Ronald Reagan

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Democratic strategists are citing President Reagan's speeches and letters to persuade Republicans to agree to a debt-ceiling increase. A conservative media analyst said Reagan was being taken out of context. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library)

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Ronald Reagan points to the Statue of Liberty in the background in New York Harbor as he launches his campaign against President Carter in 1980. Jon Huntsman Jr. used the same spot to begin his campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Other Republicans have borrowed from the Reagan playbook as well.

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A 10-foot bronze statue of Ronald Reagan unveiled July 4 in London as a 2012 Republican presidential candidate? One headline would have it so. (Image courtesy of the U.S. Embassy, London)

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Associated Press photographs U.S. Air Force and Army officers serving in Hungary pose with the new statue of former President Ronald Reagan in Budapest on Wednesday. The 7-foot-2 bronze statue honors Reagan for his efforts to free Hungary from the yoke of communism.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Hungarian sculptor Istvan Mate created a statue of former President Ronald Reagan to honor "the unchallengeable role played by the United States and President Reagan in bringing the Cold War to a conclusion," according to a government statement.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Hungarian sculptor Istvan Mate created a statue of former President Ronald Reagan to honor "the unchallengeable role played by the United States and President Reagan in bringing the Cold War to a conclusion," according to a government statement.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Sculptor Istvan Mate puts some finishing touches on his statue of former President Ronald Reagan, which will be unveiled in Budapest on Wednesday. The bronze statue will stand in the city's Freedom Square.

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RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION Jewelry designer Ann Hand has created a limited edition brooch and cufflinks for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation´s centennial celebration that carry the Reagan quote "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny."

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Illustration: Reagan and Coolidge

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**FILE** A Secret Service agent stands guard in Washington at the scene where President Reagan, Agent Timothy McCarthy and a Washington police officer were shot during an assassination attempt on March 30, 1981. (Associated Press)

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Former White House press secretary James Brady, who was left paralyzed in President Reagan's assassination attempt, visits lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the 30th anniversary of the shooting. (Associated Press)

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Sailors move food and water onto an HH-60H Sea Hawk on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan on Tuesday off the coastline of Japan in the western Pacific Ocean. (Associated Press via U.S. Navy)

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** FILE ** In this March 30, 1981, photo, an unidentified Secret Service agent, automatic weapon drawn, yells orders after shots were fired at President Ronald Reagan outside a Washington hotel. A newly released Secret Service audiotape from the attempted assassination of Reagan sheds lights on the chaotic aftermath when neither the president nor his agents realized he’d been shot. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

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'TEAR DOWN THIS WALL': President Reagan gets a rousing response to his speech at the Brandenburg Gate in June 1987, two years before the divide between East and West Berlin was destroyed. (Associated Press)

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Former first lady Nancy Reagan is helped by Marine Lt. Gen. George J. Flynn after a wreath laying ceremony for her husband former U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the centennial birthday celebration at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in Simi Valley, Calif, on Sunday Feb. 6,2011. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

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Former first lady Nancy Reagan is helped by U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. George J. Flynn as she arrives for a wreath laying ceremony at the memorial of her husband, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the centennial birthday celebration at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in Simi Valley, Calif, on Sunday Feb. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

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Former first lady Nancy Reagan is helped by U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. George J. Flynn as she arrives for a wreath laying ceremony at the memorial of her husband, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the centennial birthday celebration at at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in Simi Valley, Calif, on Sunday Feb. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)