1995 Keeper of the Flame Award: Ronald Reagan

At an elegant black-tie dinner, President Ronald Reagan was honored as the recipient of the Center for Security Policy’s sixth annual “Keeper of the Flame” award. Participating in the occasion were most of President Reagan’s national security team — including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, former Counselor to the President and Attorney General Edwin Meese, former National Security Advisor William Clark, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick and the widow of former Director of Central Intelligence William Casey, Sophia Casey.

Among the roughly four-hundred guests were many of the Nation’s foremost security policy-practitioners, including three out of the five previous recipients of the “Keeper of the Flame” award: In addition to Secretary Weinberger (1990), former Senator Malcolm Wallop (1992) and Senator Jon Kyl (1994) were in attendance. Also present were such leading legislators as House Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Livingston, House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Christopher Cox and Representatives Dana Rohrabacher, Dick Chrysler, John Shadegg and Bob Barr. Remarks by Messrs. Clark, Weinberger and Meese emphasized the evening’s principal theme:even more needed in Washington and the world today. Ronald Reagan’s commitment to liberty, American strength and leadership and economic opportunity were not only instrumental to the protection and enlargement of the “Free World” during his presidency. They are qualities and principles that, if anything, are

Keying off a powerful three-minute video tribute to President Reagan that was written and narrated by Center Board of Advisors Member Roger W. Robinson, Jr., Judge Clark discussed Mr. Reagan’s deeply spiritual side. The former National Security Advisor emphasized the enormous value Mr. Reagan has placed on the rights and lives of every American from his years in the California governorship onward. Secretary Weinberger addressed “the Reagan Legacy Today” and the abiding relevance of Mr. Reagan’s recognition that the United States military and economic power could — and must — be enhanced and employed on behalf of freedom at home and abroad. Finally, General Meese explored “The Reagan Legacy in 1996 and Beyond,” contrasting the present Administration with the Reagan years and identifying key policy deficiencies that must be corrected if long-term U.S. interests are to be safeguarded. Notable among these was the urgent need to restore impetus to President Reagan’s initiative to defend the American people against ballistic missile attack.

Amb. Kirkpatrick and Mrs. Casey joined these former Cabinet officers in presenting the actual award — a magnificent Baccarat crystal in the shape of a symbolic flame. Richard Perle provided closing remarks underscoring the Center’s role in keeping the flame of the Reagan legacy burning brightly.