Ronald Reagan in Stand For Something, by John Kasich
On Energy & Oil:
Nuts to ask Americans to wear sweaters & bike to work
Always, I look at my hero, Ronald Reagan. He was unbelievable, and one of a kind. Character. Principle. Walked the lonely road. Challenged Americans to make their own difference. Recall that when he first came into office he was succeeding a president wh
told Americans to beat the gas crisis by riding their bicycles to work, to beat the oil shortage by wearing a sweater. Reagan took one look around and essentially said, "What are you guys, nuts?" Interest rates were out of control.
Inflation was at its zenith. So what did he do? He sent Jeanne Kirkpatrick to the United Nations and delivered a powerful message that the rest of the world was not going to kick America around anymore. He cut marginal rates. And he took on the Soviet
Union. He called them the "Evil Empire." His advisors said, "Mr. President, that's not good politics. That's not good diplomacy." And Reagan just chuckled and said it anyway.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 32
May 10, 2006
On Foreign Policy:
In Berlin: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Once, on his way to the Brandenburg Gate, Reagan's advisors were pleading with him to temper his comments. (Reagan's secretary of the treasury, James Baker, told me this story.) "When you get to the Berlin Wall," the advisors told the president, "please,
remember we're in the middle of sensitive negotiations. Be careful what you say." So what did Reagan do? He strode to that gate and he took the lectern and said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."Ronald Reagan didn't listen to his advisors.
He didn't listen to his pollsters. He trusted his gut. And he united the whole world. Mothers and fathers who had locked themselves in their homes in fear showed up in town squares in Poland and Czechoslovakia and in the
Baltic states. "We want our freedom." Reagan's words echoed through Eastern Europe, and soon enough the Berlin Wall came tumbling down and millions of people were returned to their rightful way of life, to freedom.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 32-33
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant
Ronald Reagan said, "Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged."I read the Bible. I travel with one, in fact, and there's never a time that I don't have a page or a passage bookmarked or flagged for my
ready reference. Why? Because the Bible always has something new to teach me, some new way to look at the world. It's accessible, and at the same time it's beyond knowing, and I can't for the life of me figure how anyone gets along without it.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.151
May 10, 2006
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