Farewell at the RNC

You recognize the voice, of course, but do you recognize the passage? It’s from one of the most touching moments in the President’s political career, when he bid his fellow Republicans adieu at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans in 1988. 35 years ago.After eight years in Washington, it was time to say goodbye…but it wasn’t easy. Nancy Reagan tried to summarize the feeling by saying that…there were times to enter, times to stay and times to depart. And it was time…for the Reagans to step back and hand the baton to his Vice President George H.W. Bush, the new presidential candidate for the Republican Party. To find the right words for such an important moment, the President called on wordsmith and White House Speechwriter, Ken Khachigian, whom you may recall helped the president draft his first inaugural address along with several other keynote addresses throughout his presidency. Although President Reagan formally said farewell to the nation in the Oval Office the following January, he used his speech at the 1988 Republican National Conference to thank the nation and to encourage his former opponent and two-term vice president, George Bush, to “Win one for the Gipper.” Earlier in the day, a special tribute to Mrs. Reagan had taken place, and, without missing a beat, the President continued in his remarks to celebrate her significant role as First Lady. On an enormous stage in the New Orleans Superdome, the 40th President took a deep breath, gazed across the expanse of those loyal devoted souls who helped to put him in the Oval Office…and he began to speak. Let’s listen to a bit…