Verwandte Artikel zu Dear Americans: Letters from the Desk of President...

Dear Americans: Letters from the Desk of President Ronald Reagan: Letters from the Desk of Ronald Reagan - Hardcover

Reagan, Ronald

 
9780385507561: Dear Americans: Letters from the Desk of President Ronald Reagan: Letters from the Desk of Ronald Reagan
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0385507569 ISBN 13: 9780385507561
Verlag: Random House USA Inc, 2003

Inhaltsangabe

Organized chronologically to parallel the political, social, and cultural history of the 1980s, this collection of handwritten letters from Ronald Reagan to his constituents during his eight years in the White House shares the former president's political convictions, religious beliefs, and human concerns as he responds to citizens from all walks of life.

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

RALPH E. WEBER is the author of twelve books, including Voices of Revolution and From the Foreign Press. Until his recent retirement, Weber was a professor of modern American military and intelligence history at Marquette University. He is also a veteran of World War II, having served in the U.S. Naval Air Corps. He lives in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Coeditor RALPH A. WEBER is his son.

Aus dem Klappentext

Ronald Reagan s Handwriting File contains an archive of thousands of handwritten missives from the president to his constituents, written throughout his eight years in office. Historian Ralph E. Weber and his son have selected the highlights from this treasure trove, creating a uniquely intimate portrait of Reagan at work.

A fascinating glimpse at the issues facing the United States during the 1980s, Dear Americans is arranged chronologically to trace history in the making. Taking time each week to respond to dozens of Americans who asked him about a tremendous range of issues, Reagan delivered sensitive, eloquent messages to senior citizens worried about the Social Security program s solvency, angry critics of the Star Wars missile defense program, parents of soldiers killed in Lebanon, and children inquiring about details of presidential life. Not all of the recipients were strangers; Dear Americans also features correspondence with close friends of Reagan, both famous and obscure.

Written in a down-to-earth, often gently humorous tone, the letters featured in Dear Americans reveal much about this president s unshakable political convictions, religious faith, and concern for humanity. In the bestselling tradition of When Character Was King and I Love You, Ronnie, this compulsively readable collection will be on thousands of wish lists this holiday season.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

1981

Let me say I'm very lucky and the Lord really had his hand on my shoulder. Literally, a sequence of minor miracles strung together to help me have a recovery that is complete . . .

Letter of June 15, 1981

On Tuesday morning, January 20, 1981, in a sun-filled ceremony on the west side of the Capitol, Chief Justice Warren E. Berger swore in Ronald Reagan as the fortieth President of the United States. Nancy Reagan held the Bible used formerly by the President's mother, Nelle. Wearing a charcoal-gray coat, striped trousers, gray vest and tie, Reagan, called by some columnists the "Cowboy Hero," became at age sixty-nine the oldest man to assume the presidency. Thousands of invited guests, including columnist William F. Buckley, Jr., and singer Pat Boone, along with 150,000 citizens witnessed the start of the Reagan presidency and joined in singing "America the Beautiful."

Brimming with optimism, the Reagans welcomed the opportunity to begin an era of national renewal and religious dedication. Earlier that morning they had gone to St. John's Episcopal Church near Lafayette Square and listened to sermons by the Reverend Donn Moomaw, their pastor at the Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, and another favorite minister, the Reverend Billy Graham.

Time magazine's "Man of the Year" entered the presidency at a time of intense national frustration. For fourteen months, American hostages (President Reagan called them prisoners of war) had been held in Iran; the American economy was depressed and unstable, with high unemployment, numerous business bankruptcies, and a national debt exceeding $900 billion and climbing. Reagan enjoyed the boost in national optimism soon after his inauguration when the Iran hostages were released.

During the first ten weeks of his presidency, Reagan began deciphering the codes and intricacies of Washington's power structure. He told Time reporter Laurence I. Barrett in early February that White House business was not that much different from Sacramento's business. Maybe his early estimate was a hope rather than a reality, for the President had not yet experienced many of the complex machinations in the district. He also told Barrett he did not have a moment for pleasure reading, that he dreaded the uproar of complaints about budget cuts, and that he found that complex issues had positive values on both sides.

Each weekday morning he went to the Oval Office at 9 a.m. and gave his secretary, Helene van Damm, a folder of papers he had read and signed the night before. During Cabinet Room meetings, with treasury secretary Donald Regan and budget director David Stockman, he discussed various ways to lower federal spending and methods for reducing taxes. Other Oval Office meetings with National Security Advisor Richard Allen, White House Counsel Edwin Meese, and Chief of Staff James Baker, reporters, and occasionally foreign ministers filled the afternoons until 5 p.m.

During the early months of his administration, Reagan answered many of the letters from correspondents with a recording machine rather than handwritten letters. In the twelve months after mid-February 1981, he filled twenty-five minicassettes. As the year unfolded he gradually shifted to handwritten replies. He had various staff members, such as Mike Deaver, Deputy Chief of Staff, check complex questions posed by writers and also answer ordinary requests and invitations. Reagan's dictated replies during the early months thanked writers for their encouragement and support: the President's favorite phrase was "your letter brightened the day for many of us." To his friend and astute columnist Lieutenant General Victor "Brute" Krulak, Reagan dictated that he was battling those who forget the last forty years and seem to think that all troubles came about in the last four months. Moreover, he promised the general that he would not whittle back defense and would fight to the "last pop gun" before giving in: "In fact, I won't give in. They'll have to do it over my carcass if that's possible." To another writer he replied that the President did not cause inflation, it was started by Washington, D.C. And the person who sent a shamrock from County Tipperary received a grateful dictated acknowledgment.

As in every first One Hundred Days, Washington welcomed the new President; and he, like his predecessors, basked in the friendly reception. An astute politician, Reagan quickly selected the right invitations. In late January, on a Saturday afternoon, he went to the Alibi Club on I Street and visited with fifty of the district's power brokers. That evening he joined six hundred members of the Alfalfa Club, and after speeches by Senator John Glenn and Henry Kissinger, he spoke briefly and included jokes about his age. In his first press conference on January 29, he promised to lower the inflation rate, set a sixty-day freeze on government regulations, restrict federal hiring, and to eliminate all price controls on domestic oil. On national television on February 5, he spoke to the nation about the economy, announcing sobering numbers: 7 million persons unemployed; double-digit inflation back to back for the first time since World War I; a national debt of $934 billion. He predicted that unless taxes and spending were reduced, the nation faced a huge economic calamity.

On February 18, in his State of the Union Address to Congress, Reagan spoke for thirty-four minutes about his economic program and called for $467 billion less federal spending together with $709 billion in reduced taxes. He believed the federal government must make over $41 billion worth of budget cuts in fiscal 1982 and $123.8 billion in cuts by fiscal 1986. His blueprint for economic recovery numbered 281 pages; only defense spending escaped cuts; rather, it would be increased. Eighty-three federal programs would have their budgets reduced; states and cities would have more control over federal allotments. Although his remarks were greeted with numerous standing ovations, critics soon tore into his speech. Eighteen members of the Congressional Black Caucus accused the administration of making the poor "hungrier, colder, and sicker." Democrat congressman Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts promised "We're not going to let him tear asunder programs we've built." Congressional and public debates quickly focused on Reagan's national renewal program: A Washington Post survey reported in early March that Americans favored the program to cut taxes and slash the budget three to one. Although those statistics encouraged the President, difficult months lay ahead.

Also during these first months, Reagan welcomed to Washington Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from Great Britain, Foreign Minister Jean Francois-Poncet from France, and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir from Israel. Thatcher became his favorite foreign leader, and she, along with her husband, Denis, were guests of honor at the first State Dinner during the Reagan presidency. The Soviet threat continued as the primary foreign policy issue. On the day of Reagan's inauguration, Leonid Brezhnev, president of the Soviet Union, in a broadcast over Moscow Radio, called for improved relations between the Soviet Union and America. However, in an early February press conference, Reagan said he knew of no Soviet leader since the Russian Revolution who did not pursue the goal of world revolution. Moreover, the Soviet leaders lie, cheat, and commit any crime during their pursuit. Despite Reagan's rhetoric, in a speech to the Soviet Communist Party Congress several weeks later, Brezhnev suggested a summit meeting between Reagan and himself. He also expressed a willingness to talk about arms control and about notifications by Warsaw Pact countries and North Atlantic Treaty countries on military maneuvers and troop...

„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Verlag
Random House USA Inc
Erscheinungsdatum
2003
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0385507569
ISBN 13 
9780385507561
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Auflage
1
Anzahl der Seiten
372
Herausgeber
Weber Ralph Edward
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar