Last Act

by Craig Shirley

  PRAISE FOR LAST ACT

  “In this affectionate and often moving book, Craig Shirley has given us a remarkable account of Ronald Reagan’s ’long goodbye,’ chronicling the final years of an American original who bent history in the service of freedom. This is an invaluable book about an invaluable man.”

  —JON MEACHAM, PULITZER PRIZE–WINNING AUTHOR OF AMERICAN LION

  “Ronald Reagan may have had a ’Last Act’ in this life, but his principles are timeless. Craig Shirley reveals new information about Reagan’s last days on earth in a deeply moving book that will bring tears to your eyes, strengthen your political resolve and inspire you to build on his legacy.”

  —CAL THOMAS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST

  “As we consider the next Reagan, here is the last Reagan, whose legacy must serve as a roadmap for the next American comeback.”

  —MONICA CROWLEY, PH.D., FOX NEWS POLITICAL AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS ANALYST WASHINGTON TIMES EDITOR AND COLUMNIST

  “Craig Shirley is a walking encyclopedia on all things Ronald Reagan. His latest, Last Act, delves into Reagan’s post-presidential life with verve and insight, breaking plenty of new ground. The story of Reagan’s battling the curse of Alzheimer’s disease is utterly riveting. Highly recommended!”

  —DOUG BRINKLEY, EDITOR OF THE REAGAN DIARIES

  “With this book, Craig Shirley cements his place as the premier Reagan biographer. As revealing as his earlier volumes on Reagan were, this one is especially fascinating, chock full of new revelations and captivating observations about the former president’s twilight years.”

  —DR. LARRY J. SABATO, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA; AUTHOR OF THE KENNEDY HALF CENTURY

  “Craig Shirley’s Last Act is a worthy successor to his earlier, fine accounts of Ronald Reagan’s life and times. The book offers striking insights into Reagan the man—and also into America the country he so loved.”

  —WILLIAM KRISTOL, EDITOR, THE WEEKLY STANDARD

  “Through never-before revealed interviews and expert analysis, Last Act by Craig Shirley pulls back the curtain on the life, last days, and legacy of Ronald Reagan—an exceptional president who believed in American exceptionalism above all else. Important. Essential. Bravo.”

  —JANE HAMPTON COOK, AUTHOR OF AMERICAN PHOENIX

  “In the past, Craig Shirley meticulously documented Reagan’s pre-presidential years; now, he meticulously documents Reagan’s post-presidential years. His enlightening concept is punctuated by his usual exhaustive research and diligence in interviewing so many of the people who knew Ronald Reagan. And beyond the research is simply a touching story of a great man’s final days. Last Act is a look at Ronald Reagan that is well worth your time.”

  —DR. PAUL KENGOR, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AT GROVE CITY COLLEGE

  “Ronald Reagan’s story is so rich and resonant—so profoundly American—that it can only be told, in its full range and complexity, by a biographer of extraordinary dedication to subject and craft. LBJ had Robert Caro; and Ronald Reagan has Craig Shirley. In Last Act, Shirley brings us the final years of a twentieth-century icon, issuing a challenge not just to other Reagan biographers but to the discipline of biography itself.”

  —JAMES ROSEN, FOX NEWS CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT AND AUTHOR OF THE CHENEY TAPES

  PRAISE FOR DECEMBER 1941

  “I love historical nonfiction. I read it everywhere, in the bathroom, wherever I am. But typically it’s written from sort of a distant perspective. You went through newspapers and magazines, and all the accounts of time. It gives an immediacy that I think it’s difficult to find in these types of things.”

  —JON STEWART, THE DAILY SHOW

  “I'm confident it’ll be a bestseller.”

  —DON IMUS

  “Masterful new book . . . Shirley not only transports us back to that tumultuous time, but reminds this generation that denial about an enemies intentions can have grave consequences.”

  —CAL THOMAS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST

  “Folks, if you want a good read this Christmas season check it out.”

  —STEVE DOOCY, FOX NEWS

  “The book also reveals . . . blockbuster historical moment[s]. Shirley . . . takes a new tack in his book about Pearl Harbor. Instead of just writing how it all went down, his book attempts to give readers a feel for how the country felt 70 years ago. He accomplishes that by providing anecdotal information from nearly 2,000 newspapers and magazines.”

  —US NEWS & WORLD REPORT

  PRAISE FOR RENDEZVOUS WITH DESTINY

  “An unbelievable book . . . I was part of the Reagan Revolution and I didn’t know 80 percent of this stuff! . . . It’s worth reading, and reading right now.”

  —MARK LEVIN, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LIBERTY AND TYRANNY

  “This exhilarating history . . . arrives, serendipitously, at a moment when conservatives are much in need of an inspiriting examination of their finest hour.”

  —GEORGE F. WILL, FROM THE FOREWORD

  “There have been hundreds of books written about Ronald Reagan and this is the question that always irritates an author, why do we need another one? Well, we don’t have to get very far in Craig Shirley’s new book about Reagan to know that, yes, there is still a lot we don’t know about Reagan and how he came to the White House. . . . It is a fascinating book!”

  —BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS

  “Shirley puts to rest one of the great political mysteries: who stole Carter’s debate briefing books? . . . Shirley also reveals that the Kennedy family had a long memory on Election Day. . . . when it came time for the election, virtually all of them voted for Ronald Reagan.”

  —NEWSMAX

  PRAISE FOR REAGAN’S REVOLUTION

  “All in all, Shirley’s work has much to commend it. His book should be read by anyone interested in Reagan, the rise of conservatism in the Republican Party, or American politics in the mid-1970s.”

  —ANDREW E. BUSCH, CLAREMONT REVIEW OF BOOKS

  “An indispensible resource for anybody who wants to understand just how Mr. Reagan lost and why his defeat set the stage for victory four years later, upending history’s supposed dialectic.”

  —QUIN HILLYER, WALL STREET JOURNAL

  “ . . . a vividly written tale of this largely forgotten campaign.”

  —MATTHEW DALLEK, WASHINGTON POST, BOOK WORLD

  “One of the season’s most exciting political books . . . ”

  —MICHAEL POTEMRA, THE NATIONAL REVIEW, SHELF LIFE

  OTHER BOOKS BY CRAIG SHIRLEY

  Reagan’s Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All

  Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America

  December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World

  © 2015 by Craig Shirley

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Nelson Books and Thomas Nelson are reg
istered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

  Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

  Scripture references marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

  Scripture references marked ASV are taken from the American Standard Version.

  ISBN 978-1-59555-535-9 (eBook)

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Shirley, Craig.

  Last act : the final years and emerging legacy of Ronald Reagan / Craig Shirley.

  pages cm

  Summary: "His name in American politics is more cited than any other president. Both the Republican and Democratic parties are radically different today, mainly as a result of Ronald Reagan and the force of his ideas. No twentieth century president shaped the American political landscape so profoundly. Craig Shirley's Last Act is the important final chapter in the life of Reagan that no one has thus far covered. It's the kind of book that widens our understanding of American history and of the presidency and the men who occupied it. To tell Reagan's story, Craig has secured the complete, exclusive, and enthusiastic support of the Reagan Foundation and Library and spent considerable time there reviewing sealed files and confidential information. Cast in a grand and compelling narrative style, Last Act contains interesting and heretofore untold anecdotes about Reagan, Mrs. Reagan, their pleasure at retirement, the onslaught of the awful Alzheimer's and how he and Mrs. Reagan dealt with the diagnosis, the slow demise, the extensive plans for a state funeral, the outpouring from the nation, which stunned the political establishment, the Reagan legacy, and how his shadow looms more and more over the Republican Party, Washington, the culture of America, and the world"-- Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-1-59555-534-2 (hardback)

  1. Reagan, Ronald. 2. Reagan, Ronald--Influence. 3. Reagan, Ronald--Anecdotes.

  4. Presidents--United States--Biography. 5. Presidents--Retirement--United States.

  6. Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) 7. Political culture--United States. 8. United States--Politics and government--1989- I. Title.

  E877.2.S55 2015

  973.927092--dc23

  [B]

  2015002184

  15 16 17 18 19 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

  DEDICATION

  Writing is a joy.

  And in writing history, each day is a new chance to learn new things. Gloria Steinem once said that writing was the only thing that when she did it, she didn’t feel like she should be doing something else. I utterly agree with that sentiment. Even so, authors tend to be their own worst critics, falling too easily in love with their work, and thus they need forthright and honest advice and support.

  That comes from my mother, Barbara Shirley Eckert; our friend, Diana Banister; and our children, Matthew, Andrew, Taylor, and Mitchell Shirley.

  And also from friends like Borko Komnenovic, Fred Barnes, Michael McShane, John Morris, Newt Gingrich, Marilyn Fisher, John Heubusch, Joe Scarborough, Mark Levin, Stewart McLaurin, and Laura Ingraham.

  As always, though, above all, from Zorine, my wife and my best friend, comes my greatest sustenance. “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom . . .” as Proverbs 31:25–26 tells us about a wife of noble character.

  Zorine—and others—in their own way gave me encouragement and inspiration, and I am in their debt, as I am in God’s debt.

  Without Him and them, I am nothing.

  CONTENTS

  Foreword: “Ronald Reagan, the People’s Choice” by Lou Cannon

  Preface: A Tide in the Affairs of Men

  Chapter 1 Mortal Coil

  Chapter 2 The Death of the Hired Man

  Chapter 3 To Bury Reagan

  Chapter 4 Rough Requiem

  Chapter 5 A Ranch in the Sky

  Chapter 6 Hoi Polloi v. Hoity-Toity

  Chapter 7 Assault on Jenkins Hill

  Chapter 8 Do We Not Hear the Chimes at Midday?

  Chapter 9 “Signal: Rawhide’s Last Arrival”

  Chapter 10 A Prayer in Spring

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Index

  About the Author

  FOREWORD

  Ronald Reagan, the People’s Choice

  Ronald Reagan was an extraordinary man and a transformational president. He traveled a unique path to the White House, with fruitful careers in broadcasting, film, and television before he entered politics. Because he’d done well at so many things, Reagan rarely defined himself as a politician, even after two productive terms as governor of California and two as president of the United States. He saw himself as the people’s president and prized the bond he’d forged with ordinary Americans.

  This bond is at the core of Last Act, Craig Shirley’s fascinating account of the Reagan post-presidency. It is Shirley’s contention—which he supports with considerable evidence—that a majority of the American people identified with Reagan and appreciated what he had accomplished even as he was denigrated by much of the media and academic establishment.

  Shirley, an admirer of Reagan, is the author of two excellent books on Reagan’s campaigns for the presidency in 1976 and 1980. He is an unabashed conservative who doesn’t hesitate to take conservatives to task when they deserve it. Neither did Reagan. Shirley recounts a hilarious anecdote about Reagan’s reaction to a harangue by Jerry Falwell that I will not spoil for the reader by relating in this foreword.

  Many modern presidents enjoy long, happy lives after they leave the White House. Reagan’s post-presidency, however, was sadly overshadowed by the dark scourge of Alzheimer’s disease. Reagan reacted to the grim news of this diagnosis by sharing it with his fellow Americans. He wrote a remarkable letter to the American people that explained what was happening to him and offered a flash of his famous optimism. “I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life,” he wrote. “I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”

  Reagan wrote that letter on November 5, 1994. He lived another nine and a half years, lovingly cared for by his adoring wife, Nancy Reagan, who told me that the experience of her husband’s Alzheimer’s had taught her “a crash course in patience.” Shirley notes that these years were “dreadfully hard” on Mrs. Reagan. “Aides and family came and went, but for her, she lived with the disease 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year,” writes Shirley.

  Reagan died on June 5, 2004, touching off a week of national mourning. He was celebrated in a state funeral in Washington, DC, and buried on June 11 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

  Much of this book focuses on these ceremonies, about which Shirley provides interesting new details, and on the subsequent memorialization of Reagan. For the American public, Reagan’s passing released pent-up feelings of affection and gratitude. Some of his political critics, however, reacted by trying to diminish a president who had so often confounded them, trivializing Reagan’s achievements and exaggerating his shortcomings. Even the phrase used so often to describe Reagan—“the Great Communicator”—became a put-down that emphasized his rhetorical skills at the expense of his policies.

  Shirley takes blunt issue with the critics in his own words and those of others who valued Reagan. Many of Reagan’s defenders were, of course, conservative, but this list also includes former Soviet officials who had seen Reagan in action at four summit meetings with Mikhail Gorbachev and came to respect the American president. The revisionist historian John Patrick Diggins also took sharp issue with his fellow li
beral academics for undervaluing Reagan, whom Diggins believes is one of the nation’s greatest presidents.

  Reading this book triggered personal memories. After Reagan died I made final changes—with much help from editors—in an obituary I’d written for the Washington Post, for which I’d worked twenty-six years. Then I became one of several commentators who assessed Reagan’s life for ABC News. On the day of the burial, Peter Jennings generously released me from contractual obligations so I could attend the ceremony, to which Mrs. Reagan had graciously invited my wife and me. I’ll never forget it. It was a moving event that ended with the playing of “Taps” as the sun sank behind the ridge of hills that extend beyond the Reagan Library to the Pacific Ocean. Ronald Reagan—actor and president—would have loved the drama.

  Last Act captures the mood and spirit of these ceremonies—and much more. Shirley writes also about the emerging legacy of Reagan abroad and at home, a legacy that grows larger by the day. Former White House speechwriter Peggy Noonan has observed that post-Reagan presidents often dwell on their prospective legacies. Reagan didn’t. As Shirley observes, Reagan rarely talked about his legacy and when he did he gave the American people the credit for what he’d accomplished. That was pure Reagan. When I once asked him what his legacy would be, he said in so many words that if he did the right thing his legacy would take care of itself.

  It has. Truth will come to light, in Shakespeare’s phrase. Shirley notes that even academics who once rated Reagan as at best a mediocre president now give him improved marks. In one ranking of U.S. presidents, Reagan has advanced from twenty-eighth to fourteenth. He does even better abroad. A ranking of U.S. presidents by forty-seven British academics, for instance, puts Reagan eighth on the all-time list.

  When the American people do the rankings, Reagan is at or near the top of the heap. In the last Gallup poll of his presidency, Reagan had a public approval rating of 63 percent, the highest for any president leaving office since Franklin D. Roosevelt died early in his fourth term. The New York Times–CBS poll had him at 68 percent.