A video of Ronald Reagan’s final day in the White House has been making the rounds this week, and it’s as poignant as ever, three decades after he delivered it.
Reagan, still often considered the model modern Republican on the right, took the opportunity to end his presidency with a powerful reminder of why America should always be a place where people from all over the world to be welcomed.
In recent days, President Trump took to Twitter to claim that Reagan wanted a wall on the border with Mexico, but as The Washington Post reported, there is no evidence that he ever held that position.
Even President Ronald Reagan tried for 8 years to build a Border Wall, or Fence, and was unable to do so. Others also have tried. We will get it done, one way or the other!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
In his final speech, Reagan explained that he was actually passionately pro-immigrant, saying,
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America represents something universal in the human spirit. I received a letter not long ago from a man who said, ‘You can go to Japan to live, but you cannot become Japanese. You can go to France to live and not become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey, and you won’t become a German or a Turk.’ But then he added, ‘Anybody from any corner of the world can come to America to live and become an American’ …
This I believe is one of the most important sources of America’s greatness. We lead the world because unique among nations, we draw our people, our strength, from every country and every corner of the world … Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge; always leading the world to the next frontier …
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The video of the speech is an inspiring watch.
