Words to Live By Podcast

Fifteen years after the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the President invited the crew members to the White House for a celebration. You’ll be intrigued by the President’s remarks – he gives a little history and in the second half of the podcast, we’ll hear him explain all the inventions that have emerged from the space program. After his speech, you’ll hear Neil Armstrong speak and present the President with a gift, a small American flag that the crew had taken to the moon in 1969. Today, it’s been 55 years since that historic landing. Recall that at 1:18 pm, Pacific Daylight Time on July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin brought down the lunar lander Eagle on the moon's surface. Collins remained in the command module Columbia, which orbited 69 miles above. Five more missions sent ten more men to the moon’s cratered surface and 843 pounds of precious lunar rocks and soil were returned for analysis.

This year, it’s been estimated that about 350 million people will visit our national parks. Now if you’re wondering why I’m speaking about national parks, perhaps it’s important to remember that Ronald Reagan was a serious outdoorsman. In April 1977, he wrote a radio address about the environment, four years before becoming president. And in 1984, he addressed the National Campers and Hikers Association in Bowling Green, Kentucky. As governor of California, Ronald Reagan had an admirable record of safeguarding the environment, to the surprise of some of his critics. Governor Reagan’s administration added 145,000 acres of parkland, more than any other modern California governor. He enforced new, tougher measures on air and water quality. He stopped plans for dams on two rivers, the Feather and the Eel, despite intense pressure from commercial interests and signed into law a bill to protect California’s wild and scenic rivers.

Today, we’ll listen to a radio address delivered 40 years ago on law enforcement and crime - certainly a hot topic in our major cities where cutbacks in law enforcement and weak sentencing are suspected causes of an increased crime rate. So, take a guess: what state has the lowest violent crime rate? That would be New Hampshire. And the highest? In the United States, New Mexico is the most dangerous state, with a higher rate of violent crimes per capita than any other location. Arkansas is a close second with California coming in as the 5th most dangerous state in the union. So let’s hear from Ronald Reagan on crime, beginning with his thoughts in 1984 and then closing, in the second half of the podcast, with a very direct radio broadcast he delivered 8 years before.

Ok here’s a trivia question for you….There was a famous car racing competition that took place in Daytona Beach, Florida on the 4th of July - do you know the name? Yes, it was called the Firecracker 400 and 40 years ago….our 40th President attended! In 1989, the "Firecracker" moniker was dropped, and the race was known simply as the Pepsi 400 through 2007. In the early years, the race was always scheduled for July 4, regardless of the day of the week. Beginning in 1988, the race was moved to the first Saturday of July…and today….well, it’s called Coke Zero Sugar 400 and held in August at the Daytona Raceway in Florida…and so it goes… But let’s go back to 1984! The "Start your engines" command was given by President Ronald Reagan but not in person…from the phone on Air Force One! He then later landed at Daytona Beach International Airport and was escorted to one of the main press boxes at the speedway where he was met by a number of reporters, one of them being Ned Jarrett, who asked him to do some play-by-play commentary on MRN - the Motor Racing Network. And here’s how it started…

Today, we hear comments regarding the policy of DEI - Diversity, equity, and inclusion which are organizational frameworks. And the intent is to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination based on identity or disability. As the United States reckoned with racial inequality during and after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, many saw Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs as a way to address the issues in higher education. As part of the trend, many schools began requiring candidates for teaching positions to submit DEI statements. In these statements, potential hires explain how they would advance diversity, equity and inclusion in their teaching and research activities. One 2021 study found that about one-third of job postings at elite universities required them.

In Walter Cronkite’s last, official interview for CBS before being replaced by Dan Rather, he chose to interview one man: The President of the United States. Not in the Oval Office, but in Normandy, France, and just moments after the President delivered his historic addresses on Omaha Beach and at Pointe du Hoc. Today, we evaluate how a President will be interviewed based on the interviewer. From a certain news agency, we know there will be softballs. From other news agencies, there are curves, sliders, and fastballs coming from left field. But Walter Cronkite represented the best of what journalism does. He sought genuine answers, longed for enlightenment, and never revealed his personal political preferences. The chronicler and historian, David Halberstam, called Walter Cronkite “the most significant journalist of the second half of the twentieth century” in the way one might say, “George Washington was the most significant politician of the second half of the 18th Century.”

After the recent uprisings at many of America’s collegiate institutions, we thought we’d look back on how Governor Reagan handled the situation, 50 years ago in the late 60’s and early 70’s. In his 1966 campaign for California governor, Republican Ronald Reagan promised to "clean up the mess at Berkeley." At the time, he was referring to the unrest prevalent not just at the University of California, Berkeley, but on college campuses throughout the state. Students and faculty alike were engaged in protests, demonstrations, and strikes related to issues such as the draft, civil rights, discrimination, and women’s liberation. In one 1966 campaign speech, Reagan declared that many leftist campus movements had transcended legitimate protest, with the actions of "beatniks, radicals and filthy speech advocates" having become more to do "with rioting, with anarchy" than "academic freedom." His core message was, "Anarchy in the name of academic freedom on the campus or on our streets, will not be tolerated...."

On June 6, 1984, President Reagan delivered remarks in honor of the 40th anniversary of the D-day invasion. Earlier in the day, he delivered a riveting speech at Pointe du Hoc which will be the subject of today’s podcast. So today, we are remembering the D-day invasion of 1944, 80 years ago. Of the many tributes given by President Reagan in honor of American veterans, perhaps the most memorable was the one delivered on June 6, 1984, at Pointe du Hoc. Its critical importance was not underestimated by those tasked with preparing a draft, to be delivered on the 40th anniversary of the Normandy invasion. Ben Eliot, head of the White House Speechwriters Office, knew just the person he wanted to compose the address. He gave the assignment to Peggy Noonan and commented that “They’d like it to be like the Gettysburg Address."

On June 5th this year – 2024, it’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since we laid President Ronald Wilson Reagan to rest. In this podcast, we’ll reflect on the ceremonies and speeches celebrating his life and legacy. In his honor, President George W. Bush declared June 11, 2004, a national day of mourning. A ceremony at the Capitol began with tributes from Senator Ted Stevens, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, and Vice President Richard Cheney. Let’s listen to a few excerpts, starting with Senator Ted Stevens.

On Friday, April 26, the Olympic flame for the 2024 Paris games was officially handed over to a delegation from the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee during a ceremony in Athens Greece. The ceremony took place at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens where the modern Olympics were first opened in 1896. At that time, the Olympic flame was passed to the delegation representing the country that will next host the games. And that is, of course, France. But to reach France from Greece, the torch will cross the Mediterranean on board the Belem, the majestic 3-masted ship owned by the Belem Foundation. It will cross the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans as part of the Oceans Relay to reach six French overseas territories: Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Reunion Island. Once in France, the flame will travel to the Lascaux caves, the Alésia archaeological site, the medieval city of Carcassonne, the Palace of Versailles, and many other sites. It will light up many of France's architectural masterpieces, beginning with the world-renowned site of Mont Saint-Michel. It will also visit places of remembrance, such as the Verdun Memorial and the D-Day Landing Beaches. 40 years ago in 1984, the Olympic torch crossed America to reach the West Coast, Los Angeles, for the official games. One of its first stops was Washington, DC where it stopped at the White House. In this podcast, we’ll listen to the President’s wonderful remarks delivered on the South Lawn.