A Reagan Forum Podcast

Matt Gaetz

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we bring you Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who joined us in a virtual conversation on October 27, 2020. Matt Gaetz is currently serving his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. His work in Congress focuses on national security, veterans’ affairs, and adherence to constitutional principles. During today’s conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Executive Director John Heubusch, Congressman Gaetz discusses his new book, “Firebrand,” a book he is quoted as saying is “your invitation to the front lines of our fight.”  He goes on to say, “This is not my chronological diary. You can watch me on television for that. This is how we prevail with joy—and exactly how an exciting president is leading the way against all odds.” Let’s listen.

Fred Ryan

During the virtual conversation, we discussed a brand-new book published by the White House Historical Society called, Wine and the White House: A History.  The first book of its kind, Wine and the White House is a comprehensive journey through the history of White House hospitality that explores every president’s experience of wine. The fully illustrated pages also feature memorable presidential toasts, menus from historic White House gatherings, a catalog of vintages served, and spectacular new photography of the White House glassware collection. Early presidents recognized the important function wine played in entertaining at the White House. While some appreciated and enjoyed wine, others considered it merely a ceremonial necessity. Still, others campaigned to outlaw wine and banned it from the White House; their successors celebrated its return. More recently, all presidents, regardless of whether they enjoyed wine themselves, have used the White House as a venue to showcase the fine wines produced in the United States. Today’s conversation was between the Reagan Foundation and Institute Executive Director John Heubusch, and the book’s author, Fred Ryan, who served as President Reagan’s Assistant to the President from 1982 to 1989 and as his post-presidential Chief of Staff from 1989 until 1995. Let’s listen.

H.R McMaster

LtGen McMaster was the 26th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018. He is currently the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. During today’s conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Executive Director John Heubusch, HR McMaster discusses his brand-new book, “Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free world” which is a bold and provocative re-examination of the most critical foreign policy and national security challenges that face the United States, and an urgent call to compete to preserve America’s standing and security. Let’s listen.

Sean Spicer

Sean Spicer is a lifelong Republican. His role in reshaping the Republican National Committee’s PR strategy helped the party rebuild after losses in 2012. He implemented his same strategies in 2014 and lead the party to sweeping victories. In 2016 prior to the must-see Republican primary debates, Sean worked on behalf of the party to restructure debate formats creating more informative and fair debates. Sean’s efforts as the RNC’s Chief Strategist and Communications Director landed him a spot in PR Week’s Power 15 list for 2016. During today’s conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Executive Director John Heubusch, Sean Spicer discussed his brand-new book, “Leading America,” which examines the upwards battle conservatives have to face from the media, Hollywood, academia, and big tech. Let’s listen.

Peter Baker and Susan Glasser

New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker and New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser has written an unmatched case study in the acquisition, exercise, and preservation of power told through an account of one of the most significant and influential leaders in modern American government never to serve as president of the United States in their new book, The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker, III.   The book is the byproduct of more than two hundred interviews with sources including three former presidents, two former vice presidents, and a variety of former secretaries of state. James Baker has provided significant access to himself and his family members, along with never-before-revealed documents, memos, diaries, and letters. During today’s conversation with Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute executive director John Heubusch, Peter and Susan discuss the man who ran Washington. Let’s listen.

Matt Pottinger

Matt Pottinger currently serves as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor under Donald Trump. He was the Senior Director for Asia in the Trump Administration since January 2017. In that role, Mr. Pottinger advised the President on Northeast and Southeast Asia, and coordinated U.S. policy for the region. Mr. Pottinger lived and worked in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China from 1997-2005, reporting for Reuters and The Wall Street Journal. He then joined the US Marines, at age 32, with active duty in Japan and three combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, followed by reserve duty at the Pentagon and the Defense Intelligence Agency. In a 2005 essay in the Wall Street Journal about his career change from journalism to the military, he said, “living in China … shows you what a nondemocratic country can do to its citizens.  I’m not an uncritical, rah-rah American.  Living abroad has sharpened my view of what’s wrong with my country, too.  It’s obvious that we need to reinvent ourselves in various ways, but we should also be allowed to do it from within, not according to someone else’s’ dictates.” During today’s conversation with Reagan Institute director Roger Zakheim, Mr. Pottinger discusses the increasingly tense US – china relationship.

Gerald Seib

Gerald Seib is the executive Washington Editor of the Wall Street Journal.  He joined the Dallas bureau of the WSJ as a reporter in 1978 and transferred to the DC bureau in 1980.  He covered the Ronald Reagan White House in 1987 and 1988 and won the Aldo Beckman award for coverage of the White House and the presidency.  Mr. Seib was also part of the team from the Wall Street Journal that won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in the breaking news category for its coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks. On August 25, 2020, Gerald Seib’s book, “We Should Have Seen It Coming; From Reagan to Trump – a Front Row Seat to a Political Revolution” was published.  The book chronicles the rise, climax, and decline of one of the great political movements in American history—the forty-year reign of the conservative movement, from the election of Ronald Reagan to the Republican Party's takeover by Donald Trump During today’s conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute executive director, John Heubusch, Gerald Seib discusses his book, which Rahm Emanuel calls a “thoughtful analysis of the recent historical trends that led us to today.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

During today’s conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Executive Director John Heubusch, Sarah Huckabee Sanders discusses her new memoir, “Speaking for Myself: Faith, Freedom and the Fight of Our Lives Inside the Trump White House,” a book she summaries as the story of her challenges of being a working mom at the highest level of American politics, and her role in the historic fight raging between the Trump administration and its critics for the future of our country.” Let’s listen.

Dr. Jamel Wright

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we bring you Dr. Jamel Wright, who joined us in a virtual conversation on September 4, 2020.Dr. Jamel Wright is the 27th President of Eureka College, Ronald Reagan’s alma mater. She is also the first woman and African American to lead the 165-year-old institution. Dr. Wright has led the effort to update Eureka College’s strategic plan, enhance communications, overhaul the Title IX policy and processes on sexual discrimination, work collaboratively with human resources to examine and refine hiring practices and establish strategic community partnerships. During the virtual conversation with Ronald Reagan Institute Director of Learning and Leadership, Janet Tran, Dr. Wright discusses President Reagan’s formative years at Eureka, President Reagan’s early advocacy for racial equality, and the challenges posed by COVID19 to higher education.

Sean Hannity

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we present bestselling author and Fox News Host Sean Hannity who joined us in a virtual conversation on August 5, 2020.  This was a long-awaited event for us, as his last visit was in 2010 when he launched his previous book, “Conservative Victory.” Let's Listen.