**From Ronald Reagan’s flamboyant 1984 speech to Barack Obama’s 2014 military retreat, each decade’s D-Day commemorations mark the historical evolution of leadership, writes columnist Sylvie Kauffmann.**
Over the past few days, the American media have shared the touching image of an armada of wheelchairs crossing the airports of the United States to great applause, on their way to Normandy: They are the last survivors of the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944. The fervor of the cheering public is not feigned because everyone is guessing that, in 2024, this 80^(th) anniversary is one of the last in which we can still hope for the presence of the heroes of the Second World War. Perhaps we’re also aware that with them goes a certain idea of America.
To understand the evolution of leadership since this founding event in transatlantic relations, let’s retrace the steps of D-Day commemorations, decade by decade. Each American president has marked this evolution in his own way, without ever hindering it.
Ronald Reagan undoubtedly left the most lasting mark, on the 40^(th) anniversary in 1984, in the midst of the Cold War, with a speech at the Pointe du Hoc that still grips historians. Reagan wasn’t an actor for nothing. He grasped the heroic and political dimension of this cliff taken by American rangers to neutralize the German artillery battery aimed at the D-Day beaches. It was the spot he chose to extol the liberating spirit of American democracy and the strength of the transatlantic bond, at a time of tension with the Soviet Union (USSR). “We were with you then,” said Reagan. “We are with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, your destiny is our destiny.”
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**From Ronald Reagan’s flamboyant 1984 speech to Barack Obama’s 2014 military retreat, each decade’s D-Day commemorations mark the historical evolution of leadership, writes columnist Sylvie Kauffmann.**
Over the past few days, the American media have shared the touching image of an armada of wheelchairs crossing the airports of the United States to great applause, on their way to Normandy: They are the last survivors of the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944. The fervor of the cheering public is not feigned because everyone is guessing that, in 2024, this 80^(th) anniversary is one of the last in which we can still hope for the presence of the heroes of the Second World War. Perhaps we’re also aware that with them goes a certain idea of America.
To understand the evolution of leadership since this founding event in transatlantic relations, let’s retrace the steps of D-Day commemorations, decade by decade. Each American president has marked this evolution in his own way, without ever hindering it.
Ronald Reagan undoubtedly left the most lasting mark, on the 40^(th) anniversary in 1984, in the midst of the Cold War, with a speech at the Pointe du Hoc that still grips historians. Reagan wasn’t an actor for nothing. He grasped the heroic and political dimension of this cliff taken by American rangers to neutralize the German artillery battery aimed at the D-Day beaches. It was the spot he chose to extol the liberating spirit of American democracy and the strength of the transatlantic bond, at a time of tension with the Soviet Union (USSR). “We were with you then,” said Reagan. “We are with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, your destiny is our destiny.”
**Read the full article here:** [**https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2024/06/05/with-the-last-d-day-veterans-goes-a-certain-idea-of-america-s-role_6673817_23.html**](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2024/06/05/with-the-last-d-day-veterans-goes-a-certain-idea-of-america-s-role_6673817_23.html)