At 100, “The Great Communicator” lives on via YouTube
This Sunday marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan, America’s 40th President. Although his Presidency ended 20 years ago, his legacy as a transformational politician has lived on, with Democrats and Republicans alike trying to adopt his mantle of change and openness.
President Reagan, widely referred to as “The Great Communicator,” is also a particularly interesting study of the President as Orator-in-Chief. It would have been interesting to witness President Reagan, a former actor and spokesman, campaign and govern during the YouTube-era. Many of his iconic speeches, such as his message to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (below), can be found on YouTube today.
To celebrate President Reagan’s 100th birthday the Ronald Reagan Foundation has created a host of retrospective videos paying tribute to the former President which will be featured on the YouTube homepage today. The first video, a tribute narrated by former Senator Fred Thompson, shows speech clips that showcase Reagan’s wit, storytelling abilities and impeccable timing.
For more information on the series of events surrounding Reagan’s 100th birthday celebrations, please visit the Reagan Centennial website.
Will Houghteling, YouTube News and Politics team, recently watched "View of Tahrir Square."
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5 comments:
Frankly, I'm shocked and disgusted that you chose to highlight the life of a man responsible for so many of the nation's ills, not to mention those inflicted upon the world as a whole.
Ronald Reagan's handling of HIV in its early days, dismissing it as a "gay problem", led directly to the failure to quarantine those with the disease, ensuring it became an epidemic that has killed millions and affects the lives of hundreds of millions more in every nation in the world.
Furthermore, his attitude towards the mentally ill, and his retraction of funding from programs set up to help them, is the major contributing factor in the appalling fact that over 66% of America's homeless are afflicted with some form of mental disease or disorder.
I'm not well versed in economics, and won't go over the various financial atrocities the man left as his legacy which continue to plague us today. I hope that those who continue to see Ronald Reagan as a positively influential figure learn the error of this ways and seek to help correct the many, many mistakes he made.
The Growing Gap between the Rich and the Poor was ignited thanks to this monster. Those who actually follow politics ruthlessly indeed understand this. This is not a man to be celebrated. He is evil incarnate. Youtube is none the wiser.
Although I agree with a little of what the previous writer Oswald had to say, I must say that recognizing this former president should not be considered a mistake. I have never been a major supporter of Reagans' but I respected the man for his career accomplishments. First of all, being in many movies before he was president, and then using that fame as leverage to win the highest office in the US. Brilliant! This president, in my mind, has not done any more harm to this country than the presidents that immediately preceded or followed him. In fact, at the time of his presidency, he had the whole world scared, wondering what the "crazy old-west gun-slinger" was going to do next. Is he going to push "THE BUTTON" or just try and talk Russia out of communism? To get a better understanding of how Ronald Reagan is remembered by most in this country, you should check out the following news article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2011/0204/Was-Ronald-Reagan-a-good-president
And like most presidents who support education, check out my site that promotes FREE educational courses on its educational page:
http://sites.google.com/site/wesburgan
While i think it's nice to recognize the late R.Reagan. Let's talk about the current situations in this country. This is FEBRUARY WHICH IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH. let's tear down the wall of predjuice in America. White America can't seem to tear that wall down. America seems to support people who want to constantly devide the people of this country. This country is sure to FALL if this devision is continued.
Let us honour Reagan's "legacy as a transformational politician" by transforming the YouTube homepage layout back to how it was a month ago.
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