Ronald Reagan’s Speech: “Tear Down this Wall” James Mason Speech 219 Prof. Dr. Bourdeau Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University February 4, 2013 I believe one of the greatest speakers in the last 40 years was our former President, Mr. Ronald Reagan. I think he was one of the best public speakers to ever take the office president of the United States in the past 50 years. President Reagan was a former Hollywood actor. I believe he used these skills as an actor to orate some of the most emotionally moving speeches in the last century. His public speaking abilities have even coined him the name: ‘The Great Communicator’.
11, 2001: "We will stay on the offense against the terrorists, fighting them abroad so we do not have to face them here at home." Former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle believes the message sends a mixed signal. "It's certainly true the president has not succeeded in inspiring the belief that we face an existential threat," says Perle. "The problem with the term 'war on terrorism' is it leaves the enemy ill defined." A few weeks ago, one of the president's advisors told NPR that Mr. Bush never wanted to burden the public with the war; that, in his mind, he was hired by the American people to do the job on their behalf.
Nixon became the first president who was forced to resign and became one of the most of controversial presidents in United States history. Nobody can deny the damage of the Water Gate scandal, even the former president himself. At his the final interview with British journalist, David Frost, Nixon apologized and said that he “betrayed the American people and let American people down” (Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”, London, 2006). However, history and Americans will still remember former president Nixon and give him a fair evaluation for his contribution to the United States, and the world peace and
I thought him to be a great president, but wasn’t completely sure why. I never could have imagined the things he did for our country. He knew it was inevitable that we would be drawn into war, but instead of pressing Congress to enter war, he let the war come to us. Something most leaders would never consider. I have the utmost respect for FDR for the way he handled his disability.
At the top of my bottom five I would have to put George W. Bush in the number one slot. Although he was faced with the overwhelming task of the Iraq war, he did not prove himself to a leader. He was very under spoken and in my opinion made very poor decision in leading our country out of war and lead us instead into a recession. [ (Dye, L. Tucker Gibson, & Robison, 2011) ] The Watergate Scandal definitely places Richard Nixon on the bottom for me. If you cannot trust and believe in the good of a person how are you to entrust the life of the Nation in one’s hands!
It is hard to imagine what condition the country would be in if any other man had been president following Nixon. Henry Kissinger was Nixon’s Secretary of State and one of the two officials that President Ford kept in his administration. In his opinion, Ford “saved the country. In fact, he saved it in such a matter of face way that he isn’t given any credit for it.” The public was so focused on finding the negative in each move Ford made that the positive results went unnoticed until years later. As a nation, we are incredibly lucky that at such a critical time, President Ford served as our president, and it is a shame such a great leader was not given the appreciation or acknowledgement for his indispensable contributions to this country when it was
I’ve been president twice now, and I didn’t want to do it either time. I tried to quit the first time, but the country was in trouble and every single person around me begged me to stay on. I’m glad to say we’re pretty much in the clear now and I can get out of here without getting screamed at or letting things fall apart completely. I told you when I started what I thought of the job. All I’m going to say is that I did my best to set up the government right, but the more I do this the more I realize how dumb I am, and so maybe it’s okay if I let someone else take over.
In America the role of the government is to protect its people and be a big brother. In this case the government did the exact opposite and betrayed its people to the point of killing people. Back in the early 50’s and late 50’s the government was very arrogant and thought they could do what they wanted when in reality that is not true. The people of the 50’s also had little to no advocacy (people that watch out for people) and there were no Watch Dog groups or groups of people that did not allow the government to harm its citizens. The only reason the government would do something of his nature was for the effects, for example when the government would test their nuclear weapons in the desert they would send soldiers into the desert
President George Washington emphatically stated that,” we should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the promise of profiting by dearly bought experiences.” Many doubted his greatness but his impact on the United States of America remains paramount. Winning the War for American Independence, being the first president and shaping the way the Constitution was written, were all attributes of the “Father Of this Nation”, President George Washington. From his youth he lived by his belief that “Knowledge is Power” and he was not afraid to let the world know that God is an important part of everything we do. He was an advocate for justice and freedom. The little details in his life predicted his behavior in loftier and more difficult situations presented to him.
We have also come to learn that by killing one man, we don’t get rid of the ideas that he had. They just become translated to someone else. John Wilkes Booth planned out Lincoln’s death so meticulously and was careful not to make any mistakes (even though he broke his leg jumping off the balcony), making this the first successful presidential assassination in history; and by successful I don't mean it occurred for a good reason or had a positive effect, successful is meaning that the goal was met, to assassinate the president, and that is all. The reason this assassination is one of the most famous assassinations in history is because it was the first time any human being successfully shot and killed the leader of this country. Because of his death, many people haven’t felt the same way about politics since.