 I look at a great many familiar faces, and I'm delighted that you're all here today. And I want to ask you back when the conservative movement consisted of a few outspoken senators and representatives and a couple of after-dinner speakers, who ever thought that the White House would host a birthday party for human events? Because we are all old friends and comrades in arms, if you don't mind my saying so, professional colleagues, I got my first byline in human events in 1961. I hardly have to recite for you the human events story. As a matter of fact, I'm old enough to go back to when human events was about newsletter size. Hadn't grown up to be a tabloid size paper. But that remarkable 40th anniversary issue does a wonderful job of saying all that needs to be sung. The article's there by your founders Frank Hannigan and James Wick, and by notables like Douglas MacArthur, Barry Goldwater, Herbert Hoover, Bill Buckley, as well as page after page of tributes from important American political figures. All of this is a remarkable testimony, not only to the extraordinary journalistic enterprise that is human events, but to the strength of the ideas that human events has always advocated. Individual opportunity, limited government, free markets, traditional values, and the moral imperative of resisting totalitarianism and furthering the cause of freedom. America's seen enormous changes in the last few years, politically, intellectually, and culturally, all in the direction of those ideas that you've stood for for so long and so bravely. And I'm sure when historians look to find the underlying reasons for such change, they're going to focus on human events and all the remarkable people that have been associated with you over the years. A new film that's out, Protocol, satirizes the failure of people in Washington to quote, to say what you think, unquote. Well, I think what's made human events so amazing, so important to our recent history, has been your willingness always to keep the rules of civility, but never to be afraid to challenge the conventional wisdom, break the Washington protocols, and say exactly what you think. Now, just in a little kind of a confessional mood here, I might as well tell you that back there in those days, when I started reading it when it was just pamphlet size, that's part of what helped me quit being a New Deal Democrat. But many people who've been part of the human events family have been important to your success over the years. Political figures like the late John Ashbrook, contributors like Maury Risken, Stan Evans, and so many others. But certainly two people must be singled out today for the sprightly and informative makeup of human events and its plain old fashioned political power. And that's Tom Winter and Alan Risken. I think you know that Alan and Tom are always telling me to stick to the conservative gospel and not listen to too much of the conventional Washington wisdom. And you know that sound advice. But I was thinking before I got here today about one occasion when I did listen to the image makers and the pragmatists. They advised me a few years back to make my Washington singing debut and to do a solo number in one of the gridiron dinner skits. Now of course I had spent some years in the entertainment business where I learned that if you can't sing or dance you wind up as an after dinner speaker. They leave me in Hollywood, no one asked me to sing. And I really wasn't that worried at the gridiron because I remembered Bob Hope used to say there were certain advantages to being president. He said it was only after Ike stopped being president that he found out who he could really beat at golf. So I wasn't too worried when I went down to the gridiron dinner that night with my warm and vibrant rendition of manjana. And then I sort back and waited for the brave notices to roll in. And I'm still waiting. But in thinking about this reception today I had what I thought was a perfect song to describe the growth of the conservative movement and the gallant work of human events and the warm support that you've given me in the past. And I thought that maybe in front of such old friends I might get away with an encore. But apparently in view of my earlier experience some of the pragmatists and image makers were less than enthusiastic. So just this one time I hope you let me take their advice and stick to just reciting the words of a great little Frank Sinatra number that I think is very appropriate for a human events birthday party. They all laughed at Christopher Columbus when he said the world was round. They all laughed when Edison recorded sound. They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother when they said that man could fly. And they told Marconi Wireless was a phony. It's the same old cry. They laughed at me and you said we were reaching for the moon but hey you came through and now they'll have to change their tune. They all said we never could be happy. They laughed at us and how. But ho ho ho who's got the last laugh. Ah ha ha who's got the last laugh. Now you know you'd think that by this time I didn't know enough to get off while you're still laughing. But I can't quite resist reflecting here on that campaign that first brought so many of us together. I'm sure you remember a hot July night in San Francisco some years ago when we did what was said to be impossible and nominated a conservative candidate for the presidency. And Barry Goldwater said that night that whatever may lie ahead we conservatives must continue in our work. Quote until our cause has won the day inspired the world and shown the way to a tomorrow worthy of all our yesteryears. Well that of course is still our mission because of human events and people like yourselves we've made a great beginning and with your help we will continue. Thank you and God bless you all. Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, it's kind of ironic with all these distinguished conservatives here that I would have the opportunity to join with Orin Hatch and Bill Simon to co-host this Friends of Human Events afternoon in your honor. So on behalf of the Friends of Human Events and on behalf of Tom and Alan and all of you, my colleagues included, I can't resist saying on this slow news day that the vice president first mentioned to me I can't help but ask in that trade that went on today did you get any draft choices? When the president was in Buffalo during the campaign and the Bishop of Buffalo was there and all the dignitaries, incidentally a lot of Democrats, someone brought up football and I happened to ask the president what he played when he played football and he said guard and someone said which one and he said right, that instinctive response shows you where his heart is. Mr. President, because of Barry Goldwater many of us, including yourself, got involved in politics but because of you, our view of politics is now successful and we thank you for that, not only here but throughout the world. When you mentioned that they're changing there too and I thought one of the ironies of this day is that Morton Kondraki of the New Republic Magazine has written an article answering Time Magazine and suggesting on behalf of himself and New Republic that Ronald Reagan is the real man of the year in 1984. We knew that intuitively, maybe irony is the wrong word but I think because of Ronald Reagan and the vice president and the administration and of course human events isn't an interesting that more and more people from the New Republic to people like Charles Krauthammer and many others in this town are beginning to realize that it was this president and this administration that has brought not only the hope to this country but has helped to reverse the correlation of forces in the world which as you know in the 1970s was inexorably moving against us because of this president and the recognition of what he has been able to do that correlation of forces that was adverse has turned into a correlation of force on behalf of the ideas that we believe in not only in western civilization but throughout the world. One of the books on our list of reading for Christmas was Jean Francois Revelle's Why Democracies Parish. He begins by saying is democracy a parenthesis in history? The answer is no, it is not a parenthesis in history. It is history because it's on the side of people and because of our president, the administration and his success and that which will follow it seems to me that never before have we been able to realize the optimism that began in the conservative movement and was reflected in the pages of human events and is manifested in the administration of the Reagan-Bush team. We're very grateful for that and because of you sir we can say today that democracy is the wave of the future. We're very grateful to you and obviously as friends of human events we want to express our gratitude to this administration for helping to put into place that sense of optimism about the future, that sense of regard for human dignity, that respect for the future, that recognition, obviously that people are not a drain on the resources of this country. They are the greatest resource America has. You are the embodiment of that idea and I think when you mention tunes and songs we need to mention the one book, Richard C. Weaver. Ideas have consequence. Mr. President, you are the living embodiment of what Richard Weaver wrote about when he wrote that ideas have consequence when their time has come. They are more powerful than armies. Our ideas have come. They're the most powerful army not only in this hemisphere but on this earth and because of the Reagan administration they will achieve a victory and for that sir we are grateful. Some people seek power for the sake of power. You have sought power for the sake of principle. That's why we are all part of the Reagan revolution. God bless you and your administration. I'm going to say I even support the children. Thank you very much. I just, I thank you and I'll try to deserve some of those wonderful words that you just said here but I just have to correct one thing. I know that at your age, yes, you started involved in politics in 1964 but I'd been involved in politics before 1964 on the wrong side.