As we look forward today with a Special Election and with the Third Republican Presidential Debate, let us also take a moment to reflect on what was. On this day in 2004, President Ronald Wilson Reagan’s earthy travails ended.

For 30 years, Ronald Reagan captivated the Republican Party, from what is simply remembered as “The Speech” to Reagan’s retirement from politics in November 1994. During these three decades, Reagan fought for a candidate ahead of his time, governed California through the turbulent 1960’s, restored our national pride through leadership and eloquence as president, and saw the dawn of the Congressional Republican Revolution.

In the speech that launched him to national prominence, “A Time For Choosing”, October 27, 1964, Reagan famously said:

“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 last step into a thousand years of darkness.”

President Reagan accepted his destiny and shaped this country and the world for the better. The lights still shine brightly in our city on a hill.

Ronald Wilson Reagan:
February 6, 1911 to June 5, 2004