(Video) Ronald Reagan's 1985 Veterans Day speech

Ronald Reagan was always at his best when he spoke about America. He honored our troops on November 11, 1985--and he had this to say about the greatest nation in history.

"Peace fails when we forget what we stand for," Reagan said that day at Arlington National Cemetery. "It fails when we forget that our Republic is based on firm principles, principles that have real meaning, that with them, we are the last, best hope of man on Earth; without them, we're little more than the crust of a continent. Peace also fails when we forget to bring to the bargaining table God's first intellectual gift to man: common sense. Common sense gives us a realistic knowledge of human beings and how they think, how they live in the world, what motivates them. Common sense tells us that man has magic in him, but also clay. Common sense can tell the difference between right and wrong. Common sense forgives error, but it always recognizes it to be error first."

Oh, do we ever need common sense now.

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