In 1980, Communism, the Soviet Russian version, was winning. Slowly, but winning none the less. Thirty years of MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction, had taken its toll of America’s spirit and America’s military. We knew that the Russians would come through Fulda Gap, not if but when. We were outnumbered and outgunned in Europe and around the world.

In our own hemisphere, the hemisphere of the Monroe Doctrine, the Soviets had footholds in three nations and were about to make that four or five. The President of the United States talked about our national “malaise”.

Then, the nation asked Ronald Wilson Reagan to be its President.

When you tuck your children into bed tonight, remember Ronald Wilson Reagan and thank God for his life. Bless him because your children can sleep without fear of nuclear bombs falling from the skies. America can sleep well each and every night because of the things that Ronald Reagan did twenty years ago. Your children, my lovely PG and her college classmates, are the first generation in decades who are free of fear of nuclear war.

Never forget where we were in 1980. We knew we could not win World War Three without going nuclear. We believed that the war would end with no real winner, and had no other alternative. We KNEW we couldn’t beat the Soviets.

But Ronald Wilson Reagan had his faith in God and his faith in America. He couldn’t accept American in malaise. He wouldn’t accept defeat and despair. And… wonder of wonders, despite the pundits and naysayers, WE WON THE COLD WAR. A wave of liberty swept out from the United States of America and around the globe. Hundreds of millions of people became free. The Berlin Wall was torn down.

Just as Ronald Wilson Reagan had always believed could happen, with faith in God and faith in America.

Sleep well tonight, America. And bless Ronald Wilson Reagan, who has gone home to his reward.

Friday will be Ronald Reagan’s last laugh. Why? It’s been declared a Federal holiday, with all governmental offices closed. While Federal employees will be paid, by closing the offices, the government will spend far less than usual on that day. Reagan cuts big government one last time.

Hugh Hewlett

My theory of the Cold War is that we win and they lose.

quoting Peter Robinson in the Wall Street Journal – subscriber only

via Right Wing News

• And how stands (America) on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.

• Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
• You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.

God bless you, Mr. President. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide now have the chance to enjoy God’s gift to humanity, freedom, because of you. I don’t know how God will judge your life, but I hope the choirs of angels sang for your walk through the Pearly Gates.

For a man that the loony left derided as dumb, asleep, a puppet, you sure made a difference in those eight years. George Bush can take hope from that, I think. The lefty snobs have been wrong before, and it led to changes that will reverberate for generations. I believe it will happen again, and these eight years will finally address the menace of Islam that has been ignored for so long.

Go in the peace of God, Mr. President. Know that you have shown us all a better place, a better way. America is that shining city on the hill thanks to you, and we aim to keep it that way.

God bless you, Mr. President, and thank you!