Truth Is My Sword Volume I - Collected Speeches in the Public Arena

by Bo Hi Pak

Predicting the Reagan Landslide

November 30, 1980

The following speech tells the amazing story of Reverend Moon's uncanny prediction of a Ronald Reagan landslide, printed in bold headlines in The News World and Noticias Del Mundo on November 4, 1980, the day of the election. Historians now agree that Reagan's election marked the turning point in the worldwide struggle against communism, since his policies contributed to the breakup of the Soviet Union during his term. Elsewhere in the world at that time, God was setting the stage for communism's demise. Pope John Paul 11, the world's first Polish pope, who was elected in 1978, visited his homeland in June 1979, and in 1980 the Solidarity labor movement was formed. It became instrumental in the overthrow of the Polish communist regime, which in turn set the dominoes tumbling throughout Eastern Europe. These remarks by Bo Hi Pak were made about Reverend Sun Myung Moon at the farewell banquet of the Ninth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences in Miami, Florida, on November 30, 1980.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen. Every year on the closing night, Mr. Neil Salonen, president of the International Cultural Foundation, introduces Reverend Moon, the founder, to deliver his farewell remarks. No one could do this better than Mr. Salonen, and I certainly have no intention of taking over his job. However, Mr. Salonen has granted me the privilege of introducing Reverend Moon tonight in a slightly different context, in order to share an amazing story in connection with the recent U.S. presidential elections. Since I played a small part in this story, I have the honor of sharing it with you.

Before I tell you the story, however, I want you to understand that I am not speaking for ICUS or for any political party. I am merely sharing my personal experience as a testimony to Reverend Moon. ICUS plays no part in politics.

May I call your attention now to the newspaper clippings brought to me from different parts of the world by the many conference participants. Each one carries a picture of president-elect Ronald Reagan holding The News World newspaper, which is headlined: "News World Prediction: Reagan Landslide!" Here is one from Germany, two from Italy, another from Norway, and one from Japan. Of course, hundreds of American papers, including The Boston Globe, Harvard Crimson, and Editor and Publisher magazine, carried the same picture.

As you know, The News World was founded by Reverend Moon in 1976. In the recent presidential election, The News World and its Spanish-language sister paper, Noticias del Mundo, made history as the only two dailies in the entire world to predict the Reagan landslide.

One Man's Vision

Today it is a well-known fact that president-elect Ronald Reagan won a landslide victory, but that was not the case on November 3, 1980, the day before the election. Not a single pollster from California to Maine, not a single political analyst, not a single paper, not even a single astrologer predicted a Reagan landslide. Everyone thought it would be the most closely contested presidential race in recent times. All newspaper, radio, and television media called it a dead heat and too close to call. Many even anticipated that President Carter would be the winner because he held the edge as the powerful incumbent president.

There was one man, however, who held a different and unshakable conviction. He not only knew the final outcome of the election but he asked his newspapers to print it in a gigantic headline on election-day morning. What a bold idea! That man is none other than Reverend Moon who, it turned out, bested every pollster in the nation.

What is more, Reverend Moon also predicted the Mr. Reagan would carry the state of New York. To the 240 million American people, this seemed a crazy idea. Two months earlier the Reagan campaign had written off New York. To top it off, Reverend Moon predicted that the underdog in New York's senatorial race, Alfonse D'Amato, a virtual unknown, would win a seat in the Senate. Again, it was a crazy idea.

Reverend Moon asked what was the largest headline size we had. I told him we could use 120 point, which most papers reserved for the landing of men on the moon. He said, "Make it double that size." I said in amazement, "That would only be used to announce the Third World War!" Reverend Moon said, "Well, this is my Third World War!"

So I obeyed him. Now would you like to see the papers? Here they are, The News World and Noticias del Mundo. When the undecided voters saw these papers, they could not believe their eyes and they wondered if they had missed the election. They pulled out their calendars and were pleased to discover that they still had time to vote. They hurried to the polls and voted for Reagan. They said, "The News World predicted it-why not join the winner?"

By 9:00 a.m. The News World and Noticias del Mundo were sold out. By 10:00 a.m. bets were being made all over the city for and against the paper's predictions. In one shop a man was about to lay a bet against our prediction, and another man cautioned him, "You had better not vote against it. Do you know who puts out this paper? It is Reverend Moon. He might have heard from somebody upstairs."

Our Crazy Paper

By 10:00 a.m. we were bold enough to send several bundles of papers to Reagan's campaign headquarters in Washington, D.C. When hundreds of staff workers who had been pouring out their sweat and blood through the campaign, month after month, picked up the paper, they shook their heads in disbelief. By 11:00 a.m. our News World office in New York was swamped with telephone calls ranging from excited disbelief to furious cursing. One person angrily shouted into the phone saying, "You just made a kamikaze dive! You are finished! Even God cannot save your paper! Bye, bye." By 12:00 noon another verdict reached the paper's office: "You have committed professional suicide. Who will buy your paper on November 5?"

At 4:00 p.m. on November 4 our "crazy paper" finally reached its ultimate destination: Ronald Reagan. One of Gov. Reagan's aides handed him a copy at his suite at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Gov. Reagan looked at the headline and looked up at his aide in disbelief. He must have murmured something to himself, "Oh, my God!"

A UPI photographer who happened to be present asked Gov. Reagan to pose for a picture with the paper, and UPI quickly sent this historic photo out all over the Western states where people were still voting. The entire nation and world saw and heard The News World's prediction, which spread like wildfire across the continent. In Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa the world's population had at least several hours to murmur in disbelief.

Then suddenly at 8:15 p.m. that evening the magic moment came. Mr. Reagan suddenly became our next president. Everyone was stunned when NBC's John Chancellor proclaimed a Reagan landslide. Over national television he added, "No one, absolutely no one, predicted this amazing victory." But he was absolutely wrong. Reverend Moon predicted it and printed it publicly in a headline that even a blind man could see. It was a once in a century bonanza. (By the way, we have among our participants tonight Mr. Lorne Greene, the star of "Bonanza.")

Reverend Moon's every prediction came true. Mr. Reagan carried the state of New York and Mr. D'Amato won the senatorial race. At that point The News World and Noticias del Mundo became conquering heroes. These crazy papers were transformed instantly into the most authoritative broadsheets in the country, resurrected from a kamikaze dive to a position of great prestige.

Hotline to God

By the next morning, November 5, all newspapers across the land had reported on the Reagan landslide. Look at these I have here: The Washington Post, Washington Star, New York Post, Newsweek magazine, Los Angeles Times, Daily News, even the Korea Times. Well, I'm sorry but they were 24 hours late. While they were printing what to us was yesterday's news, we made another historic headline, as you can see. It says: "Thank God! We Were Right!" On the front we put the UPI photo of President Reagan holding The News World.

This time another flood of calls, letters, and telegrams swamped The News World's offices in New York. One letter described it as "a magic moment in history." Another said, "In the history of journalism there has never been as a magnificent a coup as the one staged by The News World. I was so thrilled I almost cheered in the street!" The next writer must be a hot-blooded person, a little like me, for his letter begins, "Hallelujah! You certainly are a winner! Your bold headline attracted people everywhere, and surely it had the effect of `changing horses in mid-stream,' as the saying goes. Do you have psychic or clairvoyant powers?" Still another reads, "That November 4 prediction was something... and carry New York as well! Wow!" Even one Reagan staffer exclaimed, "Thank God! You made us win! It was because of you and your faith that we won!"

On November 5, the day following the election, a well-known political pollster called The News World and asked to speak to the publisher. He refused to speak to anyone else, so I answered the phone. He asked me, "How did you do it? How did you predict the result so accurately? What is your polling method? How many telephones do you have?" He apparently thought we had floors of telephones and had called tens of thousands of people around the country to come up with the magic answer.

I said to him calmly, "We have only one telephone." "What!" He exclaimed. "One phone? Whom did you call?" I said, "Someone who knew the answer. Someone who had already done his homework and was waiting for my call." He said, "You do not mean God, do you?" I said, "Of course, I mean God. Who else knew the answer?" At this point he shouted out, "Can you give me that telephone number?" I told him, "I am sorry I cannot give you that telephone number because I do not have it." Then he asked me, "Who has the number?" I answered, "Reverend Sun Myung Moon has the magic number."

When Reverend Moon returned to the United States from Korea on Saturday, November 22, to attend this science conference, a crowd of people gathered around him and one of them asked him, "What is that magic telephone number?" Reverend Moon smiled and replied, "Come to the science conference in Miami Beach."

Elected By Providence

Ladies and gentlemen, let me have one serious moment with you. Reverend Moon has believed all along that the prospects for peace among all mankind hinge greatly upon this 1980 American election. He considers it a providential election.

Ordinarily, Reverend Moon does not concern himself with politics and elections. But this time he spent many long days and nights in prayer seeking divine guidance because the next four years will impact greatly throughout the world. Through prayer he could recognize that Ronald Reagan was a man of destiny and that he has been given a mandate from God to keep the world at peace.

Reverend Moon is neither a Republican or a Democrat. He is not even an American citizen. Reverend Moon is truly a messenger from God, and he focuses always on the peace and well-being of mankind. From this same genuine concern he initiated the science conference.

Reverend Moon does not have any personal feelings against President Carter. Why should he? However, he knows that Mr. Carter lacks an understanding of the true nature of communism and is unable to cope with Soviet expansionism and its pursuit of world conquest. Under Mr. Carter's leadership America has greatly weakened militarily, economically, morally, and spiritually. America is no longer the nation it once was. Reverend Moon sees that America has reached the danger point, and unless we reverse this trend now, the free world may not survive.

Those who think I am overdoing it have only to look at a world map. In the last few years Angola, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, South Yemen, Mozambique, Laos, Cambodia, South Vietnam, Nicaragua, and Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) have all been brought either under direct Soviet control or the control of those who owe their survival to the Soviets.

Can we afford to continue in this way? Many more nations will soon suffer a similar fate if a major change does not take place in the leadership of the free world-and the U.S. presidency represents that leadership. The answer is Ronald Reagan. That is how Reverend Moon sees it.

Reverend Moon has always believed that history is guided by divine will, and he firmly believes that divine will must be exercised at this time in history. Otherwise it will be too late even for God. Reverend Moon viewed the American presidential election in this light. He believed that the intervention of God would bring Ronald Reagan to victory. For this reason, even in the darkest moments of the Reagan campaign, Reverend Moon never lost this vision. His conviction was never shaken and he knew there had to be a Reagan landslide. His faith and conviction made him a prophet who truly foresaw the outcome.

I am grateful for this opportunity to share with you yet another aspect of Reverend Moon as a man who shares a deep concern for peace, and as one voice crying in the wilderness of the present day. Let us now listen to his message. I am proud and honored to introduce the Reverend Sun Myung Moon as a prophet of our time. Ladies and gentlemen, here is Reverend Moon.

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