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Landon Parvin (born 1948) is a Republican speech writer who has written for several U.S. politicians, including Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In 1982, while working for Ronald Reagan, Parvin also wrote for Reagan's wife Nancy. Nancy was being criticized in the press for her opulence. Parvin wrote a comedic song for her to the tune of "Second Hand Rose".
Parvin left the White House temporarily in 1985 to become executive assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to the U.K.
Parvin is responsible for writing a notorious joke for President George W. Bush's appearance at a press dinner that had Bush looking for the missing Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in various places, including underneath a desk table, while saying "Those weapons of mass destruction gotta be somewhere." . Despite being reasonably well received at the time, it was judged by some to be insensitive to the families of the American soldiers whose family members in the service were in great danger overseas, and resulted in Bush receiving yet more criticism from a hostile press.
Interviewed in September 2004 about the Bush presidential campaign, he described his role in the campaign, "The purpose is for him to be better liked when he sits down than when he first stood up. That is what humor can do.".
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George Herbert Walker Bush was an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the 43rd vice president from 1981 to 1989 under Ronald Reagan, and in various other federal positions prior to that.
The Iran-Contra affair, often referred to as the Iran-Contra scandal, or simply Iran-Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan administration. Between 1981 and 1986, senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. The administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras, a right-wing rebel group, in Nicaragua. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by government appropriations had been prohibited by Congress, but the loophole was to use non-appropriated funds.
Nancy Davis Reagan was an American film actress and the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of president Ronald Reagan.
Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, his presidency constituted the Reagan era, and he was considered one of the most prominent conservative figures in the United States.
The Iraq disarmament crisis was claimed as one of primary issues that led to the multinational invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003.
Barbara Pierce Bush was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush. She was previously the second lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, and she was the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Among her six children are George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, and Jeb Bush, the 43rd governor of Florida. She and Abigail Adams are the only two women to be the wife of one U.S. president and the mother of another. At the time she became first lady, she was the second oldest woman to hold the position, behind only Anna Harrison, who never lived in the capital. Bush was generally popular as first lady, recognized for her apolitical grandmotherly image, and periodic Siena College Research Institute surveys of historians have consistently ranked her in the upper-half of American first ladies.
James Addison Baker III is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan and the 61st U.S. Secretary of State before returning as the 16th White House Chief of Staff under President George H. W. Bush.
Richard Vincent Allen was the United States National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1982, having been Reagan's chief foreign policy advisor from 1977. He has been a fellow of the Hoover Institution since 1983. He is a past member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee.
The Reagans is a 2003 American made-for-television biographical drama film about U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his family. The network CBS had planned to broadcast the film in November 2003 during fall "sweeps", but was ultimately broadcast on November 30 of that year on cable channel Showtime due to controversy over its portrayal of Reagan.
The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of historic quadrennial meetings at which the Republican candidates for president and vice president, and party platform are formally adopted. Attendance included 2,509 delegates and 2,344 alternate delegates from the states, territories and the District of Columbia. The convention marked the formal end of the active primary election season. As of 2021, it is the most recent major-party nominating convention to be held in New York City.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the repository of presidential records from the Reagan administration. Located in Simi Valley, California, the library is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and is the burial place of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. It contains millions of documents, photographs, films and tapes. It also contains memorabilia and a permanent exhibit of Ronald Reagan's life.
The 1980 October Surprise theory refers to an allegation that representatives of Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign made a secret deal with Iranian leaders to delay the release of American hostages until after the election between Reagan and President Jimmy Carter, the incumbent. The detention of 66 Americans in Iran, held in hostage since November 4, 1979, was one of the leading national issues during 1980, and the alleged goal of the deal was to thwart Carter from pulling off an "October surprise". Reagan won the election, and, on the day of his inauguration—minutes after he concluded his 20-minute inaugural address—the Islamic Republic of Iran announced the release of the hostages.
On March 30, 1981, President of the United States Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C., as he was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton. Hinckley believed the attack would impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had developed an erotomanic obsession.
On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died after having Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. Reagan was the first former U.S. president to die in 10 years since Richard Nixon in 1994. At the age of 93 years, 120 days, Reagan was the longest-lived U.S. president in history at the time of his death, a record which was surpassed by Gerald Ford on November 12, 2006. His seven-day state funeral followed. After Reagan's death, his body was taken from his Bel Air home to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California, to prepare the body for burial. On June 7, Reagan's casket was transported by hearse and displayed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, then flown to Washington, D.C., on June 9 for a service, public viewing and tributes at the U.S. Capitol.
A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be employed to write for weddings and other social occasions.
The 1980 Republican National Convention convened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, from July 14 to July 17, 1980. The Republican National Convention nominated retired Hollywood actor and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California for president and former Representative George H. W. Bush of Texas for vice president.
Kenneth Lee Adelman is an American diplomat, political writer, policy analyst and William Shakespeare scholar. Adelman has been a member of the board of directors of the global data collection company RIWI Corp. since June 2016.
The Ronald Reagan Freedom Award is the highest honor bestowed by the private Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. The award is given to "those who have made monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom worldwide."
Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989). A Republican and former actor and governor of California, he energized the conservative movement in the United States from 1964. His basic foreign policy was to equal and surpass the Soviet Union in military strength, and put it on the road to what he called "the ash heap of history". By 1985, he began to cooperate closely with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev–they even became friends–and negotiated large-scale disarmament projects. The Cold War was fading away and suddenly ended as the Soviets lost control of Eastern Europe almost overnight in October 1989, nine months after Reagan was replaced in the White House by his vice president George H. W. Bush, who was following Reagan's policies. The Dissolution of the Soviet Union took place in December 1991. In terms of the Reagan doctrine, he promoted military, financial, and diplomatic support for anti-Communist insurgencies in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, and numerous other countries. For the most part, local communist power collapsed when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Frederick L. "Rick" Ahearn is an American political and corporate consultant, currently serving as executive vice president of Potomac Communications Strategies in Alexandria, Virginia. He is best known for his long service as lead advanceman for Ronald Reagan, as a candidate in 1979–1980 and for most of his two terms as president; he was standing close to Reagan during his attempted assassination on March 30, 1981. Ahearn was also a senior adviser and planner for the presidential funerals and burials of Reagan and Gerald Ford, as well as Jack Kemp and First Lady Nancy Reagan. In all, he has served five U.S. presidents and six vice presidents, and aided 14 presidential campaigns from 1968 to 2016.