The Real Life of Ronald Reagan

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A profile of Ronald Reagan on the eve of his departure from the US presidency.

Transcript

00:00:00Funding for Frontline is provided by this station and other public television stations nationwide,

00:00:07and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

00:00:11Can we do the job? The answer is yes.

00:00:14I believe Ronald Reagan is the most presidential man I've ever known, and that will be his principal legacy.

00:00:21He was just like I think we'd all like our sons to be, just a real all-American boy.

00:00:26Win just one for the kipper.

00:00:28How did this man come to embody the hopes and dreams of so many Americans?

00:00:34I don't think there's any president in American history who has been less engaged in the conduct of affairs than Ronald Reagan.

00:00:42Tonight on Frontline, the real life of Ronald Reagan.

00:00:52From the network of public television stations, a presentation of KCTS Seattle.

00:00:58WNET New York, WPBT Miami, WTVS Detroit, and WGBH Boston.

00:01:06This is Frontline, with Judy Woodruff.

00:01:10Good evening. Welcome to a new season of Frontline, our seventh year on public television.

00:01:20When George Bush is inaugurated here on the steps of the Capitol on Friday,

00:01:25that moment will also mark the end of the reign of Ronald Reagan,

00:01:29America's first two-term president in a generation and the first president in recent memory to leave Washington more popular than when he arrived.

00:01:40In fact, Reagan the man has often been more popular than his policies,

00:01:46and his personal popularity has always been his greatest political weapon.

00:01:50So tonight, Frontline looks back over the long life and unusual career of Ronald Reagan,

00:01:58searching for the source of his connection to the American people and the American psyche.

00:02:05Tonight's broadcast was produced for Frontline by Martin Smith.

00:02:09The correspondent is the historian and presidential scholar Gary Wills.

00:02:14Our program is called The Real Life of Ronald Reagan.

00:02:19President Reagan returned to South Bend, Indiana in 1987

00:02:31to mingle his legend with the legends of Notre Dame.

00:02:40He was there to dedicate a stamp to Coach Knut Rockne

00:02:44and to recall the movie in which he played Rockne's star halfback, George Gipp.

00:02:51The event was carefully choreographed.

00:02:56White House aides screened Reagan's 1940 movie, Knut Rockne, All-American.

00:03:00Just before Reagan's speech, the audience viewed that movie's famous death scene.

00:03:18Rock, someday when the team's up against it,

00:03:23the brakes are beating the boys.

00:03:25Ask him to go in there with all they've got.

00:03:30Win just one for the Gipper.

00:03:33I don't know where I'll be then.

00:03:36But I'll know about it.

00:03:39I'll be happy.

00:03:44As Americans, as free people...

00:03:47As always, Reagan is the Gipper.

00:03:50It's uncomfortable for you to do so.

00:03:51There'll be moments of joy, of triumph.

00:03:55There will also be times of despair.

00:03:58Times when all those around you are ready to give up.

00:04:01It's then I want you to remember our meeting today.

00:04:06And sometime when the team is up against it

00:04:09and the brakes are beating the boys,

00:04:12tell them to go out there with all they've got

00:04:14and win just one for the Gippet.

00:04:18I don't know where I'll be then,

00:04:20but I'll know about it

00:04:22and I'll be happy.

00:04:27Reagan has reported, reenacted, and celebrated

00:04:30the myth of George Gipp for over five decades.

00:04:34His own history is interwoven with Gipps.

00:04:36And he has appropriated other American folktales,

00:04:41making it difficult at times to distinguish

00:04:43between the teller and the tale,

00:04:45between this one American and America itself.

00:04:49That explains Reagan's intimacy with the American psyche.

00:04:54He comes at it from within.

00:04:55Born in Tampico, Illinois, in 1911,

00:05:04Reagan likes to remember his Midwestern childhood as secure.

00:05:09I've often thought that there's something out there

00:05:12in small-town America, rural America,

00:05:16where you know everyone and are known by everyone

00:05:20in the community,

00:05:22that is different than being anonymous in a large city.

00:05:25And being able to go down the street

00:05:27and no one knows who you are, cares.

00:05:33In fact, Reagan's childhood was not so secure.

00:05:37His restless father took his family

00:05:38through eight changes of towns

00:05:40and 16 changes of homes

00:05:42while Ronald Reagan was growing up.

00:05:45Between the ages of six and ten,

00:05:48Reagan went to school every year in a new town.

00:05:52His father was Irish Catholic,

00:05:54a shoe salesman,

00:05:56a storyteller,

00:05:57and a hard drinker.

00:05:59His mother was a devout convert

00:06:01to the disciples of Christ

00:06:02who worked for prohibition and moral causes.

00:06:06There were two boys.

00:06:07The elder brother was named Neil.

00:06:10Ronald was nicknamed Dutch.

00:06:12In his early days,

00:06:13Dutch was not a natural leader.

00:06:16Ronald was more of an introvert.

00:06:18He was more of a stay-at-home boy.

00:06:23He was very close to his mother.

00:06:26And she was a very capable woman.

00:06:31And I think that the drive that was necessary

00:06:34for him to later attain the position

00:06:37that he has attained

00:06:38was more through his mother

00:06:41than through his father.

00:06:42Because of Jack Reagan's drinking,

00:06:45relations between Dutch and his father were strained.

00:06:49Well, he had a problem, you know that.

00:06:52And it was an illness with him.

00:06:56And the mother and the boys fully realized,

00:06:59and they did everything to help him.

00:07:01It wasn't taken lightly.

00:07:04If his father embarrassed him,

00:07:07his mother protected him.

00:07:09At an early age,

00:07:10Nellie Reagan put Dutch into church skits

00:07:12and town plays,

00:07:14and she gave him elocution lessons.

00:07:17In high school,

00:07:18Ronald Reagan was a regular in class dramas.

00:07:22Reagan said,

00:07:23As a kid,

00:07:24I lived in a world of pretend.

00:07:27She planted in my mind

00:07:28the first ambition,

00:07:31the entertainment world.

00:07:32She had been in a hometown talent,

00:07:37or hometown talent club

00:07:40that put on plays in the small town.

00:07:43And she gave readings.

00:07:46I don't think that goes on anymore,

00:07:48but would be invited to go to a club meeting

00:07:50and so forth,

00:07:50and then recite,

00:07:52whether it was comic or dramatic or whatever.

00:07:56And when I was a little boy,

00:07:57she kind of got me interested in memorizing things.

00:08:00And that's why I could recite the Jack Lund,

00:08:06or the Robert W. Service,

00:08:08a couple of those poems.

00:08:10Because he had very bad eyesight,

00:08:13Reagan could not star in most childhood sports.

00:08:16But that did not prevent him

00:08:18from becoming an excellent swimmer,

00:08:20a skill that made him a genuine hero

00:08:22at the local beach.

00:08:23I was the only one up there

00:08:27on the guard stand.

00:08:29It was like a stage.

00:08:30Everyone had to look at me.

00:08:33He spent every minute

00:08:35with his eyes on that beach

00:08:36looking around.

00:08:38And all of a sudden,

00:08:39you'd see him take off his glasses

00:08:41and look and then throw his glasses

00:08:43and hit the water like a torpedo,

00:08:46so to speak.

00:08:47Then you'd realize that somebody was going down.

00:08:49There's no question about

00:08:53him saving lots of people

00:08:56because I saw many of them myself.

00:09:04In 1928,

00:09:05Reagan went off to Eureka College

00:09:07near Peoria, Illinois.

00:09:08He was the head of the cheerleaders

00:09:17and of the swimming team.

00:09:21He took the gut course in economics.

00:09:24It was the all-American college experience

00:09:27for him.

00:09:29I had two great interests

00:09:31in my education,

00:09:34in addition to getting an education,

00:09:35and they were athletics,

00:09:38playing in the athletic teams

00:09:39and being in the entertainments,

00:09:42in the class plays,

00:09:43in the drama club plays

00:09:45and so forth.

00:09:46And even though I got my degree

00:09:49in economics

00:09:50when I got out of college

00:09:50and was forced

00:09:51in the depths of the Depression

00:09:53to face up to

00:09:54what did I really want to do,

00:09:57I realized it was in some part

00:09:58of the world of entertainment.

00:09:59I remember Reagan saying

00:10:04very decisively

00:10:07in a way of expressing himself,

00:10:10he says,

00:10:10sometime I'm going to get a good job.

00:10:14And he says,

00:10:14I'm going to start,

00:10:15but I'm going to get a good job.

00:10:17And I can remember that so well.

00:10:19In fact,

00:10:19at one place,

00:10:21he said,

00:10:21I'm going to earn $5,000

00:10:23in one year.

00:10:25Well,

00:10:25that was almost unbelievable.

00:10:27But that's,

00:10:30now to me,

00:10:31he was looking ahead.

00:10:34When Reagan graduated,

00:10:36he crossed the Mississippi River

00:10:38into Iowa

00:10:39looking for work

00:10:40in broadcasting.

00:10:42He was just out of college

00:10:44and he was a very nice,

00:10:46just like an all-American young man.

00:10:50That's the way

00:10:50I can best describe him.

00:10:52He was a very nice young fellow

00:10:54and that's what he was.

00:10:56And he was fresh and eager,

00:10:57and excited about his work

00:10:59and anxious to get into things

00:11:01and eager to learn.

00:11:03He was just like,

00:11:04just like I think

00:11:06we'd all like our sons to be,

00:11:07just a real,

00:11:09all-American boy.

00:11:11He landed his first jobs,

00:11:14sportscasting for radio stations

00:11:16W.O.C. in Davenport

00:11:18and W.H.O. in Des Moines.

00:11:21Stations run by an eccentric

00:11:22but mesmerizing chiropractor

00:11:25and salesman B.J. Palmer.

00:11:29There, Reagan was taught

00:11:30how to read commercials.

00:11:33I think he learned

00:11:34how to sell ideas,

00:11:35how to sell a product,

00:11:37and those are the...

00:11:39I think that's just natural

00:11:41out of broadcasting.

00:11:42Broadcasting was about

00:11:43communicating and so forth.

00:11:46B.J. was a master communicator himself

00:11:49and the people he had around him

00:11:51were the same way.

00:11:52In the mid-1920s,

00:11:54B.J. published a booklet

00:11:55called Radio Salesmanship

00:11:57that ended up being published

00:12:00many, many times

00:12:01and he, in many cases,

00:12:03wrote the book

00:12:04on how radio copy was used.

00:12:06Reagan was here

00:12:07when those things

00:12:08were going on.

00:12:11Under Palmer's tutelage,

00:12:12Reagan learned a trick

00:12:13that made him famous

00:12:14in much of the Midwest.

00:12:16Without being at

00:12:17a Chicago Cubs baseball game,

00:12:20he became the voice

00:12:21of the Cubs,

00:12:22translating teletype relays

00:12:24into vividly described games

00:12:26for his Des Moines audience.

00:12:29The details he invented

00:12:30were the very things

00:12:32that made the games

00:12:33seem real.

00:12:38As the SS Catalina

00:12:40arrives at this picturesque retreat...

00:12:42In 1937,

00:12:44Reagan persuaded

00:12:45the Palmer Company

00:12:46to let him travel west

00:12:47with the Chicago Cubs

00:12:48to their spring training camp

00:12:50off the coast

00:12:50of Southern California.

00:12:53Actress Olivia de Havilland

00:12:55was shooting a movie

00:12:56on the island at the time.

00:12:59I met Ronald Reagan

00:13:00on the island of Catalina.

00:13:03This charming young man,

00:13:06rather a celebrity,

00:13:08asked to meet me.

00:13:10And so we were introduced

00:13:13to each other,

00:13:14and I remember him

00:13:16as being full of good nature

00:13:18and affability

00:13:20and grace, graciousness.

00:13:22While in the area,

00:13:24Reagan arranged

00:13:25to take a screen test.

00:13:27Warner Brothers liked

00:13:28what B.J. Palmer liked,

00:13:30Reagan's Midwestern voice

00:13:31and his sunny disposition.

00:13:34They signed him

00:13:34to a six-month contract

00:13:36paying $200 a week.

00:13:43To come out here,

00:13:45as he did,

00:13:45from a small town,

00:13:46as I did,

00:13:47into this studio,

00:13:48it was entering heaven.

00:13:51Because this is the mecca,

00:13:52the mecca of anybody

00:13:54who wants to be

00:13:54in the entertainment business.

00:14:00When I met him,

00:14:01I was introduced to him

00:14:03by Jimmy Cagney.

00:14:05Jimmy Cagney was in

00:14:06a big star.

00:14:06I'm a mailboy here

00:14:07at Paramount.

00:14:08And he said,

00:14:09oh, I want you to meet somebody

00:14:10who just got in town.

00:14:10He said,

00:14:11this is Ronald Reagan.

00:14:12And Ronald Reagan

00:14:12had just finished a picture

00:14:13that he,

00:14:14I think it was called

00:14:15Hollywood Hotel,

00:14:16and he had maybe

00:14:17three or four lines in it.

00:14:20Within a few months

00:14:21of arriving in Hollywood,

00:14:23Reagan sent railway tickets

00:14:24back to his parents

00:14:25in Illinois

00:14:26so they could join him.

00:14:28Reagan was churning out

00:14:29more than 20 films

00:14:31in his first three years

00:14:32at Warner Brothers.

00:14:34He also met

00:14:35and married fellow

00:14:36Midwesterner,

00:14:37actress Jane Wyman.

00:14:42In 1941,

00:14:44Reagan and his new wife

00:14:46returned to the Midwest

00:14:47in triumph.

00:14:49The occasion was the premiere

00:14:50of his football movie,

00:14:52Canute Rockne All-America.

00:14:54Reagan was coming back

00:14:56to the Midwest

00:14:56a football hero.

00:14:59A South Bend resident

00:15:00made these home movies

00:15:02of the occasion.

00:15:05The role was a young

00:15:07actor's dream.

00:15:09How I had wanted

00:15:10to make that movie

00:15:11and play the part

00:15:12of George Gipp.

00:15:13I just saw you

00:15:14make that kick.

00:15:14You think you could

00:15:15do it again?

00:15:16Yeah.

00:15:23All totaled,

00:15:24Reagan appeared

00:15:25in 51 feature-length films.

00:15:28Reagan's attitude

00:15:29toward acting

00:15:29was in sharp contrast

00:15:31with Jane Wyman's.

00:15:33An actress of range,

00:15:34she was always striving

00:15:35to play different roles.

00:15:38Reagan usually played

00:15:39the same role,

00:15:40light and likable,

00:15:41often patriotic.

00:15:43All right, Aidan.

00:15:44Focus that inertia projector

00:15:45on him and let him have it.

00:15:51What is it?

00:15:52The inertia projector.

00:15:54It's a device

00:15:54for throwing electrical waves

00:15:55capable of paralyzing

00:15:56alternate and direct currents

00:15:57at their source.

00:16:04The inertia projector.

00:16:06It not only makes

00:16:07the United States

00:16:08invincible in war,

00:16:09but in so doing

00:16:10promises to become

00:16:11the greatest force

00:16:12for world peace

00:16:13ever discovered.

00:16:14Reagan's directors

00:16:15remember him

00:16:16as easygoing

00:16:17and pleasant to work with.

00:16:19I had a feeling

00:16:20that Ronnie always

00:16:21wanted to please

00:16:22his director.

00:16:25Of course,

00:16:26he was ambitious

00:16:26and wanted to be

00:16:27an actor,

00:16:28a good actor.

00:16:31And I think

00:16:33little by little

00:16:33he became,

00:16:34you know,

00:16:34more and more skillful

00:16:35as time went on.

00:16:37Knew his lines.

00:16:38It was a quick study

00:16:39and a good study.

00:16:41And he took direction.

00:16:43He was not

00:16:43difficult that way.

00:16:45He basically,

00:16:46he wanted to please.

00:16:48Don't pull your hair.

00:16:49Don't fix your hair.

00:16:50Quiet.

00:16:51Don't pull your hair back.

00:16:53You ready?

00:16:53All right.

00:16:54Don't pull your hair back.

00:16:55Some actors

00:16:56would give you

00:16:57an argument

00:16:58about things

00:16:58for clarification.

00:17:00He never demanded

00:17:01very much.

00:17:02Never gave you

00:17:03much of an argument.

00:17:05He was always

00:17:05fun to have around.

00:17:07Told interesting

00:17:08and funny jokes.

00:17:10And he was

00:17:10a good storyteller.

00:17:11Had a story

00:17:12for almost everything

00:17:13that happened.

00:17:13He did not have

00:17:18an extraordinary career.

00:17:20He worked steadily

00:17:22in several good films.

00:17:26One or two

00:17:27extraordinary films.

00:17:28But most of his films

00:17:29were lighter films.

00:17:31Action films

00:17:32made during the war.

00:17:33Comedies.

00:17:33Things of that kind.

00:17:35I thought he was fine.

00:17:37I enjoyed working with him.

00:17:39And he fulfilled

00:17:40his opportunities

00:17:41very well.

00:17:43But finally,

00:17:44in King's Row,

00:17:47he was absolutely

00:17:49splendid.

00:17:51In King's Row,

00:17:53Reagan plays

00:17:53a wealthy

00:17:54small-town playboy,

00:17:55Drake McHugh,

00:17:56whose luck runs out.

00:17:59After a rail yard

00:18:00accident,

00:18:01both McHugh's legs

00:18:02are unnecessarily

00:18:03amputated

00:18:04by a vindictive

00:18:05town doctor.

00:18:06Randy!

00:18:09Randy!

00:18:11Where's the rest

00:18:12of me?

00:18:15Randy!

00:18:16Randy!

00:18:17Mr. Reagan?

00:18:19It was that accident.

00:18:22Yes, David.

00:18:23But don't talk

00:18:24about it yet.

00:18:26It would be

00:18:27Reagan's best

00:18:28film performance.

00:18:29His line,

00:18:31Where's the rest

00:18:31of me?

00:18:32Became the title

00:18:33of his 1965

00:18:34autobiography.

00:18:39When the war

00:18:40came,

00:18:41Reagan was called

00:18:41to service

00:18:42by the Army Air Corps.

00:18:46Radio engine,

00:18:48oil cooler,

00:18:49air scoop

00:18:50at bottom of nose.

00:18:51It's a zero.

00:18:52Check!

00:18:56In 1983,

00:18:57Ronald Reagan

00:18:58told the Prime Minister

00:18:59of Israel

00:19:00that he had served

00:19:01in a United States

00:19:02Air Force unit

00:19:03which filmed

00:19:04Nazi death camps.

00:19:06In reality,

00:19:07Reagan never left

00:19:08California.

00:19:09He made training

00:19:10in propaganda films

00:19:11there for the war effort.

00:19:13I guess we'll hold

00:19:14Christmas service

00:19:15in this hole tomorrow.

00:19:17But it seemed to him

00:19:18that he had been

00:19:18an intimate part

00:19:19of that effort.

00:19:21I had been on the board

00:19:22of directors

00:19:23of the Screen Actors Guild

00:19:24and I came back

00:19:27from the service

00:19:29after four years

00:19:29in World War II

00:19:30and back to the board

00:19:33and discovered

00:19:34that something

00:19:35was going on

00:19:36in Hollywood.

00:19:42Labor strife

00:19:43on the movie front.

00:19:45California studios

00:19:46picketed

00:19:46in a dispute

00:19:47between rival unions.

00:19:49After the war,

00:19:50Reagan became involved

00:19:51in the real world

00:19:52politics

00:19:53of Hollywood

00:19:53labor disputes.

00:19:55Reagan was on the board

00:19:57of the Screen Actors Guild

00:19:58and a member

00:19:59of more than one

00:20:00politically active

00:20:01left-meaning organization.

00:20:06The atmosphere of the day

00:20:08was that you were

00:20:10a careless citizen

00:20:11if you were not

00:20:12a politically engaged citizen.

00:20:15So I joined...

00:20:16One of the organizations

00:20:17Reagan joined

00:20:18was the Hollywood

00:20:20Independent Citizens Committee

00:20:22of the Arts, Sciences

00:20:23and Professions.

00:20:25Olivia de Havilland

00:20:26was also a member

00:20:27and recalls

00:20:28when some

00:20:29Communist Party members

00:20:30tried to take over

00:20:31the organization.

00:20:32I noticed something

00:20:34very peculiar happening.

00:20:35For example,

00:20:38a motion

00:20:39would be

00:20:40entered

00:20:43and seconded

00:20:45whereupon

00:20:46someone

00:20:48extremely intelligent

00:20:49would get up

00:20:50and talk

00:20:52absolute nonsense

00:20:53for 15 minutes.

00:20:56Absolute gibberish.

00:20:58It was a form

00:20:59of filibustering.

00:21:01And I thought,

00:21:02could they be

00:21:03communists?

00:21:04I decided

00:21:06to resign.

00:21:07Almost all

00:21:08of my team

00:21:09resigned with me.

00:21:11But one

00:21:12did not

00:21:13and that

00:21:14was Ronald Reagan.

00:21:16He remained

00:21:17for another

00:21:19three months.

00:21:20And I thought,

00:21:20that's very strange.

00:21:22I thought,

00:21:23Ronnie couldn't

00:21:25be a communist,

00:21:26could he?

00:21:27Who would

00:21:28stay with this outfit?

00:21:30And I thought,

00:21:30no, no, no, no.

00:21:31He couldn't

00:21:32possibly be that.

00:21:33And after

00:21:34further pondering,

00:21:36I thought,

00:21:36well,

00:21:37he always had

00:21:39a kind of,

00:21:39he seemed

00:21:40to be observing.

00:21:42He seemed

00:21:42to be related

00:21:43to the organization

00:21:44as an observer.

00:21:46I wonder,

00:21:48I wonder

00:21:49for whom

00:21:50he was observing.

00:21:51And then

00:21:51I learned,

00:21:53much later,

00:21:54and only really,

00:21:55rather recently,

00:21:57he was with

00:21:57the FBI.

00:21:58some of the people

00:22:02from our own

00:22:02FBI

00:22:04made contact

00:22:06because of what

00:22:07they saw

00:22:08I was doing.

00:22:09Then I'd become

00:22:10president of the

00:22:10Screen Actors Guild.

00:22:12And

00:22:13they,

00:22:15they came

00:22:16wanting some

00:22:17advice,

00:22:18some findings

00:22:18from me on people

00:22:19that I had dealt

00:22:20with and so forth.

00:22:21And I,

00:22:22I got an insight

00:22:23into what was happening

00:22:24to the motion picture

00:22:25business.

00:22:26It did give me

00:22:27a real

00:22:29understanding

00:22:30of the Communist

00:22:31menace.

00:22:34In 1947,

00:22:35the House

00:22:35Un-American Activities

00:22:36Committee

00:22:37investigated

00:22:38alleged Communist

00:22:39infiltration

00:22:40of the movie

00:22:41industry.

00:22:43Those who did not

00:22:43cooperate with

00:22:44authorities

00:22:45were in many cases

00:22:46blacklisted.

00:22:48Reagan testified

00:22:49as a friendly witness.

00:22:52There has been

00:22:53a small group

00:22:54within the Screen Actors Guild

00:22:55which has consistently

00:22:56opposed the policy

00:22:57of the Guild

00:22:58Board and Officers

00:22:59or the Guild

00:23:00itself as evidenced

00:23:01by the vote

00:23:02on various issues.

00:23:03That small clique

00:23:04has been referred to,

00:23:07has been discussed

00:23:08as more or less

00:23:09following the tactics

00:23:10that we

00:23:11associate with

00:23:13the Communist Party.

00:23:16You have no

00:23:17knowledge yourself

00:23:18as to whether

00:23:19or not any of them

00:23:20are members

00:23:21of the Communist Party?

00:23:23No, sir.

00:23:23I have no

00:23:25investigative force

00:23:26or anything

00:23:26and I do not know.

00:23:28Reagan testified

00:23:29he had no proof

00:23:30that there were

00:23:31any communists

00:23:32in Hollywood

00:23:32but he was already

00:23:34naming names

00:23:35of his colleagues

00:23:36to the FBI.

00:23:40Reagan said

00:23:41actors should be

00:23:42judged by their

00:23:43audiences

00:23:44and made all

00:23:45new members

00:23:46of the Screen

00:23:46Actors Guild

00:23:47take an

00:23:48anti-communist oath.

00:23:49We here in Hollywood

00:23:51who too often

00:23:52have suffered

00:23:52from the misconception

00:23:53that we have not

00:23:55been a target

00:23:55for their infiltration

00:23:57but have been

00:23:57a welcome haven

00:23:58for them

00:23:59we will find

00:24:00that we can

00:24:01convince the world

00:24:01by subscribing

00:24:02to this program

00:24:03to the...

00:24:03In this period

00:24:04of tension

00:24:05there were threats

00:24:05on Reagan's life.

00:24:07He began carrying

00:24:08a revolver

00:24:09to protect himself.

00:24:11Politics

00:24:12overwhelmed

00:24:12his career

00:24:13and his marriage.

00:24:14In 1948

00:24:18Reagan traveled

00:24:19to London

00:24:20to make a picture

00:24:21called

00:24:22The Hasty Heart

00:24:23directed by

00:24:24Vincent Sherman.

00:24:26I think it was

00:24:26the second or third

00:24:27night he was there

00:24:27we had dinner together

00:24:28we came back

00:24:30to the hotel

00:24:30and began to talk

00:24:31it was then

00:24:32that he told me

00:24:34he was very unhappy

00:24:36about the divorce

00:24:38and the breakup

00:24:39with Jane

00:24:40and I felt

00:24:43very sorry for him

00:24:44I thought he was

00:24:45he was

00:24:48as I say

00:24:48deeply affected

00:24:49by it.

00:24:51The rumor

00:24:52around Warner Brothers

00:24:53was that she had

00:24:54said that

00:24:54he was boring

00:24:56and somebody said

00:24:59well Ronnie

00:24:59would like

00:25:00the encyclopedia

00:25:00you drop any subject

00:25:02on the table

00:25:03and he'd run with it.

00:25:04It wasn't a happy

00:25:05relationship

00:25:05and I think

00:25:07it came as a surprise

00:25:08to him

00:25:09when she said

00:25:09that she wanted

00:25:10to leave him.

00:25:13After his divorce

00:25:14his movie career

00:25:16continued to suffer

00:25:17few good roles

00:25:19came his way

00:25:19and he took

00:25:20to playing MC

00:25:21on the nightclub circuit.

00:25:23Ladies and gentlemen

00:25:24now for another

00:25:25special award

00:25:26to present that award

00:25:27a very special

00:25:28young lady

00:25:29Jane Mansfield.

00:25:30Soon there were better times

00:25:58for Reagan.

00:25:58in 1949

00:26:00he met a young actress

00:26:02named Nancy Davis

00:26:03at a friend's

00:26:04dinner party.

00:26:05Nancy fell in love.

00:26:07He was less like an actor

00:26:08than anybody I'd known.

00:26:11He never talked about

00:26:12my last picture

00:26:14my next picture

00:26:15he had a wide range

00:26:17of interests

00:26:18he was a Civil War buff

00:26:20he loved horses

00:26:21he was the complete

00:26:28antithesis

00:26:29of an actor.

00:26:31Reagan was not eager

00:26:33to remarry.

00:26:34Hurt deeply

00:26:35by the desertion

00:26:36of his first wife

00:26:37he had become

00:26:38distrustful

00:26:38but he grew

00:26:40in time

00:26:40to rely on Nancy

00:26:41who unlike

00:26:43Jane Wyman

00:26:43was interested

00:26:44in playing

00:26:44a supporting role.

00:26:45after a four-year

00:26:49courtship

00:26:49they were married

00:26:50in 1952.

00:26:57Professionally

00:26:57Reagan was more

00:26:58active as a union

00:27:00leader

00:27:00than as an actor.

00:27:02He stirred

00:27:03controversy

00:27:04when as Screen

00:27:05Actors Guild

00:27:05president

00:27:06he signed

00:27:07an agreement

00:27:07between the guild

00:27:08and the giant

00:27:09talent agency

00:27:10MCA.

00:27:12MCA wanted

00:27:13to become

00:27:14a major producer

00:27:15of TV programs

00:27:16but long-standing

00:27:17guild policy

00:27:18restricted their

00:27:19expansion.

00:27:21No agent

00:27:22could wear

00:27:24the two hats

00:27:25of employee

00:27:26as an agent

00:27:28and employer

00:27:29as a production

00:27:31company

00:27:32and Screen

00:27:33Actors Guild

00:27:34did grant

00:27:35a waiver

00:27:35to this regulation

00:27:37to MCA.

00:27:38and of course

00:27:39that was

00:27:40a quite

00:27:41unprincipled

00:27:43wrong thing

00:27:43to do.

00:27:45It may have

00:27:46been wrong

00:27:46but as Reagan

00:27:47saw it

00:27:48what was good

00:27:49for business

00:27:49was good

00:27:50for everybody.

00:27:51At least

00:27:52it was good

00:27:52for Reagan.

00:27:54In research

00:27:55When in 1954

00:27:56MCA launched

00:27:58the flagship

00:27:58of its television

00:27:59production empire

00:28:00Reagan was named

00:28:02host

00:28:02and given

00:28:03a contract

00:28:04worth over

00:28:05$125,000

00:28:06a year.

00:28:07I'm Ronald Reagan

00:28:09speaking for

00:28:09General Electric.

00:28:10Tonight's program

00:28:11stars Fred Waring

00:28:12Reagan became

00:28:13a kind of

00:28:13living advertisement

00:28:14for GE.

00:28:15On the General

00:28:16Electric Theater.

00:28:20I'm your General

00:28:21Electric progress

00:28:22reporter

00:28:22Don Herbert

00:28:23and tonight

00:28:24we're going

00:28:24visiting

00:28:24as the guests

00:28:25of Ronnie

00:28:26and Nancy Reagan

00:28:27in their new

00:28:28home

00:28:28in Pacific Palisades.

00:28:30You know

00:28:30good modern lighting

00:28:31makes a great deal

00:28:32of difference

00:28:32in the way you live.

00:28:33Now this is

00:28:34an open court

00:28:35off our living room.

00:28:36Now the struggling

00:28:37actor had a chance

00:28:38to return

00:28:38to what he always

00:28:39did best

00:28:40use his voice

00:28:42and personality

00:28:43to appeal

00:28:44directly to an audience.

00:28:45This of course

00:28:46is our living room.

00:28:49You know

00:28:50Nancy

00:28:50we'll see Patty

00:28:52later on.

00:28:53Hello

00:28:53I think GE

00:28:56was very astute

00:28:57in that they wanted

00:28:58somebody that

00:28:58had the qualities

00:29:00of Ronald Reagan

00:29:00to present

00:29:02to the American public

00:29:03and I think

00:29:04that they were very

00:29:05they had a campaign

00:29:07on to find somebody

00:29:08and I think

00:29:10he was the epitome

00:29:11of the American

00:29:12male at that time

00:29:14and he did it

00:29:15and he represented

00:29:16the country well

00:29:17he spoke well

00:29:18people liked him

00:29:19loved him

00:29:20and believed

00:29:21in what he said.

00:29:23To promote

00:29:24the TV program

00:29:25Reagan toured

00:29:26the country

00:29:27visiting GE offices

00:29:28and factories.

00:29:30His GE producer

00:29:31was Earl Dunkel.

00:29:33The original reason

00:29:34for taking him around

00:29:35was so that he would

00:29:36charm our vice presidents

00:29:38all over the country

00:29:39so they would

00:29:40leave us alone

00:29:41long enough

00:29:41to develop a program

00:29:42and it worked.

00:29:44When I first went out

00:29:45with him

00:29:46he had a standard speech

00:29:47and that standard speech

00:29:49was that the people

00:29:50in Hollywood

00:29:51are badly vilified

00:29:53for no real reason

00:29:55that their divorce rate

00:29:56was lower than that

00:29:57in the public at large

00:29:58and so on and so forth.

00:30:00It was

00:30:00I always cataloged

00:30:02it in my mind

00:30:03as a defense

00:30:03of Hollywood speech

00:30:04but then as time

00:30:06went on

00:30:07he moved

00:30:08into other areas.

00:30:09Now the

00:30:09there came a time

00:30:12when we were

00:30:12in Schenectady

00:30:13New York

00:30:14and they were holding

00:30:16a massive

00:30:17teachers convention

00:30:18at the armory there

00:30:19and at the last minute

00:30:21their speaker

00:30:21was ill

00:30:22or couldn't come

00:30:23and they came

00:30:23to see me

00:30:24and ask if

00:30:25they could get

00:30:26Mr. Reagan

00:30:27as a speaker

00:30:27and I said

00:30:29no I

00:30:30I know nothing

00:30:30about education

00:30:32and if I did

00:30:33I wouldn't have time

00:30:33to write a talk

00:30:34like that

00:30:35so I'm sorry

00:30:36but we'll have to

00:30:36beg off

00:30:37and Ron

00:30:38who was there

00:30:39then said

00:30:40nah

00:30:40let's do it

00:30:41doc

00:30:41trust me

00:30:43and that night

00:30:44he got up

00:30:45before teachers

00:30:46and gave a talk

00:30:47on education

00:30:48that had them

00:30:49applauding for 10 minutes

00:30:50after he sat down

00:30:51he knew exactly

00:30:53what he was talking

00:30:54about

00:30:54they knew

00:30:55he knew

00:30:55what he was

00:30:56talking about

00:30:56and I was

00:30:58absolutely amazed

00:30:59and from then on

00:31:00when he said

00:31:00trust me

00:31:01I didn't worry

00:31:02about it

00:31:03gradually

00:31:04Reagan turned

00:31:05the tour

00:31:06into a series

00:31:07of political

00:31:07speeches

00:31:08he took much

00:31:10of his direction

00:31:11from the people

00:31:11he addressed

00:31:12Reagan

00:31:14like a lot

00:31:16of people

00:31:16in Hollywood

00:31:18and like

00:31:18I suppose

00:31:19like a lot

00:31:20of politicians

00:31:20is a creature

00:31:23of his audiences

00:31:24and I say that

00:31:26even though

00:31:26that Reagan

00:31:27has very strong

00:31:29and profound

00:31:29views

00:31:30about certain

00:31:31issues

00:31:32but he's always

00:31:33wanted to please

00:31:34his audience

00:31:35now what

00:31:36the issues

00:31:37that were on the minds

00:31:38of his audiences

00:31:38which were mostly

00:31:39service club

00:31:40and business audiences

00:31:41were the

00:31:42kind of

00:31:43post new deal

00:31:44issues we had

00:31:45in this country

00:31:46government regulation

00:31:47high taxes

00:31:49Reagan had a very

00:31:49strong view

00:31:50about that

00:31:50because he

00:31:51he was earning

00:31:52money for the first

00:31:53time in his life

00:31:54of any significant

00:31:55amount

00:31:55and the tax rates

00:31:57were then

00:31:58the highest

00:31:59what happened

00:32:00is

00:32:01he began

00:32:02to reflect

00:32:04the concerns

00:32:05of the audiences

00:32:07he addressed

00:32:07he had

00:32:09a fantastic ability

00:32:10to sense

00:32:11the mood

00:32:11of an audience

00:32:12and within

00:32:13four or five

00:32:15sentences

00:32:15after he started

00:32:16speaking

00:32:17he would determine

00:32:18if the way

00:32:19he was approaching

00:32:19them

00:32:20was being

00:32:21received well

00:32:22by them

00:32:22and if not

00:32:23he'd shift

00:32:24the gear

00:32:24and go into

00:32:25another approach

00:32:26saying that

00:32:27with the same

00:32:28subject matter

00:32:28but a different

00:32:29way of presenting

00:32:30it

00:32:31in 1962

00:32:33after eight years

00:32:34as GE spokesman

00:32:36Reagan was fired

00:32:37the reasons are

00:32:38unclear

00:32:38but at the time

00:32:40his producer

00:32:41MCA

00:32:42was facing

00:32:43possible indictment

00:32:44by the Kennedy

00:32:44Justice Department

00:32:45for monopolistic

00:32:47practices

00:32:47Reagan had his tax

00:32:49records subpoenaed

00:32:50and was summoned

00:32:51to testify amid

00:32:52allegations that he

00:32:53had conspired with

00:32:55MCA

00:32:55and that his GE

00:32:56contract had been

00:32:57an illegal kickback

00:32:59our enemies are

00:33:00largely within

00:33:01ourselves

00:33:01indifference

00:33:03passiveness

00:33:04a lack of standards

00:33:05and values about

00:33:06right and wrong

00:33:07good and bad

00:33:08while he was never

00:33:10indicted

00:33:10the episode

00:33:11embittered

00:33:12Reagan

00:33:12after leaving

00:33:14GE

00:33:14Reagan became

00:33:15an intense

00:33:15crusader

00:33:16for the far right

00:33:17hosting a series

00:33:18of conservative

00:33:19propaganda films

00:33:20he attacked

00:33:22fellow citizens

00:33:23dependence

00:33:23on big government

00:33:25those who seek

00:33:26more and more

00:33:27relief from government

00:33:28to solve the

00:33:29problems of life

00:33:29old age

00:33:31unemployment

00:33:32guaranteed security

00:33:33who are willing

00:33:34and eager to have

00:33:35hard decisions

00:33:36made for them

00:33:36by remote authority

00:33:37they hasten

00:33:39the process

00:33:40explosively new

00:33:42Ernest Hemingway

00:33:44Reagan made his

00:33:46last feature film

00:33:47in 1964

00:33:48Reagan was cast

00:33:50for the first time

00:33:51in his career

00:33:51as a bad guy

00:33:53who planned

00:33:53a million dollar

00:33:54heist

00:33:54and got more

00:33:55than he bargained

00:33:56for

00:33:56you get back

00:33:58to the hotel

00:33:58and stay there

00:33:59I like it here

00:34:01well I can change

00:34:03that in a hurry

00:34:03the movie flopped

00:34:07but it did not matter

00:34:08politics were

00:34:09in Reagan's future

00:34:10the Republican

00:34:15National Convention

00:34:16reaches the spirited

00:34:17but hardly

00:34:18suspenseful

00:34:18climax

00:34:19of its San Francisco

00:34:20conclave

00:34:21in 1964

00:34:22in 1964

00:34:22Reagan

00:34:23already a leading

00:34:24conservative spokesman

00:34:25on the after dinner circuit

00:34:26became a co-chairman

00:34:28of Republican Californians

00:34:30for Goldwater

00:34:31I'm Ronald Reagan

00:34:33and I'm very much

00:34:34a Barry Goldwater man

00:34:35and for Barry

00:34:37because I know him

00:34:38and I know

00:34:39what he stands for

00:34:40Goldwater was going to lose

00:34:42the election

00:34:42to Lyndon Johnson

00:34:43but Reagan

00:34:44emerged a winner

00:34:45in the waning days

00:34:47of the campaign

00:34:48on behalf of Goldwater

00:34:50Reagan delivered

00:34:51a nationally televised

00:34:52address

00:34:53in the next few weeks

00:34:54I have spent most

00:34:55of my life

00:34:56as a Democrat

00:34:57I recently have seen

00:34:59fit to follow

00:34:59another course

00:35:00I believe that the issues

00:35:02confronting us

00:35:02crossed party lines

00:35:04no nation in history

00:35:05has ever survived

00:35:06the tax burden

00:35:07that reached a third

00:35:08of its national income

00:35:10today 37 cents

00:35:11out of every dollar

00:35:12earned in this country

00:35:13is the tax collector's share

00:35:14and yet our government

00:35:16continues to spend

00:35:1717 million dollars a day

00:35:19more than the government

00:35:20takes in

00:35:20we haven't balanced

00:35:22our budget 28

00:35:23out of the last

00:35:2434 years

00:35:25we've raised our debt limit

00:35:26three times

00:35:27in the last 12 months

00:35:28and now

00:35:29our national debt

00:35:30is one and a half times

00:35:32bigger than all

00:35:33the combined debts

00:35:34of all the nations

00:35:35of the world

00:35:36he was really the only

00:35:37good thing

00:35:40sort of that happened

00:35:40for Goldwater

00:35:41in that whole campaign

00:35:42and he had a sort of

00:35:43an electricity

00:35:44to him

00:35:45and he raised

00:35:46just lots and lots

00:35:48of money

00:35:49it brought in

00:35:49more money

00:35:50than any political speech

00:35:52had ever brought in

00:35:53up to that time

00:35:53and it was a message

00:35:55here was a conservative

00:35:57who was putting

00:35:59their case

00:36:00in understandable terms

00:36:03no conservative

00:36:05had really been able

00:36:06to do that before

00:36:07we were told

00:36:08four years ago

00:36:09that 17 million people

00:36:10went to bed hungry

00:36:11each night

00:36:11well that was probably true

00:36:13they were all on a diet

00:36:14because of the speech

00:36:16Reagan attracted the backing

00:36:18of a group of wealthy

00:36:19southern California

00:36:20businessmen

00:36:21including banker

00:36:23Ed Mills

00:36:23drugstore magnate

00:36:25Justin Dart

00:36:26auto dealer

00:36:27Holmes Tuttle

00:36:28and oil millionaire

00:36:30Henry Salvatore

00:36:31the patrons

00:36:32became known

00:36:33as Reagan's

00:36:34kitchen cabinet

00:36:35he had shown

00:36:37his speech

00:36:38that he was

00:36:39a very very

00:36:40foremost

00:36:41spokesman

00:36:43for the Republican Party

00:36:44nobody could speak

00:36:46as well

00:36:46nobody got the response

00:36:47he did

00:36:48and he also

00:36:50articulated

00:36:51the principles

00:36:53of the conservatives

00:36:54so he was a natural

00:36:56a group of

00:36:58prominent party members

00:37:00came to me

00:37:01before the 1966

00:37:02governor race

00:37:03in California

00:37:04and claimed

00:37:06that I was the only one

00:37:07who could bring

00:37:07the party together

00:37:08was quite divided

00:37:09and split up

00:37:10and win the election

00:37:13and I thought

00:37:14they were crazy

00:37:15and I said

00:37:15no you pick someone else

00:37:16and I'll campaign

00:37:17for them

00:37:18do that

00:37:19well they kept after us

00:37:21until pretty soon

00:37:21Nancy and I

00:37:22couldn't sleep

00:37:22we thought

00:37:23well what if they're right

00:37:24can we live with ourselves

00:37:25if we keep saying no

00:37:27he thought that

00:37:28the party was in

00:37:30such a bad shape

00:37:31and that if he

00:37:32didn't do all

00:37:33that he could

00:37:33that maybe he'd be

00:37:35shirking his responsibilities

00:37:36and we spent

00:37:38a few sleepless nights

00:37:39and finally I made

00:37:41a proposal to them

00:37:42that I would

00:37:42go out on a circuit

00:37:44throughout the state

00:37:44of speaking

00:37:45making speeches

00:37:46and come back

00:37:48and tell them

00:37:48whether they were

00:37:49right or wrong

00:37:49and I

00:37:51came back

00:37:52and told Nancy

00:37:53that I thought

00:37:54maybe they were right

00:37:55now

00:37:56I've come to a decision

00:37:58that even a short time ago

00:38:00I would have thought

00:38:01impossible for me to make

00:38:02and yet I make it

00:38:04with no lingering doubts

00:38:05or hesitation

00:38:06as of now

00:38:08I am a candidate

00:38:09seeking the Republican

00:38:10nomination for governor

00:38:12so I finally gave in

00:38:14and you know

00:38:15I was well into the campaign

00:38:17before I realized

00:38:18that I wouldn't be back

00:38:19in show business

00:38:19by November

00:38:20when the election time came

00:38:21suddenly dawned on me

00:38:23I might win

00:38:24and that was the end

00:38:25of show business

00:38:26for me

00:38:27now the issue

00:38:29gets down

00:38:30to two people

00:38:31Mr. Ronald Reagan

00:38:33the crown prince

00:38:35of the extreme right

00:38:36and a moderate governor

00:38:39that has brought

00:38:39this state of California

00:38:40to its

00:38:41Reagan's opponent

00:38:42Pat Brown

00:38:43aired commercials

00:38:44that attacked Reagan

00:38:45as an unprincipled

00:38:46extremist

00:38:47whether he's been

00:38:48selling ideas

00:38:49or products

00:38:50he's always

00:38:51professionally persuasive

00:38:52and remember

00:38:53Baraxo powdered hand soap

00:38:55in the attractive

00:38:55new plastic container

00:38:57for the AMA

00:38:58he's made a pitch

00:38:59against Medicare

00:39:00take it straight

00:39:01for Mr. Reagan

00:39:02for GE

00:39:04he's called

00:39:04federal aid to education

00:39:06a tool of tyranny

00:39:07he's big on integrity

00:39:09a cheating student

00:39:10integrity is a good word

00:39:12but is it the right word

00:39:14for Mr. Reagan

00:39:15it's expensive

00:39:16other commercials

00:39:18demeaned Reagan

00:39:19as an actor

00:39:20Ronald Reagan

00:39:21has played many roles

00:39:22this year

00:39:24he wants to play governor

00:39:25are you willing

00:39:27to pay the price

00:39:28of admission

00:39:28to prepare Reagan

00:39:34for the campaign

00:39:35the kitchen cabinet

00:39:37hired campaign manager

00:39:38Stuart Spencer

00:39:39a pioneer

00:39:40political consultant

00:39:41the 1966

00:39:43governor's race

00:39:44the basic

00:39:45problems

00:39:46you had to overcome

00:39:47were number one

00:39:48he was not

00:39:50an extremist

00:39:51because he was

00:39:52going to be

00:39:52painted as an extremist

00:39:53by his opposition

00:39:54and number two

00:39:55that he was an actor

00:39:56and he wasn't just

00:39:57working from lines

00:39:58he'd had a whole career

00:40:00in the movie

00:40:01in entertainment business

00:40:02and he was starting

00:40:03a new career

00:40:03in his life

00:40:04and he needed

00:40:06to be brought up

00:40:07to speed

00:40:08most people

00:40:08who run for public office

00:40:09at that level

00:40:10have been a legislator

00:40:12they've been a congressman

00:40:13they've been a mayor

00:40:14they've held a public office

00:40:16some place

00:40:16and Ronald Reagan

00:40:17had not

00:40:18to coach Reagan

00:40:21Spencer hired a team

00:40:22of behavioral scientists

00:40:24we went to a speech

00:40:28that was our first

00:40:29introduction to him

00:40:29and it was the speech

00:40:31the speech that he'd been

00:40:33giving or had given

00:40:34for Goldwater

00:40:35and it was about Washington

00:40:37and it had all the aphorisms

00:40:39about Washington

00:40:39all of the references

00:40:41to what was wrong

00:40:42with Washington

00:40:42nothing about California

00:40:43we listened to him

00:40:45a few times after that

00:40:46the same thing

00:40:47the same speech

00:40:47with a little bit of variation

00:40:49we finally told

00:40:50the campaign management team

00:40:52that hey

00:40:53we've got to get this guy

00:40:54off to the side

00:40:54for a while

00:40:55we need three days with him

00:40:56to find out

00:40:58what is his political philosophy

00:40:59and how that can be interpreted

00:41:01into California

00:41:02and that's what we did

00:41:05we took three days up here

00:41:06in Malibu

00:41:07just this kind of setting

00:41:09right here

00:41:09and learned about him

00:41:11learned what he believed in

00:41:12and also very importantly

00:41:14how he could take in

00:41:15information

00:41:16and from that point on

00:41:17we organized information

00:41:18in a way that he could

00:41:19handle it

00:41:20I thought that it was a joke

00:41:22I really felt that

00:41:24running a motion picture

00:41:26actor

00:41:26and he was regarded

00:41:28this is not the man

00:41:30that he defeated

00:41:30speaking meanly

00:41:32but he was not a

00:41:33grade A actor

00:41:35so I didn't regard

00:41:37Ronald Reagan

00:41:38as a strong candidate

00:41:40we were always in the position

00:41:42of trying to bring him up to speed

00:41:43on issues

00:41:44and things of that nature

00:41:46he worked with the Plot Group

00:41:47he also worked with Charlie Conrad

00:41:49who was a

00:41:50I think he was the minority leader

00:41:52in the state legislature

00:41:54at the time

00:41:54and Charlie was working with him

00:41:56on what we would call

00:41:58pure civics lessons

00:41:59this is what goes on

00:42:01in state capital

00:42:02this is how a bill

00:42:03gets out of the legislature

00:42:04we felt those were

00:42:05important things

00:42:06for him to know

00:42:06the thing we had to learn

00:42:08was how he took in information

00:42:10and I guess

00:42:11through his actoral training

00:42:13he was used to working

00:42:14off of cue cards

00:42:15so what we did

00:42:17was take five by eight cards

00:42:19those little white cards

00:42:20organize them

00:42:21into a total of

00:42:23thirteen black books

00:42:24binders about that thick

00:42:26on seventeen issues

00:42:27of California

00:42:28they could be inserted

00:42:29so we could update them

00:42:31all the time

00:42:31he could pull them out

00:42:32and work on speeches

00:42:33and he did his own speeches

00:42:34at that time

00:42:35so he learned very quickly

00:42:37about California

00:42:38through that

00:42:38and it was amazing

00:42:39how he would

00:42:40take all of that

00:42:41not miss anything

00:42:42that we said

00:42:43and click the things off

00:42:44like that

00:42:45one, two, three

00:42:46and control people

00:42:47audiences that were

00:42:49hostile to him

00:42:49lost their ability

00:42:51to be hostile

00:42:52by the time he was through

00:42:53oh I won't estimate

00:43:00my numbers

00:43:00I'll just settle

00:43:01even if it's for

00:43:02only the point

00:43:03after touchdown

00:43:03but we're going to win

00:43:05Ronald Reagan

00:43:06is the best

00:43:07political candidate

00:43:08I have ever known

00:43:09not that he's the smartest

00:43:11or anything like that

00:43:14but he understands

00:43:15the role of being

00:43:17a candidate

00:43:17he understands

00:43:19that somebody else

00:43:19is running the mechanics

00:43:20of the campaign

00:43:21he's the kind of a man

00:43:23who's willing to listen

00:43:24and willing to accept

00:43:27an idea

00:43:27even if it wasn't his

00:43:28he'll go ahead

00:43:29and make it his

00:43:30but he rides

00:43:33very easily

00:43:34he's a delight

00:43:36on a campaign

00:43:38he's

00:43:38with some candidates

00:43:40you have to worry about

00:43:42are they going to drink

00:43:42too much

00:43:43do they want to go chasing

00:43:44in one thing or another

00:43:45Reagan is almost

00:43:47a non-drinker

00:43:48you put him to bed

00:43:49and he stays in bed

00:43:50it's a nice

00:43:51nice trait

00:43:52so Ronald Reagan

00:43:59the amateur

00:44:00defeated Brown

00:44:01the professional

00:44:02by a stunning

00:44:03one million votes

00:44:04you solemnly swear

00:44:05that you will bear

00:44:06true faith

00:44:07and allegiance

00:44:08to the constitution

00:44:09of the United States

00:44:11and the constitution

00:44:12of the state

00:44:12of California

00:44:13governing was a new

00:44:30experience for Reagan

00:44:31it was also new

00:44:32for most of the men

00:44:33around him

00:44:34communications director

00:44:36Lynn Nafziger

00:44:37was a former

00:44:37newspaper man

00:44:38legal affairs director

00:44:40Ed Meese

00:44:41a former deputy DA

00:44:43finance director

00:44:44Caspar Weinberger

00:44:45was a lawyer

00:44:46as was chief of staff

00:44:48William Clark

00:44:49they figured out

00:44:50how to govern

00:44:51on the fly

00:44:52we presented a plan

00:44:54for decision making

00:44:55process to the governor

00:44:56which he quickly

00:44:58approved

00:44:59and that is

00:45:00bringing many people

00:45:02many experts

00:45:03into a room

00:45:04having someone

00:45:05at that time

00:45:06myself

00:45:07attenuate the issue

00:45:09and get to the heart

00:45:10of the matter

00:45:11avoiding minutia

00:45:13at that point

00:45:15the governor

00:45:16would go around

00:45:17the room

00:45:17might very well

00:45:18ask his

00:45:18secretary of agriculture

00:45:20his own thinking

00:45:22in the area

00:45:23of social welfare

00:45:24as an example

00:45:25until at the end

00:45:27everyone in that room

00:45:28had expressed

00:45:29him or herself

00:45:31and the governor

00:45:33would then

00:45:33not defer

00:45:35not delay

00:45:36but make a decision

00:45:37and state

00:45:39that he expected

00:45:39that decision

00:45:41to be implemented

00:45:42he did not

00:45:44appreciate

00:45:45being immersed

00:45:47in great detail

00:45:49there were simply

00:45:50too many issues

00:45:50traveling at too

00:45:51great a speed

00:45:52and thus

00:45:53they were refined

00:45:55on what

00:45:56one news magazine

00:45:57called

00:45:57mini memos

00:45:58one page per issue

00:46:00stating the issue

00:46:02the facts

00:46:03the options

00:46:04the recommendation

00:46:05for decision

00:46:06i've always said

00:46:07that from the first days

00:46:08that i worked with him

00:46:09in sacramento

00:46:09i found that he was

00:46:10one of the best

00:46:11executives i've ever met

00:46:12i remember the first time

00:46:14that we had to talk

00:46:15to some law enforcement

00:46:16executives

00:46:17i prepared a detailed

00:46:18memorandum for him

00:46:19took it into him

00:46:21he read it at his desk

00:46:22and i thought he was

00:46:24going to take that

00:46:24memorandum with him

00:46:25as a talking paper

00:46:26instead he left it

00:46:27on his desk

00:46:28went down the hall

00:46:29and spent a half hour

00:46:30with law enforcement

00:46:31executives

00:46:31the first time

00:46:33that i knew

00:46:34that he had really

00:46:35talked informally

00:46:36on a number

00:46:37of these topics

00:46:37and held forth

00:46:39for a half hour

00:46:39as though he had

00:46:40been involved

00:46:41in this topic

00:46:42for months

00:46:43he really

00:46:43has the ability

00:46:45to do this

00:46:45but he does

00:46:46but as i say

00:46:47he conserves

00:46:48his time

00:46:49for the important

00:46:50decisions

00:46:50and for the

00:46:51important things

00:46:52he doesn't get

00:46:52involved in a lot

00:46:53of trivia

00:46:53in his first term

00:46:57his administration

00:46:58clashed frequently

00:46:59with students

00:47:00reagan had promised

00:47:02to cut government

00:47:03spending

00:47:03including state

00:47:04aid to education

00:47:05on one campus

00:47:08students hanged

00:47:09reagan in effigy

00:47:11the times

00:47:13were the restless

00:47:14sixties

00:47:15inner cities

00:47:16were rioting

00:47:17the war in vietnam

00:47:18was growing

00:47:19students were

00:47:21protesting the draft

00:47:22reagan's tough

00:47:25talk incensed

00:47:26the young

00:47:27but appealed

00:47:27to conservatives

00:47:28who wanted

00:47:29tranquility restored

00:47:30i was picked

00:47:32it a few days

00:47:33ago in california

00:47:34by some youngsters

00:47:35that had signs

00:47:35that said

00:47:36make love

00:47:36not war

00:47:37the trouble is

00:47:38they didn't look

00:47:39like they were

00:47:39capable of doing

00:47:40either

00:47:40this fellow

00:47:47that was doing

00:47:48the talking

00:47:48had a haircut

00:47:49like tarzan

00:47:49he walked like

00:47:50jane

00:47:50and smelled

00:47:51like cheetah

00:47:51i do not believe

00:47:53it constitutes

00:47:54political interference

00:47:55but reagan talked

00:47:57tougher than he acted

00:47:58in negotiations

00:47:59with educators

00:48:01reagan showed a

00:48:02willingness to compromise

00:48:03by the time he left

00:48:05office

00:48:05state aid to education

00:48:07actually doubled

00:48:08on other budget issues

00:48:10as well

00:48:11reagan's actions

00:48:12diverged from his rhetoric

00:48:14in his first year

00:48:16as governor

00:48:16he could not find

00:48:17fat to trim

00:48:18from the budget

00:48:19so reagan

00:48:20the tax cutter

00:48:21signed a tax increase

00:48:22in 1967

00:48:25in his first year

00:48:26as governor

00:48:27he did

00:48:27what

00:48:28any good governor

00:48:30would have done

00:48:30he was faced

00:48:31with a budget

00:48:32problem

00:48:33he

00:48:33passed a tax increase

00:48:35and the tax increase

00:48:36because it came out

00:48:37of committees

00:48:38that were controlled

00:48:38by the democrats

00:48:39was very progressive

00:48:41it was very

00:48:42it hit the banks

00:48:44and the corporations

00:48:44and the insurance companies

00:48:45much harder

00:48:46than the democrats

00:48:47had ever been able

00:48:48to hit them

00:48:48when they had

00:48:49a democratic governor

00:48:50and reagan signed it

00:48:51reagan still blamed

00:48:53government for his failures

00:48:55in 1968

00:48:57he signed into law

00:48:58what turned out

00:48:59to be one of the most

00:49:00liberal abortion bills

00:49:01in the country

00:49:02later he said

00:49:04he regretted it

00:49:04but blamed government

00:49:06bureaucracy

00:49:06for misunderstanding

00:49:08his intentions

00:49:09I have to confess

00:49:10I'd never given it

00:49:11much thought

00:49:11and I for the first time

00:49:13in my life

00:49:14had to sit down

00:49:15I did more study

00:49:17more soul searching

00:49:18contacted more

00:49:20legal lights

00:49:21more medical authorities

00:49:22more theologians

00:49:23in an effort

00:49:24read more

00:49:25trying to find out

00:49:26what was my view

00:49:27and I have come

00:49:28to the conclusion

00:49:29no it wasn't easy

00:49:32because I just

00:49:32casually looked at it

00:49:34like anyone else

00:49:35a way out

00:49:36it didn't work out

00:49:38as I thought it would

00:49:39because some of those

00:49:40who were supposed

00:49:41to police it

00:49:42evidently had

00:49:43different ideas

00:49:44he was

00:49:45said one political

00:49:46opponent

00:49:46a better speech maker

00:49:48than a governor

00:49:48during his second year

00:49:50in office

00:49:51the kitchen cabinet

00:49:52sent Reagan

00:49:52on a speaking tour

00:49:54of the United States

00:49:55it was a presidential

00:49:56election year

00:49:57that seems like

00:49:58a simple question

00:49:59it's a very simple answer

00:50:01I've been saying it

00:50:02for weeks

00:50:02would you say it for him

00:50:04I am not a candidate

00:50:05by the time Reagan

00:50:09arrived at the

00:50:10Republican National

00:50:11Convention in Miami

00:50:12he changed his mind

00:50:13and so yes

00:50:15as of this moment

00:50:17in response to that

00:50:19resolution by the

00:50:20California delegation

00:50:21it was too late

00:50:23the 1968 convention

00:50:26belonged to Richard Nixon

00:50:27but Reagan made clear

00:50:29to everyone

00:50:30what he had confided

00:50:31to Dr. Plog

00:50:32two years earlier

00:50:33Reagan was thinking

00:50:35of being president

00:50:37from the time

00:50:37we first met him

00:50:38that's all he wanted

00:50:40and I can remember

00:50:41when he was running

00:50:42for the governorship

00:50:43he had to take

00:50:44three or four days off

00:50:46because he had

00:50:46some kind of flu

00:50:47or something

00:50:47he didn't seem

00:50:48to be responding

00:50:48very well

00:50:49I was with him

00:50:51in his Pacific

00:50:51Palisades home

00:50:52in his bedroom

00:50:53and he was sitting

00:50:54in bed

00:50:54and we were going

00:50:55through some issues

00:50:56and I'm working

00:50:56with him

00:50:57on these issues

00:50:58he suddenly put

00:50:59the books down

00:51:00and he said

00:51:00damn

00:51:02wouldn't this be fun

00:51:03if we were running

00:51:03for the presidency

00:51:04Reagan made his first

00:51:07serious run

00:51:08at the presidency

00:51:09in 1976

00:51:10against Republican

00:51:12incumbent

00:51:12President Ford

00:51:13the challenge

00:51:15did not go over

00:51:15with party faithful

00:51:16and Ford won

00:51:18the nomination

00:51:18but it was Reagan

00:51:20who was lucky

00:51:21it was not an easy

00:51:24time to be president

00:51:25a steep rise

00:51:27in Arab oil prices

00:51:28was fueling inflation

00:51:30interest rates

00:51:31were also rising

00:51:32and we can't expect

00:51:33an overnight miracle

00:51:34and no easy answers

00:51:36for winner Jimmy Carter

00:51:38the presidency

00:51:39became an impossible job

00:51:41in 1979

00:51:46revolutionaries

00:51:47seized American

00:51:48hostages in Iran

00:51:49a desert rescue mission

00:51:53failed dismally

00:51:54Americans blamed

00:51:56their president

00:51:57at 69 years old

00:52:13Reagan was prepared

00:52:14for one more try

00:52:16in 1980

00:52:17bring back

00:52:18the recognition

00:52:19that the people

00:52:20of this country

00:52:21can solve the problems

00:52:22that we don't have

00:52:23anything to be afraid of

00:52:24as long as we have

00:52:26the people of America

00:52:26after the convention

00:52:28one of his first

00:52:29campaign stops

00:52:30was in Philadelphia

00:52:31Mississippi

00:52:31Reagan talked

00:52:33of states rights

00:52:34I'm going to

00:52:35devote myself

00:52:36to trying to restore

00:52:39to states

00:52:39and local communities

00:52:40those functions

00:52:41which properly belong there

00:52:42he had appeared

00:52:44against the advice

00:52:45of some staffers

00:52:46three civil rights workers

00:52:49had been slain

00:52:49in the town

00:52:50in 1964

00:52:51with the complicity

00:52:53of local police

00:52:54soon there were

00:52:58other blunders

00:52:59the campaign

00:53:07turned to an old hand

00:53:08Stuart Spencer

00:53:09you know

00:53:11as I look back on it

00:53:121980 was a tremendous

00:53:13victory

00:53:13but there was no

00:53:14indication early on

00:53:16that it was going to be

00:53:16that kind of a victory

00:53:17and I think the

00:53:19most important decisions

00:53:21were number one

00:53:22try to keep from

00:53:22making mistakes

00:53:23and the second one

00:53:27was whether we debated

00:53:28or we did not debate

00:53:29with Jimmy Carter

00:53:30and there was a big split

00:53:31in our organizations

00:53:32to which way we went

00:53:33these are the kind of

00:53:34elements of a national

00:53:35health insurance

00:53:36important to the American

00:53:37people

00:53:37the one chance for Reagan

00:53:39to make a big mistake

00:53:40would be in the debates

00:53:41but without Carter's

00:53:42knowing it

00:53:43Reagan's campaign team

00:53:45had stolen a copy

00:53:46of Carter's debate

00:53:47briefing book

00:53:48Reagan knew Carter's

00:53:50strategy before going in

00:53:51and was well versed

00:53:53with answers

00:53:53and one liners

00:53:54and emphasis on

00:53:55catastrophic health insurance

00:53:56Governor Reagan again

00:53:58typically is against

00:54:00such a proposal

00:54:01Governor

00:54:01there you go again

00:54:04when I opposed

00:54:07medicare

00:54:07I had tremendous

00:54:09confidence

00:54:09more confidence

00:54:10than many other people

00:54:11did

00:54:11that he could handle

00:54:13the incumbent president

00:54:14of the United States

00:54:14in a debate

00:54:15because a presidential

00:54:16debate

00:54:17substance really

00:54:18isn't important

00:54:19it's how the person

00:54:20is perceived

00:54:21on camera

00:54:22during that debate

00:54:23their style

00:54:24their form

00:54:24etc

00:54:24and nobody in

00:54:26American politics

00:54:27has better style

00:54:27and form

00:54:28than Ronald Reagan

00:54:28and he prevailed

00:54:30and I think

00:54:31that was the turning

00:54:31point of the 1980 campaign

00:54:34Ronald Wilson Reagan

00:54:43the ex-actor

00:54:44and ex-governor

00:54:45was now the oldest man

00:54:46ever to become president

00:54:48he was certainly

00:54:50the most relaxed

00:54:51on the morning

00:54:57that Governor Reagan

00:54:59was to be inaugurated

00:55:0040th president

00:55:01of the United States

00:55:01I went over

00:55:02to the Blair House

00:55:03to be sure

00:55:05everything was

00:55:05under control

00:55:06and it was about

00:55:079 o'clock in the morning

00:55:08Nancy was getting

00:55:09her hair done

00:55:09and I talked to her

00:55:10for a few minutes

00:55:11and then asked

00:55:11about the governor

00:55:12and she said

00:55:13I don't know

00:55:13he's still in the bedroom

00:55:14I went and gingerly

00:55:16opened the door

00:55:17to the bedroom

00:55:18and it was pitch black

00:55:19and nothing but a mound

00:55:20of covers on the bed

00:55:23and said governor

00:55:24and there was kind

00:55:26of a grunt

00:55:26and I said

00:55:28good God

00:55:29in an hour and a half

00:55:31you're going to be sworn

00:55:31as the 40th president

00:55:32of the United States

00:55:33and he rolled over

00:55:35and said

00:55:36do I have to

00:55:37raise your right hand

00:55:38and repeat after me

00:55:39I Ronald Reagan

00:55:41do solemnly swear

00:55:42I Ronald Reagan

00:55:44do solemnly swear

00:55:45that I will faithfully

00:55:46execute the office

00:55:47of president

00:55:48of the United States

00:55:49that I will faithfully

00:55:51execute the office

00:55:51of president

00:55:52of the United States

00:55:53good morning

00:55:54good morning all

00:55:55everyone looks very

00:55:56bright and happy

00:55:59let's see

00:56:01the agenda is mainly

00:56:03concerned with the

00:56:05economic program though

00:56:06try not to smile too much

00:56:08in the beginning

00:56:11the focus was on

00:56:12cutting taxes and spending

00:56:13as in California

00:56:16the details were left

00:56:17to others

00:56:17before we get into

00:56:18the details of the program

00:56:19ask Dave Stockman

00:56:20for an interview

00:56:22for an overview

00:56:23of what's been going on here

00:56:24I have to say

00:56:26that I am not one

00:56:27to shrink from a tough task

00:56:28but I must also say

00:56:30and I think every cabinet member

00:56:31here will agree with me

00:56:33that the goals

00:56:34that you gave us

00:56:35are extraordinarily difficult

00:56:37to reconcile

00:56:38but I'm pleased to report

00:56:40today that we're almost there

00:56:42the president's job

00:56:43was to sell

00:56:44the broader concepts

00:56:46having a degree

00:56:48in economics

00:56:48I believed

00:56:50and from experience

00:56:51in our own history

00:56:52that the best way

00:56:54to increase

00:56:55government revenues

00:56:56was to cut the taxes

00:56:58not spend them

00:56:59to carry out

00:57:02Reagan's program

00:57:03his staff labored

00:57:05long hours

00:57:06Reagan worked

00:57:08nine to five

00:57:09most presidents

00:57:15had one chief of staff

00:57:17Reagan had three senior aides

00:57:19by his side

00:57:20his opponents

00:57:23on Capitol Hill

00:57:24found it hard

00:57:25to take President Reagan

00:57:26seriously

00:57:27no question about it

00:57:30he's the least knowledgeable man

00:57:31as far as the backs

00:57:32of government

00:57:33than any president

00:57:35I ever known

00:57:35and I've

00:57:36I've met ten

00:57:38and worked with eight

00:57:39simple as that

00:57:41he never did his homework

00:57:43in my opinion

00:57:43he had the brightest staff

00:57:45people I ever saw

00:57:47around him

00:57:47they had formulated

00:57:50the programs

00:57:50he went along

00:57:52with them

00:57:52but his staff

00:57:54they were all conservatives

00:57:56I have to admit

00:57:57that they were

00:57:57brilliant people

00:57:58and they

00:58:00they handled them

00:58:02and they understood

00:58:03politics

00:58:04he came to address

00:58:08the nation

00:58:09in the State of the Union

00:58:11speech

00:58:11he started the talk

00:58:15and I looked at George

00:58:16I said

00:58:16voodoo economics

00:58:18George

00:58:18I said

00:58:18you're right in Iowa

00:58:19you're right now

00:58:20you don't believe

00:58:21in this bull

00:58:21do you

00:58:22well we both smiled

00:58:24he said

00:58:24stop it

00:58:25can we do the job

00:58:26the answer is yes

00:58:28but we must begin now

00:58:30we're in control here

00:58:32there's nothing wrong

00:58:33with America

00:58:34that together

00:58:35we can't fix

00:58:36in the beginning

00:58:46the economic program

00:58:47was a hard sell

00:58:48on March 31st 1981

00:58:51Reagan was at

00:58:52the Washington Hilton

00:58:53trying to engage

00:58:55a lukewarm labor audience

00:58:56with talk of spending cuts

00:58:58the speech was to be followed

00:59:00by a routine photo opportunity

00:59:02outside the hotel

00:59:03the president

00:59:28has been shot

00:59:29once

00:59:30in the left chest

00:59:31the bullet entered

00:59:32from his left side

00:59:34he is in stable condition

00:59:36he is conscious

00:59:38and Mrs. Reagan is with him

00:59:41and at this moment

00:59:43we have nothing further to say

00:59:45it was unreal

00:59:50that it couldn't possibly have happened

00:59:53because all we had ever felt

00:59:55was such love and affection

00:59:59from people

01:00:01and when I saw him

01:00:05I mean it was

01:00:06it was just

01:00:07unreal

01:00:09in March of 1981

01:00:15his third month into office

01:00:17a time when

01:00:19when traditionally

01:00:21masses of Americans

01:00:23most intently watch

01:00:25the new president

01:00:26because he's new

01:00:27it's a new entertainment

01:00:28just at that time

01:00:30he is shot

01:00:32the country is stunned

01:00:36it's reminded

01:00:37of the assassinations

01:00:38of the 60s

01:00:39and gallantry

01:00:41under fire

01:00:42is displayed

01:00:43and in my judgment

01:00:44at that very moment

01:00:46the Mr. Nice Guy

01:00:48of all those Reagan

01:00:50movies

01:00:51is fused into reality

01:00:53because reality

01:00:54is acting like the movies

01:00:55and thereafter

01:00:57in my view

01:00:58he's a

01:00:59larger than life figure

01:01:01this of course

01:01:03is Mr. Reagan's

01:01:04first major public appearance

01:01:05since that day

01:01:08born by members

01:01:09of his cabinet

01:01:10CIA director

01:01:11Bill Casey there

01:01:12Reagan's remarkable recovery

01:01:24made it difficult

01:01:25to criticize

01:01:26the man

01:01:26and his programs

01:01:27I have come

01:01:29to speak to you tonight

01:01:30about our

01:01:31economic recovery program

01:01:33and why I believe

01:01:34it's essential

01:01:35that the Congress

01:01:35approve

01:01:36this package

01:01:37in the fall of 1981

01:01:39Reagan's three year tax cut

01:01:41was enacted into law

01:01:42and restore the vitality

01:01:44to our economy

01:01:45but tight money policies

01:01:48at the Federal Reserve Bank

01:01:50were slowing the economy

01:01:51the country fell

01:01:53into the most severe

01:01:54economic recession

01:01:55since the Great Depression

01:01:57factories closed

01:01:59unemployment figures rose

01:02:01tax cuts did little

01:02:03for people

01:02:03who were not earning wages

01:02:05Reagan remained

01:02:07the eternal optimist

01:02:08yesterday we were told

01:02:11that unemployment

01:02:12has gone up

01:02:12another two tenths

01:02:13of one percent

01:02:14we can however

01:02:15take some comfort

01:02:16from the fact

01:02:17that 99 and a half million

01:02:18of our people

01:02:19are employed

01:02:20I know that's no comfort

01:02:22to those who want to work

01:02:23and can't find a job

01:02:24and it's no comfort

01:02:26to farmers

01:02:26independent business people

01:02:28auto dealers

01:02:28realtors

01:02:29but what about the promises

01:02:30that were made

01:02:31what about the promise

01:02:33that the burden

01:02:33would be shared equally

01:02:35what about the promise

01:02:36of lowered deficits

01:02:38throughout 1982

01:02:40Americans increasingly

01:02:41disapproved

01:02:42of how Reagan

01:02:43was handling his job

01:02:44in early 1983

01:02:46Reagan's approval rating

01:02:48stood at an anemic

01:02:4935 percent

01:02:51lower at midterm

01:02:52than for any president

01:02:53in 40 years

01:02:55the thing that has struck me

01:02:58is the constant

01:02:59drumbeat of gloom

01:03:02that is on particularly

01:03:04TV news

01:03:05the president did not

01:03:06change course

01:03:07the administration

01:03:08was committed

01:03:09to military spending

01:03:11increases

01:03:11and today

01:03:13just as it's always been

01:03:14strength

01:03:14not weakness

01:03:16is the greatest guarantee

01:03:17of peace

01:03:18I came here

01:03:21with a belief

01:03:22that what was needed

01:03:23was realism

01:03:25and strength

01:03:26the realism meaning

01:03:29don't be lured

01:03:30into a detente

01:03:31because it sounds good

01:03:32or to make a treaty

01:03:33in which you shake hands

01:03:34and yet

01:03:35you know

01:03:36that the evils

01:03:37are still going on

01:03:38to ignore the facts

01:03:39of history

01:03:40and the aggressive impulses

01:03:41of an evil empire

01:03:42to simply call the arms race

01:03:44a giant misunderstanding

01:03:45and thereby remove yourself

01:03:47from the struggle

01:03:48between right and wrong

01:03:49and good and evil

01:03:50in the winter of 1983

01:03:53at a series of meetings

01:03:54with Pentagon officials

01:03:56Reagan formulated

01:03:57his own simple solution

01:03:58to the arms race

01:04:00and I asked

01:04:04in the very beginning

01:04:04I'm not a scientist

01:04:05and I said

01:04:07is it worthwhile

01:04:09is it possible

01:04:10to look and see

01:04:11if there cannot be developed

01:04:13a defensive weapon

01:04:14there's been one

01:04:16for every other

01:04:17offensive weapon

01:04:18since history began

01:04:19a defensive weapon

01:04:20that could actually

01:04:21intercept those missiles

01:04:23as they came out

01:04:24of their silos

01:04:25on their way

01:04:26it seemed like

01:04:29a movie fantasy

01:04:30and the press

01:04:31called it

01:04:31Star Wars

01:04:32it was an enormously

01:04:34expensive plan

01:04:35and no one knew

01:04:36for certain

01:04:37if it would ever work

01:04:38the subject I want

01:04:42to discuss with you

01:04:43peace and national security

01:04:44is both timely

01:04:45and important

01:04:46the speech projected

01:04:47an image of a decisive leader

01:04:49but SDI

01:04:50one of Reagan's

01:04:51favorite projects

01:04:52was an exception

01:04:53to the rule

01:04:54in foreign policy matters

01:04:57where Reagan

01:04:57had no experience

01:04:58he was often comfortable

01:05:00letting others

01:05:01make the key decisions

01:05:02when Schultz

01:05:04and Weinberger

01:05:04advocated sending

01:05:06marines to Lebanon

01:05:07Reagan sat quietly by

01:05:09when the military

01:05:11wanted to invade Grenada

01:05:12Reagan asked no questions

01:05:14and when a Korean jetliner

01:05:16was shot down

01:05:17by the Soviet Union

01:05:18Reagan

01:05:19busy clearing brush

01:05:20on his ranch

01:05:21at the time

01:05:21showed little concern

01:05:23his press secretary

01:05:25thought up

01:05:26presidential quotes

01:05:27to make the president

01:05:28appear outraged

01:05:29at times

01:05:31even his wife

01:05:32supplied the words

01:05:33doing everything we can

01:05:39thank you sir

01:05:41I don't think there is

01:05:42any president

01:05:43in American history

01:05:44who has been less engaged

01:05:46in the conduct of affairs

01:05:48than Ronald Reagan

01:05:49since the time

01:05:51when Woodrow Wilson

01:05:52was confined to quarters

01:05:53with a stroke

01:05:54Ronald Reagan

01:05:55reads the lines

01:05:57that are put before him

01:05:58and he relies heavily

01:06:00on his subordinates

01:06:01he does not have

01:06:02the intellectual energy

01:06:03he's not stupid

01:06:05but he lacks

01:06:06the intellectual energy

01:06:07to involve himself

01:06:09in the details

01:06:09of policy

01:06:10so to an extraordinary degree

01:06:12he relies on what is

01:06:13fed into him

01:06:14and he regurgitates it

01:06:16he'll go into a meeting

01:06:17and he'll be told

01:06:17you have the following options

01:06:19which one do you prefer

01:06:20he doesn't have enough

01:06:22completed homework

01:06:25on his own part

01:06:26to question the options

01:06:27and say well

01:06:28isn't there another one

01:06:29we might be considering

01:06:30however removed

01:06:34from detail

01:06:35Reagan reaped

01:06:36the political benefits

01:06:37of any of his

01:06:38administration's successes

01:06:39the Grenada invasion

01:06:42militarily sloppy

01:06:44was a political hit

01:06:45with the public

01:06:45the fact that a few days

01:06:52earlier a bomb

01:06:53had killed 241 marines

01:06:55in beirut

01:06:56was almost forgotten

01:06:57ladies and gentlemen

01:07:05the president

01:07:05of the united states

01:07:07and mr bob anderson

01:07:08chairman of rockwell

01:07:10international

01:07:10by the fall of 1983

01:07:15Reagan would also

01:07:16reap the political benefits

01:07:18of an economic turnaround

01:07:19lower taxes

01:07:22and heavy government

01:07:23borrowing to pay

01:07:24for defense

01:07:24was beginning to boost

01:07:26the nation's economy

01:07:27Reagan's approval rating

01:07:29soared to record levels

01:07:31we've set our sights

01:07:33on victory

01:07:34and i believe

01:07:35the election of 1984

01:07:37will be a victory

01:07:38for us all

01:07:38for the future

01:07:40over the past

01:07:41for progress

01:07:42over failure

01:07:43for hope

01:07:45over despair

01:07:45and yes

01:07:47for strength

01:07:48over weakness

01:07:49Ronald Reagan

01:07:51seems to have

01:07:52understood

01:07:52instinctively

01:07:54some very important

01:07:56things about

01:07:57the presidency

01:07:58first is that

01:08:01Americans

01:08:02want to like

01:08:03the president

01:08:04want the president

01:08:05to succeed

01:08:05then too

01:08:07mr. Reagan

01:08:08has had

01:08:09a series of messages

01:08:11that sound simpler

01:08:12than they are

01:08:13but in which

01:08:15i think he

01:08:15deeply believes

01:08:17for example

01:08:18if you get taxes

01:08:19down

01:08:20oh the genius

01:08:22of the market

01:08:23will make

01:08:24the economy grow

01:08:25oh another

01:08:27example

01:08:28if you could

01:08:29get rid of

01:08:30nuclear weapons

01:08:31the world

01:08:31would be a safer

01:08:32and better place

01:08:33now these are not

01:08:34complicated thoughts

01:08:36there you go again

01:08:37but expressed

01:08:39with conviction

01:08:40and apparently

01:08:41held with conviction

01:08:42they come across

01:08:45making the man

01:08:46seem convinced

01:08:47about things

01:08:48knowing and caring

01:08:49about things

01:08:50that too

01:08:51has a great impact

01:08:51now i believe

01:08:54that our problem

01:08:56has not been

01:08:57that anybody

01:08:57in our country

01:08:58is undertaxed

01:08:59it's that government

01:09:00is overfed

01:09:01the impact

01:09:02was greatest

01:09:03when he had a script

01:09:04without it

01:09:05he sometimes stalled

01:09:07they don't have

01:09:08to pay much

01:09:08in taxes

01:09:09now mr. president

01:09:10you said

01:09:11there you go again

01:09:13right

01:09:14remember the last

01:09:16time you said that

01:09:17you said it

01:09:19when president carter

01:09:20said that you were

01:09:21going to cut medicare

01:09:22and you said oh no

01:09:23there you go again

01:09:24mr. president

01:09:25and what did you do

01:09:26right after the election

01:09:27you went out

01:09:28and tried to cut

01:09:2920 billion dollars

01:09:30out of medicare

01:09:31and

01:09:32and

01:09:33and so

01:09:34when i

01:09:35when you say

01:09:35there you go again

01:09:36people remember this

01:09:38still in 1984

01:09:44he would win again

01:09:45it did not seem to matter

01:09:47that the deficit was growing

01:09:49homeless families were in the street

01:09:51and real wages were declining

01:09:53reagan's campaign team

01:09:55turned the whole first term

01:09:57into a movie

01:09:58featuring americans

01:09:59with restored faith

01:10:01he has brought back

01:10:01respect for the white house

01:10:03period

01:10:04that's it

01:10:04there's a whole new attitude

01:10:05in america today

01:10:06and i think that that

01:10:07needs to be continued

01:10:08it used to be the americans

01:10:09took it for granted

01:10:10they were american

01:10:11now it seems like

01:10:12they're really proud

01:10:13i feel more patriotic

01:10:15towards my country

01:10:16and

01:10:16i feel more proud

01:10:18to be an american

01:10:19and i'm proud

01:10:20to be an american

01:10:22where at least

01:10:23i know i'm free

01:10:25and i won't forget

01:10:27the men who died

01:10:29who gave that right to me

01:10:32and i gladly stand up

01:10:34next to you

01:10:36and defend her still today

01:10:39thank you

01:10:47thank you all very much

01:10:53thank you

01:10:55in 1984

01:10:56reagan had persuaded

01:10:58the majority of americans

01:10:59that it was morning again

01:11:01in america

01:11:02i um

01:11:03i uh

01:11:06i think that's just been arranged

01:11:10it looked like more success

01:11:17lay ahead

01:11:17but the team that engineered

01:11:22the first term

01:11:23would not carry reagan

01:11:24through the second term

01:11:25the president's role

01:11:27in the reassignment

01:11:28was characteristically

01:11:29passive

01:11:30reagan's prime minister

01:11:33during the first four years

01:11:34of his presidency

01:11:35had been james baker

01:11:36baker was tired

01:11:38of the criticism

01:11:39he was receiving

01:11:39as white house chief of staff

01:11:41and he wanted something

01:11:43a little bit more prestigious

01:11:44more powerful

01:11:45in a sense

01:11:46and more insulated

01:11:47from the daily turmoil

01:11:49he decided he'd like

01:11:50to be secretary

01:11:51of the treasury

01:11:51don reagan

01:11:52decided he would like

01:11:54to be chief of staff

01:11:55the two of them

01:11:56got together

01:11:57they decided

01:11:57to switch jobs

01:11:58they went to the president

01:11:59and said mr president

01:12:00here's what we've decided

01:12:02to do

01:12:02do you have any problem

01:12:03the president said

01:12:04well let me think

01:12:05about it overnight

01:12:05and the next day

01:12:06he said well if that's

01:12:06what you fellas want

01:12:07that's fine with me

01:12:09as if he were powerless

01:12:10with no control

01:12:12over what happens

01:12:13and the way he runs

01:12:14his life

01:12:15he is powerless

01:12:15he doesn't look at details

01:12:17he doesn't follow up

01:12:19he tries to pick good people

01:12:20put them in the job

01:12:22and then let them alone

01:12:23and never goes back to them

01:12:25i tell in my book

01:12:26by the way

01:12:27that while i was

01:12:28secretary of the treasury

01:12:29which is a four year period

01:12:31i never sat down

01:12:32as we are now

01:12:33one on one

01:12:34and just discussed

01:12:35economics of finance

01:12:36with the president

01:12:37not to say that we didn't

01:12:38talk about that

01:12:39we did

01:12:40but there were always

01:12:41people around

01:12:41in contrast to baker's

01:12:45tight control

01:12:46over the president

01:12:46regan's approach

01:12:48was to let reagan

01:12:49be reagan

01:12:49the new approach

01:12:51could be disastrous

01:12:52in the spring of 1985

01:12:58the president was invited

01:13:00to west germany

01:13:01to commemorate

01:13:02the 40th anniversary

01:13:03of the end of world war ii

01:13:05the site chosen

01:13:10was a tiny cemetery

01:13:12where 18 ss stormtroopers

01:13:14were buried

01:13:15when the story broke

01:13:17there was anguish

01:13:19may i mr president

01:13:22if it's possible

01:13:23at all

01:13:24implore you

01:13:25to do something else

01:13:27to find a way

01:13:28to find another way

01:13:30another site

01:13:31that place

01:13:33mr president

01:13:34is not your place

01:13:36your place

01:13:37is with the victims

01:13:38of the ss

01:13:40the american jewish

01:13:42community

01:13:42were outraged

01:13:43and

01:13:44the president

01:13:47almost singly

01:13:49against my advice

01:13:51and nancy's

01:13:52and a lot

01:13:52of other people

01:13:53including a resolution

01:13:54of the republicans

01:13:55in the senate

01:13:56refused to cancel

01:13:58his visit

01:13:58and went

01:13:59i've received many letters

01:14:01since first deciding

01:14:03to come to

01:14:03bitburg cemetery

01:14:04some supportive

01:14:06others deeply concerned

01:14:08and questioning

01:14:09and others opposed

01:14:12reagan's single-mindedness

01:14:14led his advisors

01:14:15into a far more

01:14:16damaging scandal

01:14:17inside the white house

01:14:19a small group of men

01:14:20was creating a secret

01:14:21foreign policy

01:14:22they were driven

01:14:24by the president's

01:14:25obsession

01:14:25with contra opponents

01:14:27of the nicaraguan

01:14:28government

01:14:29they are our brothers

01:14:31these freedom fighters

01:14:32and we owe them

01:14:33our help

01:14:33you know the truth

01:14:35about them

01:14:35you know who they're

01:14:36fighting and why

01:14:37they are the moral

01:14:39equal of our founding

01:14:40fathers

01:14:40and the brave men

01:14:42and women of the

01:14:42french resistance

01:14:43we cannot turn away

01:14:45from them

01:14:45reagan felt deeply

01:14:47about the contracts

01:14:48repeatedly against

01:14:50the wishes of the

01:14:50united states congress

01:14:51the president went

01:14:52out of his way

01:14:53to make pleas

01:14:53for their help

01:14:54the cause seemed

01:14:56to justify anything

01:14:57that got the job

01:14:58done

01:14:58struggle here

01:14:59is not right

01:15:01versus left

01:15:02it is right

01:15:03versus wrong

01:15:04i think that

01:15:09point dexter

01:15:10mcfarlane

01:15:11north

01:15:12thought they knew

01:15:14that the president

01:15:14wanted the contras

01:15:15supported

01:15:16he did

01:15:17he did not want

01:15:18a communist nation

01:15:19in central america

01:15:19he wanted the contras

01:15:21to succeed

01:15:21in getting their own

01:15:22government back

01:15:23to that extent

01:15:24they figured

01:15:25i guess

01:15:26whatever

01:15:27means

01:15:28that we can use

01:15:30we have to do

01:15:31in order to achieve

01:15:32that end

01:15:33and that's when

01:15:34they began

01:15:35funding the contras

01:15:36when the congress

01:15:37of the united states

01:15:38would not fund them

01:15:39the late

01:15:40william casey

01:15:41director of the cia

01:15:43was also mixed up

01:15:44in the ever-expanding

01:15:45contra funding operation

01:15:47after casey coaxed

01:15:49the president

01:15:50into a bizarre

01:15:51attempt to trade

01:15:52arms to iran

01:15:53for hostages

01:15:54held in beirut

01:15:55the president's

01:15:56shadow government

01:15:57was exposed

01:15:58i have directed

01:16:00that no further

01:16:01sales of arms

01:16:02of any kind

01:16:03be sent to iran

01:16:04the iran

01:16:05contra scandal

01:16:06broke in the fall

01:16:07of 1986

01:16:08long before the

01:16:11diversion of funds

01:16:13to the contras

01:16:14the tower board

01:16:15has documented

01:16:15two years

01:16:16of an extensive

01:16:18u.s. military

01:16:18support

01:16:19for the contras

01:16:20at a time

01:16:21when congress

01:16:21ruled that to be

01:16:22illegal

01:16:22airstrips

01:16:24phony corporations

01:16:26tax-exempt

01:16:27foundations

01:16:28all directed

01:16:28by oliver north

01:16:29and john poindexter

01:16:30and before them

01:16:31robert mcfarlane

01:16:32out of the white house

01:16:33and the question

01:16:35is how could

01:16:36all of this

01:16:36be taking place

01:16:37millions and millions

01:16:38of dollars

01:16:38without you having

01:16:40known about it

01:16:41especially at a time

01:16:42when you were

01:16:43calling the contras

01:16:44the moral equivalent

01:16:45of our founding fathers

01:16:46andrea i don't believe

01:16:50i i was aware

01:16:52that there are private

01:16:53groups and private

01:16:54individuals in this

01:16:54country i don't believe

01:16:55it was counter to our

01:16:56law

01:16:56what does it say

01:16:58about the way

01:16:58you've been managing

01:16:59the president

01:16:59andrea i've been

01:17:02reading a great deal

01:17:03about my management

01:17:03style

01:17:04i think that most

01:17:07people in business

01:17:08will agree that

01:17:09it is a proper

01:17:10management style

01:17:11you get the best

01:17:12people you can

01:17:13to do a job

01:17:14then you don't

01:17:15hang over their

01:17:16shoulder

01:17:17criticizing everything

01:17:18they do or

01:17:19picking at them

01:17:20on how they're

01:17:21doing it

01:17:21you set the policy

01:17:23and i set the policy

01:17:25in this administration

01:17:26and they are then

01:17:28to implement it

01:17:30and

01:17:30reagan was on

01:17:31the defensive

01:17:32his judgment

01:17:33had been questioned

01:17:34before but never

01:17:35his honesty

01:17:36the tower report

01:17:37said that the

01:17:38arms deal with

01:17:40iran should never

01:17:41have been made

01:17:42in the first place

01:17:42you have said that

01:17:44you accept the

01:17:44tower commission

01:17:45report

01:17:45yep

01:17:46and yet your

01:17:46friends say

01:17:47that in private

01:17:48you still have

01:17:49a deep feeling

01:17:50that you do not

01:17:52feel it was wrong

01:17:53to sell arms

01:17:55in the beginning

01:17:55i want to know

01:17:56mr president

01:17:56in your heart

01:17:57were you

01:17:58do you feel

01:17:59that you were

01:17:59right

01:18:00or were you

01:18:00wrong

01:18:01in selling arms

01:18:02to a ram

01:18:02we had quite a

01:18:03debate

01:18:04and it was true

01:18:04that two of our

01:18:05cabinet members

01:18:06were very much

01:18:07on the other side

01:18:08and it turned out

01:18:08they were right

01:18:09because as i say

01:18:10it did

01:18:11deteriorate

01:18:12into that

01:18:13i think the

01:18:13image that

01:18:14was ronald reagan's

01:18:16most valuable asset

01:18:17was one

01:18:19of believability

01:18:23and

01:18:24that

01:18:26as long

01:18:27as we

01:18:28maintained

01:18:29his credibility

01:18:30that

01:18:31he did

01:18:34what he said

01:18:34he was going

01:18:35to do

01:18:35regardless

01:18:36of everything

01:18:36else

01:18:37that that was

01:18:38the most

01:18:38important thing

01:18:39that if

01:18:39the opposition

01:18:41or the media

01:18:42were ever

01:18:43able to

01:18:44break into

01:18:46his honesty

01:18:47or his credibility

01:18:49then he would

01:18:52be in trouble

01:18:52and as it

01:18:53turned out

01:18:54the issue

01:18:56that

01:18:56damaged him

01:18:57more

01:18:58in his

01:18:58whole career

01:18:59as a public

01:19:00servant

01:19:02was the whole

01:19:03issue of

01:19:03iran

01:19:04because the

01:19:04american people

01:19:05simply didn't

01:19:05believe him

01:19:06in spite of

01:19:07the wildly

01:19:08speculative

01:19:08and false

01:19:09stories about

01:19:10arms for

01:19:10hostages

01:19:11and alleged

01:19:12ransom

01:19:12payments

01:19:13we did

01:19:14not

01:19:14repeat

01:19:15did not

01:19:16trade weapons

01:19:17or anything

01:19:18else

01:19:18for hostages

01:19:19the president's

01:19:21credibility

01:19:22was severely

01:19:22damaged

01:19:23nancy

01:19:24reagan

01:19:24took the

01:19:25lead

01:19:25in seeing

01:19:26that someone

01:19:26other than

01:19:27her husband

01:19:27would take

01:19:28the fall

01:19:29she consulted

01:19:30with

01:19:30stewart

01:19:31spencer

01:19:31well

01:19:32it was

01:19:34our opinion

01:19:35that

01:19:35in several

01:19:36of us

01:19:36that

01:19:37donald

01:19:37reagan

01:19:38just was

01:19:38not

01:19:38serving

01:19:39the

01:19:39president

01:19:39well

01:19:40he was

01:19:42a good

01:19:42man

01:19:42he was

01:19:42an honest

01:19:43man

01:19:43and all

01:19:44those

01:19:44things

01:19:44but he

01:19:44just

01:19:44was

01:19:45not

01:19:45getting

01:19:46the job

01:19:46done

01:19:46in the

01:19:47manner

01:19:47in which

01:19:47it should

01:19:48be done

01:19:48and I've

01:19:50always taken

01:19:51the philosophy

01:19:51that everybody

01:19:52is expendable

01:19:53except the

01:19:53number one

01:19:54person

01:19:54I don't care

01:19:55who it is

01:19:55in this

01:19:56business

01:19:56that's the

01:19:56way it

01:19:57has to

01:19:57be

01:19:57and when

01:19:59it reaches

01:20:00that point

01:20:00then the

01:20:01person has

01:20:01to move

01:20:02on

01:20:02do other

01:20:03things

01:20:03in our

01:20:04system

01:20:04those people

01:20:05get taken

01:20:05care of

01:20:06however on

01:20:07the advice

01:20:07of my

01:20:07attorneys

01:20:08I must

01:20:08decline

01:20:09to answer

01:20:09that

01:20:09question

01:20:10admiral

01:20:10john

01:20:10poindexter

01:20:11and lieutenant

01:20:12colonel

01:20:12oliver

01:20:12north

01:20:13would also

01:20:13take

01:20:14the fall

01:20:14their

01:20:15testimonies

01:20:16protected

01:20:16the president

01:20:17and on

01:20:18november

01:20:1925th

01:20:19the president

01:20:20said north

01:20:20did not

01:20:21know

01:20:22of the

01:20:22diversion

01:20:22of funds

01:20:23the president

01:20:25of the united

01:20:26states called

01:20:27me

01:20:27in the course

01:20:29of that call

01:20:30the president

01:20:31said to me

01:20:31words to the

01:20:33effect that

01:20:34I just

01:20:35didn't

01:20:36know

01:20:36I still think

01:20:39ali north

01:20:39is a hero

01:20:40and

01:20:41at the other

01:20:42hand in any

01:20:43talk about what

01:20:44I might do

01:20:44or pardons

01:20:45and so forth

01:20:45I think

01:20:45with the

01:20:46case

01:20:46before

01:20:46the courts

01:20:47that's

01:20:48something

01:20:48I can't

01:20:48discuss

01:20:49now

01:20:49but

01:20:50from my

01:20:52I just

01:20:54have to

01:20:54believe

01:20:55that they're

01:20:56going to be

01:20:56found

01:20:57innocent

01:20:57because I

01:20:58don't think

01:20:58they were

01:20:58guilty

01:20:58of any

01:20:59law

01:20:59breaking

01:20:59or any

01:21:00crime

01:21:00the iran

01:21:02contra

01:21:03affair

01:21:03dogged

01:21:04the president

01:21:04through most

01:21:05of 1987

01:21:06but reagan

01:21:07never changed

01:21:08his views

01:21:09ali north

01:21:10remained a

01:21:11hero

01:21:11and reagan

01:21:12still insists

01:21:13it was never

01:21:14an arms for

01:21:14hostages deal

01:21:15I regret one

01:21:17thing

01:21:18some of the

01:21:18people in the

01:21:19cabinet when we

01:21:19talked about it

01:21:20who opposed it

01:21:21never opposed it

01:21:22on the ground

01:21:22that it was

01:21:23arms for hostages

01:21:24they said if it

01:21:25ever becomes

01:21:26known

01:21:27it will be

01:21:28made to look

01:21:29like we had

01:21:30traded arms for

01:21:31hostages

01:21:31well they were

01:21:32right

01:21:32that's exactly

01:21:33what has happened

01:21:34and the media

01:21:35has helped in

01:21:35that and so

01:21:36have the

01:21:37opponents of

01:21:37our program

01:21:38but I don't

01:21:42know you

01:21:42can't sit

01:21:43by when you

01:21:43know that

01:21:44you've got

01:21:44citizens of

01:21:45your country

01:21:46who were held

01:21:47in savage

01:21:47captivity

01:21:48by barbarians

01:21:50of that type

01:21:51in his

01:21:57remaining time

01:21:57in office

01:21:58reagan rebounded

01:21:59with a breakthrough

01:22:00in the unexpected

01:22:01area of arms

01:22:02control

01:22:03cold warriors

01:22:05always have some

01:22:06room for maneuver

01:22:07toward the center

01:22:08but reagan

01:22:09went all the way

01:22:10from denouncing

01:22:11an evil empire

01:22:12to arranging

01:22:13for real arms

01:22:14reduction

01:22:15with mikhail

01:22:15gorbachev

01:22:16president reagan's

01:22:20belief that

01:22:21sdi could make

01:22:22offensive nuclear

01:22:23weapons obsolete

01:22:24led him at the

01:22:25reykjavik summit

01:22:26to suggest a total

01:22:28abolition of those

01:22:29weapons

01:22:29less optimistic

01:22:33bargainers on both

01:22:34sides crafted

01:22:35afterward an arms

01:22:36agreement that

01:22:37reagan could sell

01:22:38not only to

01:22:39americans

01:22:40but even in a

01:22:41personal appearance

01:22:42before russians

01:22:43as his crowning

01:22:44act of statesmanship

01:22:46it is a time

01:22:48when the first

01:22:48breath of freedom

01:22:49stirs the air

01:22:50and the heart

01:22:51beats to the

01:22:52accelerated rhythm

01:22:53of hope

01:22:53when the

01:22:55accumulated

01:22:55spiritual energies

01:22:56of a long

01:22:57silence

01:22:57yearn to break

01:22:59free

01:22:59in this

01:23:00moscow spring

01:23:01this may

01:23:031988

01:23:04ronald reagan is a

01:23:05very much of an

01:23:07underrated

01:23:07politician and

01:23:09statesman

01:23:10you don't know how

01:23:12he does it but he

01:23:13does it when you look

01:23:14at what he's

01:23:14accomplished you're

01:23:15amazed that this

01:23:16former actor was

01:23:18able to do it

01:23:18you can point out

01:23:19his foibles you can

01:23:20point out his

01:23:21faults you can point

01:23:22out any number of

01:23:23things but by george

01:23:25he did it

01:23:26the president of

01:23:30the united states is

01:23:31going out i'm friendly

01:23:32with him even though i

01:23:33disagreed with him

01:23:33along the line

01:23:34was he personally

01:23:36mean-spirited the

01:23:37answer was no

01:23:38was he was he

01:23:40knowledgeable on

01:23:40things that happened

01:23:41no he wasn't

01:23:42knowledgeable did he

01:23:43have the love of the

01:23:43american people yes

01:23:44did the american

01:23:46people think that he

01:23:47was a good president

01:23:48yes they think he was

01:23:49a good president

01:23:49did tip o'neill do

01:23:50you think he was a

01:23:51good president i think

01:23:51the time isn't going

01:23:52to prove him to be a

01:23:53good president i don't

01:23:54think he leaves much

01:23:55a legacy out there

01:23:56now we've had it

01:23:57that's it

01:23:58through it all one

01:24:01thing has remained

01:24:02the same

01:24:02do you actually think

01:24:03of yourself as a

01:24:04politician

01:24:05what do you think

01:24:06of yourself as a

01:24:06politician

01:24:07no

01:24:08ex-actor

01:24:09it's been a wonderful

01:24:13two terms with lots

01:24:15of accomplishments and

01:24:16i've even brought the

01:24:17slides to prove it so

01:24:18marlon hit the lights

01:24:20here i am on top of

01:24:24the white house

01:24:25and the soldier is

01:24:29explaining where he

01:24:30thinks the next book

01:24:31will come from

01:24:32i mean i hope the

01:24:35environmentalists never

01:24:36find out about this one

01:24:38we used to fly air force

01:24:40one over wyoming low and

01:24:42shoot buffalo from the

01:24:43window

01:24:43oops oops

01:24:47but i'll tell you someone i

01:24:54trust totally george bush

01:24:56he's been a wonderful

01:24:59vice president he'll make

01:25:00an excellent president here

01:25:02we are listening to one of

01:25:03his speeches

01:25:04so reagan leaves office as he

01:25:15came to it in a glow

01:25:16his time in office was

01:25:21controversial and he left a

01:25:23dubious legacy of deficits

01:25:25but he floated above much of the

01:25:30controversy seeming adrift in the

01:25:33details of government he showed the

01:25:35old lifeguards infinite resurface

01:25:37abilities

01:25:38his life seemed charmed and we hoped some of it would rub off on us as some did

01:25:48whatever sober judgments are reached in the future many americans will still tell ronald reagan

01:25:56thanks for those memories

01:25:58thank you for joining us next week front line will return in its usual slot

01:26:09tuesday nights on most public television stations

01:26:12i'm judy woodruff good night

01:26:15for almost 20 years u.s naval officer john walker sold secrets to the kgb

01:26:23for the first time on camera he tells how

01:26:26u.s navy security is virtually non-existent

01:26:29kmart protects their toothpaste better than the navy protects their top secrets

01:26:33how much damage did walker really do

01:26:36it probably altered the strategic balance of power

01:26:39perhaps permanently

01:26:41the spy who broke the code next time on front line

01:26:56front line is produced for the documentary consortium by wgbh boston which is

01:27:14solely responsible for its content

01:27:29funding for frontline is provided by this station and other public television stations nation wide and by the corporation for public broadcasting

01:27:33public television stations nationwide and by the Corporation for Public

01:27:38Broadcasting. For videocassette information about this program please

01:27:45write to this address.

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