258. RONALD REAGAN (1911-2004) Fortieth President of the United States who served for two terms (1981-1989) and contributed to the fall of European Communism. Extraordinary T.Ms. with over 130 additions in Reagan's hand, with additional deletions, [Washington, August, 1988], 17pp. 4to. with president "eagle" watermark, a working draft of Reagan's heartfelt speech given before the Republican National Convention at the Superdome in New Orleans on August 15, 1988. This draft, dated four days earlier, is essentially identical to the final speech Reagan delivered before his fellow Republicans, and is should be noted that all of the corrections he made herein appeared in the final draft. Apparently the President read through this speech twice, as corrections appear in blue ballpoint and black marker. They include changes made to Reagan's reduction of the country's "misery index", a full line adding: "And what do you know - the top 5% of earners are paying a higher percentage of the total tax revenue than ever before & millions of earners at the bottom of the scale have been freed from paying any income tax at all. That was our change.", and mention of a young boy from Seattle who loves America because our freedoms allow: "...choosing among 200 flavors of ice cream...". Reagan also adds a touching pure-Reagan addition to one of his closing lines: "...there are times when I feel like I'm still Dutch Reagan racing my brother down the hill to the swimming hole under the railroad bridge over the Rock River...". Many additional additions and corrections showing the thinking process of the "Great Communicator" in action, mixing homespun Rockwellesque imagery into his right wing political stances. Fine condition. This is the first annotated Reagan speech we have encountered! This was certainly one of Reagan's most memorable speeches, with its recurrent "Facts are stubborn things" theme, though he mispoke briefly in his live reading, noting "Facts are stupid things". In the conclusion, he noted: "But I want you to know that if the fires ever dim, I'll leave my phone number and address behind just in case you need a foot soldier. Just let me know, and I'll be there -- as long as words don't leave me..." But words would leave Reagan only a few years later as Alzheimer's took its toll. A hint of the ravages of that disease are evident here and there in spelling corrections, misplaced punctuation and labored handwriting. Of course, the Republicans nominated George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle during the convention perhaps best known for Bush's "thousand points of light" acceptance speech accepting, also including the "read my lips: no new taxes" pledge that was the most popular soundbite coming out of the convention. The successful speech gave him a popularity "bounce" that he was able to capitalize on to win the 1988 presidential election.  $6,000-8000