Dole: Reagan Revolution principles timeless

From wire reports

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Under a cloudy sky at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Saturday, Elizabeth Dole told a gathering, "The Reagan Revolution will never grow old."

Reagan was being remembered on what would have been his 99th birthday. With 1,000 people looking on, including 100 sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan and Lemoore Naval Air Station, the nation's 40th president was celebrated.

Dole, who was Transportation Secretary under Reagan, gave the keynote address.

"The principles of the Reagan Revolution are never mere nostalgia. The same compass that guided him still points true — as it will in a hundred years, and a hundred years beyond," she said. "Whenever government forgets its proper bounds... whenever America doubts her moral purpose... whenever liberty requires defenders... we will need a great rediscovery. As we need it today. The Reagan Revolution will never grow old — because the promise of freedom is always new."

Dole was sworn in as the first female secretary of transportation by the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, on this day (Feb. 7) in 1983.

John Heubusch, executive director for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, announced plans for President Reagan's upcoming centennial celebration.

"Next year marks the hundredth anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth," he said. "Throughout 2011 the Foundation and Library will look back on President Reagan's life and achievements — his rise from modest beginnings to the heights of his professions, his entry into political life, his governorship, and of course his presidency. We will remember his leadership in reviving the American economy, winning the Cold War, inaugurating a new era of peace among nations, and restoring the American spirit."

He concluded, "At a moment of freedom's peril, Ronald Reagan assumed the presidency and insured liberty's success. Most of all next year, we will honor that triumphant achievement and rededicate ourselves to carrying freedom forward for the generations to come."

As part of the Centennial Celebration, Heubusch announced that the original museum galleries, originally opened in 1991, would all be transformed.

Wes Smith, vice chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, added, "With the 100th birthday celebration approaching of our nation's 40th president, we at the Reynolds Foundation wondered if there wasn't more we could do to help promote the legacy of a man who continues to inspire millions of people to believe in their country, believe in themselves, and to become better leaders even years after his passing."

Announcing a $12.75 million gift to help fund the renovation, Smith said, "The Museum's new state-of-the art interactive gallery displays will provide engaging, entertaining and educational exhibits which exemplify the important role President Reagan had on the world and in all of our lives. This gift will impact and inspire Museum visitors for years to come."

Following the speeches a presidential wreath was laid at the gravesite while echo taps played in the background. As the event came to a close and the 25-piece 1st Division Marine Band played "The Marines Hymn," audience members enjoyed birthday cake and remembered the man who championed American freedom.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the promotion of the legacy of Ronald Reagan and his principles of individual liberty, economic opportunity, global democracy and national pride. It sustains the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, the Reagan Center for Public Affairs, the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center and The Air Force One Pavilion.

Located in Simi Valley, Calif., the Library houses 63 million pages of gubernatorial, presidential and personal papers and over 60,000 gifts and artifacts chronicling the lives of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. It now also serves as the final resting place of America's 40th president.

Meanwhile in Illinois, Eureka College is observing the 99th anniversary of the birth of its most famous alumnus.

A tour for Reagan-related sites was to be led by his eldest son, Michael Reagan.

The event began Saturday with breakfast and tour of the Ronald Reagan Museum at the college.

Participants were to travel by charter bus to the Tampico, where the former president was born, and his boyhood home in Dixon. The Dixon stop was to include "Ronald Reagan's 99th Birthday Celebration Luncheon" at Sauk Valley Community College with Michael Reagan as keynote speaker.

The event marks the first time Michael Reagan had seen his father's birthplace and childhood home. The cost of $99 for the event was a scholarship fundraiser.