1984 Summer Olympics opening ceremony Antwerp flag was then present to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley as Bradley was not present at the closing ceremonies of the 1980 Moscow games. Speeches are made by LAOOC President Peter Ueberroth and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch. The first time a sitting US president officially opened the games in person. President Ronald Reagan declared the competition officially open. The Olympic Flag entered the stadium. The Olympic Hymn is played with no words. Homing Pigeons were released. The same cauldron was used as in the 1932 Summer Games. The orchestra played "The Olympian" composed and conducted by Philip Glass.
Ronald Reagan American fatalities and 116 wounded American soldiers. In mid-December, after a new government was appointed by the governor-general, U.S. forces withdrew. Reagan accepted the Republican nomination in the Republican convention in Dallas, Texas. He proclaimed that it was "morning again in America," regarding the recovering economy and the dominating performance by the American athletes at the 1984 Summer Olympics on home soil, among other things. He became the first U.S. president to open an Olympic Games. Previous Olympics taking place in the United States had been opened by either the Vice President (three times) or another person in charge (twice).