Reagan 1989
Jim Newton
Itasca
In his last speech before leaving the presidency in 1989, Ronald Reagan observed, “… we’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion but what’s important — why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant…If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let’s start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.”
This, from a conservative Republican president. What a difference almost 40 years makes.