US Presidency
1984

I am talking about Secretary of the Treasury Don Regan. He spells it R-e-g a-n. We're all of the same clan, we're all cousins. I tried to tell the Secretary one day that his branch of the family spelled it that way because they just couldn't handle as many letters as ours could. And then I received a paper from Ireland that told me that the clan to which we belong, that in it those who said Regan and spelled it that way were the professional people and the educators, and only the common laborers called it Reagan. So, meet a common laborer. The first job I ever got, I was 14 years old, and they put a pick and a shovel in my hand and my father told me that that was fitting and becoming to one of our name. The bond between our two countries runs deep and strong, and I am proud to be here in recognition and celebration of our ties that bind.