Ronald Reagan’s Last Speech as President. Yes! It Was On Immigration.

This is the slightly abridged but not edited text of the final speech that Ronald Reagan gave as President of the United States. It is a sad reminder of how far we have fallen.

“Since this is the last speech, I will give as President. I think it is fitting with one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received a long time ago.

A man wrote me a letter and said, “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to Germany, Turkey, or Japan but you cannot become German, Turk or Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the earth can come to live in America and become an American.”

Yes, the torch of lady liberty symbolizes our freedom and represents our heritage the compact with our parents our grandparents and our ancestors. It is that lady who gives us our special place in the world. For it is the great life force of each generation of new Americans that guarantees that America’s triumphs shall continue unsurpassed into the next century and beyond. Other countries may seek to compete with us, but in one vital area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world no country comes close.

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. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation. While other countries cling to the stale past here in America, we breathe life into dreams we create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow.

Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity we are 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.

This quality is vital to our future as a nation if we ever closed the door to new Americans our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”

That is what he said in his final speech as President. He felt it was that important. It is sad beyond words to realize how we now demonize those who come to our shores in the hopes of a better life. The greatness of any nation always lies in its future. When we begin to cherish our past and pretend it is more glorious than the prospect of our future it is the beginning of the end.  Scratch most of us hard enough and you will find an immigrant. The descendant of those who came here in flight and thrived. We are the evidence that America’s greatness comes from “the life force of each generation of New Americans.”