"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price."
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Presidents of the United StatesTelevision personalitiesActors from IllinoisRadio personalitiesAutobiographers from the United States
Original Language: English
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Some sources indicate the phrase 'government is the problem' was not part of the speech. (E.g. yale.edu). Live recordings of the address demonstrate that Reagan did indeed use the phrase in question. See Ronald Reagan: First Inaugural Address; start at 6:08
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan
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