Part II: The Presidency Of Ronald Reagan (Bicentennial Divergence)

Inauguration:

In the chilly winter air of January 20, 1977, Ronald Wilson Reagan, a former actor, speaker and governor was sworn in as the 39th President of The United States before a jubilant crowd that had gathered below the Capitol Rotunda. Reagan's address seemed optimistic, full of promises for the future and a pledge to restore America to its founding values.

"It is time for us to realize that we're too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We're not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope. We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."

-Ronald Reagan 1977 Inaugural Address