| The Great Communicator Vol 3: Reagan on Government & the Economy | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tape Master: | 656 | |
| Catalog #: | 494218 | |
| Clip Number: | 494218-3 | |
| Orginal Film: | ||
| Timecode: | 01:12:33 - 01:15:15 | |
| Location: | United States | |
| Year Shot: | 1983 (Actual Year) | |
| Audio: | Yes | |
| Color: | Yes | |
| Headings: | ECONOMICS: Budget GOVERNMENT: United States LOCATIONS/NORTH AMERICA: USA PERSONALITIES: Reagan, Ronald POLITICS: Political Party, USA, Republican POLITICS: Public Address (Speech) | |
| Description: | Feb 18, 1983 Excerpt from Remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference Dinner. Ronald Reagan talks about the "quiet revolution" of the early 1980's and its political philosophy. "Now, I'm the first to acknowledge that there's a good deal left unfinished on the conservative agenda. Our cleanup crew will need more than 2 years to deal with the mess left by others for over half a century. But I'm not disheartened. In fact, my attitude about that unfinished agenda isn't very different from that expressed in an anecdote about one of my favorite Presidents, Calvin Coolidge. [Laughter] Some of you may know that after Cal Coolidge was introduced to the sport of fishing by his Secret Service detail, it got to be quite a passion with him, if you can use that word about ``Silent Cal.'' [Laughter] Anyway, he was once asked by reporters how many fish were in one of his favorite angling places, the River Brule. And Coolidge said the waters were estimated to carry 45,000 trout. And then he said, ``I haven't caught them all yet, but I sure have intimidated them.'' [Laughter] Well, it's true we haven't brought about every change important to the conscience of a conservative, but we conservatives can take a great deal of honest pride in what we have achieved." edit "... our political philosophy is at the heart of the new political consensus that emerged in America at the beginning of this decade, one that I believe all -- well, I believe it will dominate American politics for many decades. The economic disasters brought about by too much government were the catalysts for this consensus. During the seventies, the American people began to see misdirected, overgrown government as the source of many of our social problems - not the solution. This new consensus has a view of government that's essentially that of our Founding Fathers - that government is the servant, not the master; that it was meant to maintain order, to protect our nation's safety, but otherwise, in the words of that noted political philosopher, schnozzle Jimmy Durante, ``Don't put no constrictions on da people. Leave 'em da heck alone.'' [Laughter] The overriding goal during the past 2 years has been to give the government back to the American people, to make it responsive again to their wishes and desires, to do more than bring about a healthy economy or a growing gross national product. We've truly brought about a quiet revolution in American Government." | |
WPA FILM LIBRARY
