A friend in Alabama sent me the text of Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign speech

to Memorial Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. The whole thing is here. My

correspondent pointed out the following passage in particular.

“Now, I have to leave soon, but I can’t go without talking a minute about a

great man that I was proud to call friend — Bear Bryant. He was sort of the

essential American. And, you know, a few years back, I set a kind of a

record here at the University of Alabama. I was here to go to a formal

dinner where I was to be the after dinner speaker. And Bear invited me to

come out and visit practice out here — football practice.

“Well, the only way it could be worked out and the timing and all was that I

had to put the tux on first. So, there I was out on the practice field

throwing a ball around with about 65 fellows, and I was in black tie.

[Laughter] Bear got quite a kick out of this. But he really started to laugh

when it began to rain. [Laughter]

“He was a leader, patriotic to the core, devoted to his players, and

inspired by a winning spirit that wouldn’t quit. And that’s how he made

legends out of ordinary people. He was a true American hero, and he was

Alabama’s own.

“The greatness of America and the solution to her problems begins with the

people — with all of you. You know that dreams, drive, courage, and

creativity make all the difference. You know, better than anyone, that it’s

in the hearts of the people that the tide begins to roll.”