101 years ago today, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois.  Ronald Reagan was – and still is – the heart of the modern day conservative movement.  President Reagan saw America as a special place, “a shining city on a hill,” and a beacon of freedom for the rest of the world.  Many in today’s conservative movement owe a great deal to the man who did not shy away from the conservative fight.

Taylor Jones / Cagle Cartoons (click to view more cartoons by Jones)

In 2009, Citizens United Productions produced a documentary called Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous With Destiny, hosted by Newt and Callista Gingrich.  The film is a feature length documentary that focuses on the three pillars of the Reagan presidency: reviving the American economy, restoring America’s spirit, and challenging the oppression of the Soviet Union. Through interviews with historians, cabinet members, and world leaders, the film examines and celebrates the Great Communicator and his legacy.

Featuring exclusive interviews with former Presidents Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic and Lech Walesa of Poland, along with Reagan Cabinet and staff members including James Baker, Edwin Meese, Marlin Fitzwater, Richard Perle, William Bennett, and the late Jack Kemp, Rendezvous With Destiny is President Reagan’s story as told by the people who were with him on the front lines of the Reagan Revolution.

Citizens United Productions traveled across the United States and to historic locations in Europe to capture the sights and sounds that defined Ronald Reagan’s presidency. You’ll see exclusive interviews and footage of President Reagan’s greatest speeches, from the unforgettable “Tear Down This Wall” in Berlin, to the moving “Boys of Pointe Du Hoc” in France, to his stirring farewell address from the Oval Office. Shooting on location in four countries, Rendezvous With Destiny goes to unprecedented lengths to tell the remarkable tale of Ronald Reagan’s life.

One of my favorite quotes from President Reagan is, “I hope that someday your children and grandchildren will tell of the time that a certain president came to town at the end of a long journey and asked their parents and grandparents to join him in setting America on the course to the new millennium, and that a century of peace, prosperity, opportunity, and hope had followed.”  This quote by America’s 40^th President sheds light on his soul.  President Reagan was a conservative who understood the promise of the American people.

This week many leading conservatives will congregate in Washington, DC for the 39^th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).  CPAC is a great testament to the conservative ideals set forth by President Reagan.  President Reagan is one of the reasons why this important conference continues today and it is appropriate that it will take place during the week of his birth.  Citizens United Productions will be sponsoring the CPAC Theater where we will be showing a number of conservative movies including Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous With Destiny.

I believe President Reagan would be proud of today’s conservative movement, especially with the number of young people who are now involved.  Without this new generation, the movement would die and it is a tribute to the legacy of one of the greatest stars of the conservative movement, President Ronald Reagan, that his ideals continue to this today.