Ronald Reagan Addresses Nation After Challenger Disaster

Pol Light Moment #14 occured when Ronald Reagan addressed the shocked country following the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States, serving from 1981-1989.

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean 73 seconds into flight, and the entire crew of 7 members were killed. The Challenger was on mission STS-51-L. Crew members lost included Greg Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe (the first school teacher to travel in space), Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Dick Scobee, and Michael J. Smith.

Ronald Reagan cancelled his scheduled address on the State of the Union and instead chose to comfort the nation following the Challenger disaster, which was the first time the United States had lost a crew in space. Here is the address Ronald Reagan made following the Challenger disaster.
 
 

The entire text of the speech is at this link. In the closing part of his speech Reagan quoted from the poem "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.:

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God (Source).'   Here is another video surrounding the Challenger Disaster. In the piece George H.W. Bush, who was the Vice-President at the time of this Pol Light moment talks about how well Ronald Reagan handled this tragedy.

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 in this post is in the Public Domain.

Jill Biden's Children's Book on Son's Deployment

Pol Light Moment #13 is Dr. Jill Biden writing a children's book on her son's deployment in the military. Dr. Jill Biden is the wife of the Vice-President of the United States, Joe Biden. Joe Biden was featured on the Pol Light Moment #11 post of this blog.

In June, 2012 Dr. Jill Biden released a children's book called Don't Forget God Bless Our Troops. The title came from a statement made by her granddaughter Natalie Biden. Susan Page writes that Dr. Jill Biden "has produced a deliberately nonpolitical book, a low-key account of Natalie's first year while her father, a major in the Army National Guard and Delaware's attorney general, was in Iraq (Source)."  One of the goals of the book is to help other families and children of military personnel understand that they are not alone in facing the difficulty of having a loved one in the armed service.

Here is an interview on the book that Jill Biden provided to USA Today.



For more information on this book visit this news article.

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.

Photo: The photo in this post of Dr. Jill Biden is in the Public Domain.

Mitt Romney Closes Bain Capital to Search for Runaway Teen

Mitt Romney

Pol Light Moment #12 is when Mitt Romney closed Bain Capital so he and others in the company could help search for a runaway teenage daughter of a co-worker at Bain. Mitt Romney was the Governor of Massachusetts from 2003-2007 and has been a candidate for President of the United States in 2008 and 2012.

During the Summer of 1996, Robert Gay's 14 year old daughter Melissa ran away from her home in Connecticut and fled to New York City. Robert Gay worked with Mitt Romney who was CEO of Bain Capital in 1996. When hearing of Robert Gay's family situation, Mitt Romney closed Bain Capital and he and 50 Bain Capital employees went from Boston to New York to work to help find the girl.

Recalling the incident Mitt Romney explained, "I said let's close the firm, let's close the company – we were in Boston – and let's all of us fly down to New York and try to find her. So we closed the business, we went home and packed our things (Source)."

The following video features Mitt Romney recalling this incident at a political speech in March, 2012.



Melissa Gay was found safely in New Jersey and returned home. Robert Gay said regarding the 1996 incident that, "Mitt’s done a lot of things that people say are nearly impossible. But for me, the most important thing he’s ever done is to help save my daughter (Source)."

Mitt Romney has been featured on other Pol Light posts. To view all Mitt Romney posts search with Mitt Romney 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 in this post is used from Wikipedia and is attributed to Cage Skidmore.