John Rice Carter: “Today our Nation weeps in a very sad week when we recognize that we have lost a President who changed the Nation and…”

“Today our Nation weeps in a very sad week when we recognize that we have lost a President who changed the Nation and acted upon a policy that created positive change not only for this Nation, but for the entire world. Those of us who went into politics in the 1980s, as I did, many of us went in because we were inspired by Ronald Reagan. I actually ran for office the first time in 1980, and something that I will never forget is that Ronald Reagan took the time for a young, just-getting-started fellow who is running for the State representative in Texas, to drop me a personal note of encouragement. Here was a man who was going to lead the Nation, and yet he took the time for one small elected official. I will never forget that. Ronald Reagan believed in America. He knew America to be the most noble Nation on the face of the Earth, and he absolutely trusted the American people, that they would do the right thing, because he knew them to be the noble people who created this Nation. That message, as he inspired our country with that message, brought us out of malaise and started us on the path of glory to know that we are doing the right thing. We have missed Ronald Reagan. We will miss him tremendously because he inspired us to the greatness that we have, and for that reason, he has been a blessing upon this Nation. We will not forget.”