Twenty years ago today — the greatest moment in Presidential St. Patrick’s Day ceremony ever.  March 17, 1988: President Reagan raises a pint at Pat Troy’s Ireland Own in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.
Here’s the photo.

… Here’s President Reagan’s remarks:

The President: Well, thank you very much. I know that they’ve got me scheduled. So, I just have a minute or two to say something here, and first of all, a very great thank you to Pat Troy, the owner of this particular place. Jack Kilpatrick and I — this has been a very happy surprise. We just thought we were coming over here for a St. Partick’s Day lunch. [Laughter] It was quite a surprise, but a very pleasant surprise.

You know, my father told me when I was that high that the Irish built the jails in this country and then filled them. [Laughter] And then 8 — no, I’ll tell you, you’re thinking what I did, and for a long time I was very chary about saying anything. I didn’t know why he was so proud of that — [laughter] — until I got a ticket once from a Chicago cop. [Laughter] And when I heard that brogue I found out what he meant. [Laughter] The police forces of America are largely Irish. So, by now, I can tell you, I’ve got a pub named after me in Ballyporeen. [Laughter] But I just want you to know — you know, I’m very leery about ethnic jokes now in my position. [Laughter] So, the only ones I can tell are Irish. [Laughter]

Well, no, I really set out to tell you that on that same trip to Ballyporeen, where I found that pub, I went up on Cashel Rock later, where St. Patrick erected the first cross in Ireland. And the young Irish guide who was showing me around took me through the cemetery, and he stopped beside one very ancient, large tombstone there. And the inscription on the tombstone read: “Remember me as you pass by. For as you are, so once was I. And as I am, you too will be. So, be content to follow me.” And that was too much for some Irishmen of more recent vintage — [laughter] — who had scratched underneath, “To follow you I am content. I wish I knew which way you went.” [Laughter]

Well, I thank you all for this, and a happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you. And why didn’t I find this place 7 years ago? [Laughter]

Mr. Troy. That’s because you were in the Eire Pub in Boston, that’s why. [Laughter] Can’t keep out of the damn places, can you? [Laughter]

The President. No, it’s those people over there that tell me where I’m going everyday.

Audience member. We love you!

The President. Well, again, thank you very much, and thank all of you.

Mr. Troy. Let’s hear it for our President — President Reagan! [Applause]

… And here’s the next-day Washington Post coverage:

At Ireland’s Own, the pub in Old Town Alexandria, Reagan arrived with White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker, syndicated columnist James J. Kilpatrick and sculptor Marie Pietri, Kilpatrick’s wife. A table had been reserved for Baker.

“But we didn’t know until five minutes before he got here that the president was coming,” said Bunty Dornan, an assistant to pub owner Pat Troy.

Reagan’s 45-minute stay sent 300 pub patrons into a frenzy of singing and clapping to Irish songs and telling Irish jokes. The president joined for a verse of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” Belfast tenor Seamus Kennedy was the featured act but quickly made way for an old pro at scene-stealing who had a couple of gags of his own to tell.

“He said his grandfather told him one of the jokes, that the Irish built the jails, then were the first to fill them,” said Dornan. He described the president’s tumultuous reception as so noisy “you could hardly hear” his other joke.

When it came time to leave, Reagan reached into the pocket of his dark blue suit and pulled out $ 25 to pay his $ 17 tab, the balance going as a tip for his Irish-born waitress, Annie Roche.