A Reagan Forum Podcast

Looking Forward: Implications of President Reagan’s Peace Through Strength Policies Today

President Reagan hated war. He wanted to prevent war. And in the event he ever had to use force, it would be to advance freedom – and not to conquer. President Reagan sought peace, and he understood that peace requires strength. It is strength that tyrants respect. It is strength that enemies understand. It is strength that keeps the peace. As a guiding philosophy, “Peace Through Strength” is as relevant today as it was 40 years ago. In this Reagan Forum podcast we look back at our 80th anniversary of D-Day commemoration event held on June 6, 2024. The specific panel in this podcast focuses on where we need our leaders to rediscover and recommit to President Reagan’s philosophy. The Wall Street Journal’s Kate Bachelder Odell moderated a conversation with Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Burt, who was with Ronald Reagan in Normandy, Frank Lavin, who served as Ronald Reagan’s White House Director of Political Affairs—and later served as ambassador to Singapore under President George W. Bush, and Matt Kroenig, who is Vice President and Senior Director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a Georgetown professor.

Looking Back: D-Day and President Reagan’s 1984 Speech

It was June 6, 1984. President Reagan delivered two speeches that day to honor the 40th anniversary of D-Day. People forget that there were two speeches. Of course, there’s the “Pointe du Hoc” speech, and then his other remarks at Omaha Beach. There, he honored those who fought, those who died and those who returned. Lisa Zanatta Henn was there that day in 1984, keeping a promise she made to her father, and she joined us at the Reagan Library on June 6, 1984 to honor the 80th anniversary of D-Day. She sat on a panel alongside Jim Kuhn, Assistant to the President in the Reagan White House, who was in Normandy in June of ‘84. They were also joined by Cameron Toor, a recent veteran of the U.S. Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment. They were joined on stage in conversation with presidential historian, bestselling author and Rice University Professor Douglas Brinkley.

Fireside Chat with Dr. Condoleezza Rice

Last month we shared with you our two panels and our one Keynote Fireside Chat as part of our June 5, 2024 event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passing of President Ronald Reagan. This month we turn to our panels and Keynote Fireside Chat that were held at the Reagan Library on June 6, 2024, on the day the country and the world commemorated the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. This occasion was marked brilliantly by President Reagan 40 years ago on that day in 1984 when he delivered two memorable and moving speeches, one of which highlighted the selfless and heroic actions of the “boys of Pointe du Hoc.” During our programs, we heard from people who were with President Reagan in France that day, as well as discussion around President Reagan’s steadfast support of our allies and the “Peace Through Strength” policy he championed. Our day ended with a lively and fascinating conversation with Dr. Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State and now Director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. It is this conversation with Dr. Rice we will cover in today’s Reagan Forum podcast. During this hour-long discussion, Dr. Rice sat down in conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Board Chairman Fred Ryan. The two discussed the importance of looking back at D-Day, our nation’s military today, the political environment of today, including the wars in Ukraine and Israel and the threat Taiwan faces from China, the importance of bi-partisanship and working with Allied Nations, and so much more.

Fireside Chat with Ben Mulroney and Carol Thatcher

As we have been sharing with you all month, we gathered at the Reagan Library on June 5, 2024, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passing of President Reagan.  The day was a meaningful opportunity to reflect on our 40th President’s legacy and its enduring impact to this day and beyond.  We began with a special ceremony to honor this 20-year milestone.  From there, we heard from many who served in the Reagan Administration, discussing both his domestic and foreign policies, and how they continue to shape the world.  We concluded the day with a special after dinner conversation with Peggy Noonan and the children of two of President Reagan’s closest friends and allies on the world stage, Margaret Thatcher and Brian Mulroney. In today’s Reagan Forum Podcast we focus on our keynote fireside chat.  When talking about President Reagan’s legacy, it is impossible to not intertwine it with his allies and his friends. Including former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.  Three greats who are now gone. Gone—and missed more than ever, as the world longs for their unique brand of decisive, principled leadership. In our final reflection on the life, death and legacy of President Ronald Reagan, we were so deeply honored that two children of these leaders agreed to be a part of our program.  In our keynote fireside chat, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Peggy Noonan sat down in conversation with Carol Thatcher and Ben Mulroney. No one else could possibly offer a perspective like theirs on two of President Reagan’s greatest allies.

Leadership Abroad: Peace Through Strength

As we shared with you last week, we gathered at the Reagan Library on June 5, 2024, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passing of President Reagan. The day was a meaningful opportunity to reflect on our 40th President’s legacy and its enduring impact to this day and beyond. In a CBS piece that aired the night of President Reagan’s death, Leslie Stahl concluded, quote, “Ending the Cold War will certainly be how he is remembered most in history.” If that was President Reagan’s crowning foreign policy achievement, then Peace Through Strength was his most important guiding philosophy. As such, in today’s Reagan Forum Podcast we focus on the second panel from our June 5th event – Leadership Abroad: Peace Through Strength. The panel was moderated by Fox News’s Guy Benson.  He sat down in discussion with Former UN Ambassador and President Reagan’s Arms Control Director Ken Adelman, who is also the author of Reagan at Reykjavik, Paula Dobriansky, who served as director of European and Soviet Affairs on the Reagan National Security Council, Professor William Inboden, now of the University of Florida, the author of The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink, and KT McFarland, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor in the Reagan White House. During the hour-long panel, they discussed President Reagan’s legacy, if we are still heeding his example, and how his Peace Through Strength Initiatives still impact us today.

Leadership at Home: Morning in America

We gathered at the Reagan Library on June 5, 2024, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passing of President Reagan. The day was a meaningful opportunity to reflect on our 40th President’s legacy and its enduring impact to this day and beyond. In today’s Reagan Forum Podcast, we focus on the first panel from our June 5th event – Leadership at Home: Morning in America. The panel was moderated by veteran journalist Ann Compton – who covered President Reagan at the White House. She sat down in discussion with Andy Card who served as Special Assistant to President Reagan and, of course, later as Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, Influential economist Dr. Art Laffer who served as a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board, and Stephen Moore, the widely read economic advisor and commentator, who served in the Reagan administration Office of Management and Budget. During the hour-long panel, they discussed President Reagan and his economic policies, how they impacted America in the 1980s, and how they’re still relevant today.

Carlos Lozada

On May 29, 2024, the Reagan Foundation hosted a virtual event with Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Carlos Lozada for a discussion of his latest book, The Washington Book, which explores how people in power reveal themselves through their books and writings and, in so doing, illuminates the personal, political, and cultural conflicts driving Washington and the nation. It explores the construction of personal identity, the delusions of leadership, and that mix of subservience and ambition that can define a life in politics. During the program, Carlos sat down in conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Giller.

Memorial Day 2024

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we present our Memorial Day Commemoration held at the Reagan Library just three days ago.  Each year the Reagan Library holds a special program that honors the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. This year, we were honored to have as our keynote Michael Blassie’s sister, United States Air Force Colonel Patricia Blassie (retired). Our program also included a flyover, a Color Guard, live music, and remarks by Gold Star Family Member Tony Cordero.

Ed O’Keefe

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we present Ed O’Keefe, the CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation, for his latest book, The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President. During this virtual event, Ed sat down in conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Chief Education and Program Officer Richard Schroeder to discuss his book.

Anita McBride, Diana Carlin, and Nancy Kegan Smith

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we present three co-authors – Anita McBride, Diana Carlin, and Nancy Kegan Smith – who joined us at the Reagan Library on May 8, 2024, to discuss their new book, Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women. The discussion surrounded their groundbreaking book, showcasing the evolutionary role of the First Lady and its historical importance in the American presidency. They shine a light on the influential women who broke barriers and made a mark on our country and, at times, our world, during their tenures in the White House. Anita McBride's White House service spans two decades and three presidential administrations. She served as director of White House Personnel under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and as director of the U.S. Speaker's Bureau at the United States Information Agency. She then served as assistant to President George W. Bush and chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush. Diana Carlin co-founded the First Ladies Association for Research and Education. Nancy Kegan Smith is the retired Director of the Presidential Materials Division at the National Archives and Records Administration. She is vice president of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education. During their visit, the three co-authors sat down with the Reagan Foundation and Institute President and CEO Dave Trulio to discuss their book.