Ronald Reagan
40th President Celebrates 91st Birthday

Mr. Speaker:

To aver that Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of my lifetime is rather to damn by faint praise. Ronald Reagan brought to the Presidency a vision of America as a freer, stronger, more confident place, a shining city on a hill, an example for the rest of the world, and be effectively changed things for the better. No other President in the last half of the twentieth century can make even a pretense to such a claim.

Dwight Eisenhower's accomplishments – peace and prosperity – should not be minimized, but he seemingly lacked a vision or the means to bring it to reality. Jimmy Carter was clueless; Gerald Ford an accident; Bush I lacked a rudder. Richard Nixon gave us horrible domestic policy, bloated government, and resigned in disgrace; Bill Clinton did the same – except the resignation part – but for a man without honor or shame, that's hardly surprising. Lyndon Johnson possessed both a vision and the ability to make it reality, but that vision was a nightmare, which brought us defeat abroad and economic disaster at home.

Only John Kennedy claims fairly to reach Reagan's level. Kennedy's tax policies were visionary, and helped created an economic boom. He understood the necessity for a strong military to defend freedom, an understanding too few in his party shared. He helped establish the space program, one of American government's most notable achievements. And he understood the role of the President as a leader. His oratory was often superb. Unfortunately, his administration was cut down before it had the opportunity to fully blossom.

Often, even the greatest American presidencies are shaped by events. Lincoln, for instance, owes much of his greatness to the challenges that he was compelled to confront. Reagan, by contrast, was less shaped by events than a shaper of them. Confronted by economic stagnation created by years of economically illiterate governmental policy, Reagan reworked tax policy and created the longest economic boom in American history, to which so many others have falsely laid claim. Facing an entity which well deserved the moniker "evil empire", he met it with strength and resolve, resulting in its eventual consignment to the ash heap of history, and bringing freedom to billions of oppressed souls worldwide.

Ronald Reagan approached the Presidency with awe and with respect. He led the nation with unimpeachable honor. He brought us unparalleled economic prosperity and helped end tyranny around the world. He called upon us to be part of something greater than ourselves. He made us proud to be Americans and proud of our President.

Mr. Speaker, I join with The Republican Leader in extending best wishes from this House to President Reagan on the occasion of his 91st birthday.