When President Reagan assumed the presidency in 1981, America’s economy ebbed with 12 percent inflation and 8 million unemployed. Reagan’s predecessor spoke of a "national malaise." Abroad, America’s adversary, the Soviet Union, was expanding its influence. The Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons capability surpassed that of the United States and previous nuclear arms treaties were failures.
President Reagan’s goals were simple: to reduce the size of the federal government, lower taxes, stabilize the economy, restore the belief of the American people in their government – and win the Cold War. When President Reagan left office in 1989, these goals had been achieved:
*Americans were enjoying the longest uninterrupted span of prosperity in the nation’s history.
*After a massive military build-up, the largest in peace-time, President Reagan had negotiated a nuclear arms treaty that greatly reduced the threat of nuclear war. By expanding the military, he achieved "peace through strength" and set the stage for the demise of the Soviet Union.
From the time he arrived on the political scene in 1964-throughout his presidency and beyond, Ronald Reagan – used his speeches to inspire and reinvigorate America. When he spoke, Reagan said, he was "preaching a sermon." The American people saw his vision of America and his dreams for the future and they overwhelmingly responded; he was re-elected in 1984 by the largest number of electoral votes in the nation’s history.
Here in this collection of twenty-eight speeches spanning the Reagan era, you may read for yourself his inspirational "sermons." From his first speech in the political arena in 1964 to his Last Letter To America, informing Americans of his Alzheimer’s disease, Ronald Reagan’s words show a profound belief in God, freedom, individualism, limited government, and his great love for his country.
