Abstract
FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO RESIST AND OVERCOME the many manifestations of vulgarity in contemporary American life, it may seem apposite to turn for inspiration to the vision and ideas of Ronald Reagan. He has been described by a number of scholars, politicians, and ordinary Americans as a man and president who embodied the American spirit. Many people consider him a model conservative in American politics. Reagan had long-standing and deep attachments to individual liberty, free markets, limited government, decentralized power, and traditional moral values. As president, he shared with Americans his understanding of these and other ideas in numerous speeches. More so than most presidents, Reagan appealed to the imagination of Americans; that is, he used concrete images and illustrative stories to convey his vision of America and its people in a captivating and memorable way. Reagan was also a very likeable political leader, quick with a smile and a handshake, and he was rather humble in his personal conduct. His affability and personal modesty have no doubt contributed to the enduring appeal of his intuitive sense of politics. Yet a careful analysis suggests that Reagan’s imagination may not be the model of modest republicanism that some might suspect.
Emerson was right. We are the country of tomorrow. Our revolution did not end at Yorktown. More than two centuries later, America remains on a voyage of discovery, a land that has never become, but is always in the act of becoming.1
—Ronald Reagan
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Ronald Reagan, “Empire of Ideals, August 17, 1992,” in The Greatest Speeches of Ronald Reagan (West Palm Beach, FL: Newsmax.com Inc., 2001), 274.
For a systematic explanation and analysis of Reagan’s imagination as it was expressed in his presidential speeches, see Justin D. Garrison “An Empire of Ideals”: The Chimeric Imagination of Ronald Reagan (New York: Routledge, 2013).
Reagan, “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union, January 25, 1983,” in Public Papers, 1983, I: 107.
Reagan, “Remarks at the Tuskegee University Commencement Ceremony in Alabama, May 10, 1987,” in Public Papers, 1987, I: 489–490.
Reagan, “Remarks to Students and Faculty at Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia, February 7, 1986,” in Public Papers, 1986, I: 177.
Reagan, “Radio Address to the Nation on the Quality of Life in America, October 15, 1983,” in Public Papers, 1983, II: 1463.
Reagan, “Remarks to Students and Faculty at Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia,” in Public Papers, 1986, I: 177.
Reagan, “Remarks During a Visit to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, August 30, 1984,” in Public Papers, 1984, II: 1207.
Reagan, “Remarks at the Tuskegee University Commencement Ceremony in Alabama,” in Public Papers, 1987, I: 490.
Reagan, “Remarks to Students and Faculty at Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia,” in Public Papers, 1986, I: 177.
Reagan, “Remarks at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on Completion of the Fourth Mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia, July 4, 1982,” in Public Papers, 1982, II: 892.
Reagan, “Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, March 8, 1983,” in Public Papers, 1983, I: 362.
Reagan, “Radio Address to the Nation on Voluntarism, May 24, 1986,” in Public Papers, 1986, I: 670.
Reagan, “Inaugural Address, January 21, 1985,” in Public Papers, 1985, I: 57–58.
For a thorough account of Reagan’s vision of America’s role in the world, including its responsibility to promote global freedom and democracy, see Justin Garrison, “A Covenant with All Mankind: Ronald Reagan’s Idyllic Vision of America in the World,” Humanitas 21, nos. 1 and 2 (2008): 34–63.
Reagan, “Address to the 42d Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York, September 21, 1987,” in Public Papers, 1987, II: 1059.
Reagan, “Address Before a Joint Session of Congress on the State of the Union, February 4, 1986,” in Public Papers, 1986, I: 126.
Ronald Reagan, An American Life (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990), 311.
Ronald Reagan, “Address to the Nation on the Economy, February 5, 1981,” in Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989), 82.
Reagan, “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union, February 6, 1985,” in Public Papers, 1985, I: 130.
Reagan, “Remarks During a Visit to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland,” in Public Papers, 1984, II: 1208.
Reagan, “Address at Commencement Exercises at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 30, 1984,” in Public Papers, 1984, I: 760.
Reagan, “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union, January 25, 1984,” in Public Papers, 1984, I: 90.
Reagan, “Remarks at the Unveiling of the Knute Rockne Commemorative Stamp at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, March 9, 1988,” in Public Papers, 1988, I: 309.
Reagan, “Radio Address to the Nation on the Space Program, January 28, 1984,” in Public Papers, 1984, I: 108, 109.
Reagan, “Remarks at a White House Ceremony Commemorating the Bicentennial Year of Air and Space Flight, February 7, 1983,” in Public Papers, 1983, I: 198.
Reagan, “Remarks During a Visit to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland,” in Public Papers, 1984, II: 1209.
Reagan, “Remarks at the Opening Ceremonies for the Knoxville International Energy Exposition (World’s Fair) in Tennessee, May 1, 1982,” in Public Papers, 1982, I: 547.
Reagan, “Remarks at the Unveiling of the Knute Rockne Commemorative Stamp at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana,” in Public Papers, 1988, II: 309.
Robert Nisbet, The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order & Freedom (San Francisco, CA: ICS Press, 1990), 8–9.
Wilhelm Röpke, A Humane Economy: The Social Framework of the Free Market, 3rd ed. (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 1998), 41.
Irving Babbitt, Democracy and Leadership (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund Inc., 1979), 265.
Irving Babbitt, Literature and the American College: Essays in Defense of the Humanities (Washington, DC: National Humanities Institute, 1986), 104.
Irving Babbitt, Rousseau & Romanticism (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2002), 366.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Earth’s Holocaust,” in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tales, ed. James McIntosh (New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 1987), 144.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2013 Michael P. Federici, Richard M. Gamble, and Mark T. Mitchell
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Garrison, J.D. (2013). The Land of Limitless Possibilities: Ronald Reagan, Progress, Technology, and the Modest Republic. In: Federici, M.P., Gamble, R.M., Mitchell, M.T. (eds) The Culture of Immodesty in American Life and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137093417_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137093417_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34347-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-09341-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)