Description:

Ronald Reagan
Washington, DC, ca. June, 1981
Ronald Reagan Talking Points for White House Receptions, Two Drafts with Corrections in His Hand
TM

A pair of typed manuscripts (unsigned), two pages each, 8.5" x 11", namely final drafts for two talks given by Reagan in the White House on June 12 and 15, 1981, respectively. Light wrinkling and wear to edges, with a stray mark here and there, overall very good. Impeccable provenance: this item comes from the files of Helene von Damm (b. 1938), Reagan's longtime personal secretary and later Ambassador to Austria, gifted to our consignor, her White House assistant.

The first speech is titled "Final Draft: White House Reception for the RNC," with five words in Reagan's hand on the second page: "What else is new?" The speech reads, in part: "…Thank you all for the work you've done…Our victory in November was due to the accumulated efforts you've made. It just took awhile for the message to come through. The victory at the polls leaves us with a tremendous responsibility to do the things we talked about…Thanks to your help in keeping the heat on at the State level, we've succeeded in getting our budget cuts through Congress…Recent accounts describe the Democrats as being in disarray - [in holograph] What else is new? But we should not be lulled into self-confidence…I'm feeling fine and back to working a full day again. During my last visit to California, I did some horseback riding; and, if there was anything left uncured, that fixed things just fine."

The speech would be delivered delivered just months after the attempt on Reagan's life by John Hinckley, Jr. on March 30, 1981. It would open with Reagan's trademark humor, in part: "…I know you've been reading a lot about what's going on here in Washington. Some of it's true. [Laughter] We've been trying to follow the advice of Mark Twain, which was 'Do what's right and you'll please some of the people and astound the rest.' [Laughter] There's been some criticism, however, that we don't have a definite foreign policy, that we haven't been doing enough about that, and that's not true at all. Just the other day, before he left for China, Al Haig sent a message to Brezhnev that said, 'Roses are red, violets are blue, stay out of El Salvador and Poland, too.' [Laughter] But you know, this has been a great day and this tops it off just fine. This is George Bush's birthday. We have a great relationship, and George was very tactful; he hasn't told me how young he is. [Laughter]." (cf. Reagan Library Archives)

The second piece is titled "Talking Points: Meeting with Arts and Humanities Task Force June 15, 1981," with 10 words in Reagan's hand and six strike-throughs. It reads, in small part: "...[underlined in holograph] Tolstoy once said that art represents the highest and best efforts to which men have risen. Art and scholarship are both collections of past achievements…[in holograph] I now we all want to do all [resuming in typescript] we can to keep our cultural institutions. [In holograph] In my view govt should [resuming typescript] work with you and through you…[in holograph] Gov't's [resuming in typescript] role is that of a catalyst, not a total provider…Government must resist the urge to dominate and ultimately stifle art and scholarship. The academies of the 19th Century did not accept Refuses who are better known today as Impressionists...We must examine those Government institutions that have been supporting the arts and humanities…When the Endowment for the Humanities was created, the Congress wrote that American leadership in the world depends on our leadership in the realms of ideas and spirit. We can continue to be proud that we contribute to mankind's store of great truths…".

The debate over funding the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities was well in motion by the time that Reagan gave this speech with actor Charlton Heston at his side. A year later, on June 15, 1982, he would sign Executive Order 12367 to create the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities to "...analyze, and make recommendations to the President and to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities with respect to, (i) ways to promote private sector support for the arts and the humanities...(ii) the effectiveness of Federal support for the arts and the humanities in stimulating increased private sector support...(iii) the planning and coordination of appropriate participation (including productions and projects) in major and historic national events; and (iv) ways to promote the recognition of excellence in the fields of the arts and the humanities…".

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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