Heidi Alexander: “I appreciate the remarks of the Senator from Connecticut. I am glad I had the opportunity to hear them. I, too, am here…”

“I appreciate the remarks of the Senator from Connecticut. I am glad I had the opportunity to hear them. I, too, am here to celebrate Ronald Reagan's life, born 100 years ago, but also his nearly 50 years of influence on American public policy. I begin in this way. A few years ago when he was President, President Reagan attended one of the many Washington press dinners held here. I think it was the Gridiron dinner. It was well known to 90 percent of the people in the audience that members of the press had a different point of view on politics than he did, but they liked him anyway, and they respected him, just as he respected them. I remember that evening that he strode into the Gridiron dinner smiling and looking like a million bucks. The press rose and smiled back and applauded him. President Reagan stood in front of the media until the applause subsided and then he said: Thank you very much. I know how hard it is to clap with your fingers crossed. The media laughed. They had a wonderful time with President Reagan. The first thing we think about, those of us who had a chance to know him--and that was a great many of us--is that Ronald Reagan was a very friendly, congenial man, an easy person to know, the kind of person one would enjoy spending time with. He was very comfortable, as we say, in his own skin. What we saw in private was what everybody else saw in public. Ronald Reagan was about more than being friendly and congenial.…”