Friday was the fifth anniversary of the death of President Ronald Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004). In recognition of all he did for our great nation, we all should find some time this weekend to reflect on the leadership he provided this nation.
As a 9 year old, in the summer of 1976, your blogger followed the Ford-Reagan primaries across our nation. KCC's own parents, and Grandparents were Democrats and didn't pay much attention to it.
However, your blogger's father loved Reagan and his conservative thinking and sent Reagan contributions. He told KCC that summer, that his very first vote, was for Barry Goldwater, then a staunch conservative, in 1964.
At the 1976 Republican National Convention, President Gerald Ford beckoned Reagan to come to the stage and "say a few words". President Ford has no idea what he was getting into. Reagan, extemporaneously gave one of the most famous "few words" of his career. Republicans everywhere suddenly realized that they had nominated the wrong man and KCC became a conservative and Republican that moment.
Years earlier, Sen. Goldwater's campaign had launched Reagan from a B-List actor to an A-List speaker amongst conservative circles. Reagan became famous for a speech he made for Goldwater at the Republican National Convention, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Your blogger has read much of this, and only wishes she could have been a fly on the wall. However, she wasn't to enter this world until two years later, in November of 1966.
Reagan was elected President only days before your blogger turned 14 and was re-elected 11 days before she turned 18, meaning she never got to vote for him.
However, during his 8 years as President, your blogger, and many others her age, were shaped and molded by his ideas. KCC joined College Republicans (CRs)in the waning years of the Reagan presidency and they were heady times. It was a fantastic time to be a young conservative.
Today's young people can only read about Reagan in books, but we got to meet him, several times. He even hosted the CRs on the White House lawn during our CR National Convention, which is ongoing this weekend.
In recognition of one of our finest Presidents, and the finest of this blogger's lifetime, KCC salutes Ronald Reagan and all he stood for. God Bless America and Rest In Peace, Mr. President.
We offer these videos. The first is the impromptu speech, completely off-the-cuff in 1976, and the other, the long version of the 1964 speech, now known as "A Time for Choosing":
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