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Hundreds gathered Friday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to honor the late president on what would have been his 115th birthday — a tribute especially poignant with the death of his son Michael Reagan earlier this year.
Among those in attendance was Reagan’s granddaughter, Ashley Reagan, who said the annual commemoration helps maintain the legacy her father Michael spent much of his life preserving.
“Even with his passing recently, it was very important to my whole family to make sure we were here to honor my grandpa and his legacy and everything it represents,” she said.
“What he lived for was making sure that my grandpa’s legacy lived on,” she said. “So now, it’s carrying on my grandpa’s legacy and my dad’s legacy.”
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The annual commemoration in Simi Valley, California drew family members, political leaders and longtime admirers of the former president.
Fox News Digital spoke exclusively with Ashley Reagan and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to reflect on Reagan’s legacy and the relevance of his leadership in today’s deeply divided political climate.
Ashley spoke candidly about her father following his death on Jan. 4 after a battle with cancer. He was 80.
“He was definitely a big personality. He spoke his mind. You always knew where he stood with politics as well,” Ashley said. “He was somebody that always spoke the truth.”
Ashley said her father, a nationally syndicated radio talk show host, shared the ability to connect with people from all walks of life, “no matter who they were.”
“I think it came from a lot of years of watching and observing and kind of watching how my grandpa interacted with people, how he communicated with people and his communication wasn’t based on who somebody was,” she explained. “It’s why he was able to accomplish what he was able to accomplish when he was in office.”
Ashley also emphasized that the version of Ronald Reagan Americans saw on the national stage as president was no different than the “grandpa” she knew at home, characterizing him as the “heart of the earth.”
“The person that you saw was the person he was with us,” Ashley told Fox News Digital. “We rode horses with him; we went to his house and had lunch with him all the time, and he was just, he was Grandpa.”
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When speaking about how Reagan would perceive today’s political climate, both Ashley and McCarthy said it bears similarities to the turbulent period Reagan faced when he took office in the 1980s, theorizing that history is repeating itself.
“I think it mirrors when he took over in the ’80s,” Ashley said. “I think if you go back in history and you kind of look at where the country was at before he came into office, it mirrors that time frame.”
“High inflation, America embarrassed what happened with our hostages, the challenge that you had a sitting president believe the best days were behind us… A lot of similarities,” McCarthy added.
Ashley said her grandfather would have emphasized unity, particularly at a time when political divisions run so deep.
“I think he would encourage us to reach across the aisle a little more, but unfortunately, I think we’re watching history repeat itself in a lot of ways,” she said.
“He was all about unity, and he always said the only way you can get things accomplished is by reaching across the aisle and working with the other side. And he was able to accomplish so much because he didn’t just focus on people that agreed with him, but he worked with everybody,” she added.
McCarthy, a keynote speaker at Reagan’s 115th birthday commemoration, told Fox News Digital that the former president played a big influence in determining his political philosophy.
“I grew up in a family of all Democrats,” the speaker said. “He and Abraham Lincoln are the reason why I’m a Republican. I rejected what I heard at home.”
“I remember in elementary school watching Jimmy Carter tell me the best days were behind me and he [Reagan] walks up to a podium, say no pastels, fly the bold colors, and go to that shiny city on the hill. That’s who I wanted to follow. And that’s what brought me to the Republican Party,” McCarthy added.
The speaker also described Reagan as a “happy conservative” who believed strong principles brought more freedom — the kind of leader, he said, America needs today.
“He actually welcomed more people to the party,” McCarthy said. “We had what we called were the Reagan Democrats. These people just got educated through him and said, ‘I wanna be with him. I want America to be better.’ Those are the type of candidates we should look for.”
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Ashley said part of how she continues the Reagan legacy is through her work with Young America’s Foundation (YAF), which operates the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California – a site she explained as deeply personal to the family.
“With my dad’s passing, it only makes us more involved in that sort of thing because we don’t want to miss that connection with Ronald Reagan,” she said.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, YAF’s President, former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker said, “Young people still draw inspiration from President Reagan’s words on freedom. Drawing attention to his birthday draws attention to his remarkable influence even today.”