Share some thoughts, some of ive been saving for a long time. T been the honor of my life to be your president. So many of you have written in the past few weeks to say thanks say as much to you. Nancy and i are grateful for the opportunity you gave us to serve. One of the things about the presidency is that youre always somewhat apart. Spend a lot of time going by too fast in a car someone else the iving, and seeing people through tinted glass, the parents holding up a child and saw too late an couldnt return, and so many times, i wanted to stop and behind the glass and connect. Well, maybe i can do a little of tonight. People ask how i feel about partingand the fact is, is with such sweet swor row. The sweet part is california and ranch and freedom. Of course, goodbyes, and leaving this beautiful place. Down hall and up the stairs from of the ice is the part white house where the president and his family live. There are a few favorite windows up there that i like to stand and look out of early in the morning. Is over the grounds here to the washington monument, nd then the mall, and the jefferson memorial. But on mornings when the humidity is low, you can see jefferson to the river, virginia c, and the shore. Some say thats the view lincoln had when he saw the smoke rising bull run. I see more prosaic things, the traffic as people make their way to work, the river. Ive been thinking a bit at that window. Ive been reflecting on what the past eight years have meant and and the image that comes to mind like a refrain is, a nautical one. Small story about a big ship and a refugee and a sailor. Early 1980s n the at the height of the boat people and the sailor was hard at work midway, which was patrolling the south china sea. Sailor like most American Service men was young, smart and fiercely observant. Spied on the horizon a leaky little boat and crammed nside were refugees from indochina hoping to get to america. The midway sent a small launch to the ship in safety. As the refugees made their way spied choppy seas, one the sailor on deck and stood up and called out to him. Hello american sailor. Hello, freedom man. A big all moment with meaning. A moment the sailor who wrote it in a letter couldnt get out of and when i saw it, neither could i. What it was to be america in the 1980s. Freedom. For i know we always have, but in the past few years, world, again, in a way we ourselves, rediscovered it. Ts been quite a journey this decade and we held together through some stormy seas. End, together were reaching our destination. Is, from granada to the washington and moscow summits, to the recession of 1982 1982, to the expansion that began in late 1982 and continues day, weve made a difference. The way i see it, there were two two things that im proudest of. One is the economic recovery, in which the people of america created and filled 19 million new jobs. The other is the recovery of our morale. Again in respected the world and looked to for leadership. Something that happened to me a reflects on some of which. It was back in 1981, and i was my first big economic summit, which was held that year in canada. Meeting place rotates among the member countries. The opening meeting was a formal of er with the heads government of the seven industrialized nations. Sat there like the new kid in school and listened. And that all this they dropped titles and spoke to one another on a first name basis. At one point, i sort of leaned my name is ron. In that same year, we began the ctions we felt would ignite an economic comeback. Cut taxes and regulation. Spending. Cut soon the recovery began. Two years later, another with pretty much the same task, at the big opening meeting we all got a sudden nd all of just for a moment, i saw that veryone was just sitting there looking at me. And then one of them broke the silence. Tell us about the american miracle, he said. Running1980, when i was for president , it was all so different. Pundits said our programs would result in catastrophe. Our views on Foreign Affairs war. D cause our plans for the economy would cause inflation to soar and economic collapse. I even remember one highly espected economist saying back n 1982, that the engines of Economic Growth have shut down here and they are likely to stay way for years to come. Well, he and the other opinion leaders were wrong. Fact is, what they called radical was really right. Dangerous was d just desperately needed. Time, i won a that nickname, great communicator, my i never thought it was style, or the words that i used that made a difference. It was the content. Wasnt a great communicator, but i communicated great things, spring full t bloom from my brow. They came from the heart of a nation. From our experience, our wisdom, belief in the principles that have guided us for two centuries. Reagan led at this time revolution, ill accept that, but for me it seemed more like rediscovery. A rediscovery of our values and our common sense. Told us that when you put a big tax on something, of people will produce less it. We cut the peoples tax rates and the people produced more ever before. The economy bloomed like a plant that had been cut back and could quicker and stronger. Our Economic Program brought about the longest peace time in our history. Real Family Income up, the down. Y rate entrepreneurship booming, and an xplosion in research and new technology. Were exporting more now than ever because american industry competitive, and at the same time, we summoned the knock down l to protectionist walls abroad recting them at home. Common sense also told us to preserve the peace we would have become strong again after years of weakness and confusion. Defenses. Ilt our and this new year we toasted the the eacefulness around globe. Not only have the super powers begun to reduce their stockpiles of Nuclear Weapons and hope for even more progress is bright, that e regional conflicts racked the globe are also beginning to cease. A persian gulf is no longer war zone. The soviets are leaving afghanistan. He vietnamese are preparing to pull out of cambodia, and an merican mediated accord will ,000 cuban troops home from angola. A great nation our challenges seem complex. T will always be this way but as long as we remember our First Principles and belief in will alwayse future be ours, and Something Else we learned. Movement,egin a great there is no telling where it will end. E meant to change a nation and instead we changed a world. Countries across the globe are to free markets and free speech. The urning away from ideologies of the past the great discovery of the 1980s has been the lo and behold, the moral way of government is the practical way of government. Democracy, profoundly good is profoundly productive. To the point where you can celebrate the anniversary of your 39th back. Ay, you can look for me there was a fork in the river and it was right in the middle of my life. Never meant to go into politics. It wasnt my intention when i was young. To believe you had to pay your way for the on you. S bestowed i was happy with my career in the entertainment world but i ultimately went into politics i wanted to protect precious. Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that reversed the course of government and with three little words. We the people. We the people tell the government what to do. Doesnt tell us. We the people are the driver. The government is the car. We decide where it should go and by what route and how fast. All the worlds constitutions are documents in which governments tell the what their privileges are. Our constitution is a document we the people tell the government what it is allowed to do. We the people are free. This belief has been the everything asis for ive tried to do these past eight years. When i in the 1960s, began, it seemed to me that we had begun reversing the order of things. More and more rules and taxes the and government was taking more of of money, options and more our freedom. I went into politics in part to and say, stop. I was a citizen politician and seen the right thing for a citizen to do. I think we have stopped a lot of what needed stopping. Once again e have is notd people, that man free unless government is limited. There is a clear cause and as neat and hats predictable as the law of expands, s government liberty contracts. Nothing is less free than pure and yet we have the past few years forged a atisfying new closeness with the soviet union. I have been asked if this isnt answer is no, because were basing our actions words but on deeds. 1970s was based on not actions but promises. To treat People Better but the gulag was still was ulag and the state still expansionist and still waged proxy wars in latin, asia, and latin america. Time, so far, its different. Resident gorbachev has brought about some internal democratic reforms and begun the withdrawal from afghanistan. Also freed prisoners, whose names i have given him every time weve met. A way of reminding you of big things through small incidents. Heady days of the moscow summit, nancy and i ecided to break off from the entourage one afternoon to visit the shops. Its a little street just off moscows main shopping area. Visit was a ur surprise, every russian there immediately recognized us and and reachedur names for our hands. We were just about swept away by the warmth. Feel the almost possibilities in all their joy, within seconds, a kgb detail pushed their way toward us and shoving the and people in the crowd. It was an interesting moment. It reminded me that while the on the street in the soviet union yearns for peace, the and nment is communist, those who run it are communists, they view ans we and such issues as freedom and human differently. We must keep up our guard. But we must also continue to to lessen and to eliminate tension and mistrust. Is, that president gorbachev is different from previous soviet leaders. I think i think he knows some of the things wrong with his society and is trying to fix them. We wish him well, and well continue to work to make sure that the soviet union that eventually emerges from this process is a less threatening. What it all boils down to is this. I want the new closeness to i want the new closeness to continue. And it will as long as we make it clear that we will continue to act in a certain way as long as they continue to act in a helpful manner. If and when they dont, at first pull your punches. If they persist, pull the plug. Its still trust but verify. Its still play, but cut the cards. Its still watch closely, and dont be afraid to see what you see. Ive been asked if i have any regrets. Well, i do. The deficit is one. Ive been talking a great deal about that lately. But tonight isnt for arguments, and im going to hold my tongue. But an observation ive had my share of victories in the congress, but what few people noticed is that i never won anything you didnt win for me. They never saw my troops. They never saw reagans regiments, the american people. You won every battle with every call you made and letter you wrote demanding action. Well, action is still needed. If were to finish the job of reagans regiments, well have to become the bush brigades. Soon hell be the chief, and hell need you every bit as much as i did. Finally, there is a great tradition of warnings in president ial farewells. And ive got one that has been on my mind for some time. But oddly enough, it starts with one of the things im proudest of in the past eight years, the resurgence of National Pride that i called the new patriotism. This National Feeling is good. But it wont count for much, and i wont last unless its grounded in thoughtfulness knowledge. Informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what america is and what she represents in the long history of the world . Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different america. We were taught very directly what it means to be an american. And we absorbed almost in the air a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didnt get these things from your family, you got them from the neighborhood. From the father down the street who fought in korea, or the family who lost someone at anzio. Or you can get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed, you can get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated Democratic Values and implicitly reinforce the idea that america was special. Tv was like that too through the mid 60s. But now were about to enter the 90s, and some things have changed. Younger parents arent sure that an unambivalent appreciation of american is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, wellgrounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we havent reinstitutionalized it. Weve got to do a better job of getting across that america is freedom. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. Freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. Its fragile. It needs production. So weve got to teach history based not on what is in fashion, but what is important. Why the pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over tokyo meant. 40 years ago on the anniversary of dday, i read a letter from a young woman writing to her late father who fought on omaha beach. Her name is lisa and she said we will always remember. We will never forget what the boys of normandy did. Well, lets help her keep her word. If we forget what we did, we wont know who we are. Im warning of an eradication of the american memory that could result ultimately in an erosion of the american spirit. Lets start with some basics. More attention to American History and a greater emphasis on civic ritual. And let me offer lesson number one about america. All great change in america begins at the dinner table. So tomorrow night in the kitchen i hope the talking begins and children, if your parents havent been teaching you what it means to be an american, let them know and nail them on it. That would be a very american thing to do. And thats about all i have to say tonight. Except for one thing. The past few days when ive been at that window upstairs, i thought of the bit of the shining city upon a hill. The phrase comes from john winthrop, who wrote it to describe the america he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we call a little wooden boat. And like the other pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I have spoken of the shining city all my political life. But i dont know if i ever quite communicated what i saw when i said it. But in my mind, it built on it was a tall proud city, built on rocks, stronger than oceans, windswept, god blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds, living in harmony and peace. A city with ports that hung with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors. And the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. Thats how i saw it. And see it still. And how stands the city on this winter night . More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that, after 200 years, 2 centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow is held steady no matter what storm. And she is still a beacon. Still a magnet for all who must have freedom. For all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtel hurtling through the darkness we have done our part. , and as i walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the reagan revolution. The men and women across america who for eight years did the work that brought america back. My friends, we did it. We werent just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad. Not bad at all. And so, goodbye, god bless you, and god bless the United States of america. Now, the farewell address from president bill clinton in 2001. This took place from the white house oval office. It is just under 10 minutes. My fellow citizens, tonight is my last opportunity to speak to you from the oval office as your president. I am profoundly gratef