Jean Becker

This Reagan Forum podcast that you are listening to is only one of the eight different podcasts that the Reagan Foundation and Institute produces. In fact, this is only one of two that are audio only – the rest each come with video. One of our favorite podcasts is called the Reagan Retrospective. These podcasts are stories shared by people who knew President and Mrs. Reagan best – people who worked with them, were friends with them, and knew them throughout their life. Each podcast brings you new behind-the-scenes stories from the Reagan years. They’re funny, poignant, and rich in history. Over the past 3 months we have recorded over a dozen of these podcasts and they’re now being released a few per month. So today we are going to share four of our most recent Reagan Retrospective podcasts. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Have you watched our Reaganism podcast yet? Reaganism is dedicated to exploring where the Reagan Movement lives today, hosted by the Director of the Ronald Reagan Institute, Roger Zakheim. The show has two goals: to understand the foundations of the political philosophy that powered the Reagan Revolution; and to host discussions about contemporary issues through the lens of President Reagan. Episodes come out weekly. In a recent episode from August 5, 2024, Roger sat down with Matthew Continetti who serves as the Director of Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. They discuss the historic 2024 presidential campaign and how the election might unfold in November. They also talk about national conservatism, the energy around Kamala Harris, the democratic convention, and more.

On August 14, 2024, the Reagan Foundation hosted an in-person event with former Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross for a discussion on his latest book, Risks and Returns: Creating Success in Business and Life. The book is a candid reflection of a life lived at the pinnacle of Wall Street, New York, and Palm Beach society, as well as within the Trump administration in his role as Commerce Secretary. During the program, Secretary Ross sat down in conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute President and CEO David Trulio to discuss his career in business and politics.

On August 7, 2024, the Reagan Foundation hosted a virtual event with award winning historian, biographer and curator Heath Hardage Lee for a discussion on her latest book, The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady. In The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon, Heath Hardage Lee presents readers with the essential nature of Mrs. Nixon, an empathetic, adventurous, self-made woman who wanted no power or influence but connected warmly with ordinary Americans and people from different cultures she encountered world-wide.

Tomorrow, August 30, 2024, the movie REAGAN will be released in theaters nationwide. REAGAN is a cinematic journey of overcoming the odds. The movie is told through the voice of Viktor Petrovich, a former KGB agent whose life becomes inextricably linked with Ronald Reagan's when Ronald Reagan first caught the Soviets’ attention as an actor in Hollywood and stars Dennis Quaid, Jon Voight, Penelope Ann Miller, Mena Suvari, Lesley-Anne Down, David Henrie and Kevin Dilon. A month earlier, on July 25, 2024, a handful of the Reagan movie cast joined us at the Reagan Library for an in-person moderated discussion about the film and their roles. During the program, cast members Dennis Quaid, who plays Ronald Reagan, Elya Baskin who plays a soviet defector, Amanda Righetti who plays Nelle Reagan, and Will Wallace who plays Ed Meese, sat down in conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute President and CEO David Trulio to share these stories and more.

In today’s Reagan Forum podcast, we bring you our August 8, 2024, in-person event with Justice Neil Gorsuch; his second visit with us. During the program, he discusses his book, “Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law,” which highlights increasingly complex laws that take away Americans’ freedoms and undermine respect for the law. Centered around the lives of real people who feel the tolls of excessive regulation, “Over Ruled” provides readers with key insights into preserving liberties for future generations. During the program, Justice Gorsuch sat down with Reagan Foundation and Institute Board Chairman Fred Ryan.

On March 23, 1983, in a televised address to the nation, President Reagan announced his intention to embark upon groundbreaking research into a national defense system that could make nuclear weapons obsolete. At the heart of the Strategic Defense Initiative was the development of a space-based missile defense program that could protect America from a large-scale nuclear attack. Flash forward to today, and now our country has the Missile Defense Agency to develop and deploy a system to defend the United States and its allies - exactly what President Reagan envisioned 40 years ago. On August 1, 2024, the Reagan Foundation was honored to host an in-person event with Lt. Gen. Heath Collins, the Director of the Missile Defense Agency, whose job it is to advise the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering on Missile Defense programmatic policy, requirements, priorities, systems, resources, and programs. During the program, Lt. Gen. Collins sat down in conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute President and CEO David Trulio to discuss the Missile Defense Agency - its responsibilities, its challenges and opportunities, and the importance of what the Agency does every day for our nation's security.

In his first inaugural address, as he looked out over the National Mall, President Reagan declared, “Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have.” They are words that defined his foreign policy. They are words that defined his presidency. They are words shaped by Ken Khachigian, Ronald Reagan’s chief speechwriter. Less than two weeks ago, on July 30, 2024, the Reagan Foundation hosted an in-person event with Ken to discuss his latest book, Behind Closed Doors: In The Room with Reagan & Nixon. It’s a book that Fox Business Network’s Larry Kudlow calls, “essential reading for anyone wanting to know how Ronald Reagan shaped his crusading message of economic growth through tax cuts and limited government.” Behind Closed Doors is a compelling insider’s account by the trusted adviser and confidant to America’s presidential giants and political legends. During the program, Ken sat down with Reagan Foundation and Institute President and CEO David Trulio to share these stories and more.

On July 24, 2024, the Reagan Foundation hosted a virtual event with President George HW Bush’s former chief-of-staff Jean Becker to discuss her latest book, Character Matters: And Other Life Lessons from George H.W. Bush. During the program, Jean sat down in conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Giller to discuss President Bush’s character, humility, love of country, and love for his family.

President Reagan strongly believed in the importance of educating our youth about the Founding Fathers and the nation's foundational documents, such as the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. In 1981, he eloquently articulated this conviction by referring to these documents as the "Charters of Freedom," underscoring their role as the bedrock of American law and guardians of inalienable rights and privileges. It is for these reasons that the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute recently worked with Foundation Forward to install a permanent Charters of Freedom Monument on the Reagan Library campus. The monument includes life-sized replicas of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence, as well as a panel on Civil Rights. This monument was dedicated and unveiled during a ceremony on the Reagan Library campus on the 4th of July.