REMEMBERING

RONALD REAGAN - "What Would He Say Today?"

By William J. 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.

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 an 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 ofthis 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. PPRESIDENT (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.