Former first lady Nancy Reagan shakes hands with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. as House Minority Lewder John Boehner of Ohio, second from left, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., right, look on during a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda to unveil the Ronald Reagan statue.
A truce was called in the partisan battles on Capitol Hill today just long enough for a statue of former President Ronald Reagan to be unveiled at a ceremony in the presence of former First Lady Nancy Reagan.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used the opportunity to extol Reagan's willingness to reach across the partisan divide in a Washington where, unlike today, politicians on either side of the political aisle frequently socialized with each other.
She said:
President Reagan understood that bipartisanship and civility were important in all of our debates, nice to see Bob Michel — Where are you? — Bob Michel and Steny Hoyer. Well, I could introduce every one of you and you probably think that I will.
The president understood is that the value of bipartisanship and civility in our debate. Ever a gentleman, he never questioned the motives of a person because he knew people in public office loved our country and acted on behalf of the American people.
His friendship with another speaker, Speaker Tip O'Neill, is legendary and that friendship was based on, among other things, their Irish heritage which was characterized by grace, by charm and by good humor and in the good humor department, I'd like to share as a Californian, the special pride that we take as Californians in the unveiling of the statue today to tell you the story and Jerry Lewis probably knows this story and may have been there for it.
When President Reagan was governor of California, he went over to the chamber, the assembly chamber to deliver the State of the State address. It happened to be around the time of his birthday, so the legislators wheeled in a birthday cake. The president proceeded, then governor, to blow out the candles and then someone called out to him and said, "Governor, did you make a wish?" Without missing a beat, he said, "Yes, but it didn't come true." Jess Unruh was the speaker of the assembly, someone who he did not share, shall we say, much political ground, so he said, "Yes, I made a wish, but it didn't come true. He's still there."
It was a virtual certainty that the partisan rancor will still be there after today's bipartisan ceremony, too.
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