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Former President Ronald Reagan visited the Rio Grande Valley 42 years ago for the first time since winning his first presidential bid during the 1980 election.
Seeking the reelection he’d end up getting in 1984, Reagan visited the Texas Southmost College in Brownsville where thousands of Valley folk happily greeted him.
In addition to supporters, there were also protestors including about 40 members of the United Farm Workers Union. According to archival Monitor reporting, the protestors had some of their signs ripped up by Reagan supporters, while others cheered at the act being done.
One of the protestors included Juanita Valdez Cox, the legendary activist who would go on to be the executive director of La Unión del Pueblo Entero up until she retired late December 2022.
“We have as much right to be here as anyone else,” she told The Monitor in 1984. “We’re not here to hassle anybody here, but rather to let Reagan know the real issues.”
Some of the signs criticized Reagan’s policy of increasing funding for weapons while reducing funding for bilingual education programs.
Division among Democrats and Republicans was also on display as some Democratic Valley officials weren’t invited to welcome Reagan while Republican officials such as former McAllen Mayor Othal Brand were invited on the presidential platform.
When former Brownsville Mayor Emilio Hernandez spoke about his disappointment in not being invited to welcome the president, Bob Shepard — the Reagan-Bush campaign manager for Cameron County — told the Valley Morning Star it was because Hernandez “publicly endorsed the Democratic ticket.”
“Anytime you have a political rally it’s a little difficult to put somebody that’s trying to put your candidate out of office on the dais,” Shepard said.
Brand, on the other hand, was all smiles that day, touting the “excellent” rally that saw Reagan “extremely well received.” He also believed if the rally was held in McAllen, there would’ve been as many as 25,000 Valley people in attendance.
Learn more about Reagan’s visit to Brownsville through various stories between Oct. 3 and 4, 1984 from the Valley Morning Star’s and The Monitor’s respective editions:
Crowd greets Reagan, Yelling ‘4 More Years’
By Edd Clark | Valley Morning Star (Oct. 3, 1984)
BROWNSVILLE — For a little while Tuesday (Oct. 2, 1984), Brownsville was Reagan Country.
An enthusiastic crowd at Texas Southmost College, where the President made his first Valley appearance since elected four years ago, roared approval when he described Brownsville as a “marvelous mix of pride and enterprise.”
The crowd, estimated at more than 8,500 by security people who ringed the area around Gorgas Hall with metal detectors, was a cross section of young and old, men and women, Anglo and Mexican-American. Most were fiercely partisan, although a few signs supporting Mondale for president and state Sen. Lloyd Doggett for the U.S. Senate were hoisted from corners of the crowd when the president was introduced.
U.S. Rep. Phil Gramm, R-College Station, Doggett’s GOP opponent in the senate race made the official introduction. He welcomed the president “on behalf of the people of Texas,” and thanked him for “leadership which has brought jobs and hope to our people.”
Gramm said President Reagan’s policies are working for the people of Texas. He said since the president took office almost seven million more (Americans) have found work in productive jobs, and 850,000 (of) them are Texans.
The president pushed hard for his campaign theme of economic recovery, hope and prosperity.
“In the past three-and-a-half years there has been a broad economic renewal of our country,” he said. “The economy is expanding again, millions of jobs are being created, hundreds of thousands of new businesses are being incorporated. Inflations down and interest rates are down — not far enough but at least they’re moving in the right direction.”
The president described the economic recovery as a “healthy spiral that is already growing and picking up speed like a whirlwind.”
Carefully avoiding name mentions of his opponents, he said in contrast there are those who say that to end poverty in America we must go back to the old days of raising taxes again, and again and again.
“I don’t doubt they mean well, in their own way,” the president said. “But their ideas are hopelessly old-fashioned. They just don’t understand that the American people are tired of the tax and tax, take and take mentality.”
He dropped a one-liner pun, “I understand they did borrow their campaign song from your state — it’s called, “Deep in the Heart of Taxes.” And then appologized (sic, apologized) by saying “Isn’t that awful?”
The president conceded Brownsville and the Valley have experienced “special problems” which slowed local recovery. He said, “I don’t want you to think for a second that you are left out of the American Renmaissance (sic Renaissance).”
He said President John F. Kennedy once said “A rising tide lifts all boats.”
“Well,” the president said, “A rising tide of economic growth is going to lift the Valley. We are going to fight for the working men and women of this country, and this Valley to keep a bigger share of what they earn. And as they spend it or save it, sales will go up, and businesses will expand and the spirit of investment will continue to grow.”
He said expanding businesses and new businesses mean new jobs and new workers to join the work force and pay their “modest taxes .”
“I stress modest taxes.” he said “We must continue to keep forcing personal tax rates down, so the people will keep enough to flourish and allow the government only enough to operate.”
The president said he believes in helping people “truly in need of assistance, even if only for a while as they try to get their share of the American dream. But that it’s best to help people achieve prosperity by giving them back their freedom, on the principle that people don’t want a handout, they want some help that will enable them to operate in the world as the “independent souls they want to be.”
The president got his loudest ovation when he said the students at TSC receiving federal financial aid for tuition are students who really need help and that he’d ask congress to increase the grant aids for the truly needy to $3,000.
“But we’ve also made it our policy to help only those with a clear, demonstrable need,” he said. “Those who can do it on their own shouldn’t be taking the money we need to help those who couldn’t receive a higher education without it.”
“Some of the people in this Valley have really been hurt by the devaluation of the peso,” he said. “And because of that our administration became the first ever to set up a special Southwest Border Initiative to give the special attention border cities need.”
The president said that after the December Freeze, the administration committed more than $100 million to the Valley in disaster relief, grants and low-cost loans.
He said while economic matters are important, the “old, old ‘Man does not live by bread alone, saying remains true.’’
“Man lives by belief, by faith in things that are larger than himself,” the president said, “I am proud that we have tried the past few years to softly encourage respect for the traditional values of faith in God and respect for the family. After all, the family is the main generator of the good things people bring to the society at large, and we are nothing without the family.”
Reagan Questioned About Indictment of His Labor Secretary
By Mike Swartz | Valley Morning Star (Oct. 3, 1984)
BROWNSVILLE — Indicted U.S Secretary of Labor Raymond Donovan should be considered “innocent until proven guilty,” President Ronald Reagan told news reporters at the South Padre Island-Brownsville International Airport Tuesday (Oct. 2, 1984).
Reagan was questioned about grand larcency (sic, larceny) and fraud charges against the cabinet officer after debarking from his Air Force One jetliner prior to a speech at Texas Southmost College.
Referring to accusations by his Democrat opposition, Reagan said their charges have proven false and have been the only “sleaze factor” during his four-year presidency.
The president was asked if he would declare Cameron County a disaster area in the wake of September’s flooding.
Reagan appeared to hear the question but didn’t answer it. However, after Reagan left the Valley, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced the declaration, which qualifies the Valley for federal disaster money.
Responding to other questions in a soft voice, Reagan said his administration was doing its “utmost” to prevent further terrorist bombings in Lebanon, where hundreds of Americans have died.
The president then climbed into his limousine for the trip to TSC where he was greeted by chanting, sign-carrying, supporters under the watch of a large, diverse security force.
McAllen Mayor Othal Brand, who listened to the speech from a special guests stage which was vacant of officials from the host city, noted later that he saw only two protest signs at the rally.
Brand, who is a Republican unlike most Valley politicians, said he wasn’t surprised at the small number of protest signs, since they show “a lack of respect for the president.”
Jack Elder, director of the Casa Oscar Romero shelter for Central Americans in San Benito, held up one end of a sign saying “Respect Life — Stop Bombing Civilians in El Salvador.”
Elder, who is facing federal alien smuggling charges, said Reagan’s emphasis on family values and respect for life is “inconsistent” with the government’s “daily violations of the Geneva Convention,” regarding Salvadorans.
Brand, on the other hand, cited Reagan’s stand on good family values and abortion in predicting the president would garner a “surprising” number of votes in the predominately Democratic Valley on election day Nov 6.
However, Brand said it would be “rather optimistic” to predict Reagan would carry the Valley over Democrat challenger Walter Mondale.
Brand optimistic about Reagan’s chances in the Valley
By Scott Lind | The Monitor (Oct. 3, 1984)
BROWNSVILLE — President Reagan’s rally Tuesday (Oct. 2, 1984) brought smiles to the faces of his supporters, including McAllen Mayor Othal Brand.
Brand, who say on the speakers’ podium with other Valley dignitaries, left the rally feeling optimistic about the prospects for a good-sized Valley vote for the incumbent against Democratic candidate Walter Mondale.
The mayor said he would not make any judgement on whether Reagan will gain a plurality of votes in the Valley, since this area is traditionally Democratic.
Nevertheless, “I think there will be a surprising number of Valleyites who will vote for the president,” he said.
Brand said Reagan’s positions will appeal to many Valleyites, including Democrats who opt not to vote “una palanca” this time around.
Overall, Brand said, it was an “excellent” rally, and Reagan was “extremely well received.” He said if the rally has been held in McAllen Reagan supporters might have been able to get as many as 25,000 Valleyites there.
Brand said one reason for Reagan’s popularity is his ability to community effectively and persuasively. Asked if Mondale has problems doing this, he responded: “I’m not speaking for Mondale. I’m speaking for the president.”
Another reason for Reagan’s success is his philosophy, Brand said, which is pro-life and pro-family while affirming basic American values. Also, Reagan’s Caribbean Basin Initiative provides economic hope for that relatively ignored area, he said.
Brand, who said he was in El Salvador last week, said the problems in Central America are economic, not ideological.
He said Salvadorans aren’t interested in revolution.
“There are 10,000 guerrillas and 5 million people,” and the news received from that area is distorted into “what is called a civil war,” he said.
“All the nonsense we read in the paper is just that — so much nonsense,” he said. “They (Central American residents) don’t care who governs them so long as” they get what they need to live.
He said the two most popular presidents now in Latin America are President Reagan and President John F. Kennedy.
Brand said a group of Salvadoran workers who came recently to McAllen as part of an educational program are big Reagan fans.
Even though they didn’t own cars, the one prized possession the Salvadorans wanted before returning to El Salvador was a Reagan/Bush bumper sticker, he said.
The mayor said he saw few signs opposing the president at the rally. He defended dissent as an essential activity, because with dissenting viewpoints, “the majority must examine their course of action. Who would want to completely stifle dissent?”
Brand said United Farm Worker Union members’ dissenting presence at the rally was not surprising. “They’re anti- that which they consider oppressive, which we differ with them,” he said. “They’re going to dissent against the establishment.”
Brownsville Mayor ‘Disappointed’ He Wasn’t On Stage
Valley Morning Star (Oct. 4, 1984)
BROWNSVILLE — Mayor Emilio Hernandez is “disappointed about one aspect of President Ronald Reagan’s visit to Brownsville Tuesday (Oct. 2, 1984), even though the Great Communicator may have wooed thousands of Valley residents.
The mayor is disturbed because he was neither invited to welcome the president, nor was he on the presidential stage with a host of other invited dignitaries. “I think I should have been given the courtesy to welcome our president to the city,” Hernandez said. “I would have liked to have done it.”
The mayor attended the rally, but his invitation only allowed him to stand at a ground-level spot in front of the presidential podium.
Bob Shepard, the Reagan-Bush campaign manager for Cameron County, said Hernandez was not invited to welcome the president because he has “publicly endorsed the Democratic ticket. … Anytime you have a political rally it’s a little difficult to put somebody that’s trying to put your candidate out of office on the dais.”
Dignitaries on the presidential platform included McAllen Mayor Othal Brand, a Republican. Nevertheless, there were Democratic officials from the Brownsville Independent School District and Texas Southmost College on the presidential platform.
“That’s the way the Republicans think locally,” the mayor said. “That’s their problem, not my problem.”
Cameron County Commissioner Mike Cortinas also was displeased that he and other county officials were not invited to listen to the president.
“It’s kind of odd. Why weren’t we invited? I’m very disturbed. I represent Precinct 2 (the Brownsville area) and a lot of people.” Cortinas added many residents in his precinct are Republicans.
The five members of the Cameron County Commissioners Court are Democrats. County Judge Moises Vela said he would have liked to have talked to the president.
