Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911–2004) was an American Republican-party political leader who served as the 40th U.S. president 1981–89. He was a B-grade Hollywood actor and a union leader before entering politics.
Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan studied economics and became a radio announcer and sportscaster. He acted in over fifty mostly-unremarkable movies such as King’s Row (1941) and The Voice of the Turtle (1948.)
Reagan began his political career as a Democrat but later came to hate high taxes, big government, and communism. After two terms as governor of California, Reagan failed to gain the Republican party’s nomination in the 1968 and 1976 presidential elections. He was successful in 1980; he defeated Jimmy Carter and became, at the age of 61, then the oldest-ever president.
A conservative Republican, Reagan’s administration significantly increased defense spending, slashed taxes and social services funds but oversaw a significant rise in the national budget deficit.
Reagan held several summit meetings with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that brought about the nuclear forces non-proliferation treaty in 1987. Reagan left office in 1989, still massively popular with the American population.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Ronald Reagan
Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.
—Ronald Reagan
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.
—Ronald Reagan
Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: Management
I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.
—Ronald Reagan
There are no such things as limits to growth, because there are no limits to the human capacity for intelligence, imagination, and wonder.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: Growth
Every new day begins with possibilities. It’s up to us to fill it with the things that move us toward progress and peace.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: Action
It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: Work, Deception
Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things.
—Ronald Reagan
History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. To keep the peace, we and our allies must be strong enough to convince any potential aggressor that war could bring no benefit, only disaster.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: War
Government is the people’s business and every man, woman and child becomes a shareholder with the first penny of tax paid.
—Ronald Reagan
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: Freedom
There is one quality that one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.
—Ronald Reagan
They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: World
Status quo, you know, that is Latin for the mess we’re in.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: Change
Let us ask ourselves; “What kind of people do we think we are?”
—Ronald Reagan
We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.
—Ronald Reagan
Nations do not mistrust each other because they are armed; they are armed because they mistrust each other.
—Ronald Reagan
We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.
—Ronald Reagan
The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted, it belongs to the brave.
—Ronald Reagan
A leader, once convinced that a particular course of action is the right one, must be undaunted when the going gets tough.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: Perseverance, Endurance, Determination
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
—Ronald Reagan
In my eighty years, I prefer to call that the forty-first anniversary of my thirty ninth birthday, I’ve seen what men can do for each other and do to each other, I’ve seen war and peace, feast and famine, depression and prosperity, sickness and health. I’ve seen the depth of suffering and the peaks of triumph and I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: Humanity
We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow.
—Ronald Reagan
Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse.
—Ronald Reagan
Topics: Government
Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
—Ronald Reagan
True, lasting peace cannot be secured through
the strength of arms alone. Among free peoples,
the open exchange of ideas ultimately is our greatest security.
—Ronald Reagan
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