reagan. she was in the white house from 1981 to 1989. she died in march of 2016 at the age of 94. also speaking at the event is and peterson, nancy reagan's niece. this runs about 15 minutes. [applause] >> thank you, thank you. thank you, dr. jill biden, first lady of the u.s. for hosting us today. it is a tremendous honor to be here with all of you. i have a privilege of announcing the united states postal service will issue postmeal commemorating the life of nancy reagan. the postal service seeks to commemorate and celebrate the very best of america. and nancy reagan truly represents that idea. mrs. reagan will be the sixth first lady honored with a u.s. postage stamp. the others were issued for martha washington, the first woman ever featured on a postage stamp, dolley madison, abigail adams, ellenanore roosevelt. and lady bird johnson. nancy reagan was a inspiring -- was an inspiring individual. she was an important part of the 20th centuries as a wife, champion, and trusted advisor to ou

. >> reagan and i did talk about it.rred near downtown where reagan worked, just be careful. apparently, i think everybody was pretty certain that it was one individual that was creating this havoc around town. >> now, in his fog of grief, reagan's father didn't make any connections between the attacks and his daughter's death. but one of the victims did. >> as soon as they announced that reagan tokes was missing and they found her body, you know, a friend called me and said, "this is too coincidental, it's all within a 3-mile radius. i guarantee you that that individual that had murdered reagan tokes is somehow connected to your case." >> were they connected? the attacks happened miles away from where reagan's body was found, in a different police district, so maybe not. lieutenant davidson had been on reagan's case nonstop for more than 30 hours when he thought about getting some rest. he'd barely been home when his phone rang at 10:30. one of his detectives was on the line. >> he had received a phone call from the dna

ronald reagan from 1989 to 1995. please welcome fred ronald. >> thank you, postmaster. i have a feeling someone is looking over my shoulder and it would not be the first time. it is a pleasure to be able to join this morning to pay tribute to a remarkable woman and a truly great american. 38 years ago today, on a whim in france, president reagan presented one of his best-known speeches. what inspired the great coverage of a d-day, was for virtues, faith, belief, loyalty and love. third were also the virtues that inspired the woman who stood by his side that day and who we honor on this day, nancy reagan. these qualities make nancy reagan and extraordinary first lady, a role she helped to redefine. to brought to the position her warmth, which, sense of style. she developed -- to work behind the scenes to get things done in washington. while her husband was busy at work rebuilding america's economy, strengthening our defenses and promoting freedom around the world, misses reagan was a confidant and a central partner. a

reagan. the former first lady was in the white house from 1981 to 1989. she died at the age of 94. also speaking at the event's and peterson, nancy reagan's niece. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you, doctor jill biden, first lady of the united states. i have the privilege of announcing to the united states postal service will issue a first-class mail an average postage stamp commemorating the life of first lady nancy reagan. the postal service seeks to itcommemorate and celebrate the very best of america and nancy reagan truly represents that idea. missus reagan will be the sixth first lady honored with a new u.s. postage stamp. the previous were issued for martha washington, the first american woman ever featured on the postal stamp. dolley madison, abigail adams, eleanor roosevelt and lady bird johnson. nancy reagan was an inspiring individual. she was an important part of one of the most pivotal presidencies, champion and a trusted advisor to the 40th president of the

i'm roger, director of the reagan institute. as you probably know, they instituted some of the reagan foundation washington, d.c. just across from lafayette park from the white house. in about a week or so ago we had our grand opening, so we are 100% ready for every single one of you to visit us in washington, d.c. as is our tradition at the library, in honor of our men and women who defend our freedom around the world, please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. you may be seated. now before we get started, there are a few people in the audience i would like to recognize. first, max jacobs, former federal prosecutor at hold on -- welcome the city council members from the county of ventura, thank you for being here this evening. i want to recognize the executive director of the ronald reagan presidential foundation institute, my boss,

reagan. and there is the president of the united states ronald reagan and his wife nancy. the president is being greeted this morning by. as i stated the us ambassador to west berlin or west germany richard burt. he is joined in his greeting with by governing mayor eberhart. deepkin mrs. deepkin mrs. bert is also here major general john h, mitchell the us commandant amber lynn is among the welcoming party as is major general paul cavaro the french commandant. and his wife madeline major general patrick brooking the united. kingdom commandant mr. peter reps the president of the house of representatives of the city of berlin from lisa lot beggar the state secretary of the federal republic of germany and colonel lonnie r. spivey the temple hope airport commander. the president and his wife as you can see are going through the reception line right now. it is a beautiful day by the way out here at tcathe temperature m a little bit overcast. which of course makes things much more comfortable for th

reagan onto the dias. the crowd is standing quietly and anticipation of the arrival of mayor deacon chancellor cole and president reagan as the battle scarred brandenburg gate stands in the background the backdrop. for this presidential address the platform in fortium that has been constructed stands about 10 yards in front of the berlin wall. the staff members of had so much confidence in the weather report for today. they have removed the roof. that was a top the platform. and indeed the weather is rather comfortable accidents the president. then the united states of america. mr. ronald reagan nancy rating the company by the federal chancellor and falco at and by the governing mayor of berlin and mrs. deepkin. let's go. fayetteville president mr. president mrs. reagan federal chancellor ladies and gentlemen unpaulinas let the brandenburg gate become a symbol not of two separate and hostile worlds, but an open door through which free ideas and peaceful competition flourish. this vision of the future full

and the connection to reagan some 25 years later was reagan lowered marginal tax rates also.nd help read and night and more abundant in economy i would argue is i did quite a bit on our show the reagan tax cuts launched almost a three decade long prosperity. the jfk tax codes launch a decade long prosperity. but unfortunately was unwound and undermined by lbj great society. richard nixon, gerry ford, jimmy carter, none of them understood tax cuts. none of them understood the incentive the growth effects of lower marginal tax rates. maybe we can talk about that some more. and some very smart people are still around thankfully my dearest friend and mentor and robert mondo nobel prize winner, jack kemp and others brought the supply-side. essentially the kennedy tax cuts to reagan. reagan looked at them and thought about them and ran on itthem. it was very controversial just as it wasn't jfk's day. and it works. it worked on fact reagan had two rounds of tax cuts but i was there for the first round i was involved in the campaign to promote it. >> host: in 1960 when you quote jfk

and reagan is a kind of exception. but what where there's a way in which as paul says populism rose to the forefront in the 1990s on the road. we don't think of the 90s that way now, but it was a time when the populism that had been held in a band since some ways really became the face of the right and response to clinton and otherwise, how do you think about the post reagan years? well, one of the big themes of my book is this relationship between conservatism and populism. and the irony that often times the only way conservatives get into power is through populist politics. which conservatives like buckley and meyer who i've mentioned were often ambivalent and kind of conflicted about. but this is clearly evident in the reagan election. populism being one of the driving forces of reagan's rise, but reagan able to synthesize populism with the supply side agenda with the interests of the religious right with the tax cutting defense buildup all the various factions of the american right as well. with his departure from

reagan came in, it was 70%. when reagan left, it was 28. poppa bush raised it to 31 with other tax hikes. bill clinton took it to perhaps 40. still below 70. george w. bush brought it back to 35. basically, the tax cuts stayed intact. they were not as low as 28 but basically stayed intact. but look -- with poppa bush, so many of us who helped vice president bush and tried to talk him out of raising taxes -- he said don't do it, don't do it, he did it and he lost the election. host: richard in brentwood, maryland. if you want a fuller, longer answer of that, this trick kudlow writes about that extensively in jfk and the reagan revolution. you and i were talking yesterday and you kind of have this happy warrior persona on the air. i was surprised you had called mr. biden. guest: it's just not my way. i gave him a chance and then i looked at thehost: our book tv h program continues from larry kudlow's library in connecticut. we want to hear from you. 202 is the area code. 202-748-8201 if you live in mountain and pa

what happened was in 1981, when ronald reagan came in, this was the reagan revolution. reagan came in and basically declared war on unions. he broke one of only two unions that had endorsed him. he broke his promise to them. at that time come about a third of americans had a good union job, which meant a third of americans had thequivalent of a good union job. two thirds of us had a good union job and the economy was strong. the american family was strong. a single person working a good union job could raise a family anbuy a house, could put their kids through school, could take a vacation, had good benefits. that createdfor the first time in the history of the world, a middle class that encompassed more than half of citizens in the country. reagan came into office, almost 60% of americans were what you would call middle-class today. as a consequence of reagan declarinwar on unions, today it is about 44% of americans are middle-class. $50 trillion in wealth, from 1980 today, has been extracted from the middle-class and handed to the top 1%, which now have so much money

what happened was in 1981, when ronald reagan came in, this was the reagan revolution.eagan came in and basically declared war on unions. he broke one of only two unions that had endorsed him. he broke his promise to them. at that time come about a third of americans had a good union job, which meant a third of americans had the equivalent of a good union job. two thirds of us had a good union job and the economy was strong. the american family was strong. a single person working a good union job could raise a family and buy a house, could put their kids through school, could take a vacation, had good benefits. that created, for the first time in the history of the world, a middle class that encompassed more than half of citizens in the country. reagan came into office, almost 60% of americans were what you would call middle-class today. as a consequence of reagan declaring war on unions, today it is about 44% of americans are middle-class. $50 trillion in wealth, from 1980 today, has been extracted from the middle-class and handed to the top 1%, which now have so much

reagan did that so well. that i've actually heard ministers true story from pulpit say as jesus said america shall be as a city a shining city about a health. and i never knew president reagan but didn't know mrs. reagan a little bit as jimmy stewart said if ronnie had married nancy the first time he would have won an academy award. but i heard this i i was at lunch where i would eat and she wouldn't and i said, you know man by just heard a ministers say this is you know, it's amazing president reagan improved on jesus. and she looked and she said well, yes, that's the kind of thing. ronnie did a lot. they someday we all be loved is nancy davis love. ronald reagan now go back to baldwin. i don't believe that y'all believe that no. i'm just how could i make that up? so when i part of you know this idea that we are the shining city on the hill that we're the redeemer nation that we're an example of democracy achieved. that that particular illusion stands in or keeps us from confronting who we actually are. and

and they start walking back and he repeats to himself, reagan, reagan,, reagan. and as he's walking back, he again trips over the dog. until it's down there and says, that's acute dog, what kind of top is it? >> a bagel. [laughter] so. this is, this is ronald reagan's approach. and it characterizes sort of the large part of where i'm going to be going with my talk because by the time reagan was president humor was considered a necessary part of the political arsenal of a president and also pretended it and this because well you know i told you this story no one would say it's an enormously clever story bridges enough to get a ha ha ha a little bit. reagan recognized from those years on the rubber chicken circuit that if there is an audience that does [inaudible] if there's an audience that might be a little bit skeptical about the message that you are conveying, if you can't get them to a laugh it loosens them up. it makes them feel that you are a real person and not simply this flak for ge. and it worked for reagan for ge, for reagan as governor, for reagan as p

reagan's was just as thick. >> can i just add, quickly, that after president reagan died, after president ford died, after nancy reagan died, all -- joanne wrote long memos to me. president ford, who the man in charge of his funeral, a man named greg willard, wrote me a long memo -- they became my bible of how to do a funeral. it saved my life. and i did the same for the chiefs of staffs of president bush 43, obama, clinton, and carter. i wrote these this long memo, what went right, what went wrong, and we can talk about, later, some of those big challenges. but those memos saved my life. >> yeah. in a moment we'll talk about the sharing of those memos. but this is one of those, the best laid plans of mice and men -- and i want to put a photo up and ask jean to comment. here we go. jean, best laid plans. sometimes there are surprises, big surprises that might occur, unexpected moments in presidential funerals. and here's just one. >> this is one of the best unexpected moments of president bush's funeral. if many of you will remember that president bush and bob dole were big political riva

the reagan centennial. and he was a great friend a great leader and certainly has been extraordinary in transforming the work of the reagan foundation and preserving and continuing to advance the legacy of our 40th president of the united states. so congratulations john for your great achievement. joining john on stage or my friend jean becker former chief of staff to president george hw bush and first lady barbara bush lewis picone historian and board trustee for the groveland cleveland birthplace memorial association and author of grant's tomb the epic death of ulysses s grant and the making of an american pantheon. and nicola longford executive director of the sixth floor museum at dealey plaza, nicola. thank you for welcoming. so many of our guests the other day to your wonderful museum, please welcome us. and our panel as we continue the mornings program. thank you so much stewart as stuart mentioned he and i've had the chance to work. in the past both at the red cross and stuart was just an absolutely

i never knew president reagan but i did know missus reagan a little bit. [laughter] if ronnie married nancy the first time, he would have won an academy award but i heard the so went to lunch where i would eat and she wouldn't and i said plan, i heard a minister say it's amazing, president reagan improved and she looked and she said yes, that's the kind of thing ronnie did a lot. [laughter] someday may we all be loved as nancy reagan loved ronald reagan. >> i don't believe that, do you all believe that? [laughter] >> how can i make that up? >> part of this idea we are the shining city on the t hill, redeemer nation, we are an example, that particular illusion, it keeps us from confronting who we are. there's this falsehood that we live in, it blinds us to the truth, we know this intimately and this is what eugene is trying to get at, no chance on a business. what does it mean to imagine oneself and evade what is looking back in the near? there is this madness, what has gotten into these young folks? the madness of america, a madness that calls forth -- >>

reagan's support was key to martialing bipartisan support.nst the wall, a waiting period replaced by a computerized background check. finally, reagan joined with former presidents gerald ford and jimmy carter by a bill co-authored by senator joe biden. this trifecta of ex-presidents cited in 1993 cnn gallup poll, 77% of americans support a ban on the manufacture, sale or possession of semi-automatic assault guns like the ak-47. while noting that during the past five years, more than 40 law enforcement officers have been killed or wounded in the line of duty by an assault weapon. reagan's support was considered pivotal in the bill's passage, by a two vote margin. the assault weapons ban was allowed to sunset in 2004 and now president biden is calling for its reinstatement or a ban under the age of 21 of being able to purchase such weapons. any hope of gun safety reforms runs through the republican party, which will need to provide ten senate votes to not be doomed by filibuster. that's exactly why the memory of ronald reagan's support for targ

he said -- one of the last things, this guy, ronald reagan, for you trumpers, that ronald reagan said as he left office, in his farewell speech was, that immigration is the lifeblood of america and when we stop allowing immigrants to come into our country, we will be the ones who will be old and weary and lose our competitive edge. reagan, guys, ronald reagan the 40th president, if you -- if you're a trumper, you really should study his history and some of his policies. you may actually find out that you are supporting the wrong guy. >> and if you -- we'll play a lot more of what miss cheney had to say, but she was taking note of the bravery of 25-year-old cassidy hutchinson, who spoke truth to power, who spoke the truth, who spoke, despite the fact that many much older, much more experienced men, were too weak and too shrivelled to be able to speak out about what happened behind closed doors in the trump white house leading up to -- >> did she say that? is willie here? >> let me tell you something -- >> willie -- i don't know that -- >> she mentioned there's more than one woman who s

and peterson, nancy reagan's nice.nd they were all joined by current first lady doctor jill biden. >> first lady nancy reagan serve the american people with grace. she understood that the role of first lady came with inherent pit falls and scrutiny. >> she found the humanity in it all. she knew the potential of this role. >> dedication for the nancy reagan forever stamp will be held at the reagan presidential library in simi valley in southern california. on july 6th, which would be nancy reagan's 100 and first first day. >> that is a great lightness that stands out. that's it for us tonight at 6. see tonight at 8 o'clock. kevin icy. haven't i ♪ ♪ and >> announcer: the and four grandsons celine and a vacationb by an escaped prisoner. >> no hard questions. should moore have been done to alert the general public? >> announcer: then... controversy. >> what are you doing? >> uproar over the man who drowned as police watched rates because we are not allowed to swim in the lake. >> announcer: and... wild party. ♪ ♪ >> announ

that's not the ronald reagan. i negotiated with i i yes will consider it because serious people have raised it, but i don't think that is a priority and if and he looked around at the two of us that were there and if either of you say think otherwise, let me know. we went on a matter of business a year later jane mayor donald mcmanus wrote landslide. they had access to that transition report and we had a three or four day firestone. of we had were hiding important information for the from the american people and and/or that we were spying on the president two decades later bill o'reilly. and killing reagan writes the same story. the same document and and again we i when we spent howard and spent more time. we spent days refuting that there was a coup or a cover-up or anything else than then the 10 minutes. we spent being briefed about potential 25th amendment issue. so it's a third the point i'm trying to make is the president's health is the third rail for white house staff. it is the third rail and that is and t

ronald reagan. so a thank you of sorts is in order to hollywood for writing what became the first successful chapter in the reagan revolution. our guest this evening david has had his own remarkably successful relationship with hollywood as well. a number of the award winning works he has written, produced or directed define his impressive stage and screen career came to life in the thick of the reagan presidency. i was among them. the postman. [applause] the postman always rings twice.r later works of the post presidencyfa years hannibal andy favorite. [applause] but david, like ronald reagan deviated from the standard hollywood political groupthink. and ino doing so he also established himself as a freethinking political and social commentator unafraid of ruffling feathers. that same chartres decisive pen that wrotebr compelling dialogue often been deployed to what he has aptly termed in this day and age the virus of conformity. tonight we welcome him to the reagan library stage for discussion on

and certainly no president ronald reagan. so thank you of sorts is in order to hollywood. for writing what became the first successful chapter in the reagan revolution our guests this evening. david manet has had his own remarkably successful relationship with hollywood as well. a number of the award-winning works. he has written produced or directed. that define his impressive stage and screen career. came to life in the thick of the reagan presidency. titles among them glengarry glen ross the postman always postman always brings twice the verdict or later works of david's during the reagan post presidency years. like hoffa hannibal in my favorite wag the dog. but david. like ronald reagan deviated from the standard hollywood political group think and in doing so he has also established himself as a free thinking political and social commentator. unafraid of ruffling feathers that same sharp incisive pen. that wrote compelling dialogue for the broadway stage. has often been deployed to excoriate what he has aptly termed in t

in reagan's agenda. the guy says we already spent all of this year's budget and we spent part of next year's budget to. i really don't think you're going to get around tocutting anything anytime soon . it was an amazing admission that once your in the swamp it's impossible to roll back the swap. by 1984 reagan had pretty much given up on the third plank of his platform promises which was to reduce the size of government and he succeeded in the other two but he pretty much had to give up on the third one to reduce the bureaucracy. one very important thing happens between kennedy and reagan . congress have been appointing and creating thesecommittees , these administrative agencies and empowering them but once they got in place, congress just let them go. and basically didn't choose any oversight t over any of these bureaucracies or administrative state at all. just let them go. so it then fell to the courts to try and handle these but unfortunately what started to happen was that the court said well, cong

again when reagan came and it was 70% but when reagan left it was 20h. poppa bush raised it to 31 with other tax hikes. i believe it bill clinton took it to perhaps 40 i will say. so still below 70. and then george w. bush brought it back down to 35. so basically the tax cut stayed intact. they were not as low as 28. they basically stayed intact the incentive effect stayed in taxa. look again with poppa bush so many of us who help the vice president bush and tried to talk him out of raising taxes when he was president we said don't do it, don't do it. he did it and he lost the election. >> richard in brentwood, maryland if you want a fuller explanation a longer answerif of that mr. "kudlow" writes about that pretty extensively in jfk and the reagan revolution. larry kudlow it's funny you and i were talking yesterday you have this happy warrior prasanna on the air. i was a little surprised. >> it is just not my way. i am very critical of biden. it's funny i wasn't at the beginning. i gave him the honeymoon open look at thei took ay leftward lurch and its

by 1980, it had a majority support in the united states under ronald reagan. it is a remarkable change. so what you had was the party of richard nixon and, if you will, nelson rockefeller and george romney, the father of senator mitt romney today -- that party which was more eastern in its grounding, more midwestern, gave way to a party that is southern-based and sun belt-based and a much more conservative party. the republicans have always been the more conservative of the two major parties, but by the time ronald reagan was ele >> c-span's washington journal, every day, we take your calls live on the heirs is on the news of the day and we discussed policy issues that impact you. coming saturday morning, a council on foreign relations senior fellow discusses president biden's upcoming visit to saudi arabia. at our spotlight on podcasts, a talk about the podcast politics and questions, which examines political institutions and ways to improve them. watch washington journal, live on saturday morning at 7:00 am eastern on c-span and join the conversation with yo

one important thing happened between kennedy and reagan. congress had been appointing and creating these administrative agencies and empowering them but once they got in place congress just let them go, basically issued any oversight over any of these administrative administrative state at all, just let them go so it fell to the courts to try to handle these but unfortunately what started to happen was the court said congress set up this agency, congress gave these powers, who are we to say congress is wrong so they let the agencies define their own missions and set up their own private police forces. that was a major change in the bureaucracy between kennedy and reagan. we get to trump and trump came in and basically just all four of the other swamps, the media swamp, the cia swamp, fbi swamp, the deep state swamp and trump's appointees don't help him out a lot. jeff sessions is probably the worst appointee in american history, a long way to find somebody worse than jeff sessions. so trump finds himself undercut at every point. ordered doc

he believed the soviet union was an evil empire, to use ronald reagan's empire, to use ronald reagan'serm. that we were in a multi generational conflict. he viewed every foreign policy through that prism. that cold war prison. he was constantly, term, and that we were in a generational -- multi you can see in the archive, he generational conflict. he viewed every foreign policy was telling carter to be through that prism, that cold war prism. he was constantly, tougher. do something militarist decay. say something nasty about the russians. use you can see in the archive, he some, send a signal by using a was telling carter to be tougher. do something little force. one of these militaristic. say something nasty about the russians. use memos, you can see it in the some, send a signal by using a margin, carter scrambles, use force, like mayaguez? a reference to kissinger and little force. and in one of these memos, you can see it in the forwards disastrous use of force that led to unnecessary deaths, like hostages that have margin, carter scribbles, oh, use force, like mayaguez? a referen