Most of us don't remember presidential farewell speeches.   Most of them are well meaning speeches but not very consequential.  Also, some of our greatest presidents, like Lincoln and FDR, did not live to say farewell.  I remember my high school US history teacher discussing President Washington's farewell address and the line about staying out of foreign entanglements. The other one is President Eisenhower and the reference to "the military-industrial complex." I do recall watching President Reagan's speech.  It was probably more emotional than political.  After all, many of us never got enough of President Reagan's speeches back then. (I still have Reagan '76 bumper stickers!) He did say something that night that we should think about, like Steven F. Hayward reminded us: "Reagan bestowed full credit on the American people rather than himself. The contrast with the current president couldn't be more stark:   And in all of...(Read Full Post)