For some reason, I got into watching famous speeches tonight ... Lou Gehrigs, Jimmy Vs and this one attached that was from former President Ronald Reagan when he used the word evil empire when describing the Soviet Union back in 1983. This was an awesome speech. One of Mr. Reagans best and with many fabulous stories told. This period of time made me think back to when I worked with Mr. Reagan on a special promotion at the White House that was set up on the Rose Garden when I worked for the Washington Capitals NHL team. The President would take a shot on goal on what looked like a fake sheet of ice against the 1984 U.S. Olympic Hockey goaltender. I had to go into the White House before the promotion to show the President how to hold a hockey stick correctly and practice shooting a real puck. He actually scored his goal during the ceremony! Why this particular speech rang home to me was because after the ceremony, I was walking back to the White House with the President and his wife, Nancy, and with VP George H. Bush and his wife, Barbara (my mind at the time was thinking I needed to collect my hockey jersey and stick - I was 28 at the time. How crazy was I??) As we walked as a group (with a few Secret Service agents close at hand), we were quickly interrupted by Helen Thomas, the legendary White House beat reporter for UPI. She was trying to catch up to us and ask the President one question. When she got to him, and breathing hard, she asked: Mr. President. What about Mr. Gorbachev (then the Soviet ruler). Mr. Reagan, pulled me aside. Called me son as he did so. Took his hockey stick and flung it down the White House lawn in a show of anger. He woudnt make any comment but the national media had picked up on his references of the Evil Empire from the attached speech. It was quite a time to live in Washington back then and I still have very fond memories of my time with Mr. Reagan. He was so kind to me that entire day!
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 03:30:23 +0000
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