"It is time for us to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams."

Wow, I'm glad I checked just now. I was about to do a similar post. I personally will always be moved by the end of the Challenger speech.

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

A lot of the Berlin speech is good too. Many remember "Tear down this wall!" so I'll throw this in,

Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German, separated from his fellow men. Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar.

You can listen to both of those here.
Finally, the entire D-Day speech at Pointe du Hoc is tremendous. Let me add the following passage to what you quoted,

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.
You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

I have read this is one of his favorites.

"A man who goes to the Soviet bureau of transportation to order an automobile. He is informed that he will have to put down his money now, but there is a 10-year wait. The man fills out all the various forms, has them processed through the various agencies, and finally he gets to the last agency. He pays them his money and they say, "Come back in 10 years and get your car." He asks, "Morning or afternoon?" The man in the agency says, "We're talking about 10 years from now. What difference does it make?" He replies, "The plumber is coming in the morning.""

Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his

My top ten:

10) "I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience."

9) "Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15."

8) "Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. "

7) "Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it. "

6) "Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong. "

5) "History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap." (could be said of terrorists, too)

4) "Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders. "

3) "Trust, but verify. "

2) "We can not play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent. " (can you say Abu Ghraib 24/7?)

1) "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! "

Ronald Reagan, and many others, have said the words below. In saying them they have committed to doing what is necessary. Some fought, some typed, some died. All served.

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

"In the present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem."

" I have long believed there was divine plan that placed this land here to be found by people of a special kind, that we have a rendezvous with destiny."

"Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere."

"Free enterprise is a rough and competitive game. It is a hell of a lot better than a government monopoly."

"That is why I (Ronald Reagan) am seeking the presidency. I cannot and will not stand by and see this great country destroy itself. Our leaders attempt to blame their failures on circumstances beyond their control, on false estimates by unknown, unidentifiable experts who rewrite modern history in an attempt to convince us our high standard of living, the result of thrift and hard work, is somehow selfish extravagance which we must renounce as we join in sharing scarcity. I don't agree that our nation must resign itself to inevitable decline, yielding it proud position to other hands. I am totally unwilling to see this country fail in its obligation to itself and to the other free peoples of the world."

"It is the Soviet Union that runs against the tide of history.... [It is] the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people."

"Sadly I have come to realize that a great many so-called liberals aren't liberal—they will defend to the death your right to agree with them."

BTW, the one where he asked the doctors if they were Republicans was when I surrendered to liking Reagan. That he could retain a sense of humor in such a critical moment humanized him instantly to me.

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." --March 22, 1977

"No arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women."

"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away."

"Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born."

"In America, our origins matter less than our destination, and that is what democracy is all about."

Reagan was in many ways a good preisident, but sadly was the biggest appeaser of terrorism ever to sit in the oval office

Mike - Reagan made one mistake that emboldened the terrorists and, that was pulling out of Lebanon after the bombing of the Marine barracks. But, you can hardly call the guy who bombed Muammar the "biggest appeaser" of terrorists in the Oval Office. Especially after Slick Willie failed to respond effectually to the WTC I, Khobar Towers, the rout in Somalia, the embassy bombing in Nairobi, the emabassy bombing in Dar es Salaam, and the bombing of the USS Cole.

And, Clinton had a free hand, whereas Reagan was constrained by the realities of the Cold War.

Mike,

As Reid said, not the biggest by a far stretch. There was a much bigger one after him in Clinton. But at least now there is a President that will not appease terrorists. I'd guess you whine about that too.

"Communism only works in Heaven, where they don't need it, and in Hell, where they already have it"

A ton of great quotes here.

At the Republican National Convention, 1992:

When you see all that rhetorical smoke billowing up from the Democrats, well ladies and gentleman, I'd follow the example of their nominee; don't inhale.

and:

This fellow they've nominated claims he's the new Thomas Jefferson. Well let me tell you something; I knew Thomas Jefferson. He was a friend of mine and Governor... You're no Thomas Jefferson!

(antecedent)

Remarks at Human Rights Day event, December 10, 1986:

The other day, someone told me the difference between a democracy and a people's democracy. It's the same difference between a jacket and a straitjacket.

Tomorrowist, two great quotes there. Did you know that wrt the original Lloyd Bentsen quote to Dan Quayle ("I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine."), there is no evidence that Lloyd Bentsen ever met JFK?

"It's not that democrats don't know anything, it's that they know so many things that are simply not true."

There's a goldmine of Reagan's speeches at TeachingAmericanHistory.org. Lots of other great speeches there too.

I've pilfered 3 of his best speeches over at Interocitor.

My favorite:

Yes, let us pray for the salvation of all of those who live in that totalitarian darkness - pray they will discover the joy of knowing God. But until they do, let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world.
It was C.S. Lewis who, in his unforgettable Screwtape Letters, wrote: "The greatest evil is not done now in those sordid ’dens of rime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is not even done in concentration camps and labor camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do no need to raise their voice."

Well, because these "quiet men" do not "raise their voices," because they sometimes speak in soothing tones of brotherhood and peace, because, like other dictators before them, they’re always making "their final territorial demand," some would have us accept them as their word and accommodate ourselves to their aggressive impulses. But if history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.

So, I urge you to speak our against those who would place the United States in a position of military and moral inferiority. You know, I’ve always believed that old Screwtape reserved his best efforts for those of you in the church. So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride - the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.

"The true still pure precepts"

-*

Mike, Reid, and TexasGal,

Both President's records are mixed, both had their constrants, failures, and successes. Cults of personalities run both ways but they should run counter to the American ideal, at least I think so. I didn't agree with much of Reagan's policies. I don't believe in trickle down economic, especially now, more than in the more insular 80's. I think that if you are going to preach democracy and freedom you have to do a better job than he did in central and south america. Beirut was not his only short coming in the middle east, you don't trade arms for hostages to a government that sponsers 'death to america rallies' every weekend while your new client is supporting the enemy of your friend (Isreal) and actively fighting the stooge you propped up to fight them in the first place (Saddam). He didn't do much towards the resolution of the Isreali/Palistinian issue. Even with these reservations based on my understanding of his total record and my long feeling of relative neutrality on the subject of Reagan in general, I do feel myself in mourning on his passing. I think he represents a clear archtype of one aspect of the American character. I think it would be difficult to place him in any other national context, even though people all over the world recognized what it was. He appeared rugged, individualistic, idealistic, clear eyed and plain spoken. He was also quick, articulate and tangibly human. He was the kind of person with a quality of character that it is hard to imagine coming from life histories of either GWB or Kerry. He was a self made man. I think that we will not see his kind in a long time asend to the presidency.

When Reagan went on the political attack, it was more often the dismembering, "well, there you go again" from which there was no possible recovery. A far cry from the Nixon/Atwater/Rover approach that now seems to define much of the approach of both parties that not only fails to inspire, but breeds a cynicism that is toxic to the body politic. Instead, Reagan offered a vision, the kind of which the people perish without. I think that we all still have much to learn from Reagan but will be hard pressed to if we either write him off or make him into a demigod.

While campaigning against Mondale.....

"I will not make age an issue of this campaign......

....I will not make my opponent's youth and inexperience an issue of this campaign......"

:)

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