As we celebrate the 101st birthday of President Ronald Reagan, we remember the profound impact he had on government policy, but more importantly on the spirit of the American people. Whether it was through humor, sincerity, or passion, President Reagan had that rare ability to inspire individuals to strive for their greatest potential and positively impact the country. Here are 10 of his most memorable quotations: Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. Don’t be afraid to see what you see. …
Today marks President Ronald Reagan’s 101st birthday. Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan made his journey west to Iowa as a radio broadcaster, then on to California to take Hollywood by storm. He crossed America as a spokesman for General Electric, and then — after discovering the import of conservative values — entered the political arena, where he would ultimately lead his fellow citizens out of a wilderness of self-doubt, helping the country come to see that it could be morning in America once again. We at The Heritage Foundation invite …
February 6 is Ronald Reagan’s birthday. While the right has long looked to Reagan as the standard-bearer of conservative leadership, over the past few years, even liberals are waxing Reaganesque. For instance, before he was the class warrior in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt, President Obama invoked the Gipper to support his millionaire tax. As Reagan historian Steven Hayward remarked, “Ever so slowly, liberals are attempting a subtle revisionism” of our 40th President. Let’s set the record straight. Just take a look at Ronald Reagan’s greatest achievements as evidence of …
With economic issues dominating the domestic political agenda and much of our foreign policy focused on combating terrorism, systematic violations of political and religious rights by some of the world’s most tyrannical regimes receive less attention than perhaps they should. Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican representing Virginia’s 5th District, is out to rectify that shortcoming. His new book, “Prisoner of Conscience: One Man’s Crusade for Global Human and Religious Rights,” discusses his work to champion human rights across the world, and expose the gross violations he has come across in …
Over the past 50 years, 10 U.S. presidents have made annual budget requests to Congress, projecting deficits both big and small. But no other president compares to Barack Obama when it comes to the size and scale of the current budget deficit facing the United States. The country is facing an 8.3 percent estimated average national deficit of a two-term Obama administration — the biggest of the past 50 years. By comparison, the current estimate for Obama is nearly double the percentage under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush — and …
Let us turn one more time to Ronald Reagan, in his centennial year, for some Christmas cheer. President Reagan loved America, his shining city on a hill, but he loved one thing—or rather one person—more: Nancy, his wife of more than 50 years. Theirs was a marriage of affection and devotion and commitment, captured in this Christmas letter of December 1980 addressed to “My Beloved First Lady.” I do not think it is possible to read it without a tear or two or more. December 25, 1980 My Beloved First …
Rhetoric and material strength go hand-in-hand to form the core of any coherent foreign policy. Drawing on his vast wealth of experience as a career Foreign Service officer under President Ronald Reagan, Charles Hill recently discussed the importance of having a comprehensive grand strategy. According to Hill, “rhetoric is important, but it has to be backed up.” This is an area where America’s foreign policy currently falls short. Using Reagan’s Soviet policy as an example, Hill highlighted the importance of backing up any confrontational rhetoric with military, economic, and diplomatic …
This month marks the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. declaration of war on Japan, Germany and Italy. December 1941, according to historian Craig Shirley, transformed America in ways that might be unimaginable today. In a new book called “December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World,” Shirley documents the rapid shift of a war-weary country to one that mobilized instantly after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Each chapter of the 656-page book documents the events of one day during the …
You camped out by Best Buy for Black Friday, perused the neighborhood shops on Small Business Saturday, crashed the computer on Cyber Monday, but still didn’t get a gift for your father-in-law, stocking stuffers (that aren’t socks), or a good book to survive that four-hour layover in Atlanta. You need the First Principles gift list. We have collected the top 10 books from our list: Religious Liberty in the American Republic by Gerard V. Bradley: Whether your celebrations involve a menorah, a manger scene, or performing feats of strength for …
These days, everybody loves Reagan. It’s not just the eight GOP candidates who are trying to out-Reagan each other on the campaign trail. Liberals, too—including President Obama—have developed a fondness for the Gipper (or at least their reconstituted version of Reagan). Most attempts to claim President Ronald Reagan’s mantle have focused on domestic policy. But Reagan did not only overcome malaise at home and launch the longest uninterrupted peacetime economic expansion in the 20th century. He also reinvigorated American foreign policy, strengthened the military, and won the Cold War. With …
