American presidency. They shine a light on the influential women who broke barriers and made a mark on our country and, at times, our world, during their tenures in the White House. Anita McBride's White House service spans two decades and three presidential administrations. She served as director of White House Personnel under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and as director of the U.S. Speaker's Bureau at the United States Information Agency. She then served as assistant to President George W. Bush and chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush. Diana Carlin co-founded the First Ladies Association for Research and Education. Nancy Kegan Smith is the retired Director of the Presidential Materials Division at the National Archives and Records Administration. She is vice president of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education. During their visit, the three co-authors sat down with the Reagan Foundation and Institute President and CEO Dave Trulio to discuss their book.

Words To Live By – Central America

Why should we care about Central America? Today, almost half of the 2.5 million migrants who crossed our southern border in 2023 were from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, or Nicaragua. In this podcast, we’ll talk about those neighbors to the South, and hear what the president said in 1983 and 1984.

A Reagan Forum – GOP Foreign Policy

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we present our Reaganism Podcast on GOP Foreign Policy. During the podcast, Reagan Institute Director Roger Zakheim sat down with Dr. Matthew Kroenig who serves as the Vice President and Senior Director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, and with Dan Negrea who serves as the Senior Director of the Freedom and Prosperity Center at the Atlantic Council. They discuss Dr. Kroenig and Mr. Nagrea’s new book, “We Win, They Lose: Republican Foreign Policy and the New Cold War.” This book provides a blueprint for Republican policymakers to engage with and win the great power competition with Communist China.

Words To Live By – Truman and Reagan

On May 8, 1984, the White House honored Harry Truman’s 100^th birthday. Sadly, Harry died in 1972 at the age of 88, but Ronald Reagan who had admired, respected, and campaigned for Harry Truman, was staunchly in favor of celebrating this honorable man. His remarks, delivered at the White House with Truman’s daughter Margaret as a special guest, were simply captivating.

A Reagan Forum – AI, Autonomy, and Defense

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we present our Reaganism Podcast on AI, Autonomy, and Defense. During the podcast, Reagan Institute Director Roger Zakheim sat down with Doug Cameron, a reporter who covers the global aerospace and defense industry and the airline sector in The Wall Street Journal’s Chicago bureau. During their conversation, they discussed Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the National Defense Industrial Strategy, emerging technologies, and the future of warfare.

Words To Live By – The United Nations

President Reagan’s disappointment in and distrust of international organizations is vividly apparent in his radio commentaries from 1975-1980. Today, when we look at the situation in Ukraine, and the tragedies unfolding in Gaza, we can’t help but wonder what, if anything, the organization has accomplished in bringing peace to the world. On March 25, just a month ago, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, in addition to the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and "the urgent need to expand the flow" of aid into Gaza. There were 14 votes in favor with the United States abstaining. As of this writing, despite their demands, the parties involved - Israel and Hamas - have not heeded. It was Dag Hammarskjöld, the tragic second UN secretary general, who said it best. The United Nations, he said, “was created not to lead mankind to heaven but to save humanity from hell”. So in this podcast, we’ll listen to two of Ronald Reagan’s speeches - an excerpt from a 1983 address where his aggressive rhetoric was criticized and a radio address from 1978, both clarify why he believed that the UN, despite its lofty goals, is impotent.

A Reagan Forum – Behind the Scenes at the Reagan Library

For today’s Reagan Forum podcast, we are going behind the scenes to share some of the inside stories of what we do here at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. The Reagan Library opened on November 4, 1991, but the groundbreaking was held three years earlier, in November 1988. November 21, 2023, marked the 35^th anniversary of the groundbreaking of the Reagan Library and Museum. To commemorate the day, the Foundation put together a video of how the Library was built and why Simi Valley was chosen.

Words To Live By – Star Wars and SDI

40 years ago, the Russians were still on the march, just like today. Then, of course, it was known as the Soviet Union, and the threat they posed to the United States and Europe was unrelenting and terrifying. European leaders were begging President Reagan to do something, complaining that the presence of SS-20s armed with nuclear warheads felt like the Russians had a gun to their heads. But European leaders were afraid to speak out against the Soviets, publicly, because they were afraid the Russians would cut off their energy as Europe relied on them for natural gas. And the Soviets knew that their power over Western Europe was based on energy. So, President Reagan was determined to define a new path for the American people: one to eliminate the threat of nuclear war for the entire human race. In this podcast, we’ll talk about a dynamic new exhibit at the Reagan Library that combines artifacts and information on President Reagan’s plan to protect America - known as the Strategic Defense Initiative, and actual artifacts from George Lucas’ film series, Star Wars. The exhibit is open now, entitled: Defending America and the Galaxy: SDI and Star Wars. In addition to SDI artifacts, there are Star Wars treasures like a land speeder, a Dykstraflex camera, Princess Leia’s dress, and more fascinating items.

A Reagan Forum – The Honorable Kathleen Hicks

On March 20, 2024, the Reagan Institute held its second annual National Security Innovation Base Summit in Washington, D.C. The event convened prominent thought leaders, current and former public officials, investors, and representatives of the most innovative industry and technology companies to discuss the important issues facing our annual National Security Innovation Base ecosystem. The program also unveiled the second iteration of its groundbreaking National Security Innovation Base Report Card which measures the health, effectiveness, and resilience of this ecosystem and provides recommendations for improvement. The program’s keynote was the Honorable Kathleen Hicks, the 35^th Deputy Secretary of Defense. Following her remarks, she sat down in conversation with Reagan Institute Director Roger Zakheim.