Words To Live By: 8 Years of Christmas

President Reagan, a man of devout faith, loved Christmas deeply. And he chose to share his feelings about the holiday in many different ways over his eight years in office. So today in our podcast, rather than focusing on one single address or message, we’ll take an overview of the President’s 8 years in office to look at 8 mighty ways to express his joy during the holiday season.

Did you know that for some holidays, he did not deliver a radio address? Rather, he submitted Christmas messages, which were short, published missives that he penned himself, and were released by the White House Communications office. Unfortunately, we do not have audio of those messages, but let us share a brief sample of one from 1981 to give you a sense of what they were like.

“Nancy and I are very happy to send our warmest greetings…On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Christ with prayer, feasting, and great merriment. But, most of all, we experience it in our hearts. For, more than just a day, Christmas is a state of mind. It is found throughout the year whenever faith overcomes doubt, hope conquers despair, and love triumphs over hate. It is present when men of any creed bring love and understanding to the hearts of their fellow man…Let us resolve to honor this spirit of Christmas and strive to keep it throughout the year… Signed – Ronald Reagan”

A very moving, very personal message. But in 1981, he delivered an address to the Nation on Christmas AND the crisis in Poland. Here’s an excerpt:

“Good evening. At Christmas time, every home takes on a special beauty, a special warmth, and that's certainly true of the White House, where so many famous Americans have spent their Christmases over the years. This fine old home, the people's house, has seen so much, been so much a part of all our lives and history. It's been humbling and inspiring for Nancy and me to be spending our first Christmas in this place.

“…As I speak to you tonight, the fate of a proud and ancient nation hangs in the balance. For a thousand years, Christmas has been celebrated in Poland, a land of deep religious faith, but this Christmas brings little joy to the courageous Polish people. They have been betrayed by their own government.

“The men who rule them and their totalitarian allies fear the very freedom that the Polish people cherish. They have answered the stirrings of liberty with brute force, killings, mass arrests, and the setting up of concentration camps. Lech Walesa and other Solidarity leaders are imprisoned, their fate unknown. Factories, mines, universities, and homes have been assaulted.

“The Polish Government has trampled underfoot solemn commitments to the UN Charter and the Helsinki accords. It has even broken the Gdansk agreement of August 1980, by which the Polish Government recognized the basic right of its people to form free trade unions and to strike.

“The tragic events now occurring in Poland, almost 2 years to the day after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, have been precipitated by public and secret pressure from the Soviet Union. It is no coincidence that Soviet Marshal Kulikov, chief of the Warsaw Pact forces, and other senior Red Army officers were in Poland while these outrages were being initiated. And it is no coincidence that the martial law proclamations imposed in December by the Polish Government were being printed in the Soviet Union in September.

“The target of this depression [repression] is the Solidarity Movement, but in attacking Solidarity its enemies attack an entire people. Ten million of Poland's 36 million citizens are members of Solidarity. Taken together with their families, they account for the overwhelming majority of the Polish nation. By persecuting Solidarity the Polish Government wages war against its own people.

“I urge the Polish Government and its allies to consider the consequences of their actions. How can they possibly justify using naked force to crush a people who ask for nothing more than the right to lead their own lives in freedom and dignity? Brute force may intimidate, but it cannot form the basis of an enduring society, and the ailing Polish economy cannot be rebuilt with terror tactics.”

Reading that message today brings to mind how when you’re dealing with the Russians, some things never change…yes, think about Ukraine today. Let’s move on to Christmas 1982 when he decided to deliver his Christmas greetings in a radio address…let’s read this patriotic yet touching address.

“Merry Christmas from the White House. Nancy and I wish we could personally thank the thousands of you who've sent us holiday cards, greetings, and messages. Each one is moving and tells a story of its own -- a story of love, hope, prayer, and patriotism. And each one has helped to brighten our Christmas.

“Some of the most moving have come from fellow citizens who, unlike most of us, are not spending Christmas day at the family hearth, surrounded by friends and loved ones. I'm thinking of the 12 U.S. marines who sent us a card from Beirut, Lebanon, where they'll spend their Christmas helping to rebuild the shattered hopes for peace in a suffering land. And I'm thinking of the petty officer serving aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise who asked that we remember him and his shipmates this holiday season. ``Christmas in the Indian Ocean is no fun,'' he writes, ``but it's for a very good cause.''

“Well, that's right, sailor. You're serving a very good cause, indeed. On this, the birthday of the Prince of Peace, you and your comrades serve to protect the peace He taught us. You may be thousands of miles away, but to us here at home, you've never been closer.

“One of my favorite pieces of Christmas mail came early this year, a sort of modern American Christmas story that took place not in our country's heartland, but on the troubled waters of the South China Sea last October. To me, it sums up so much of what is best about the Christmas spirit, the American character, and what this beloved land of ours stands for -- not only to ourselves but to millions of less fortunate people around the globe.

“I want to thank Mr. Gary Kemp of Neenah, Wisconsin, for bringing it to my attention. It's a letter from Ordnance Man, First Class, John Mooney, written to his parents from aboard the aircraft carrier Midway on October 15th. But it's a true Christmas story in the best sense.

“``Dear Mom and Dad,'' he wrote, ``today we spotted a boat in the water, and we rendered assistance. We picked up 65 Vietnamese refugees. It was about a two-hour job getting everyone aboard, and then they had to get screened by intelligence and checked out by medical and fed and clothed and all that.

“``But now they're resting on the hangar deck, and the kids -- most of them seem to be kids . . . are sitting in front of probably the first television set they've ever seen, watching `Star Wars'. Their boat was sinking as we came alongside. They'd been at sea five days, and had run out of water. All in all, a couple of more days and the kids would have been in pretty bad shape.

“``I guess once in awhile,'' he writes, ``we need a jolt like that for us to realize why we do what we do and how important, really, it can be. I mean, it took a lot of guts for those parents to make a choice like that to go to sea in a leaky boat in hope of finding someone to take them from the sea. So much risk! But apparently they felt it was worth it rather than live in a Communist country.

“``For all of our problems, with the price of gas, and not being able to afford a new car or other creature comforts this year . . . I really don't see a lot of leaky boats heading out of San Diego looking for the Russian ships out there. . . .

“``After the refugees were brought aboard, I took some pictures, but as usual I didn't have my camera with me for the REAL picture -- the one blazed in my mind. . . .

“``As they approached the ship, they were all waving and trying as best they could to say, Hello America sailor! Hello Freedom man!' It's hard to see a boat full of people like that and not get a lump somewhere between chin and bellybutton. And it really makes one proud and glad to be an American. People were waving and shouting and choking down lumps and trying not to let other brave men see their wet eyes. A lieutenant next to me said, Yeah, I guess it's payday in more ways than one.' (We got paid today.) And I guess no one could say it better than that.

“``It reminds us all of what America has always been -- a place a man or woman can come to for freedom. I know we're crowded and we have unemployment and we have a real burden with refugees, but I honestly hope and pray we can always find room. We have a unique society, made up of cast-offs of all the world's wars and oppressions, and yet we're strong and free. We have one thing in common -- no matter where our forefathers came from, we believe in that freedom.

“``I hope we always have room for one more person, maybe an Afghan or a Pole or someone else looking for a place . . . where he doesn't have to worry about his family's starving or a knock on the door in the night . . .'' and where ``all men who truly seek freedom and honor and respect and dignity for themselves and their posterity can find a place where they can . . . finally see their dreams come true and their kids educated and become the next generations of doctors and lawyers and builders and soldiers and sailors.

“Love, John.''

“Well, I think that letter just about says it all. In spite of everything, we Americans are still uniquely blessed, not only with the rich bounty of our land but by a bounty of the spirit -- a kind of year-round Christmas spirit that still makes our country a beacon of hope in a troubled world and that makes this Christmas and every Christmas even more special for all of us who number among our gifts the birthright of being an American.

“Until next week, thanks for listening. Merry Christmas, and God bless you.”

In 1983, he chose the same way to deliver a message – via the radio waves. In this one, his focus is faith.

“My fellow Americans:

“Like so many of your homes, the White House is brimming with greens, colorful decorations, and a tree trimmed and ready for Christmas day. And when Nancy and I look out from our upstairs windows, we can see the National Christmas Tree standing in majestic beauty. Its lights fill the air with a spirit of love, hope, and joy from the heart of America.

“I shared that spirit recently when a young girl named Amy Benham helped me light our national tree. Amy had said that the tree that lights up our country must be seen all the way to heaven. And she said that her wish was to help me turn on its lights. Well, Amy's wish came true. But the greatest gift was mine, because I saw her eyes light up with hope and joy just as brightly as the lights on our national tree. And I'm sure they were both seen all the way to heaven, and they made the angels sing.

“Christmas is a time for children, and rightly so. We celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace who came as a babe in a manger. Some celebrate Christmas as the birthday of a great teacher and philosopher. But to other millions of us, Jesus is much more. He is divine, living assurance that God so loved the world He gave us His only begotten Son so that by believing in Him and learning to love each other we could one day be together in paradise.

“It's been said that all the kings who ever reigned, that all the parliaments that ever sat have not done as much to advance the cause of peace on Earth and good will to men as the man from Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth.

“…And because faith for us is not an empty word, we invoke the power of prayer to spread the spirit of peace. We ask protection for our soldiers who are guarding peace tonight -- from frigid outposts in Alaska and the Korean demilitarized zone to the shores of Lebanon. One Lebanese mother told us that her little girl had only attended school 2 of the last 8 years. Now, she said, because of our presence there her daughter can live a normal life.

“With patience and firmness we can help bring peace to that strife-torn region and make our own lives more secure. The Christmas spirit of peace, hope, and love is the spirit Americans carry with them all year round, everywhere we go. As long as we do, we need never be afraid, because trusting in God is the one sure answer to all the problems we face.

“Till next week, thanks for listening, God bless you, and Merry Christmas.”

In 1984 and 1985, the President did not deliver a radio address, but wrote a Christmas message like the one I read in the first half of this podcast. So now we’re up to 1986 and rather than calling it a Christmas message, it was a message on family values.

“The holiday season is a time of gift giving and merrymaking; a time when millions help churches, synagogues, and organizations like the Salvation Army and Toys for Tots provide for the less fortunate among us, a time when huge turkey dinners are cooked, parents find themselves staying up late wrapping toys, and children's eyes are filled with more and more excitement every day -- a time, indeed, when all the world seems taken up with plans and celebrations and family.

“That last word, ``family,'' is one that I'd like to consider for a moment. To be sure, family is very much on our minds during the holidays, as children and grandchildren, parents and grandparents, gather to share the happiness of the season. We know how good it feels to be with our families -- how it warms and comforts us, how it gives us strengh and joy. But I wonder whether we always give our families all the appreciation they deserve. Consider, for example, that the philosopher-historians Will and Ariel Durant called the family ``the nucleus of civilization.'' They understood that all those aspects of civilized life that we most deeply cherish -- freedom, the rule of law, economic prosperity and opportunity -- that all these depend upon the strength and integrity of the family. If you think about it, you'll see that it's in the family that we must all learn the fundamental lesson of life -- right and wrong, respect for others, self-discipline, the importance of knowledge, and, yes, a sense of our own self-worth. All of our lives, it's the love of our families that sustains us when times are hard. And it is perhaps above all to provide for our children that we work and save.

“Some have suggested that in today's world, the family has somehow become less important. Well, I can't help thinking just the opposite: that when so much around us is whispering the little lie that we should live only for the moment and for ourselves, it's more important than ever for our families to affirm an older and more lasting set of values. Yet, for all that, in recent decades the American family has come under virtual attack. It has lost authority to government rule writers. It has seen its central role in the education of young people narrowed and distorted. And it's been forced to turn over to big government far too many of its own resources in the form of taxation.

“Even so, the family today remains the fundamental unit of American life. But statistics show that it has lost ground, and I don't believe there's much doubt that the American family could be, and should be, much, much stronger. Just last month, I received a report on this from my Working Group on the Family, providing recommendations for giving the family new strength. Our administration will be giving these recommendations serious consideration in the days ahead. But for now we might all do well to keep our families in mind, to make certain that we don't take them for granted. For perhaps at no other time of the year are we able to enjoy our families so thoroughly or see so clearly their importance to ourselves and our country.

“…So, in the midst of our celebrations, let us remember that one holy family in a manger on that still night in Bethlehem so long ago and give renewed thanks for the blessings of our own families. And, yes, let us pray for "peace on earth, good will toward men.''

“Until next week, thanks for listening, God bless, and from the Reagan family to your family, Merry Christmas!”

Again in 1987, he skipped the radio address, substituting a message. So here we are in 1988, when he wove the Christmas radio address into a message about the earthquake in Armenia. Yes, Armenia.

“My fellow Americans:

“Tomorrow is a day for celebration: celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Joy envelops us, as it must have enveloped our ancestors 1,988 years ago when unto us a Child was born. Our joy comes this happy season -- featuring Hanukkah as well -- not merely from the family dinner at which we come together nor just in the delight that a small child takes in all the sounds and smells and sights and a gift. It's not simply the crackle of a fire, the tinsel on the tree, and the annual viewing of ``It's a Wonderful Life.'' Yes, all these things are joyous, indeed, but this is also a time for prayer, a time for us to count our myriad blessings and reflect upon the joy that is ours every day of every year.

“…I know all Americans have joined with me in grieving for those who perished in the Armenian earthquake. Tragedies of this nature afflict our spirit; it's hard to see why such a thing happens, what it might mean. But the Armenian people are showing us they know they are loved. They know they can renew their strength and rebuild and rededicate themselves to life.

“We have been witness to the breathtaking bravery of the people of Leninakan and Spitak as they ready themselves for the task of going on. And, yes, they will go on, for the Armenian people are made of hardy stuff. As Hazel Barsamian, an American of Armenian descent, says, and I quote: "We have a history of this kind of tragedy. We are fighters. We are survivors. We stand together, and we will survive.''

“And at a time of such terrible calamity, something happens in the world, something worth thinking about at Christmastime. For a time, the real differences that divide us -- and will continue to divide us -- fall away. Closed borders open. Friends and enemies alike share the burden and hope to help. From Israel and war-torn Lebanon alike, supplies and aid have been sent to Soviet Armenia. And from the United States the response has been staggering: relief workers, tens of millions of dollars in private contributions, food, clothing, a cascade of good will and fellow feeling. Christmas is the time of the Prince of Peace, and we are therefore reminded yet again that our differences are not with common people but with political systems.

“In Armenia the birth of our Lord is not celebrated until January 6th. It is an Armenian tradition that priests travel to the homes of their flock and there make a special blessing with bread, water, and salt, representing life and substance. This season, more than ever, may the blessings of the priests over the bread and water and the salt provide the Armenian people with the strength to persevere and triumph.

“Nancy joins me in wishing all of you a safe, sound, and, of course, a very Merry Christmas! Until next week, thanks for listening, and may God bless you.”

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