And that leadership, that faith in freedom and enterprise brought about a renewal of this great country. America was back and the free world became a safer place. Not since Lincoln, or Winston Churchill in Britain, has there been a President who has so understood the power of words to uplift and to inspire. You reached beyond partisanship to principles, beyond our own selves to our very souls. You reached for and touched, as Lincoln had said so long before you, the better angels of our nature.
Leadership is more than budgets and balance sheets.
More than the policy of public measures, it is a matter of moral purpose. And that moral realm is reached by that insight and rhetoric of which only the truly great are capable. This political instinct of truth, conviction and patriotism began long before you were President. I have been reading that excellent book of your speeches, Ron, and I am going to refer to three speeches in particular. In 1969, as Governor of California, you spoke at Eisenhower College.