While President Obama receives stinging criticism for his recent announcement of a national address to school students, it turns out that President Ronald Reagan gave a similar, nationally-televised, speech to students as he was winding-up his second term in the Oval Office.
In the early afternoon hours of November 14, 1988, President Reagan, seated in the White House State Dining Room, proclaimed that he was "particularly pleased to be talking to American students" and then added "a special hello to those of you who are watching on C-Span."
This is being reported at conflictingreports.com. While the Obama speech is focused on education, Mr. Reagan started with a short speech that centered on government, democracy and free elections:
The most important thing you can do is to ground yourself in the ideas and values of the American Revolution. And that is a vision that goes beyond economics and politics. It's also a moral vision, grounded in the reverence and faith of those who believed that with God's help they could create a free and democratic nation.
The President then opened-up the floor to students from Washington's Jefferson Junior High School.
The questions were tough -- from gun laws to the line-item veto.
Mr. Reagan explained why it was important to continue Republican policies.
In the case of Obama, the criticism can best be noted by remarks from Florida Republican Chairman Jim Greer:
As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology. The idea that schoolchildren across our nation will be forced to watch the president justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies; increasing taxes on those who create jobs; and racking up more debt than any other president, is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power."
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