http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=38825&st=&st1=
Ronald Reagan
XL President of the United States: 1981 - 1989
Remarks to the Finalists in the Teacher in Space Project
June 26, 1985
I suppose that we all have a few special teachers that we remember with particular affection and gratitude. One such teacher for me was Esther Barton, back in Dixon, Illinois. I sometimes wonder what she would have made of our Teacher in Space Project. But I have a hunch, remembering some of my escapades, that if she were here today, she'd tell you this won't be the first time I've sent a teacher into orbit.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=38825&st=&st1=
Ronald Reagan
XL President of the United States: 1981 - 1989
Remarks to the Finalists in the Teacher in Space Project
June 26, 1985
The President. Class will come to order. [Laughter] Well, good afternoon, and welcome to the White House, if no one has said that to you yet.
I suppose that we all have a few special teachers that we remember with particular affection and gratitude. One such teacher for me was Esther Barton, back in Dixon, Illinois. I sometimes wonder what she would have made of our Teacher in Space Project. But I have a hunch, remembering some of my escapades, that if she were here today, she'd tell you this won't be the first time I've sent a teacher into orbit. [Laughter]
But I remember one story that she told us about how, when the British were marching toward Washington in the War of 1812, Dolly Madison had time only to save a few precious personal possessions and one portrait of George Washington. Right there. A few hours after she escaped by wagon, the British looted and burned the White House, destroying everything but that one portrait of the father of our country that Dolly Madison saved from the flames.
Well, in that same way, America's teachers are the preservers and protectors of our heritage. You save our past from being consumed by forgetfulness and our future from being engulfed in ignorance.
Every new class is a generation to whom you must transmit the treasures of our civilization. Every new year for the schoolteacher is like a new age of enlightenment in which young minds become awakened to the truths that we hold to be self-evident. You teach your students math and science and literature and history—a variety of subjects. You give them many facts and much knowledge. But your task is greater than that because with the facts, you must impart the values that give them meaning and context—our most sacred values of human dignity and the worth of the individual. You teach an understanding of liberty with respect for the law and help show the way of freedom under God while guiding our youth into the constructive paths of self-fulfillment.
From 7/23/1973 ( I passed the Multistate Bar Examination ) to 11/9/1985 ( Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales at White House ) is: 4492 days
From 7/16/1963 ( my wife ) to 11/2/1975 ( I launched from Earth by myself to intercept Comet Lucifer in the outer solar system ) is: 4492 days
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=38040&st=&st1=
Toasts at a White House Dinner for the Prince and Princess of Wales
November 9th, 1985
Would you please join me in a toast to Her Majesty, the Queen. To the Queen.
Prince Charles. Mr. President, Mrs. Reagan, ladies and gentlemen, if I may say so, Mr. President, you really have touched both my wife and myself most deeply this evening by your extremely kind words. And we can't possibly, both of us, thank you enough for your immense hospitality and your great kindness in having us here this evening and in making us feel so unbelievably welcome.
I would think one of the most marvelous things about coming to the United States is that you have this extraordinary gift for making people feel welcome. And apart from the friendliness with which you greet everybody, it really does warm the heart to come here and be made to feel welcome. I can't tell you what it means to us both. It really does. As you know, we've flown in hesitant stages from Australia and tried to stop on the way in order to regain our strength. And all that's happened is we're suffering terribly from jet lag. [Laughter] And I've yet to discover a foolproof method for actually getting one over the problems of this particular affliction.
However, we are greatly looking forward to the opportunity of seeing this exhibition, the "Treasure Houses of Britain," which we are both very proud to be patrons of. And we hear from all sides just how stupendous this particular exhibition is. I think if you go and look at most of the country houses in Britain at the moment, you'll find them completely empty— [laughter] —of all the furniture and pictures, some emptier than others and, no doubt, with rather dirty marks on the walls where the pictures were. I only hope that they manage to get them all back in the right place at the right time.
