Reagan's visits to Washington state
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Ronald Reagan visited Washington state as a movie star, political candidate, California governor and president of the United States. His speeches here displayed Mr. Reagan's sense of humor, patriotism and his philosophy of small government and individual responsibility. Here are some highlights of Mr. Reagan's visits to Washington state:
Nov. 10, 1967
As California governor, Mr. Reagan sounded the call to individual responsibility and blasted government welfare programs in a speech at the Olympic Hotel ballroom in Seattle. "We should stop being our brother's keeper," he said. "It is time to start being our brother's brother, and maybe we will find our brother can keep himself."
Oct. 12, 1968
Speaking to a ceremony for Medal of Honor recipients, Gov. Reagan said Vietnam-era turmoil was putting the U.S. in danger: "When our political leaders — of either party — are booed from platforms in the name of free speech, when our president cannot travel freely, when college campuses and buildings are taken over by anarchists, when racists — black and white — preach hatred and incite riot and murder and when Americans sit idly by and let things happen, then the native-born Huns and vandals do indeed endanger the land."
April 10, 1976
Mr. Reagan, in his presidential campaign, sounded his two favorite themes: the Soviet menace and government spending. He warned that "the Soviets' annual investment in strategic and conventional weapons runs some 50 percent ahead of ours. It is buying them superiority." And to a crowd of cheering supporters at Seattle's old Sicks' Stadium, Mr. Reagan said "the cost of government is going up faster than any other product we buy."
Sept. 25, 1980
Mr. Reagan brought his criticisms of then-President Jimmy Carter to an enthusiastic crowd that chanted "Reagan! Reagan!" outside a Southcenter hotel. "A recession is when your neighbor loses his job," he joked. "A depression is when you lose yours. And a recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."
April 19, 1984
President Reagan donned a Weyerhaeuser hard hat at a brief stop at a Tacoma log-exporting terminal on his way to a trade mission in China. He humorously recalled his first trip to the city to promote his 1940 movie "Tugboat Annie Sails Again." He said he got a hero's welcome and was escorted into town on a yacht. That changed after people saw the movie, he said. "The next morning there we were all alone out on the curb trying to flag down a cab. Kind of a change of attitude... probably correct."
Oct. 23, 1984
President Reagan delivered an optimistic speech to 6,000 supporters at Seattle Center in the waning days of his 1984 re-election campaign against Democrat Walter Mondale. He criticized Mondale on defense while praising Washington's late Democratic Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson. "When we talk about Jackson, we're reminded that above all, politics is about principles... the first of those principles was that politics stopped at the water's edge. Time and time again, he provided the key leadership essential to preserving our nation's interest." Mr. Reagan went on to carry Washington state and win re-election in a landslide.