Last Act

by Craig Shirley

  18. Ronald Reagan, “Message to the Senate Transmitting a Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions,” January 29, 1987, www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/012987b.htm.

  19. Janie McCauley, “Rockies 11, Giants 2,” Associated Press, June 5, 2004.

  20. Confidential interview with the author.

  21. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  22. Anick Jesdanun, “CNN Blames Human Error for Releasing Web MockUps of Obits,” Associated Press, April 17, 2003.

  23. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  24. Patti Davis, The Lives Our Mothers Leave Us: Prominent Women Discuss the Complex, Humorous, and Ultimately Loving Relationships They Have with Their Mothers (New York: Hay House, 2009), 5.

  25. Robert Jablon, “Reagan’s Children Gather at His Bedside,” Associated Press, June 5, 2004.

  26. CNN Breaking News, “Former President Ronald Reagan Dies at Family Estate in California,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  27. Sheldon Alberts, “Ronald Reagan Dead at 93; Beloved Former President and Conservative Icon Succumbs to Alzheimer’s Disease,” Edmonton Journal (Alberta), June 6, 2004, A1.

  28. Davis, The Long Goodbye, 184–193.

  29. Ibid., 192.

  30. Ibid., 191–193.

  31. Paula Zahn Now, “Ronald Reagan Dies,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  32. Davis, The Long Goodbye, 192.

  33. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  34. Jeff Wilson and Terence Hunt, “Ronald Reagan, 40th President of United States, Dies at Age 93,” Associated Press, June 5, 2004.

  35. Jim Hooley, in discussion with the author, August 1, 2013.

  36. Memorandum by Duke Blackwood, “Entire Timeline Done in Pacific Standard Time,” May 25, 2004, 20, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, CA.

  37. Fred Ryan, in discussion with the author, March 5, 2014.

  38. Ron Reagan, My Father at 100: A Memoir (New York: Penguin, 2011), 125.

  39. William F. Buckley Jr., The Reagan I Knew (New York: Basic Books, 2008), 4–5.

  40. Joanne Drake, in discussion with the author, January 17, 2014.

  41. Ibid.

  42. Michael K. Deaver, A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 222.

  43. Fred Ryan, in discussion with the author, March 5, 2014.

  44. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  45. CNN Breaking News, “Former President Ronald Reagan Dies at Family Estate in California,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  46. John Aloysius Farrell, “Reagan’s ’Revolution’ Left Enduring Legacy,” Denver Post, June 6, 2004, A1.

  47. Nancy Reagan, I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan (New York: Random House, 2000), 112.

  48. Ibid., 2.

  49. Ronald Reagan, Reagan: A Life in Letters, eds. Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson and Martin Anderson (New York: Free Press, 2003), 822.

  50. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  51. Mike Feinsilber, “Reagan: Champion of Conservative Politics,” Associated Press, June 5, 2004.

  52. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  53. Ronald Reagan, The Reagan Diaries, ed. Douglas Brinkley (New York: HarperCollins, 2007), 149.

  54. Tom Curry, “Ronald Reagan, 1911–2004,” NBCNews.com, June 5, 2004, www.nbcnews.com/id/3638299/ns/us_news-the_legacy_of_ronald_reagan/t/ronald-reagan—/#.VCoWjhbisSs.

  55. Ibid.

  56. Ibid.

  57. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  58. NPR News Special Report, “Reagan Revolution,” National Public Radio, June 5, 2004.

  59. Fred Ryan, in discussion with the author, July 31, 2013.

  60. Ibid.

  61. Ibid.

  62. Ronald Reagan, “Announcement of Alzheimer’s Disease,” November 5, 1994, http://reagan2020.us/speeches/announcement_of_alzheimers.asp.

  63. Fred Ryan, in discussion with the author, July 31, 2013.

  64. Ibid.

  65. Dr. Oliver H. Beahrs, Dr. Leslie Weiner, Dr. James R. Blake, General John Hutton, Dr. Ronald Petersen, “Physicians’ Explanation of Ronald Reagan’s Alzheimer’s Diagnosis,” www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/alzheimerphys.html.

  66. People, “The Long Goodbye,” December, 4, 2003, www.people.com/people/article/0,628278,00.html.

  67. Brian Krans, “Study: Concussions May Lead to Alzheimer’s Brain Plaques,” Healthline, December 26, 2013, www.healthline.com/health-news/mental-concussions-linked-to-alzheimers-plaques-122613.

  68. John Barletta, Riding with Reagan: From the White House to the Ranch (New York: Citadel, 2005), 235.

  69. Jamie Tarabay, “Past and Present World Leaders Pay Tribute to Ronald Reagan,” Associated Press, June 5, 2004.

  70. Santa Barbara (CA) News-Press, “California Forecast,” June 5, 2004, B14.

  71. Associated Press, “North Carolinians Mourn the Loss of Reagan,” June 5, 2004.

  72. Billy Graham to Nancy Reagan, June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, CA.

  73. Associated Press, “North Carolinians Mourn the Loss of Reagan.”

  74. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  75. CBS News Special Report, “Death of Former President Ronald Reagan,” CBS News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  76. Fred Ryan, in discussion with the author, March 5, 2014.

  77. Associated Press, “Bush Comments on Reagan Death,” June 5, 2004.

  78. Jerry Harkavy, “Bush: Former Political Opponent Became a Good Friend,” Associated Press, June 5, 2004.

  79. CNN Breaking News, “Reagan Dies,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  80. Harkavy, “Bush: Former Political Opponent Became a Good Friend.”

  81. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  82. Elisabeth Bumiller, “Between 2 First Families, A Complicated Rapport,” New York Times, June 9, 2004, A21.

  83. Peoria (IL) Journal Star, “Former President, Tampico Native Never Abandoned Eureka College Roots,” June 6, 2004, A1.

  84. Ibid.

  85. Peter Slevin, “In Illinois, Memories of a Favorite Son,” Washington Post, June 7, 2004, A8.

  86. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  87. Fred Ryan, in discussion with the author, March 5, 2014, and July 31, 2013.

  88. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  89. Ed Meese, in discussion with the author, March 19, 2014.

  90. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  91. Ibid.

  92. Ibid.

  93. Ibid.

  94. Ibid.

  95. Ibid.

  96. William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act 2 Scene 2, in Isaac Reed, ed., The Plays of William Shakespeare (Boston: Charles Willliams, 1813).

  97. Ronald Reagan, An American Life: The Autobiography (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990), 393.

  98. Davis, The Long Goodbye, 179.

  99. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  100. Paula Zahn Now, “Ronald Reagan Dies,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  101. Ibid.

  102. David Stockman, The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed (New York
: Harper & Low, 1986), 329.

  103. Lou Cannon, “Now the Real St. Ronald vs. the Rhetorical Dragon,” Washington Post, February 18, 1981, A4.

  104. Paula Zahn Now, “Ronald Reagan Dies,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  105. Craig Shirley, December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011), 10–11.

  106. Robert D. Novak, The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington (New York: Crown Forum, 2007), 270.

  107. Breaking News, “Former President Ronald Reagan Dies at Family Estate in California,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  108. Bosley Crowther, “Kings Row (1941) The Screen; ’Kings Row,’ With Ann Sheridan and Claude Rains, a Heavy, Rambling Film, Has Its First Showing Here at the Astor,” New York Times, February 3, 1942, www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9903E2DE143BE33BBC4B53DFB4668389659EDE.

  109. Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 6, 2004.

  110. Paula Zahn Now, “Ronald Reagan Dies,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  111. Ibid.

  112. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  113. Fred Ryan, in discussion with the author, July 31, 2013.

  114. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  115. Ibid.

  116. CNN Breaking News, “Former President Ronald Reagan Dies at Family Estate in California,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  117. Elisabeth Bumiller and Elizabeth Becker, “Down to the Last Detail, a Reagan-Style Funeral,” New York Times, June 8, 2004, A1.

  118. Ronald Reagan, “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on the State of the Union,” January 26, 1982, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=42687.

  119. CNN NewsNight with Aaron Brown, “Ronald Reagan Dies,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  120. Elisabeth Bumiller, Carl Hulse, Todd S. Purdum and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Reagan Team, a Bit Grayer, Gathers Again,” New York Times, June 10, 2004, A1.

  121. Mark Rosenker, in discussion with the author, February 26, 2014.

  122. CNN Breaking News, “Reagan Dies,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  123. Rick Orlov, “State Politicians Fondly Remember ’Humble Patriot,’ ” San Bernardino (CA) Sun, June 5, 2004.

  CHAPTER 3 TO BURY REAGAN

  1. University of California, Berkeley, “Life Expectancy in the USA, 1900–98,” http://demog.berkeley.edu/~andrew/1918/figure2.html.

  2. Ronald Reagan, “Address at Republican National Convention,” CNN, August 17, 1992, www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/reagan/stories/speech.archive/rnc.speech.html.

  3. Michael Barone, “He Stands in History,” U.S. News & World Report, June 21, 2004, 136, no. 22, 59.

  4. Alessandra Stanley, “Once Again, Reagan Lands the Big Television Moment,” New York Times, June 7, 2004, A18.

  5. Memorandum by Duke Blackwood, “Entire Timeline Done in Pacific Standard Time,” May 25, 2004, 20, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, CA.

  6. Chris Field, “Sunday’s Front-Page Reagan Headlines,” Human Events Online, June 7, 2004.

  7. Diane Scarponi, “Naval Submarine Jimmy Carter Christened at Connecticut Shipyard,” Associated Press, June 5, 2004.

  8. Washington Times, “Friends, Foes Remember,” June 6, 2004, A5.

  9. Editorial, “Ronald Reagan, Revolutionary,” Chicago Tribune, June 6, 2004, 8.

  10. Harold Meyerson, “Class Warrior,” Washington Post, June 9, 2004, A21.

  11. Karen Rubin, “ ‘Dutch’ Made Impression on Locals, Great and Small,” Pasadena (CA) Star-News, June 5, 2004.

  12. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  13. Jeff Wilson, “Ronald Reagan, 40th President of United States, Dies at Age 93,” Associated Press, June 6, 2004.

  14. Rick Ahearn, in discussion with the author, March 25, 2014; Fred Ryan, in discussion with the author, July 31, 2013.

  15. Jim Hooley, in discussion with the author, August 1, 2013.

  16. Memorandum by Duke Blackwood, “Entire Timeline Done in Pacific Standard Time,” May 25, 2004, 2, 5, 6, 11, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, CA.

  17. Ibid., 5–6.

  18. Ibid., 11.

  19. Fred Ryan, in discussion with the author, March 5, 2014.

  20. Memorandum by Duke Blackwood, “Entire Timeline Done in Pacific Standard Time,” May 25, 2004, 8–9, 15, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, CA.

  21. Jim Hooley, in discussion with the author, August 1, 2013.

  22. Ibid.

  23. Patti Davis, Angels Don’t Die: My Father’s Gift of Faith (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), 9, 11.

  24. Tazewell Shepard Jr., John F. Kennedy: Man of the Sea (New York: W. Morrow, 1965), 13.

  25. Davis, Angels Don’t Die, 12.

  26. Larry J. Sabato, The Kennedy Half-Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy (New York: Bloomsbury, 2013), 362.

  27. Craig Shirley, Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America (Wilmington, DE: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2011), 579.

  28. United Press International, December 8, 1987.

  29. Michael McGough, “Reagan to Have State Funeral, Private Burial,” Toledo (OH) Blade, June 7, 2004, A1.

  30. United Press International, “Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President, Dies,” June 5, 2004.

  31. Jeff Wilson, “Post–White House Reagan: The Gipper Gradually Faded from Public Eye,” Associated Press, June 6, 2004.

  32. Michael Kilian, “Family Life Full of Joy, Frustration for Reagans,” Chicago Tribune, June 6, 2004, 10.

  33. Michael K. Deaver, A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 212–214.

  34. United Press International, “Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President, Dies.”

  35. Jeff Wilson, “Nancy at Reagan’s Side Until the End,” Associated Press, June 5, 2004.

  36. Betsy Streisand, “Memories of a Friend in the Park,” U.S. News & World Report, June 21, 2004, 136, no. 22, 57.

  37. John Barletta, Riding with Reagan: From the White House to the Ranch (New York: Citadel, 2005), 217.

  38. Ibid.

  39. Paula Zahn Now, “Ronald Reagan Dies,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  40. CBS News Special Report, “Death of Former President Ronald Reagan,” CBS News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  41. Larry King Live, “Friends and Family Pay Tribute to Ronald Reagan Ahead of His 89th Birthday,” CNN, February 4, 2000.

  42. Lou Cannon, in discussion with the author, March 27, 2014.

  43. Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1920), 19.

  44. Lou Cannon, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (New York: Public Affairs, 1999, 2000), 193.

  45. Edmund Morris, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (New York: Random House, 1999), 402, 395, 670.

  46. Confidential interview with the author.

  47. John Podhoretz, “ ‘Dutch’ Is No Treat: So-Called Reagan Bio Is a Fictionalized Flight of Foolishness,” New York Post, October 3, 1999, http://nypost.com/1999/10/03/dutch-is-no-treat-so-called-reagan-bio-is-a-fictionalized-flight-of-foolishness/.

  48. Washington Post, “Once Upon a Time . . . From Beginning to Happily Ever After, the Reagan Years,” January 17, 1989, B1.

  49. Lyn Nofziger, in discussion with the author; Peter Hannaford, in discussion with the author.

  50. Morris, Dutch, 587.

 
51. John O’Sullivan, “Not the Authorized Biography,” National Review, October 25, 1999, www.nationalreview.com/articles/210947/not-authorized-biography-john-osullivan.

  52. CBS News Special Report, “Death of Former President Ronald Reagan,” CBS News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  53. Morris, Dutch, 587.

  54. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  55. CNN Breaking News, “Former President Ronald Reagan Dies at Family Estate in California,” CNN, June 5, 2004.

  56. Ed Rollins, in discussion with the author, May 2, 2014.

  57. Ibid.

  58. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  59. Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library, “Nancy Meets Ronald Reagan 1944–1966,” www.reaganfoundation.org/details_t.aspx?p=PE40002PGE&tx=1189.

  60. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  61. Jody Rosen, “A Century Later, She’s Still Red Hot,” New York Times, August 30, 2009, 1.

  62. Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library, “Nancy Meets Ronald Reagan 1944–1966,” www.reaganfoundation.org/details_t.aspx?p=PE40002PGE&tx=1189.

  63. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  64. Hellcats of the Navy, directed by Nathan Juran (1957).

  65. Special Report, ABC News Transcripts, June 5, 2004.

  66. Lou Cannon, “Actor, Governor, President, Icon,” Washington Post, June 6, 2004, A28.

  67. General Electric Company, “A Legacy Of Progress,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPfZ74TesSc.

  68. New York Times, “About Politics: The Battle of Campaign Quotations Is On,” July 24, 1980, A17.

  69. Gerald C. Lubenow, Martin Kasindorf, Frank Maier and James Doyle, “Ronald Reagan Up Close,” Newsweek, July 21, 1980, 36.

  70. Michael Reagan, “Ronald Reagan’s Son Remembers the Day When GE Fired His Dad,” Investors Business Daily, February 4, 2011, http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-viewpoint/020411–562237-ronald-reagans-son-remembers-the-day-when-ge-fired-his-dad.htm.

  71. New York Times, “About Politics: The Battle of Campaign Quotations Is On,” July 24, 1980, A17.

  72. Ibid.

  73. Ibid.