RONALD REAGAN - What Would He Say Today?
June 10, 2004
For immediate release. For more information, call 314-487-2004
by Bill Federer
As we remember President Ronald Reagan at this time of his passing, let us pause to remember the beliefs he cherished and contemplate what he would say to us today.
(Quotations are from Bill Federer's new book, "Treasury of Presidential Quotations" available at http://www.Amerisearch.net)
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MARCH 19, 1981, NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PROCLAMATION:
Our Nation’s motto In God We Trust - was not chosen lightly. It reflects a basic recognition that there is a divine authority in the universe to which this nation owes homage.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, SEPTEMBER 9, 1982, AT THE ALFRED M. LANDON LECTURE SERIES ON PUBLIC ISSUES:
We can t have it both ways. We can t expect God to protect us in a crisis and just leave Him over there on the shelf in our day-to-day living. I wonder if sometimes He isn’t waiting for us to wake up, He isn’t maybe running out of patience.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 4, 1982, AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST:
I ve always believed that we were, each of us, put here for a reason, that there is a plan, somehow a divine plan for all of us. I know now that whatever days are left to me belong to Him.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MARCH 15, 1982, ADDRESS TO THE ALABAMA STATE LEGISLATURE:
To those who cite the First Amendment as reason for excluding God from more and more of our institutions and every-day life, may I just say: The First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, AUGUST 23, 1984, ADDRESS AT AN ECUMENICAL PRAYER BREAKFAST, REUNION ARENA, DALLAS, TEXAS, FOLLOWING THE ENACTMENT OF THE EQUAL ACCESS BILL OF 1984:
"America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, AUGUST 23, 1984, ADDRESS AT AN ECUMENICAL PRAYER BREAKFAST, REUNION ARENA, DALLAS, TEXAS, FOLLOWING THE ENACTMENT OF THE EQUAL ACCESS BILL OF 1984:
In 1962, the Supreme Court in the New York prayer case banned the...saying of prayers. In 1963, the Court banned the reading of the Bible in our public schools. From that point on, the courts pushed the meaning of the ruling ever outward, so that now our children are not allowed voluntary prayer...Cases were started to argue against tax-exempt status for churches. Suits were brought to abolish the words Under God from the Pledge of Allegiance, and to remove In God We Trust from public documents and from our currency. Without God there is no virtue because there is no prompting of the conscience....without God there is a coarsening of the society; without God democracy will not and cannot long endure."
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MAY 10, 1982, IN AN ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEFING WITH EDITORS FROM THE MIDWEST:
The First Amendment is to protect not government from religion, but religion from government tyranny....The polls show that it is overwhelming, the percentage of people who want prayer restored....We refer to ours as a country under God. It says In God We Trust on our coins. They open the Congress sessions with a chaplain. I ve never been sure whether he prays for the Congress or for the nation.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, JANUARY 19, 1982, NEWS CONFERENCE:
I have been one who believes that abortion is the taking of a human life.... The fact that they could not resolve the issue of when life begins was a finding in and of itself. If we don t know, then shouldn t we morally opt on the side of life? If you came upon an immobile body and you yourself could not determine whether it was dead or alive, I think that you would decide to consider it alive until somebody could prove it was dead. You wouldn t get a shovel and start covering it up. And I think we should do the same thing with regard to abortion.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 26, 1982, AT THE ANNUAL CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ACTION CONFERENCE DINNER:
We must with calmness and resolve help the vast majority of our fellow Americans understand that the more than one and one-half million abortions performed in America in 1980 amount to a great moral evil, and assault on the sacredness of human life.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, SEPTEMBER 9, 1982, AT THE ALFRED M. LANDON LECTURE SERIES ON PUBLIC ISSUES:
I know now what I m about to say will be very controversial, but I also believe that God s greatest gift is human life and that we have a sacred duty to protect the innocent human life of an unborn child.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, JANUARY 20, 1981, FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS:
Your dreams, your hopes, your goals are going to be the dreams, the hopes, and the goals of this administration, so help me God....I am told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I am deeply grateful. We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inauguration Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, JANUARY 20, 1981, FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS:
The crisis we are facing today... does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves, and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn t we believe that? We are Americans. God bless you, and thank you.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MARCH 19, 1981, NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PROCLAMATION:
Throughout our history, Americans have put their faith in God, and no one can doubt that we have been blessed for it. The earliest settlers of this land came in search of religious freedom. Landing on a desolate shoreline, they established a spiritual foundation that has served us ever since. It was the hard work of our people, the freedom they enjoyed and their faith in God that built this country and made it the envy of the world. In all of our great cities and towns evidence of the faith of our people is found: Houses of worship of every denomination are among the oldest structures.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MARCH 19, 1981, NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PROCLAMATION:
While never willing to bow to a tyrant, our forefathers were always willing to get to their knees before God. When catastrophe threatened, they turned to God for deliverance. When the harvest was bountiful, the first thought was thanksgiving to God. Prayer is today as powerful a force in our nation as it has ever been. We as a nation should never forget this source of strength. And while recognizing that the freedom to choose a Godly path is the essence of liberty, as a nation we cannot but hope that more of our citizens would, through prayer, come into a closer relationship with their Maker.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MARCH 19, 1981, NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PROCLAMATION:
Recognizing our great heritage, the Congress, by Joint Resolution approved April 17, 1952, has called upon the president to set aside a suitable day each year as a National Day of Prayer. Now, therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Thursday, May 7, 1981, National Day of Prayer. On that day I ask all who believe to join me in giving thanks to Almighty God for the blessings He has bestowed on this land and the protection He affords us as a people. Let us as a nation join together before God, fully aware of the trials that lie ahead and the need, yes, the necessity, for divine guidance. With unshakable faith in God and the liberty which is heritage, we as a free nation will surely survive and prosper.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MAY 17, 1981, AT THE COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME:
It is time for the world to know our intellectual and spiritual values are rooted in the source of all strength, a belief in a Supreme Being, and a law higher than our own.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, SEPTEMBER 28, 1981, AT THE MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE CHIEFS OF POLICE:
Only our deep moral values and our strong social institutions can hold back the jungle and restrain the darker impulses of human nature.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 4, 1982, AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST:
I also believe this blessed land was set apart in a very special way, a country created by men and women who came here not in search of gold, but in search of God. They would be free people, living under the law with faith in their Maker and their future. Sometimes it seems we ve strayed from that noble beginning, from our conviction that standards of right and wrong do exist and must be lived up to.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 4, 1982, AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST:
God, the source of our knowledge, has been expelled from the classroom. He gives us His greatest blessing - life - and yet many would condone the taking of innocent life. We expect Him to protect us in a crisis, but turn away from Him too often to our day-to-day living. I wonder if He isn t waiting for us to wake up.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 4, 1982, AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST:
We have God s promise that what we give will be given back many times over, so let us go forth from here and rekindle the fire of our faith. Let our wisdom be vindicated by our deeds. We are told in II Timothy that when our work is done, we can say, We have fought the good fight. We have finished the race. We have kept the faith.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 9, 1982, NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS ANNUAL CONVENTION:
Its been written that the most sublime figure in American history was George Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge. He personified a people who knew that it was not enough to depend on their own courage and goodness, that they must seek help from God - their Father and Preserver. Where did we begin to lose sight of that noble beginning, of our convictions that standards of right and wrong do exist and must be lived up to?
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 9, 1982, NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS ANNUAL CONVENTION:
Do we really think that we can have it both ways, that God will protect us in a time of crisis even as we turn away from Him in our day-to-day life?
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 9, 1982, NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS ANNUAL CONVENTION:
The Book of St. John tells us, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We also have His promise that we could take to heart with regard to our country That if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land. ...To preserve our blessed land, we must look to God....Rebuilding America begins with restoring family strength and preserving family values.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 12, 1982, IN A PROCLAMATION OF A NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER:
Through the storms of Revolution, Civil War, and the great World Wars, as well as during the times of disillusionment and disarray, the nation has turned to God in prayer for deliverance. We thank Him for answering our call, for, surely, He has. As a nation, we have been richly blessed with His love and generosity.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MAY 17, 1982, PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR PRAYER IN SCHOOLS:
The public expression through prayer of our faith in God is a fundamental part of our American heritage and a privilege which should not be excluded by law from any American school, public or private. One hundred fifty years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville found that all Americans believed that religious faith was indispensable to the maintenance of their republican institutions. Today, I join with the people of this nation in acknowledging this basic truth, that our liberty springs from and depends upon an abiding faith in God.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, SEPTEMBER 18, 1982, IN A RADIO ADDRESS TO THE NATION:
At every crucial turning point in our history Americans have faced and overcome great odds, strengthened by spiritual faith. The Plymouth settlers triumphed over hunger, disease, and a cruel Northern wilderness because, in the words of William Bradford, They knew they were Pilgrims, so they committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed. George Washington knelt in prayer at Valley Forge and in the darkest days of our struggle for independence said that the fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the wisest of our founding fathers, had no doubt about the source from which our cause was derived. The God who gave us life, he declared, gave us liberty. And nearly a century later, in the midst of a tragic and at times seemingly hopeless Civil War, Abraham Lincoln vowed that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, SEPTEMBER 18, 1982, IN A RADIO ADDRESS TO THE NATION:
It s said that prayer can move mountains. Well, it s certainly moved the hearts and minds of Americans in their times of trial and helped them to achieve a society that, for all its imperfections, is still the envy of the world and the last, best hope of mankind.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, SEPTEMBER 18, 1982, IN A RADIO ADDRESS TO THE NATION:
And just as prayer has helped us as a nation, it helps us as individuals. In nearly all our lives, there are moments when our prayers and the prayers of our friends and loved ones help to see us through and keep us on the right path.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, SEPTEMBER 18, 1982, IN A RADIO ADDRESS TO THE NATION:
Prayer is one of the few things in the world that hurts no one and sustains the spirit of millions. The founding fathers felt this so strongly that they enshrined the principle of freedom of religion in the First Amendment of the Constitution. The purpose of that amendment was to protect religion from the interference of government and to guarantee, in its own words, the free exercise of religion. Yet today we re told that to protect that First Amendment, we must suppress prayer and expel God from our children s classrooms. In one case, a court has ruled against the right of children to say grace in their own school cafeteria before they had lunch. A group of children who sought, on their initiative and with their parents approval, to begin the school day with a one-minute prayer meditation have been forbidden to do so. And some students who wanted to join in prayer or religious study on school property, even outside of regular class hours, have been banned from doing so. A few people have been objected to prayers being said in Congress. That s just plain wrong. The Constitution was never meant to prevent people from praying; its declared purpose was to protect their freedom to pray.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, SEPTEMBER 18, 1982, IN A RADIO ADDRESS TO THE NATION:
The time has come for this Congress to give a majority of American families what they want for their children - the firm assurance that children can hold voluntary prayers in their schools just as the Congress, itself, begins each of its daily sessions with an opening prayer. With this in mind, last May I proposed to the Congress a measure that declares once and for all that nothing in the Constitution prohibits prayer in public schools or institutions. It also states that no person shall be required by government to participate in prayer who does not want to. So, everyone s rights - believers and nonbelievers alike - are protected by our voluntary prayer measure. I m sorry to say that so far the Congress has failed to vote on the issue of school prayer.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1982, SIGNED JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE 97TH CONGRESS, PUBLIC LAW 97-280:
Now, Therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is authorized and requested to designate 1983 as a national Year of the Bible in recognition of both the formative influence the Bible has been for our Nation, and our national need to study and apply the teachings of the Holy Scriptures.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1983, PROCLAMATION OF A NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER:
Abraham Lincoln said, Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. Revived as an annual observance by Congress in 1952, the National Day of Prayer has become a great unifying force for our citizens....This common expression of reverence heals and brings us together as a nation, and we pray it may one day bring renewed respect for God to all peoples of the world.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, JANUARY 31, 1983, AT THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS:
When American reach out for values of faith, family, and caring for the needy, they re saying, We want the Word of God. We want to face the future with the Bible. We re blessed to have its words of strength, comfort, and truth. I m accused of being simplistic at times with some of the problems that confront us. But I ve often wondered: Within the covers of that single Book are all the answers to all the problems that face us today, if we d only look there. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, JANUARY 31, 1983, AT THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS:
It s my firm belief that the enduring values, as I say, presented in its pages have a great meaning for each of us and for our nation. The Bible can touch our hearts, order our minds, refresh our souls. Now, I realize it s fashionable in some circles to believe that no one in government should...encourage others to read the Bible....We re told that will violate the constitutional separation of church and state established by the founding fathers in the First Amendment. Well, it might interest those critics to know that none other than the father of our country, George Washington, kissed the Bible at his inauguration. And he also said words to the effect that there could be no real morality in a society without religion. John Adams called it the best book in the world. and Ben Franklin said, ...the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men...without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach, a bye-word down to future ages.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, JANUARY 31, 1983, AT THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS:
All of us, as Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, have a special responsibility to remember our fellow believers who are being persecuted in other lands. We re all children of Abraham. We re children of the same God.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, AUGUST 1, 1983, AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, ATLANTA, GEORGIA:
It s not good enough to have equal access to our law; we must also have equal access to the higher law - the law of God. George Washington warned that morality could not prevail in exclusion of religious principles. And Jefferson asked, Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we ve removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of people that these liberties are the gifts of God? We must preserve the noble promise of the American dream for every man, woman, and child in this land. And make no mistake, we can preserve it, and we will. That promise was not created by America. It was given to America as a gift from a loving God - a gift proudly recognized by the language of liberty in the world s greatest charters of freedom: our Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, AUGUST 1, 1983, AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, ATLANTA, GEORGIA:
The explicit promise in the Declaration that we re endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights was meant for all of us. It wasn t meant to be limited or perverted by special privilege or by double standards....Trusting in God and helping one another, we can and will preserve the dream of America, the last best hope of man on earth.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 1985, SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS:
God bless you and welcome back....I wonder if we could all join in a moment of silent prayer....When the first President, George Washington, placed his hand upon the Bible, he stood less than a single day s journey by horseback from raw, untamed wilderness. So much has changed. And yet we stand together as we did two centuries ago....One people under God determined that our future shall be worthy of our past.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, DECEMBER 19, 1988, IN A MESSAGE ON THE OBSERVANCE OF CHRISTMAS:
The themes of Christmas and of coming home for the holidays have long been intertwined in song and story. There is a profound irony and lesson in this, because Christmas celebrates the coming of a Savior Who was born without a home. There was no room at the inn for the Holy Family. Weary of travel, a young Mary close to childbirth and her carpenter husband Joseph found but the rude shelter of a stable. There was born the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace an event on which all history would turn.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, DECEMBER 19, 1988, IN A MESSAGE ON THE OBSERVANCE OF CHRISTMAS:
Jesus would again be without a home, and more than once; on the flight to Egypt and during His public ministry, when He said, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath no where to lay his head. From His very infancy, on, our Redeemer was reminding us that from then on we would never lack a home in Him. Like the shepherds to whom the angel of the Lord appeared on the first Christmas Day, we could always say, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, DECEMBER 19, 1988, IN A MESSAGE ON THE OBSERVANCE OF CHRISTMAS:
As we come home with gladness to family and friends this Christmas, let us also remember our neighbors who cannot go home themselves. Our compassion and concern this Christmas and all year long will mean much to the hospitalized, the homeless, the convalescent, the orphaned and will surely lead us on our way to the joy and peace of Bethlehem and the Christ Child Who bids us come. For it is only in finding and living the eternal meaning of the Nativity that we can be truly happy, truly at peace, truly home. Merry Christmas, and God bless you!
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, 1978, LETTER TO A CALIFORNIA PASTOR ABOUT CHRIST:
Either he was what he said he was or he was the world s greatest liar. It is impossible for me to believe a liar or charlatan could have had the effect on mankind that he has had for 2000 years. We could ask, would even the greatest of liars carry his lie through the crucifixion, when a simple confession would have saved him? ... Did he allow us the choice you say that you and others have made, to believe in his teaching but reject his statements about his own identity?
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 26, 1982, AT THE ANNUAL CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ACTION CONFERENCE DINNER:
Let us go forward, determined to serve selflessly a vision of man with God, government for people, and humanity at peace.
RONALD WILSON REAGAN, FEBRUARY 5, 1981, AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST
An unknown author wrote of a dream and in the dream was walking down the beach beside the Lord. As they walked, above him in the sky was reflected each stage and experience of his life. Reaching the end of the beach, and of his life, he turned back, looked down the beach, and saw the two sets of footprints in the sand....He looked again and realized that every once in a while there was one set of footprints. And each time there was only one set of footprints, it was when the experience reflected in the sky was one of despair, of desolation, of great trial or grief in his life....He turned to the Lord and said, You said that if I would walk with you, you would always be beside me and take my hand. Why did you desert me? Why are you not there in my times of greatest need? And the Lord said, My child, I did not leave you. Where you see only one set of footprints, it was there that I carried you. ...Abraham Lincoln once said, I would be the most foolish person on this footstool earth if I believed for one moment that I could perform the duties assigned to me without the help of one who is wiser than all. I know that in the days to come and the years ahead there are going to be many times when there will only be one set of footprints in my life. If I did not believe that, I could not face the days ahead.
RONALD REAGAN 40th U.S. PRESIDENT (February 6, 1911-June 5, 2004)
In 1962, Ronald Reagan switched from being Democrat to Republican and was elected Governor of California in 1966. In 1981, at the age of 70, he became the oldest President in U.S. history. Less than three months later he survived an assassination attempt.
He graduated from Eureka College, IL, 1932, and became an announcer for a radio station in Davenport, Iowa, and WHO Radio, Des Moines, Iowa. He married Jane Wyman and had children Maureen and Michael. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Air Corp during World War II. He became an actor, making over 50 movies in his career, and served as president of the Screen Actor s Guild, 1947-52 and 59-60. His second marriage was to Nancy Davis, 1952, having children Patti and Ron.
All quotations were taken from:
Treasury of Presidential Quotations
by William J. Federer (copyright 2004)
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