Ronald Wilson Reagan (search), the 40th president of the United States, died today at his home in California. He was 93 years old and had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Reagan, known as "The Great Communicator," was elected to office in a landslide victory over incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1980 and is credited with revitalizing the country's stagnant economy and forcing the end of the Cold War (search) during his two terms in office from 1981 to 1989.
His charismatic personality and staunch conservatism led the nation in a Republican resurgence that kept the GOP in the White House for 12 years.
Reagan remained largely out of public view since announcing he had Alzheimer's disease (search) in November 1994. He came to symbolize Alzheimer's, which has no cure, during the last decade of his life. Reagan turned the disclosure of his disease as an opportunity to make a final address to the nation, expressing in an open letter to the American people the same patriotic fervor that had catapulted him into the presidency.
"When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future," Reagan wrote at the time. "I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead."
Here is to the "Gipper" *Hoists a glass*
Sudden power is apt to be insolent, sudden liberty saucy; that behaves best which has grown gradually.
"I'm personally against seeing my pictures and statues in the streets - but it's what the people want." - Saparmurat Niyazov
"I'm not good in groups. It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent." - Q
HAB Military Intelligence: Providing sexed-up dodgy dossiers for illegal invasions since 2003.
Today, we mourn the passing of one of the last giants of the 20th
century. The first two were FDR and Churchill.
The last two were Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Together, they
won the Cold War, and dismantled the Evil Empire.
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
I'm studying for the CPA exam. Have a nice summer, and if you're down just sit back and realize that Joe is off somewhere, doing much worse than you are.
Here lies the worst king and most miserable man in the kingdom.
---Gravestone of King John of England
Despite all the things he may have done, no man deserves to die like this. Not knowing who he is, retreating into a sleep filled with monsters. We will destroy this affliction someday; someday soon.
Jin Wicked wrote:Was bloody Scrooge McDuck a goth, too? Did he ever write bad poetry in his basement with the Monopoly Guy?
"Go directly to jail. Do not pass 'Go'. Do not collect two hundred dollars."
"Life is pain."
-DanielSBen
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"Certain death, small chance of sucess, what are we waiting for?" Gimli, son of Gloin
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"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." - Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
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"If your lies are going to be this transparent, this is going to be a very short interrogation" -- Kira
"Then I'll try to make my lies more opaque..." -- Gul Darhe'el (DS9: Duet)
'After 9/11, it was "You're with us or your with the terrorists." Now its "You're with Straha or you support racism."' ' - The Romulan Republic
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
Today is not a sad day. It is a day of joy and happiness. It is day to fondly remember the life and times of this great man. We, remember hoiw passionite he was on various issues. When he told the American people he was going to do something, they believed him and he acted out what he was going to do. It was this conviction that brought tax relief to millions of Americans. It was this conviction that brought down the USSR through an arms race. It was this conviction that brought America from the depressing 1970's. We remember hapily as he brought out the old stories of the golden streets of America cities, the land of prosperity. These stories comforted Americans who had forgotten the whole concept of the American Dream.
We do not mourn for the Former President. We celebrate his life.
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."
To The Gipper, the man who was elected President a day after I was born, the most personable and likable President in recent memory, and a man who did not deserve to die this way. It is for the better that he has found freedom from his pain and confusion. Salud.
To Absent Friends
Dalton | Admin Smash | Knight of the Order of SDN
"y = mx + bro" - Surlethe
"You try THAT shit again, kid, and I will mod you. I will
mod you so hard, you'll wish I were Dalton." - Lagmonster
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'