Ronald Reagan - The Last Best Hope: The Greatest Speeches of Ronald Reagan

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Humanix Books

The Last Best Hope

Copyright 2016 by Humanix Books

All rights reserved

Introduction by Michael Reagan previously published in The Greatest Speeches of Ronald Reagan 2002 Newsmax

Humanix Books, P.O. Box 20989, West Palm Beach, FL 33416, USA

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Reagan, Ronald.

Title: The last best hope : the greatest speeches of Ronald Reagan / introduction by Michael Reagan.

Description: West Palm Beach, FL : Humanix Books, 2016.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015041364 (print) | LCCN 2015041775 (ebook) | ISBN 9781630060497 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781630060503 (ebook) | ISBN 9781630060503 ()

Subjects: LCSH: Reagan, Ronald--Oratory. | United States--Politics and government--1981-1989. | United States--Foreign relations--1981-1989. | Speeches, addresses, etc., American.

Classification: LCC E838.5 .R435 2016 (print) | LCC E838.5 (ebook) | DDC 973.927092--dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015041364

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

Cover photo: Corbis-42-23040047

Interior design: Ben Davis

Humanix Books is a division of Humanix Publishing, LLC. Its trademark, consisting of the words Humanix is registered in the Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries

ISBN: 978-1-63006-049-7 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-63006-050-3 (E-book)

Nationwide Televised Address for Barry Goldwater Presidential Campaign

First Address as Governor of California

First Conservative Political Action Conference

Second Annual Conservative Political Action Conference

Republican National Convention, Kansas City, Missouri

Fourth Annual Conservative Political Action Conference

Republican National Convention, Detroit, Michigan

First Inaugural Address

Address to a Joint Session of Congress

Address to the British Parliament, House of Commons, London

Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations, New York City

Address to the Nation

Address to the National Association of Evangelicals, Orlando, Florida

Address to the Nation

Joint Session of Congress

Address to the Nation

Omaha Beach Memorial, Normandy, France

US Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France

Second Inaugural Address

Address to the Nation

Address to the Nation

Speech at The Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin

Address to the Nation

Westminster College Cold War Memorial, Fulton, Missouri

Republican National Convention, Houston, Texas

Washington, DC

Gala on the Occasion of His Eighty-Third Birthday

In His Own Hand

I f you want to understand what Ronald Reagan really accomplished, you need to get on a plane and go to those Eastern Bloc countries that were under communist control for so many, many years.

Over a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall, youll still find a blighted land of gray people and gray buildings. Its as if a great plague had sapped the vitality and spirit of a continent, and only now are the land and its people beginning to recover.

When Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, totalitarian communism was at its zenith. From Europe, to Africa, to Asia, to South America, country after country had fallen under the evil spell of Marx and Lenin and Stalin and Khrushchevand whatever the communists couldnt control, they threatened to destroy with thousands of hydrogen bombs.

At the same time, America seemed to be in decline, with 8 million people out of work, inflation over 12 percent, and a prime interest rate of over 20 percent. America seemed to be losing its way.

And then came Ronald Reagan.

He spoke of renewal and hope; of defeating communism, not accommodating it; of economically revitalizing America with lower taxes and less government; and of the spiritual commitment and faith. When it was unfashionable and corny, he spoke of the values that had made America great and noble and wealthy, and of how we must return to those values. He infused millionsboth in the United States and around the worldwith new hope and a new spirit.

That alone would have been accomplishment enough, but even more amazingly, Ronald Reagan did precisely what he said he would: he revitalized America, decreased the burden of bloated government, and defeated communism.

In March of 1983when the power of the Soviet Union seemed unassailable and communism held dominion over nearly 2 billion human soulsRonald Reagan declared in his famous Evil Empire speech in Florida:

I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written.

It was an incredibly bold statement to make in the context of the times. The Soviet Union had been in existence for over 65 years and showed no signs of retreating, much less collapsing. Most people dismissed Ronald Reagans statement as mere rhetoric or simply a clever turn of phrase. Oh, perhaps one day the Soviet Empire would collapse, like other empires before it, but certainly not in the lifetime of anyone then living.

Six and a half years later, the Berlin Wall was torn down and totalitarian communism was collapsing everywhere throughout the world. The Soviet Empire was dead, not in centuries or even decades, but in a mere handful of years. The simple words that Ronald Reagan had spoken in 1983 had become the truth.

Acting with enormous foresight and courage, Ronald Reagan had rebuilt Americas battered military into the greatest power the world had ever known, and sickly communist economies simply couldnt keep pace.

By the time Ronald Reagan left office in 1989, his other promises had been kept as well. Taxes had been slashed, government had shrunk, and inflation and unemployment were at record lows.

Before Reagan, communists were challenging America everywhere in the world. After Reagan, America was unchallengeable.

Before Reagan, it was unfashionable to be a conservative. After him, it was hip.

Before Reagan, it was unfashionable to openly proclaim your love for your country, particularly on college campuses. After Reagan, patriotism was again respectable.

Before Reagan, people were ashamed to admit that they had strong religious beliefs. After Reagan, millions of Americans again proudly proclaimed their faith, and there was a great reawakening of religious fervor on colleges throughout our country.

All of these were Reagans gifts to America. But most of all, he helped this country to believe in itself again. As always, the Great Communicator said it best himself:

America has bred kindliness into our people unmatched anywhere. We are not a sick society. A sick society could not produce the men that set foot on the moon, or who are now circling the earth above us in Skylab. A sick society bereft of morality and courage did not produce the men who went through those years of torture and captivity in Vietnam. Where did we find such men? They are typical of this land. We found them in our streets, in the offices, the shops and the working places of our country and on the farms. (Ronald Reagan, We Will Be a City Upon a Hill, speech to the First Conservative Political Action Conference, January 1974)