Ronald Reagan Writes Letter to 7th Grader With Messy Bedroom

Ronald Reagan

Pol Light Moment #84 occurred on May 11, 1984, when Ronald Reagan sent a letter to a 7th Grader named Andy Smith who had a messy room and had written the President to ask him to provide funds to clean up his room since his mother had declared it a disaster area. Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States, serving from 1981-1989.

Andy Smith, a seventh grader in 1984, had written to Ronald Reagan saying, "Today my mother declared my bedroom a disaster area. I would like to request federal funds to hire a crew to clean up my room (Letters of Note)."

Ronald Reagan responded back to Andy Smith's note with this letter.

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Andy Smith
Irmo, South Carolina 
May 11, 1984 

Dear Andy,

I'm sorry to be so late in answering your letter but as you know I've been in China and found your letter here upon my return. 

Your application for disaster relief has been duly noted but I must point out one technical problem: the authority declaring the disaster is supposed to make the request. In this case your mother. 

However setting that aside I'll have to point out the larger problem of available funds. This has been a year of disasters, 539 hurricanes as of May 4th and several more since, numerous floods, forest fires, drought in Texas and a number of earthquakes. What I'm getting at is that funds are dangerously low.

May I make a suggestion? This administration, believing that government has done many things that could better be done by volunteers at the local level, has sponsored a Private Sector Initiative program, calling upon people to practice voluntarism in the solving of a number of local problems. 

Your situation appears to be a natural. I'm sure your mother was fully justified in proclaiming your room a disaster. Therefore you are in an excellent position to launch another volunteer program to go along with the more than 3,000 already underway in our nation—congratulations. 

Give my best regards to your mother. 

Sincerely, 

Ronald Reagan 

(Source: Reagan: A Life in Letters, 2004)

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This letter above by Ronald Reagan was also featured on the Letters of Note website on June 19, 2012.

Ronald Reagan has been featured on other Pol Light posts. To view all Ronald Reagan posts search with the Ronald Reagan label at Pol Light.

Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.

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Photo: The photo of Ronald Reagan is in the Public Domain.

George H.W. Bush Encourages Volunteerism

Pol Light Moment #37 is when George H.W. Bush encouraged volunteerism at his innauguration on January 20, 1989, calling volunteers a "thousand points of light." Continuing this theme while in office, Bush has also made volunteerism a central focus of his post-presidency years.  George H.W. Bush was the 41st President of the United States, serving from 1989-1993. He also served as the Vice-President of the United States from 1981-1989.

The following is an excerpt from George H.W. Bush's Innaugural speech.

"I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good. We will work hand in hand, encouraging, sometimes leading, sometimes being led, rewarding. We will work on this in the White House, in the Cabinet agencies. I will go to the people and the programs that are the brighter points of light, and I will ask every member of my government to become involved. The old ideas are new again because they are not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in (Source)."

The Points of Light organization is a private, nonprofit organization that was formed to carry on the work Bush started of encouraging volunteer points of light, and it has become the world's leading nonprofit volunteer organization (Source). A tribute to George H.W. Bush role in the formation of the organization is found on the Points of Light website.

The Point of Light website says, "The Daily Point of Light Award was established by former President George H. W. Bush to engage individuals, families, businesses and groups to solve community problems through voluntary service. During his presidency, President Bush distributed 1,020 Daily Point of Light Awards, placing volunteer service at the top of his agenda. President Bush continues to sign all of the awards today (Source)." A list of almost 5,000 past honorees of the Daily Point of Light Award through 2011 is available in an online booklet (Reference).

The following is a video tribute to George H.W. Bush and his Point of Light message.

 

George H. W. Bush has been featured on other Pol Light posts. To view all George H. W. Bush posts search with George H. W. Bush label at Pol Light. For more about the history behind the phrase "Thousand Points of Light" see the Wikipedia article on it.

Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.

The photo of George H.W. Bush is in the Public Domain.