Word to LIve by & Reagan Forum

40 years ago, the Russians were still on the march, just like today. Then, of course, it was known as the Soviet Union, and the threat they posed to the United States and Europe was unrelenting and terrifying. European leaders were begging President Reagan to do something, complaining that the presence of SS-20s armed with nuclear warheads felt like the Russians had a gun to their heads. But Europ...

On March 20, 2024, the Reagan Institute held its second annual National Security Innovation Base Summit in Washington, D.C. The event convened prominent thought leaders, current and former public officials, investors, and representatives of the most innovative industry and technology companies to discuss the important issues facing our annual National Security Innovation Base ecosystem. The progra...

Today, the turmoil and civil war in the country of Haiti dominate the headlines. As of this writing, for three weeks, Haiti’s capital has been trapped in a gory cycle that far exceeds the kidnapping and gang violence for which it was already known. An insurgent league of heavily armed gangs is waging war on the city itself, seeking new territory and targeting police and state institutions. The Dom...

During his farewell address to the nation on January 11, 1989, President Reagan said, “An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world?” Today, the Reagan Institute’s Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity stands at the nexus of civics and education policy answering Pres...

At Eureka College, our 40th President participated in almost every sport. No, he wasn’t a candidate for the Olympic team. Ronald Reagan’s football coach Ralph McKinzie said, “Dutch was not an outstanding player but he was a good plugger with a lot of spirit and desire.” Besides football, he went out for the swimming team and became captain. He tried out for track and won his letter in that sport a...

Just a few days ago, the nation celebrated April Fool’s Day. Although the day has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery. Some historians speculate that April Fools' Day dates back to 1582 when France switched from the Julian calendar (which begins its new year around April 1 each year) to the Gregorian calendar (which begins its new year on...

40 years ago, in the spring of 1984, President Reagan spent six days in the People’s Republic of China, visiting Beijing and Shanghai. To ease into the schedule, he was a week getting there and he spent another day and a half in Alaska afterward, meeting once more with Pope John Paul II. It was Ronald Reagan’s first trip to a Communist country and was somewhat strained because of his campaign as T...

We know that Israel had no better partner/defender/protector than Ronald Reagan. And our 40th president never missed an opportunity to denounce anti-semitism, bigotry, or prejudice. In this era of strident anti-semitism, bigotry, and prejudice occurring in our nation today, we thought we should focus briefly on President Reagan’s campaign against hatred. In 1984, he clarified his beliefs when he w...

On March 8, 2024, the Reagan Foundation hosted a virtual event with bestselling author Craig Shirley. Craig Shirley is the author of four critically praised bestselling books on President Reagan, Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All, Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America, Last Act: The Final Years and Emerging Legacy of Ro...

Well, this podcast might be airing a few days after St. Patrick’s Day but bear with me. We’ve got an interesting radio address for you combining the President’s two favorite topics - briefly about St. Patrick’s Day and how America’s economic recovery was well underway. The President was at Camp David - it was a cold wintry March day, where he was tucked away safely in his compound with his trusty...

At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, our education programs are dedicated to cultivating the next generation of citizen leaders. Each year, we work with thousands of teachers and tens of thousands of students from across the country to help foster the engaged, informed citizens that President Reagan knew were so vital to a healthy America. In keeping with our vision of promo...

For thirty-five years -- through seven presidencies -- the United States and its allies labored unceasingly to contain Communism around the world. They used a broad range of diplomatic, military, and economic initiatives costing tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars. They used economic programs like the Marshall Plan, military alliances like NATO and SEATO, direct conflicts like the K...

The Medal of Honor is the United States' highest award for military valor in action. At the time of this recording, only 3,536 military personnel have received this award since it was established during the Civil War, and there are fewer than 100 recipients living today. And while over 150 years have passed since its inception, the meaning behind the Medal has never tarnished. Etched within are th...

CPAC. Just those four letters bring to mind the crazy, dynamic conference it has become in recent years. Ronald Reagan first spoke as Governor Reagan in 1974 and ten years later in 1984, he relied on the same theme: unity coupled with America’s Divine charge. So in today’s podcast, we’ll listen to our 40th president at CPAC, speaking with four years of experience as our nation’s leader, retelling...

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast, we go back just over a week to our February 20, 2024, in-person program with Senator Rand Paul for a discussion on his latest book, Deception: The Great COVID Cover-up. A physician himself, Senator Rand Paul was one of the few leaders who dared to challenge what America was being told about COVID. In Deception, Senator Paul presents evidence that COVID was like...

Well, we are in another Olympic year, with the summer Olympics taking place this July and August in Paris, France. 40 years ago, the President was excited to welcome athletes from the Winter Olympics, held in Sarajevo, then Yugoslavia, to the White House. It was the first Winter Olympic Games held in a Slavic language-speaking country, as well as the only Winter Olympics held in a communist countr...

In this week’s Reagan Forum, we go back just three days to Presidents Day when we held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Reagan Library’s new Charters of Freedom Monument, the first in California to install the Monument. In addition to the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution, the Charters of Freedom Monument now also has a case on Civil Rights which includes the f...

The complexity of dealing with problems in the Middle East was pervasive during the Reagan years but the 40th President continued to pursue a path to peace. In February 1984, he invited President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan to Washington to discuss the war in Lebanon and other issues. Things were hot in the Middle East. By early 1984, US forces were directly fighting in the P...

Last week we brought to you our February 6, 2024, 113th birthday celebration for President Reagan with keynote remarks by Lech Walesa, the former President of Poland. In this week’s Reagan Forum, we are doing something a little different. We’re bringing you a playback of our live video from February 7th where we looked at past birthday celebrations and listened to excerpts of various keynote speak...

Now that we’re into the month of February when lovers celebrate their devotion to one another, we’ll dedicate this podcast to the Reagans – first, we’ll hear a brief word from the President and then we’ll let Mrs. Reagan explain how she met this fella, in her own words, recorded years ago from her autobiography My Turn. But first, let’s start with the President who spoke about their relationship a...

February 6, 2024, marked the 113th anniversary of the birth of Ronald Wilson Reagan. He used to love to joke that each birthday was the anniversary of his 39th birthday, so 2024 would have marked the 74th anniversary of his 39th birthday! Since President Reagan’s passing on June 5, 2004, the Reagan Foundation has worked with the United States Marine Corps Camp Pendleton to hold a birthday celebrat...

40 years ago, Ronald Reagan traveled to his hometown in Dixon, Illinois for his 73rd birthday celebration on February 6th, 1984. True to form, the jokes were flying, as were the warm memories. He was there with his older brother, Neil, his sister-in-law, and of course, Nancy. They toured one of the homes the Reagan family had lived in during childhood which had just been renovated by the Ronald Re...

In 1984, while speaking at Memorial Day ceremonies honoring an unknown serviceman of the Vietnam Conflict, President Reagan said, “We know why he died. He saw the horrors of war but bravely faced them, certain his own cause and his country's cause was a noble one; that he was fighting for human dignity, for free men everywhere. Today we pause to embrace him and all who served us so well.” To honor...

By the end of January every year, except for Inaugural years, the President fulfills his or her constitutional duty to "give to the Congress information on the State of the Union" (Article II, section 3 of the Constitution). So yes, today’s podcast will focus on the infamous State of the Union address which generally includes reports on the nation's budget, economy, news, agenda, progress, achieve...

As part of our Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. exhibit, the Reagan Foundation has been hosting authors whose books cover the atrocities of the holocaust, mainly told through survivor’s eyes. In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast, we go back to our in-person event with Audrey Birnbaum, who shares with us the story of her grandfather and his time growing up amidst the rubble and antisemitism of...