From Reagan to Bush

President Reagan knew that freedom should never be taken for granted and he also knew that we must always be prepared to vigorously defend it. Though he could never have foretold the events of 9/11, his leadership and principles laid the necessary foundation for President Bush to act in the wake of 9/11.

The following quote by President Reagan is a representation of that foundation.

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

At the time President Reagan made those remarks, the world was gripped by the Cold War. Though highly dangerous in its own right, most people felt fairly safe that the status quo would be maintained and never worried that the Soviets would fly planes into sky-scrapers. But the world changed very soon after Reagan left office with the Soviet Union falling and the rise of nationalism across the globe. Newly minted countries joined the U.N. and soon Islamofascism rose to new heights posing the most serious threat to freedom this generation must face.

From the moment the towers fell on September 11, 2001, President Bush acted on President Reagan's warning that freedom is fragile. Consider the following quote by President Bush:

"The story of America is the story of expanding liberty: an ever-widening circle, constantly growing to reach further and include more. Our nation's founding commitment is still our deepest commitment: In our world, and here at home, we will extend the frontiers of freedom."

In this quote, Bush demonstrated that his guiding principles are tied to Reagan's, and it should be noted that Reagan many times in the past demonstrated that those principles were in turn tied directly to the experience of the founding fathers and thus the very essence of America. That is a lofty and worthy ideal to protect.

Again, in President Bush's words,

"We're pursuing a strategy of freedom around the world, because I understand free nations will reject terror. Free nations will answer the hopes and aspirations of their people. Free nations will help us achieve the peace we all want."

President Reagan alerted future generations that they must be prepared to act and President Bush knew that the time to act had come. There have been too many years between Reagan and Bush II where American leadership had its head buried in the sand.

Once again, in the words of President Reagan, this time in 1994, 5 years after he left office and 7 years before 9/11:

"The next time a Saddam Hussein takes over Kuwait, or North Korea brandishes a nuclear weapon, will we be ready to respond? In the end, it all comes down to leadership, and that is what this country is looking for now."