The Quotable Reagan vs. Hillary Clinton

There’s no question, Ronald Reagan was a prolific writer and speaker. During the four years between serving as governor of California and becoming president of the United States, Reagan wrote and presented more than a thousand radio addresses. These addresses, cited in the book “Reagan In His Own Hand,” show him laying the ideological foundation of his presidency.

When you read these addresses and his other famous quotes, you really get a sense of his true beliefs. You also get a sense of what kind of man he was.

So if words give us a sense of “the man,” then words can also give us a sense of “the woman,” in this case Hillary Clinton. With many in the Democratic Party urging her to run for president, it’s a good time to take a look at her speeches and various quotes as a way to uncover her true ideology, as I’ve done in my book I’VE ALWAYS BEEN A YANKEES FAN: Hillary Clinton in Her Own Words (World Ahead Publishing, 2006, ISBN 0974670189). Let’s let Hillary’s own words predict the type of administration she would lead.

Health Care

“The campaign goes on to bring health care in America out of the free market and into the protective custody of government. Those who brought us the postal service and Amtrak are anxious to provide medical service of the same high caliber.” —Ronald Reagan, as cited in “Reagan In His Own Hand”

“We just can’t trust the American people to make these types of decisions. …Government has to make these choices for people.” —Hillary Clinton circa 1993, speaking to Rep. Dennis Hastert on the issue of who should control the allocation of money in her health care reform plan

The Face of Evil

“Let us be aware that while [the Soviets] preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world.” —Ronald Reagan, from his famed “Evil Empire” speech of 1983.

“I believe in evil, and I think that there are evil people in the world.” —Hillary Clinton, in 1993, stating her opinion not of the terrorists who had just bombed the World Trade Center, but of those who opposed her health care reform plan

Economic Freedom

“Millions of individuals making their own decisions in the marketplace will always allocate resources better than any centralized government planning process.” —Ronald Reagan, as cited on RightWingNews.com

“The unfettered free market has been the most radically disruptive force in American life in the last generation.” —Hillary Clinton

Freedom of the Press

“I’ve always believed a free press is as vital to America as the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. A probing, responsible press not only keeps the public informed about what’s going on in government, it can keep a watchful eye out to uncover corruption, waste, or mismanagement.” —Ronald Reagan, “An American Life”

“We’re all going to have to rethink how we deal with the Internet. As exciting as these new developments are, there are a number of serious issues without any kind of editing function or gate-keeping function.” —First Lady Hillary Clinton, in 1998, days after the Monica Lewinsky story was reported on the Drudge Report

Taxes

“We need true tax reform that will at least make a start toward restoring for our children the American Dream that wealth is denied to no one. ... But we cannot have such reform while our tax policy is engineered by people who view the tax as a means of achieving changes in our social structure.” —Ronald Reagan, in his 1981 speech to the National Alliance of Business

“We’re saying that for American to get back on track, we’re going to cut [the Bush tax cuts] short and not give it to you. We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.” —Hillary Clinton, in a 2004 fundraising speech to wealthy liberals in San Francisco

Bipartisanship

“Our two-party system has served us well over the years, but never better than in those times of great challenge when we came together not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans united in a common cause.” —Ronald Reagan, in his second inaugural address

“You have got to hand it to them, these people are ruthless and they are relentless.” —Sen. Hillary Clinton, just a few months after 9/11, giving her opinion of Republicans

Leadership

“A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough.” —Ronald Reagan, as cited on RightWingNews.com

“It’s important to have core principles and values, but if you’re going to be active in policy and politics, you have to be a realist.” —Hillary Clinton

Big Government

“Trust the people. This is the one irrefutable lesson of the entire postwar period contradicting the notion that rigid government controls are essential to economic development.” —Ronald Reagan, as cited on “The American Experience: Reagan”

“We can’t afford to have that money go to the private sector. The money has to go to the federal government because the federal government will spend that money better than the private sector will spend it.” —First Lady Hillary Clinton, in 1993, regarding health care reform

Religion

“Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” —Ronald Reagan, speaking at a Dallas Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in 1984

“I have to confess that it’s crossed my mind that you could not be a Republican and a Christian from time to time.” —First Lady Hillary Clinton, “joking” in a speech with religious leaders in 1997

Blaming America

“We are not the cause of all the ills in the world. We’re a patient and generous people.” —Ronald Reagan, accepting the Republican presidential nomination in 1984

“I pledge allegiance to the America that can be.” —Hillary Clinton, reluctant to say the Pledge of Allegiance, according to Chris Matthews

Core Beliefs

“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.” —Ronald Reagan, from his famous “A Time for Choosing” speech in 1964 on behalf of Barry Goldwater

“At least Reagan had some core beliefs. They defied logic, but at least he had them.” —Hillary had some trouble getting her super-size brain around Reagan’s outlandish beliefs: lower taxes, smaller government; peace through strength and the defeat of communism

Imagination

“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.” —Ronald Reagan, from his “A Time for Choosing” speech in 1964

“The fact of the matter is, I’ve always been a Yankees fan.” —Senate candidate Hillary Clinton, soon after launching her campaign in 1999, and ignoring prior public statements about growing up as a Cubs fan in Chicago

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