WASHINGTON -- U.S. Representative Michael G. Oxley (R-Findlay) delivered the following keynote speech at the 68th Buckeye Boys State graduation ceremony on Sunday, June 20 at Bowling Green State University.  Oxley is a 1961 Boys State participant and member of the Buckeye Boys State Hall of Fame.

Good morning to all of you Boys Staters who have just launched your political careers, to your moms and dads, brothers and sisters, and other family members and friends.

And let’s give some special recognition to all the dads on this Father’s Day.

To the Boys State Band:  good as always!

I always look forward to this speech.  Boys State brings back great memories for me.  I was state representative for Suhr City and Konold County when I attended Boys State at Ohio University.  Now I’m a committee chairman in the U.S. House of Representatives.  And to think it only took me 42 years in between!

I congratulate all of you today, including your statewide elected officers:

• Governor Jordan Little from Cincinnati
• Lieutenant Governor Andrew Krebs of New Washington
• Attorney General Zachary Skaggs of Champion
• State Auditor Grant Underwood of Marysville
• Secretary of State Luke Brewer of Glenmont
• Treasurer Benjamin Walker of Akron; and
• Chief Justice Thad Boggs of Washington Courthouse.

Thanks to Boys State President Merle Brady and Director Gerald White for the invitation to speak.  I’ve have the honor of being your graduation speaker for 18 years now, and I think it’s because I learned early on to keep it short.

It is a great pleasure for me to be here in Bowling Green for the 68th graduation ceremony of Buckeye Boys State.  The American Legion and the veterans who work so hard on this event deserve a real pat on the back for their commitment to the youth of Ohio, so let’s give them a big hand.

And I would just point out that we have now opened a great memorial to our World War Two veterans in Washington on the National Mall between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.  I encourage all of you to visit this new memorial because it is a fitting tribute to what we now call “the greatest generation.”

As participants in this program, you join some real Ohio Boys State legends like Neil Armstrong of Wapakoneta, the first man on the moon; public servants including my Ohio colleague in Congress, Representative Paul Gillmor; and Ohio State football stars Rex Kern and Randy Gradishar.   Plus, there are some famous national Boys Staters as well including Vice President Dick Cheney.

And certainly our prayers are with a 2002 Buckeye Boys Stater, Keith (most folks knew him as “Matt”) Maupin of Batavia.  He is an Army reservist who was captured during an ambush in Iraq in April.  We all await his safe return, and salute the valor of our service men and women.

I’ve just been through some of the most extraordinary days I can remember in Washington.   The capital of our nation came to a virtual stop in order to pay respects to our former President, Ronald Reagan.

I don’t think even the news coverage--and there was a lot of it--conveyed the depth of emotion.  Thousands of people lined Constitution Avenue to watch the solemn procession that led to the U.S. Capitol.  One hundred thousand people, some of them waiting in line for seven hours, filed past the flag-covered casket in the magnificent Capitol Rotunda.  I went to the funeral service at the National Cathedral.  There were 4,000 people including President George W. Bush, his father, and two other former U.S. Presidents; Margaret Thatcher; and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

It was an incredible outpouring of respect and admiration for a leader and a national hero.  Above all, I think Ronald Reagan will be remembered in history as the president who won the Cold War.

And make no mistake about it:  when I was growing up, the Cold War was everything.  The U.S. represented capitalism and freedom; the Soviet Union meant communism and oppression.  Each country had enough nuclear weapons to destroy the other by pushing a single button.  There were times it seemed to come close to that.

So what could be more important than the victory that was won without firing a shot?  It was won with ideas.  Ronald Reagan had a basic belief in human freedom, didn’t think people should have to live under communism, and had a plan to send it to the dustbin of history.

I’ll always remember the first time I met President Reagan.  It was just after I won a special election to Congress in 1981, and only a few months after he’d been shot in an assassination attempt.

Here I was, a young congressman new to Washington and they brought me to the White House...probably to size me up and see how I was going to vote on the big tax cut bill.  What a thrill it was to be welcomed by the President.  The photograph from that meeting is still hanging in my office.

The next year, I was one of the Members of Congress taken to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.  As I got out of the van, there was President Reagan, almost larger than life, wearing blue jeans, a yellow golf shirt, and cowboy boots.  He sat down with us, and we had a fascinating freewheeling discussion on all of the issues facing the country.

In 1984, in the vein of Harry Truman, President Reagan did a whistlestop campaign tour through Ohio, traveling on the “Heartland Special.”  People in every town gathered to see the President and he’d be sure to wave to them from the back of the train.  When the train stopped in Sidney and Lima, there were crowds in the thousands--and they’re still talking about it today.

These experiences will always mean a lot to me.  But I’ve been thinking about what you could learn from the life of Ronald Reagan; after all, you were just in elementary school when he left office.

It seems to me that a lesson you can draw from Ronald Reagan’s story is that he made the most of the talents that he had at each stage of his life.  He lived to the fullest, at the same time always preparing for what might come next.

As a young man growing up in small-town Illinois, Ronald Reagan was tall, athletic, and active.  As a lifeguard, he was credited with pulling 77 people from the water, so he learned very early how to stay calm under pressure.  He was blessed with a good voice and the skill of public speaking, so he gravitated to radio.  One of his earliest jobs was to broadcast recreations of baseball games, something they did when the games couldn’t be carried live from the ballpark.  And so he developed the skill of keeping an audience riveted to his words--an early sign that he would someday be “The Great Communicator.”

Handsome and well-spoken, he was a natural for Hollywood a few years later.  It’s well known that he was a movie actor during the 1940s, playing roles like the legendary “Gipper.”  That’s probably where he learned how images can inspire people.  It’s something he used at the Berlin Wall when he challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the barrier that was symbolic of the divide between the free world and the communist world.  But he also started to develop his political skills back then by becoming active in the actor’s union and developing a passionate interest in politics and economics.

As Ronald Reagan entered the next phase of his life, he started to put everything together...speaking out on public affairs, displaying his leadership skills, and connecting with people.  He was on the rise and was eventually elected Governor of California.

Now, some of Reagan’s conservative ideas were not in tune with the 1960s.  But instead of compromising his beliefs, he stuck with them because he believed they were right.  In 1980, the American people agreed and elected him President.

Reagan was 69, and some said he was too old to be president.  What they didn’t think about was all the experience that he was bringing to the job.  All of those life lessons suddenly meant something:  keeping cool under pressure, using words and images to inspire people, holding unshakeable core beliefs, having a winning personality and a magic touch with people.

He ended up reviving the U.S. economy and restoring American pride.  His belief in liberty and free enterprise continues to reverberate around the globe.  As he said in his farewell address, “My friends, we did it.  We weren’t just marking time.  We made a difference.”

Which is some pretty good advice for you.  Make the most out of everything you do.  You’ve probably learned things this week that you’ll be able to draw on six months, six years, even sixty years from now.  I know I have.  If you lay a solid foundation and keep building on it, you’ll accomplish great things.

As I look out at you today, I see young people who will be our future leaders--in business, in our schools, churches, and communities--maybe even leaders of our country.

And that’s how we can keep the greatness in America, the country that Ronald Reagan was so proud of.

Thanks for inviting me to speak to you once again.  Congratulations, and have a great summer.

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