Speaking My Mind

by Ronald Reagan

Book Overview

One man, more than any other, has helped define the most important issues of our time. His name is Ronald Reagon -- one of our nation's most powerful and popular Presidents. This extraordinary audio collection includes historical excerpts from selected addresses that span his political career, laying out his vision for America and the world. From his cornerstone 1964 speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater to his moving farewell address in January of...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067168857X
• ISBN13: 9780671688578
• Release Date: November 1989
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Very moving, very personal collection of Reagan's speeches

This is a collection of Ronald Reagan's speeches, which he picked himself and to each of which he wrote a little introduction. I found it very moving and very impressive. I had gone to the book, because, with the conservative movement in such disarray, following the election of Obama, I wanted to understand better the sources of Reagan's strength. This book certainly explained that. Reagan was as powerful as he was, because he had tremendous simplicity, clarity and focus. He knew exactly what he believed, he was passionate about his beliefs and he remained true to his faith. He believed, above all, in freedom. He believed in America. And he put his beliefs into very simple language, which was very well crafted to connect with ordinary people. Reagan was a fighter, who believed in drawing very clear contrasts between himself and his opponents, but he was not a hater. He was consistently self-effacing, always putting the ideas before himself. This is a very good book, about a very great man.

Pure Reagan!

These were Ronald Reagan's best speeches. He selected them himself, not those a revisionist would impose. They are his most important speeches: his first inaugural when he warned that "Government isn't the solution...government is the problem!" His CPAC speeches including the landmark, March 1981 address. The Evil Empire address and his farewell address from the Oval Office. This is vintage Ronald Reagan.

The Best of the Best

Our daughter gave me this CD set for Christmas. I have been doing a lot of driving lately, and have been listening to the CDs exclusively when in the car. It's odd that I waver back and forth between feeling incredibly uplifted by re-visiting ... through his own words and voice ... his faith, integrity, dignity, decency, character, intelligence, compassion and love of country. And yet, at the same time, I sometimes feel deeply depressed, occasionally to the point of tears, because we so desperately need someone of his caliber now, and yet the pool of 'leadership' from which we will choose the next leader of the free world is filled with pretenders whose credentials are on an entirely different, inferior plane. The 'Reagan Legacy' can be seen in the absence of the Berlin wall; in the dissolution of the Soviet Union; in the feeling of dignity and pride that was pervasive in our republic during his tenure in office; in the might, capability, effectiveness, and freedom-preserving focus of the American military, which was the unflinching standard during his watch; in the unparalleled sense of economic well-being that permeated the 80's; in the resurrected life that was breathed into entrepreneurial enterprise as a result of his low-tax/hands-off economic policies; and, perhaps most importantly, in the love and esteem with which those of us who followed his leadership held him. He was an unparalleled American treasure. We have so unappreciatively squandered his accomplishments and betrayed his example. I pray that we awaken to that folly before the light from the Reagan legacy becomes too dim to rekindle. Listening to his own thoughts, spoken in his own voice, brings that fact home in a very powerful way.

THE GREAT LIBERATOR SPEAKS

In the introduction, President Reagan expresses the wish that these speeches would give the listener insight into himself as a president and a person: who he was, where he came from and what he believed. The speeches are not about policies and do not include any state of the union addresses. Almost every speech is introduced by Reagan with his reflections on the times and the issues, with his customary wit and humour. My only complaint about the CD-set is the absence of a booklet with a proper track listing. The speeches are listed on the 5 discs but in a tiny font size so that one needs a magnifying glass in order to read them. The first speech, from October 1964, in support of Barry Goldwater's candidacy, is particularly stirring. The sound is a bit crackly here but that only adds to the magic of this momentous speech. All the others are from the White House years. Here are the most memorable ones: 1981 Swearing-in ceremony/Inaugural address/Address to the nation on the state of the economy. Reagan was the first president to use a prop on TV - in this case a coin to demonstrate the effect of inflation/Address on the air traffic controllers strike, quite a powerful one. 1982 Magnificent address to the UK parliament on the values of the West and our historic role in the defence of freedom/Inauguration of the USS New Jersey/The national prayer breakfast, on spiritual renewal/Christmas day radio address. 1983 On the struggle for democracy in Central America/On the massacre of the marines in Lebanon/The magnificent Evil Empire speech/Martin Luther King Day. 1984 Hoboken, New Jersey election speech, to enthusiastic audience. Republican Convention Acceptance speech, also to enthusiastic audience/40th Anniversary of the Normandy invasion, a very stirring and uplifting one. 1985 On SDI (the Space Shield) to the political action conference. On the upcoming Geneva summit meeting with Gorbachev. 1986 Memorial service for the Challenger dead/On the Reykjavik summit/Centennial ceremony for the Statue of Liberty/Tax reform act of 1986, a breakthrough for economic growth and prosperity/Washington dinner honouring Tipp O'Neill, showing how gracefully Reagan acted towards his political opponents. 1987 Momentous speech at Brandenburg gate in Berlin on June 12th, 1987: "Tear down this wall!"/Speech honouring the heroism of ordinary people. 1988 Veterans Day Ceremony: Reagan restored the dignity and honour of Vietnam vets/Republican National Convention tribute to Nancy Reagan for her campaign against drug abuse. The last address to White House correspondents' annual dinner/Campaign speech for George H Bush in San Diego. Farewell speech on January 11th, 1989. Upon his death in 2004, the most moving tribute to Ronald Reagan appeared on the Belmont Club Blog, in the form of an old poem by Thomas Macaulay: " When the oldest cask is opened, And the largest lamp is lit; When the chestnuts glow in the embers, And the kid turns on the spit; When young and old

One for the history books

What better way to remember the Reagan legacy than by listening to Reagan's best speeches.