History Quotes / RonaldReagan

->''It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.''

->--RonaldReagan

->''To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will.''

->''It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.''

->''My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out.''

-->--'''Creator/RobinWilliams'''

->I am the most popular President the world has ever known! Even Reagan in his heydey couldn't have gotten away with ''this''."'' (pushes bodyguard out a window)

!!Quotes by Reagan

--RonaldReagan, to a likely very unamused Nancy, after being shot in 1981

--RonaldReagan, to his surgeons after being shot.

--RonaldReagan, on foreign policy

--RonaldReagan, to a very persistent heckler.

--RonaldReagan, speech at the Brandenburg Gate, 1987

--Drake [=McHugh=] (Reagan), Kings Row

->--RonaldReagan, Remarks to Future Farmers of America

->--RonaldReagan

->--RonaldReagan

->--RonaldReagan, opposing expansion of Redwood National Park, when he was California Governor

->--RonaldReagan, in response to criticism by Carter about Reagan's position on Medicare during a debate

->--RonaldReagan, at the National Conference of the Building and Construction Trades Department

->''I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.''
->--RonaldReagan

->--RonaldReagan

->--RonaldReagan

->--RonaldReagan

->'''RonaldReagan''': ''Oh, I love them. Whenever I see one I write the editorial cartoonist and ask for it. Every time I walk down this hall, I remember I'm human and I make mistakes and people can be very angry with me.''

->--RonaldReagan, speech at the dedication of his Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Part of it is also inscribed on his tomb.

->--RonaldReagan

->--RonaldReagan, from his letter announcing his Alzheimer's disease to the American public

-->-- '''David Sidoni as Nostradumbus''', ''{{Roundhouse}}''

If you are on the left, Reagan is Satan.''\\

->''"I am the most popular President the world has ever known! Even Reagan in his heydey couldn't have gotten away with ''this''."'' (pushes bodyguard out a window)\\
--'''Tempus''', ''Series/LoisAndClark''

->''If you are on the right, Reagan is God.
->If you are on the left, Reagan is Satan.''\\
-- '''UrbanDictionary'''

->''"The common wisdom holds that he single-footedly kicked down the Berlin Wall and went on to personally destroy the Soviet Union, leaving it a rubble of squabbling statelets with ludicrous names, and without Reagan we'd be either a dismal Russian satellite eating turnips or a smoking nuclear wasteland at this very minute. He did this without firing a shot, simply by spending so much money on the military that the Evil Empire went broke trying to keep up with us. It was a master stroke. (He tripled the budget deficit and quadrupled the trade deficit, but it was worth every cent.)"''\\
-- '''Barbara Holland'''

->''"While Mrs. Reagan darted angry looks about the hall (displeased at the press?) the star of ''Death Valley Days'' was staring intently at [[Creator/DwightDEisenhower the speaker on the platform]]. Thus an actor prepares, I thought, and I suspected even then that Reagan would some day find himself up there on the platform. In any case, as the age of television progresses, the Reagans will be the rule, not the exception."''\\
-- '''Creator/GoreVidal'''

->''I predict that one day a redheaded actor will become President of the United States! [[BaitAndSwitch And his name is Ronald]]... UsefulNotes/{{McDonald|s}}!''\\
-- '''David Sidoni as Nostradumbus''', ''{{Roundhouse}}''

->''"And then came, of course, Saint Reagan. Who was the innovator of the Republican Party's greatest power, [[EasyAmnesia the ability to completely forget]]."''
-->-- '''Bill Maher''', ''Series/RealTimeWithBillMaher''

->''"I guess if you think about it, Reagan really was an Series/AmericanIdol. He floated by on charm, he was a triumph of style over substance, and idiots across America kept voting for him."''
-->-- '''Creator/LewisBlack''', ''Series/TheDailyShow''

-->RonaldReagan, Remarks to Future Farmers of America

-->RonaldReagan

-->RonaldReagan

-->RonaldReagan, opposing expansion of Redwood National Park, when he was California Governor

-->RonaldReagan, in response to criticism by Carter about Reagan's position on Medicare during a debate

-->RonaldReagan, at the National Conference of the Building and Construction Trades Department

-->RonaldReagan

-->RonaldReagan

-->RonaldReagan

-->RonaldReagan

-->RonaldReagan

-->RonaldReagan

-->RonaldReagan, from his letter announcing his Alzheimer's disease to the American public

--RonaldReagan, Remarks to Future Farmers of America

--RonaldReagan

--RonaldReagan

->''Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.''

->''"Poor dear, there's nothing between his ears."''\\
--'''MargaretThatcher''' (attributed)

->''"President Reagan doesn't always check the facts before he makes statements, and the press accepts this as kind of amusing."''\\
--'''JimmyCarter''', 1984

->''"A true leader is willing to go against his own kind. [[FranklinDRoosevelt F.D.R.]] was '''rich'''. He dumped on Wall Steet. [[DwightDEisenhower Ike]] was a '''General'''. He attacked the military-industrial complex. [[LyndonJohnson L.B.J.]] was '''southern'''. He spondered the Voting Rights Act... I'm the first '''old''' President. [[BoomerangBigot Social Security must go.]]"''\\
--'''Jules Fieffer''', 1982 [[http://www.adambaumgoldgallery.com/feiffer_jules/a_true_leaderWB.jpg political cartoon]]

->''"The common wisdom holds that [[FolkHero he single-footedly kicked down the Berlin Wall and went on to personally destroy the Soviet Union]], leaving it a rubble of squabbling statelets with ludicrous names, and without Reagan we'd be either a dismal Russian satellite eating turnips or a smoking nuclear wasteland at this very minute. He did this without firing a shot, simply by spending so much money on the military that the Evil Empire [[WeWinBecauseYouDidnt went broke trying to keep up with us.]] It was a master stroke. He tripled the budget deficit and quadrupled the trade deficit, [[WasItReallyWorthIt but it was worth every cent.]]"''\\
-- '''Barbara Holland'''

->''"The biggest threat to America today is not communism. It's moving America toward a fascist theocracy, and everything that's happened during the Reagan administration is steering us right down that pipe."''\\
--'''Music/FrankZappa'''

->''"Sure, at times it seemed like the Alzheimer's set in about halfway through his presidency, but overall Ronald Reagan got a free pass and was generally well liked. Hell, he won [[OneHundredPercentAdorationRating 49 friggin' states]] in the 1984 election."''\\
--'''[[http://www.cracked.com/article_16970_5-world-leaders-who-were-accused-being-antichrist.html Adam Todd Brown]]''', '''''{{Website/Cracked}}'''''

->''"Ah, [[TheEighties the 80s]]: a fearful, turbulent decade that tested our national resolve as never before! ...Democracy was never more threatened than when Reagan was in office, pissing off the Communists and (even worse!) [[EspeciallyZoidberg the air traffic controllers]] while Nancy was busy formulating national policy with [[BrainlessBeauty astrological charts.]]"''\\
--'''[[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Noah Antwiler]]''' [[http://spoonyexperiment.com/invasion-usa/ on]] ''InvasionUSA''

->''"While Mrs. Reagan darted angry looks about the hall (displeased at the press?) the star of ''Death Valley Days'' was staring intently at [[Creator/DwightDEisenhower the speaker on the platform]]. Thus an actor prepares, I thought, and I suspected even then that Reagan would some day find himself up there on the platform. In any case, as the age of television progresses, the Reagans will be the rule, not the exception."''\\
-- '''Creator/GoreVidal'''

->''"I only saw him once up close, which happened to be when he got a question he didn't like. Was it true that his staff in the 1980 debates had stolen President Carter's briefing book? (They had.) The famously genial grin turned into a rictus of senile fury: I was looking at a cruel and stupid lizard. His reply was that maybe his staff had, and maybe they hadn't, but what about the leak of [[{{Dissimile}} the Pentagon Papers?]] Thus, a secret theft of presidential documents was equated with the public disclosure of needful information. This was a man never short of a cheap jibe or the sort of falsehood that would, however laughable, buy him some time."''\\
--'''ChristopherHitchens'''

->''"In all of the books that have come out about the Reagan administration, it's been extremely difficult to hide the fact that Reagan [[PointyHairedBoss didn't have the foggiest idea what was going on]]. Whenever he [[WagTheDirector wasn't properly programmed]], the things that would come out of his mouth were like--they weren't ''lies'', really, they were just kind of the babbling of a child. If a child babbles, it's not lies, it's just sort of on another plane. To be able to ''lie'', you have to have a certain degree of competence, you have to know what truth is. And there didn't seem to be any indication that that was the case here. So in fact, all of the fuss in the Iran-contra hearings about 'did Reagan know or didn't he know'...What's the difference? He didn't know if nobody told him, and he didn't remember if he forgot. And who cares?"''\\
--'''Noam Chomsky''', ''Understanding Power''

->''"Once again the ghost of Ronald Reagan looms large. Though his record in raising taxes and adding to the deficit, and his involvement in redrawing the map of the world, would make him ineligible to become the nominee were he still alive, the ''[2016 presidential nominees]'' are already comparing themselves with the only Republican president whose conservative credentials are made of the same material as earned him his nickname, the 'Teflon president.'"''\\
--'''''Slate''''', [[http://blogs.reuters.com/nicholas-wapshott/2014/07/22/im-ronald-reagan-no-im-reagan-no-over-here-im-the-real-reagan/ "I’m Ronald Reagan! No, I’m Reagan! No, over here, I’m the real Reagan!"]]

->''"When we elected Ronald Reagan and the conservatives decided that they would decide not just what their children would read but what all children would read, it went crazy. My feeling in the beginning was wait, this is America: we don't have censorship, we have, you know, freedom to read, freedom to write, freedom of the press, we don't do this, we don't ban books. [[MoralGuardians But then they did.]]"''\\
--'''Judy Blume''', author

->''"Fifty years ago, President [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson Lyndon B. Johnson]] made a move that was unprecedented at the time and remains unmatched by succeeding administrations. He announced a War on Poverty, saying that its 'chief weapons' would be 'better schools, and better health, and better homes, and better training, and better job opportunities' ...By the Reagan era, it had become a cornerstone of conservative ideology that poverty is caused not by low wages or a lack of jobs and education, but by the bad attitudes and faulty lifestyles of the poor."''\\
--'''Barabara Ehrenreich''', [[http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/it-is-expensive-to-be-poor/282979/ "It is Expensive to be Poor"]]

->''"At the time, I had no idea that the Great Communicator had cut his teeth on campus protests during [[TheSixties the 1960s]], using long-haired Berkeley students as perfect foils. Reagan assailed the Free Speech and antiwar movements, promising the taxpayers that if elected, he’d get college kids off picket lines and back in class. With comments like, 'They are spoiled and don’t deserve the education they are getting' and that the state 'should not subsidize intellectual curiosity,' he won in a landslide. Fourteen years later, Reagan was elected president, running against a host of mythical foes from 'welfare queens' to an omnipotent '[[RedScare Evil Empire]],' but he and his administration never shed their antipathy toward 'elitist' campuses and the young people who dared question the system."''\\
--'''[[http://www.salon.com/2014/07/05/ronald_reagan_stuck_it_to_millennials_a_college_debt_history_lesson_no_one_tells/ Peter Lunefeld]]''', ''Salon''

->''"In 2010, living more in the wreckage of the conservative revolution than the light, it is easy to deconstruct Reagan's grand project and see the relative truth of Mario Cuomo's words at the 1984 DNC -- 'There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit in your shining city.'\\\
This was less true in the 1980s, when Reagan's morning in America seemed a plausible brightening after the darkness of what were, even if he did not serve through the majority of them, [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Nixon's]] 70s. This is what morning in America was. It was not until 1986, when Reaganism ran smack into the wall of the Iran-Contra affair, where it turned out we were kind of maybe a little selling weapons to Iran, [[{{Realpolitik}} ostensibly our enemy]], in order to funnel the money to Nicaraguan rebels."''\\
--'''[[http://projectnes.blogspot.com/2010/10/id-actually-drink-at-giger-bar-contra.html Phil Sandifer]]'''

--'''[[http://www.cracked.com/article_16970_5-world-leaders-who-were-accused-being-antichrist.html Adam Todd Brown]]''', ''{{Website/Cracked}}'''''

->''"When we elected Ronald Reagan and the conservatives decided that they would decide not just what their children would read but what all children would read, it went crazy. My feeling in the beginning was wait, this is America: we don't have censorship, we have, you know, freedom to read, freedom to write, freedom of the press, we don't do this, we don't ban books. [[MoralGuardians But then they did.]]"''\\
--'''Judy Blume''', author

->''"At the time, I had no idea that the Great Communicator had cut his teeth on campus protests during [[TheSixties the 1960s]], using long-haired Berkeley students as perfect foils. Reagan assailed the Free Speech and antiwar movements, promising the taxpayers that if elected, he’d get college kids off picket lines and back in class. With comments like, 'They are spoiled and don’t deserve the education they are getting' and that the state 'should not subsidize intellectual curiosity,' he won in a landslide. Fourteen years later, Reagan was elected president, running against a host of mythical foes from 'welfare queens' to an omnipotent '[[RedScare Evil Empire]],' but he and his administration never shed their antipathy toward 'elitist' campuses and the young people who dared question the system."''
-->--'''[[http://www.salon.com/2014/07/05/ronald_reagan_stuck_it_to_millennials_a_college_debt_history_lesson_no_one_tells/ Peter Lunefeld]]''', ''Salon''

->''"Sure, at times it seemed like the Alzheimer's set in about halfway through his presidency, but overall Ronald Reagan got a free pass and was generally well liked. Hell, he won [[OneHundredPercentApprovalRating 49 friggin' states]] in the 1984 election."''
-->--'''[[http://www.cracked.com/article_16970_5-world-leaders-who-were-accused-being-antichrist.html Adam Todd Brown]]''', ''{{Website/Cracked}}'''''

->''"President Reagan doesn't always check the facts before he makes statements, and the press accepts this as kind of amusing."''
-->--'''JimmyCarter''', 1984

->''"I am the most popular President the world has ever known! Even Reagan in his heydey couldn't have gotten away with ''this''." ''(pushes bodyguard out a window)''\\

->''"You can tell a lot about a fella's character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful."''
-->-- "n why he liked to have a jar of jellybeans on hand for meetings.''