A still photo from the ad, suggesting a sunrise in suburbia
July 5, 1984: The re-election campaign for President Ronald Reagan a television advertisement, titled "Prouder, Stronger, Better." It becomes known as "Morning In America." It was filmed in Petaluma, California, about 40 miles north of San Francisco. Here's the text:
It's morning again in America. Today, more men and women will go to work than ever before in our country's history.
With interest rates at about half the record highs of 1980, nearly 2,000 families today will buy new homes, more than at any time in the past four years. This afternoon, 6,500 young men and women will be married, and, with inflation at less than half of what it was just four years ago, they can look forward with confidence to the future.
It's morning again in America, and, under the leadership of President Reagan, our country is prouder and stronger and better.
Why would we ever want to return to where we were less than four short years ago?
The ad shows people going to work, via driving their car or taking a taxi; a kid delivering the morning newspaper from his bicycle; a family moving into a house; a wedding, of course in a church, with the bride wearing a white dress, and not a particularly revealing one, and also wearing a big smile; then the Capitol in Washington; American flags being raised at a campground's log cabin, a firehouse, and a private home; then a waving flag covering the whole screen; finally, a black background, with "PRESIDENT REAGAN" in white letters, and, in the lower right corner, a flag and what appears to be a campaign button with Reagan's face.
The ad sure makes it look like America was a wonderful place at the time, and makes it look like it was all thanks to President Ronald Reagan.
Take it from someone who was around then, and not a little kid anymore: The truth was a bit more complicated. Yes, inflation and interest rates were lower. But unemployment was actually higher on July 5, 1984 than it was when Reagan took office on January 20, 1981: 7.5 percent to 7.4 percent, having peaked at 10.8 percent in November and December 1982.
The country's manufacturing base had been shattered. Two-income families were no longer a lark, they were a necessity. Crime was out of control -- inside and outside of the White House. More people were scared of nuclear war than they were 4 years earlier. Environmental gains were being lost.
In the 1st 3 years of the Reagan Administration, the American economy was brutally bad. Yes, as the ad said, it was morning in America. But it didn't tell you that it was the morning after a wild party that America's rich people had, leaving everybody else with the hangover and the cleanup duty.
But, like Jimmy Carter, Reagan got measured by his 4th year. The ad didn't have to mention Carter, or Walter Mondale, or the Democratic Party in general. It was perhaps the most effective political ad ever. Of course, it ignored all the warning signs, but, by the time the crash came, Reagan was already out of office, and escaped the blame for the harm he caused.
Hal Riney wrote and narrated the ad. He also wrote and narrated the other Reagan ad that everyone remembers: "There's a bear in the woods," which debuted on August 23. It plays on the danger of the Cold War, with the bear long being a symbol for Russia, the largest part of the Soviet Union, and advocates for "peace through strength":
There is a bear in the woods. For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don't see it at all.
Some people say the bear is tame. Others say it's vicious, and dangerous.
Since no one can really be sure who's right, isn't it smart to be as strong as the bear? If there is a bear?
Riney also created the Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler ads for Ernest & Julio Gallo wineries. He died in 2008.
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July 5, 1984 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins, 5-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Ken Schrom outpitched Ron Guidry. Dave Winfield went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Don Mattingly went 0-for-4 with a walk.
* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Shea Stadium. Walt Terrell outpitched Joe Price. Darryl Strawberry went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs.
* The Houston Astros beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the California Angels, 12-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jim Rice and Dwight Evans hit home runs for the BoSox. For the Halos, Doug DeCinces and Bobby Grich hit home runs, Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4, and Rod Carew went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
* The Philadelphia Phillies were leading the Atlanta Braves, 1-0 at 7 innings at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, when the game was called due to rain.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-8 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-6 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Greg Walker hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th to win it.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Paul Molitor was injured and did not play. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 7-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Rod Scurry walked Tony Gwynn with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. Gwynn had gone 1-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Joaquín Andújar pitched 4 innings, Neil Allen pitched 4, and Bruce Sutter pitched 1, and each of them allowed only 1 hit.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals were rained out at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader 2 days later. The O's swept, 6-2 and 8-0. Scott McGregor outpitched Larry Gura in the opener, and Mike Flanagan pitched a 3-hit shutout in the nightcap. Over the 2 games, Eddie Murray went 4-for-6 with a home run, 3 walks and 4 RBIs, Cal Ripken went 2-for-8 with a walk and an RBI, and George Brett went 1-for-8 with a home run and an RBI.
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