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Ronald Reagan Quotes
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Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Before his presidency, he was the 33rd Governor of California, from 1967 to 1975, after a career as a Hollywood actor and union leader.

Raised in a poor family in small towns of northern Illinois, Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and worked as a sports announcer on several regional radio stations. After moving to Hollywood in 1937, he became an actor and starred in a few major productions. Reagan was twice elected President of the Screen Actors Guild—the labor union for actors—where he worked to root out Communist influence. In the 1950s, he moved into television and was a motivational speaker at General Electric factories. Reagan had always been a Democrat until 1962 when he became a conservative and switched to the Republican Party. In 1964, Reagan's speech, "A Time for Choosing", supported Barry Goldwater's foundering presidential campaign and earned him national attention as a new conservative spokesman. Building a network of supporters, he was elected Governor of California in 1966. As governor, Reagan raised taxes, turned a state budget deficit to a surplus, challenged the protesters at the University of California, ordered National Guard troops in during a period of protest movements in 1969, and was re-elected in 1970. He twice ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency in 1968 and 1976; four years later, he easily won the nomination outright, becoming the oldest elected U.S. president up to that time, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Entering the presidency in 1981, Reagan implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives. His supply-side economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics", advocated tax rate reduction to spur economic growth, control of the money supply to curb inflation, economic deregulation, and reduction in government spending. In his first term he survived an assassination attempt, spurred the War on Drugs, and fought public sector labor. Over his two terms, the economy saw a reduction of inflation from 12.5% to 4.4%, and an average annual growth of real GDP of 3.4; while Reagan did enact cuts in domestic discretionary spending, tax cuts and increased military spending contributed to increased federal outlays overall, even after adjustment for inflation. During his re-election bid, Reagan campaigned on the notion that it was "Morning in America", winning a landslide in 1984 with the largest electoral college victory in American history. Foreign affairs dominated his second term, including ending of the Cold War, the bombing of Libya, and the Iran–Contra affair. Publicly describing the Soviet Union as an "evil empire", and during his famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate, President Reagan challenged Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!". He transitioned Cold War policy from détente to rollback, by escalating an arms race with the USSR while engaging in talks with Gorbachev, which culminated in the INF Treaty, shrinking both countries' nuclear arsenals. Reagan's presidency came during the decline of the Soviet Union and just ten months after the end of his term, the Berlin Wall fell, Germany reunified the following year, and on December 26, 1991, nearly three years after he left office, the Soviet Union collapsed.

When Reagan left office in 1989, he held an approval rating of sixty-eight percent, matching those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later Bill Clinton, as the highest ratings for departing presidents in the modern era. He was the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve two full terms, after a succession of five prior presidents did not, some under unusual circumstances. Although he had planned an active post-presidency, Reagan disclosed in 1994 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier that year. He appeared publicly for the last time at the funeral of Richard Nixon. He died ten years later in 2004 at the age of 93. Reagan had the third-longest life out of all the presidents, after George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford. An icon among Republicans, he is viewed favorably in historian rankings of U.S. presidents, and his tenure constituted a realignment toward conservative policies in the U.S.

✵ 6. February 1911 – 5. June 2004   •   Other names Ronald Regan, Ronald Wilson Reagan
Ronald Reagan photo
Ronald Reagan: 264   quotes 387   likes

Ronald Reagan Quotes

“I've spoken recently of the freedom fighters of Nicaragua. You know the truth about them. You know who they're fighting and why. They are the moral equal of our Founding Fathers and the brave men and women of the French Resistance. We cannot turn away from them, for the struggle here is not right versus left; it is right versus wrong.”

Ronald Reagan

Speech to the annual conference of the Conservative Political Action Conference, New York, speaking of the rebels (or Contras) seeking to overthrow the Nicaraguan Government (1 March 1985); reported in "Reagan Terms Nicaraguan Rebels 'Moral Equal of Founding Fathers'" in The New York Times (2 March 1985) http://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/02/world/reagan-terms-nicaraguan-rebels-moral-equal-of-founding-fathers.html
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

Women , Men , Truth , Freedom

“The abortionist who reassembles the arms and legs of a tiny baby to make sure all its parts have been torn from its mother's body can hardly doubt whether it is a human being.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (1983)

Parting , Baby

“If you don't know whether a body is alive or dead, you would never bury it. I think this consideration itself should be enough for all of us to insist on protecting the unborn.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (1983)

Thinking , Dead

“We will never recognize the true value of our own lives until we affirm the value in the life of others.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (1983)

Life

“So much of our profession is taken up with pretending … that an actor must spend at least half his waking hours in fantasy.”

Ronald Reagan

Where's the Rest of Me? http://books.google.com/books?id=n6pZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22So+much+of+our+profession+is+taken+up+with+pretending%22+%22that+an+actor+must+spend+at+least+half+his+waking+hours+in+fantasy%22&pg=PA6#v=onepage (1965)
1960s

“I would have voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

Ronald Reagan

As quoted in Los Angeles Times (17 June 1966)
1960s

“Too much SALT isn’t good for you.”

Ronald Reagan

Remark about the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in Reykjavík, Iceland, quoted by James Reston, 'The New York Times (6 July 1986)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

“As we continue to work to overturn Roe v. Wade, we must also continue to lay the groundwork for a society in which abortion is not the accepted answer to unwanted pregnancy. Pro-life people have already taken heroic steps, often at great personal sacrifice, to provide for unwed mothers.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (1983)

Life , People , Personality

“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them — this morning, as they prepared for their journey, and waved good-bye, and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."”

Ronald Reagan

Speech about the Space Shuttle disaster http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/12886b.htm(28 January 1986)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

God , Time , Forgetting

“"We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is allowed to do. "We the people" are free.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989), Farewell Address (1989)

People , World , Cars

“Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

Ronald Reagan

Known as "The Eleventh Commandment" this statement was made famous by Reagan, but was actually created by California Republican Party Chairman Gaylord Parkinson.
Misattributed

“Every country and every people has a stake in the Afghan resistance, for the freedom fighters of Afghanistan are defending principles of independence and freedom that form the basis of global security and stability.”

Ronald Reagan

Referring to groups who who were resisting Soviet rule of Afghanistan, with U.S. support, in Proclamation 4908 — Afghanistan Day (10 March 1982) http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/31082c.htm
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

People , Freedom , Country

“My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”

Ronald Reagan

Joking during a microphone check. The joke was later leaked to the general populace and, upon learning of it, Soviet defenses went on high alert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan%27s_%22We_begin_bombing_in_five_minutes%22_joke http://www.npr.org/news/specials/obits/reagan/audio_archive.html (11 August 1984)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

“I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: Go ahead, make my day.”

Ronald Reagan

Speech threatening to veto legislation raising taxes http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1985/31385b.htm (13 March 1985)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

“Approximately 80 percent of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation. So let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards for man-made sources.”

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan, Sierra (10 September 1980)
1980s

“You know, I received an invitation that said "Please come to Ellis Island July 4th for the hundredth birthday celebration of an American institution". Somebody goofed. My birthday is not until February.”

Ronald Reagan

A self-deprecating joke about his age, quoted at American Experience http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/transcript/reagan-transcript/
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

Birthday

“Today we have done what we had to do. If necessary, we shall do it again. It gives me no pleasure to say that, and I wish it were otherwise… When our citizens are abused or attacked anywhere in the world on the direct orders of a hostile regime, we will respond so long as I'm in this Oval Office. Self-defense is not only our right; it is our duty. … Despite our repeated warnings, Qadhafi continued his reckless policy of intimidation, his relentless pursuit of terror. He counted on America to be passive. He counted wrong.”

Ronald Reagan

Address to the Nation on the United States Air Strike Against Libya http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/41486g.htm (14 April 1986)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

Hostility , Pleasure , World

“Small business is the gateway to opportunity for those who want a piece of the American dream. […] Well, wouldn't it be nice to hear a little more about the forgotten heroes of America-those who create most of our new jobs, like the owners of stores down the street; the faithfuls who support our churches, synagogues, schools, and communities; the brave men and women everywhere who produce our goods, feed a hungry world, and keep our families warm while they invest in the future to build a better America? That's where miracles are made, not in Washington, D. C.”

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan: "Remarks at the National Conference of the National Federation of Independent Business ," June 22, 1983. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=41504
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

Women , Men , World , School

“There is no logical way that you can say let's spend X billion dollars less. You can only say, which part of our defense measures do we believe we can do without and still have security against all contingencies? Anyone in the Congress who advocates a percentage or specific dollar cut in defense spending should be made to say what part of our defenses he would eliminate, and he should be candid enough to acknowledge that his cuts mean cutting our commitments to allies or inviting greater risk or both.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), Address on the Strategic Defense Initiative (1983)

Way , Parting

“Well, I learned a lot. … You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries.”

Ronald Reagan

Quoted by Lou Cannon in his article Latin [American] Trip an Eye-Opener for Reagan in The Washington Post (6 December 1982)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

Learning , Country

“I never knew anything above Cs.”

Ronald Reagan

Describing his academic record to Barbara Walters (27 November 1981), cited by Paul Slansky, The Clothes Have No Emperor
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

“The size of the Federal budget is not an appropriate barometer of social conscience or charitable concern.”

Ronald Reagan

Remarks at the Annual Meeting of the National Alliance of Business (5 October 1981) http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/100581a.htm
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

“If it's to be a bloodbath, let it be now. Appeasement is not the answer.”

Ronald Reagan

On what to do about student disruptions at UC Berkeley, quoted in the Los Angeles Times (8 April 1970); shortly thereafter, Reagan said: "I certainly don't think there should be a bloodbath on campus or anywhere else. It was just a figure of speech." as quoted by United Press International (8 April 1970)
1970s

“They tell us we must learn to live with less, and teach our children that their lives will be less full and prosperous than ours have been; that the America of the coming years will be a place where — because of our past excesses — it will be impossible to dream and make those dreams come true. I don't believe that. And, I don't believe you do either. That is why I am seeking the presidency. I cannot and will not stand by and see this great country destroy itself. Our leaders attempt to blame their failures on circumstances beyond their control, on false estimates by unknown, unidentifiable experts who rewrite modern history in an attempt to convince us our high standard of living, the result of thrift and hard work, is somehow selfish extravagance which we must renounce as we join in sharing scarcity. I don't agree that our nation must resign itself to inevitable decline, yielding its proud position to other hands. I am totally unwilling to see this country fail in its obligation to itself and to the other free peoples of the world.”

Ronald Reagan

Official Announcement http://www.reaganlibrary.com/reagan/speeches/intent.asp of being a candidate for U.S. President (13 November 1979)
1970s

Children , People , World , Dreams

“I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.”

Ronald Reagan

Joke at the Gridiron Club annual dinner (24 March 1984)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

“[Evolution] has in recent years been challenged in the world of science and is not yet believed in the scientific community to be as infallible as it once was believed. But if it was going to be taught in the schools, then I think that also the biblical theory of creation, which is not a theory but the biblical story of creation, should also be taught.”

Ronald Reagan

Press conference at evangelical event in Dallas, Texas. (22 August 1980)
1980s

World , School , Communication , Thinking

“America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in songs of a man so many young Americans admire -- New Jersey's own, Bruce Springsteen.”

Ronald Reagan

Speech in Hammonton, N.J. http://www.myhammonton.com/reaganhammonton.php (19 September 1984)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

Dreams , Hope , Future , Heart

“I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.”

Ronald Reagan

Debate with Walter Mondale http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/102184b.htm (21 October 1984)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

Youth , Age

“We have found, in our country, that when people have the right to make decisions as close to home as possible, they usually make the right decisions.”

Ronald Reagan

Address to the International Committee for the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. (17 September 1990)
Post-presidency (1989–2004)

People , Home , Decision , Country

“Until now has there ever been a time in which so many of the prophecies are coming together? There have been times in the past when people thought the end of the world was coming, and so forth, but never anything like this.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)
Source: Ronald Reagan (6 December 1983), cited by Paul Slansky, The Clothes Have No Emperor

People , World , Time , Past

“Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.”

Ronald Reagan

Interview, Los Angeles Times (7 January 1970)
1970s

“A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?”

Ronald Reagan

Opposing expansion of Redwood National Park, as quoted in Sacramento Bee (3 March 1966)
1960s

Tree

“I intend to go right on appointing highly qualified individuals of the highest personal integrity to the bench, individuals who understand the danger of short-circuiting the electoral process and disenfranchising the people through judicial activism.”

Ronald Reagan

Remarks During a White House Briefing for United States Attorneys http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1985/102185a.htm (21 October 1985)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

People , Understanding , Personality

“There you go again. When I opposed Medicare, there was another piece of legislation meeting the same problem before the Congress. I happened to favor the other piece of legislation and thought that it would be better for the senior citizens to provide better care than the one that was finally passed.”

Ronald Reagan

Presidential debate http://www.juntosociety.com/pres_debates/carterreagan.html, in response to criticism by Carter about Reagan's position on Medicare (28 October 1980)]
1980s

Problem

“Let us be aware that while they [the Soviet leadership] preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world.”

Ronald Reagan

Speech to the National Association of Evangelicals (8 March 1983)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

People , World , Evil

“What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant U. S. retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies? I know this is a formidable, technical task, one that may not be accomplished before the end of this century. Yet, current technology has attained a level of sophistication where it's reasonable for us to begin this effort. It will take years, probably decades of effort on many fronts. There will be failures and setbacks, just as there will be successes and breakthroughs. And as we proceed, we must remain constant in preserving the nuclear deterrent and maintaining a solid capability for flexible response. But isn't it worth every investment necessary to free the world from the threat of nuclear war? We know it is.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), Address on the Strategic Defense Initiative (1983)

War , People , World , Failure

“Make no mistake, abortion-on-demand is not a right granted by the Constitution. No serious scholar, including one disposed to agree with the Court's result, has argued that the framers of the Constitution intended to create such a right.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (1983)

“You can't be for big government, big taxes, and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy.”

Ronald Reagan

Campaign rally for V.P. George H.W. Bush, San Diego California (7 November 1988), as quoted in Common Sense of an Uncommon Man https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1400324203, Thomas Nelson Inc. (2014), Jim Denney & Michael Reagan, 'Bureaucracy and Bureaucrats'
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

Guy

“We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all. And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.”

Ronald Reagan

1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989), Farewell Address (1989)

Women , Men , God , Time

“If a tax hike makes it to my desk, I'll veto it in less time than it takes Vanna White to turn the letters V-E-T-O!”

Ronald Reagan

Speech regarding planned Democratic tax hikes http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1D6123EF935A25754C0A961948260 (16 July 1987)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

Time

“Shouldn't someone tag Mr. Kennedy's "bold new imaginative" program with its proper age? Under the tousled boyish haircut it is still old Karl Marx — first launched a century ago. There is nothing new in the idea of a government being Big Brother to us all. Hitler called his "State Socialism" and way before him it was "benevolent monarchy."”

Ronald Reagan

In a 1960 letter to the GOP presidential candidate Richard Nixon, quoted in Matthew Dallek's The Right Moment: Ronald Reagan's First Victory and the Decisive Turning Point in American Politics (2000), p. 38
1960s

Age , Way , Imagination , Idea

“I have flown twice over Mount St. Helens. I'm not a scientist and I don't know the figures, but I have a suspicion that one little mountain out there, in these last several months, has probably released more sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere than has been released in the last ten years of automobile driving or things of that kind.”

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan, Time magazine (20 October 1980)
1980s

Mountain

“Recognizing the equality of all men and women, we are willing and able to lift the weak, cradle those who hurt, and nurture the bonds that tie us together as one nation under God.”

Ronald Reagan

Address accepting the Republican presidential nomination (23 August 1984)
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

Women , Men , God , Hurt

“I believe with all my heart that our first priority must be world peace, and that use of force is always and only a last resort, when everything else has failed, and then only with regard to our national security.”

Ronald Reagan

Presidential debate with Jimmy Carter (28 October 1980)
1980s

World , Peace , Heart

“One legislator accused me of having a nineteenth-century attitude on law and order. That is a totally false charge. I have an eighteenth-century attitude. That is when the Founding Fathers made it clear that the safety of law-abiding citizens should be one of the government's primary concerns.”

Ronald Reagan

Address to the Republican State Central Committee Convention (7 September 1973)
1970s

Law , Falseness

“And I have to point out that government doesn't tax to get the money it needs, government always needs the money it gets.”

Ronald Reagan

Bush-Reagan Debate 1980 on Taxes at League of Women Voters. (24 April 1980) · video footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edchtf9MS7g
1980s

Money

“There are those in America today who have come to depend absolutely on government for their security. And when government fails they seek to rectify that failure in the form of granting government more power. So, as government has failed to control crime and violence with the means given it by the Constitution, they seek to give it more power at the expense of the Constitution. But in doing so, in their willingness to give up their arms in the name of safety, they are really giving up their protection from what has always been the chief source of despotism — government. Lord Acton said power corrupts. Surely then, if this is true, the more power we give the government the more corrupt it will become. And if we give it the power to confiscate our arms we also give up the ultimate means to combat that corrupt power. In doing so we can only assure that we will eventually be totally subject to it. When dictators come to power, the first thing they do is take away the people's weapons. It makes it so much easier for the secret police to operate, it makes it so much easier to force the will of the ruler upon the ruled.”

Ronald Reagan

Column published in Guns and Ammo (1 September 1975)
1970s

People , Secret , Failure , Dependency

“With the destructive power of today's weapons, keeping the peace is not just a goal; it's a sacred obligation. But maintaining peace requires more than sincerity and idealism—more than optimism and good will. As you know well, peace is a product of hard, strenuous labor by those dedicated to its preservation. It requires realism, not wishful thinking.”

Ronald Reagan

"Toasts of the President and United Nations Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar at a Luncheon in New York City " (17 June 1982); online at The American Presidency Project by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=42646
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)

Peace , Optimism , Thinking , Sincerity

“Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders. … The Goliath of totalitarianism will be brought down by the David of the microchip.”

Ronald Reagan

As quoted in The Guardian [London] (14 June 1989)
Post-presidency (1989–2004)

Age

“We were told four years ago that 17 million people went to bed hungry every night. Well, that was probably true. They were all on a diet.”

Ronald Reagan

Televised speech (27 October 1964), cited in Reagan's Reign of Error (1983) by Mark Green
1960s

People , Night