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Chuck Norris Recalls Friend Ronald Reagan’s Bold Faith

Photo from Chuck Norris’ Instagram

Chuck Norris Recalls Friendship to Ronald Reagan and the 40th President’s Bold Faith

By Movieguide® Staff

Writing in WND, martial artist, actor, and producer Chuck Norris shared about his friendship with former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.  

Norris, 81, said that while he celebrated his mother’s 100th birthday and mother’s day, the two of them also observed May 6, the National Day of Prayer.  

“At one point in the weekend, we were watching a news story about how President Biden’s National Day of Prayer Proclamation this past week didn’t even mention the term ‘God’ in it,” Norris wrote. “My centenarian mother said as she watched, ‘It would never be like that in the old days of America when I was growing up.'”

“It got me reminiscing about my favorite president who also became my friend: Ronald Reagan,” Norris recalled. “He didn’t need to wait for sacred occasions. Reagan was like America’s founders. He was never ashamed to mention God, whether in Rose Garden speeches, National Prayer Breakfasts or anywhere he was. His Easter and Christmas proclamations were overtly and unabashedly Christian while respecting other religions.”

Both Norris and Reagan had careers in Hollywood, but what Norris appreciated most about the 40th President of the United States was his faith in God. 

Norris cited a Washington Post article that talked about how Reagan’s mother, Nelle Wilson Reagan, became the catalyst for her son’s great faith. 

“In a 1937 letter to the family of her former pastor, Nelle assured them that her radio-announcer son, who just landed a seven-year movie contract with Warner Brothers, would not be influenced by ‘such a wicked place as Hollywood,'” Norris wrote. 

Norris included the entire letter, which you can read below: 

Dixon, Illinois

May 26, 1937

Dear Friends:

How is our young mother and her new baby getting along? I imagine little [illegible] is thrilled over a little brother, but I am awfully sorry he has the “wheezes,” as you call it. Let me hope he will outgrow this asthma; he’s so young to have to suffer with that.

I am inclosing some clippings regarding Ronald. I hardly know how to explain “our feelings.” But when people ask me if I am not “afraid to have him go to such a wicked place as Hollywood,” all I can answer is, that I feel I can trust him anywhere. He has never lost his high ideals of life. And when he called us to tell us the news, [one of the first early broadcasters in Illinois, who gave Ronald his first audition in radio] Pete MacArthur talked to me too and this is what he told me:

“I’m going to tell you something that your boy won’t tell you. When the wire came from Hollywood and we were all overjoyed at Dutch’s [name given to Ronald by MacArthur] good luck, we missed him from the office and sent one of the fellows to look for him. He soon came back saying he had discovered Dutch in one of the smaller studio rooms on his knees, praying. He didn’t let Dutch know that he saw him; and when he told all of us there in the office, we cried like babies.”

Friends, he does love God and he never forgets to thank Him for all his many blessings. And when we visited him, he told me of all the nice things he would be able to do now for Eureka College if he won the seven-year contract with Warner Brothers.

You know he has been a wonderful son to us. His father hasn’t had any work since June 15, last year, and during all that time I have rec’d a $60.00 check the first of each month and another one of the same amt the 15th of each month. And if he signs the seven-year contract, then he is going to send for us. That is the thing that makes me so happy, to think I can live my last days, making a home for him, it’s almost more happiness than I ever expected in this life. …

Thanks for all your kind wishes for “me and mine” and we hope you’ll write again.

Sincerely,

The Reagans

P.S. Remember, if you do plan to come to Dixon, our latch key is on the outside, you’ll find a warm welcome awaiting you all.

My best to Elizabeth and her little ones.

Nelle Reagan was right; her son clung to his faith throughout his successful run in Hollywood and became one of the most prominent presidents in American history.  

“Ronald Reagan not only survived his Hollywood film career but also thrived to become one of the most influential presidents in U.S. history, leading to the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union,” Norris wrote. “And Reagan did it with the bedrock faith exemplified by his mother.” 

Norris remembered Reagan’s words at a 1984 Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in Dallas, Texas.

“The following is just a small but powerful example of that speech, something that should be read or watched in entirety in every classroom and living room in America. And right now it would even serve as a great reminder and patriotic training for those presently occupying the Oval Office.”

Norris shared a portion of Ronald Reagan’s speech:

We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief, to apply moral teaching to public questions.

Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.

If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

Read Also: Chuck Norris: ‘Do You Value Bamboo Straws More Than Human Life?’

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.