Reagan on New Arrivals

On “the last day of his presidency, in his last speech, President Ronald Reagan (11) recalled what someone had once written to him: ‘You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.’

He continued: ‘We lead (10) the world (13) (26) because, unique among nations, we draw (8) our people—our strength (26) (34)—from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich (15) our nation (18) (33). While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks (21) to (3) each wave of new (14) arrivals (22) (60) to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost’.”

"New Arrivals"scores higher than "lead(ing) the world, draw(ing) our strength, or enrich(ing) our nation." For without them, "our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”

Truths matters.

* Speech pulled from Heather Cox Richardson (Substack 4.27.25)