TODD: It was today, March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley. I shouldn\u2019t say his name. By this guy in D.C., this person who tried to matter to the world. My wife and I watched the funeral of Ronald Reagan. That I remember when Reagan was shot, he had this great line going into the hospital, legendary line.<\/p>\n
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He said to the surgeon, “I hope you\u2019re a Republican,” and the surgeon said… Because it was a different era, the surgeon said, “Sir, today we\u2019re all Republicans.” And then President Reagan chose to go to the window and wave with his hair done up perfectly, because that\u2019s who he was. He wanted the country to feel okay, because he was a leader.<\/p>\n
He was also an intellectual giant. People who want to pretend, as the media does, that he was not? You can belie that by simply reading President Reagan\u2019s notes, letters he wrote to people. My wife and I watched his funeral. I had to leave work. I couldn\u2019t work. He was the president of my lifetime. My wife and I wept on the couch. We watched Nancy Reagan touch his casket at the Reagan Library.<\/p>\n
I also remember, realizing that Rush Limbaugh was the intellectual bridge. Reagan was an intellectual; Rush was intellectual. And Reagan was the president of my lifetime and a father figure, and Rush was a father. Rush loved Ronald Reagan. He spoke of Ronald Reagan\u2019s brilliant embrace of the right to self-defense at the 1983 NRA convention.<\/p>\n
RUSH: Here is Reagan in 1983. The NRA convention that year was in Phoenix.<\/p>\n
REAGAN: I\u2019m delighted to be with all of you. It does my spirit good to be with people who never lose faith in America, who never stop believing in her future, and who never back down one inch from defending the constitutional freedoms that are every American\u2019s birthright.<\/p>\n
CROWD: (applause)<\/p>\n
REAGAN: It\u2019s a nasty through it, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun control laws. I happen to know this from personal experience.<\/p>\n
CROWD: (rippling laughter and applause)<\/p>\n
REAGAN: You know, I\u2019ve always felt a special bond with the members of your group. You live by Lincoln\u2019s words: “Important principles may and must be inflexible.” Your philosophy put its trust in people, so you insist individuals be held responsible for their actions.<\/p>\n
RUSH: Right on. The applause throughout Reagan\u2019s speech to the NRA in 1983 was never ending. Here\u2019s an example of that, our final bite.<\/p>\n