President Ronald Reagan’s first major public appearance outside of Washington, D.C., after he survived an assassination attempt in 1981 was at the University of Notre Dame’s commencement exercises—but rather than speak of policy issues, Reagan reminisced about filming “Knute Rockne, All American” some 40 years prior and talked of how he was inspired by the story of George Gipp, aka the Gipper, whom he played in the movie.
Only in America. Only at Notre Dame.
