Early Reagan
Page 59
On the afternoon of January 4, 1966, Ronald Reagan welcomed the press to his hilltop home on San Onofre. He was tanned and smiling as he and Nancy ushered their guests into the living room, “so splurged with color that even [Reagan’s] black pants and black loafers seemed exuberant.” He also wore a blue-and-green wool tartan jacket, a purple tie and a white shirt. Nancy looked vibrant in a neat red-wool outfit. Spencer and Roberts were determined the Reagans would portray a youthful, confident facade. Reagan announced his candidacy and then settled back on the large comfortable sofa, Nancy by his side, and began talking about his youth in Dixon, Illinois, and how he had come home from Eureka College to no work, and how he had hitchhiked to Chicago and then finally got a job in Davenport, Iowa, as a sports announcer for five bucks a game. He liked telling the story. He told it well and he told it the same way he had told it perhaps a hundred times before. Nancy sat, hands clasped, eyes raised in a loving gaze.
Dutch Reagan had come a long way from the dock at Lowell Park where he had saved seventy-seven lives. Now he believed he might just be able to save a whole state full of people swimming in waters he considered dangerous. A short time later he wrote Mr. Neer, his former Sunday School teacher in Dixon, “Every once in a while I pinch myself… thinking this can’t be ‘Dutch Reagan’ here. I should still be out on the dock at Lowell Park.”
* Henry Salvatori withdrew his support of Reagan when he ran a second time for governor of California.
NOTES
The following abbreviations are used in the note sections:
DET: Dixon Evening Telegraph
DMR: Des Moines Register
LADN: Los Angeles Daily News
LAE: Los Angeles Examiner
LAEHE: Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express
LAT: Los Angeles Times
NYDN: New York Daily News
NYP: New York Post
NYT: New York Times
PI: Personal Interview
SFC: San Francisco Chronicle
CHAPTER 1
Page
11 “Step back”: Parsons, DET, September 16, 1941.
14 “A torpedo in”: PI, Bill Thompson.
15 “Dixon’s only outdoor”: DET, February 4, 1984.
“On hot summer”: Ibid.
“I always knew”: Ibid.
16 ‘“Louella Parsons Day’”: Parsons, p. 160.
“Louella wants you”: Ibid.
“They’ve declared a”: Ibid.
“bitter thoughts”: Ibid.
“You remember”: Ibid.
“Thanks, thanks”: Ibid. p. 161
“Ladies and gentlemen”: Ibid.
18 “This is an event”: DET, September 16, 1941.
“I do not feel”: Ibid.
“This fellow must”: Parsons, p. 161.
“It is with”: DET, September 16, 1941.
19 “Well—thank you”: Ibid.
“Hi, Dutch”: PI, Thompson.
CHAPTER 2
23 “a starved-looking”: White, The Invincible Irish, p. 77.
24 (fn) “barbarity and atrocity”: National Enquirer, August 5, 1980.
26 “a clown of a boy”: PI.
27 “conducted by mine”: Tipton Advertiser, April 15, 1887.
“a ball nine”: Ibid.
(fn) “We think [saloons]”: Bennett Buzzings, 1898.
28 “Why can’t these”: Ibid.
“the ladies of the”: Ibid.
“real joker”: PI.
30 “in peaceable possession”: “History of Clyde Township,” History of Whiteside County, Illinois, Bent & Wilson, 1877.
“at all hazards”: Ibid.
“We were not strong”: Daniel Blue entry, Clerk’s Office, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 1860.
“Charles and Alexander [Blue]”: “History of Clyde Township.”
“in the teachings”: Jane Blue Wilson’s obituary, June 7, 1894.
(fn) “A most wonderful”: Note in Reagan Bible.
32 “There was one”: Jane Blue Wilson’s obituary, June 7, 1894.
“a couple of nips”: Tampico Tornado, February 4, 1984.
“so named after”: Ibid.
“Mr. Reagan”: Ibid.
33 “hauling coal to”: Ibid.
“pretty much all”: Ibid.
“It’s time, Nellie”: Bread of Life (monthly pub. of Ridgewood Pentecostal Church, Gordon P. Gardiner, ed.), May 1981.
34 “the primitive and”: The New Columbia Encyclopedia, p. 769.
“For such a little”: Reagan, Where’s the Rest of Me?, p. 7.
35 “Jack Reagan has”: Tampico Tornado, February 7, 1911.
“fat little Dutchman”: Reagan, p. 7.
“Now you can”: UCLA Oral History Archives,
“horrified from the”: Tampico Tornado, February 4, 1984.
“[William] really went”: UCLA Oral History Archives.
36 “In between all”: Ibid.
“I can remember”: Ibid.
37 “one of her”: Reagan, p. 16.
“engaged in a debate”: Ibid.
“sit for hours”: Ibid.
“One evening”: Ibid. p. 17.
38 “He always protested”: Ibid.
“the parades, the torches”: Ibid., p. 18.
“I remember six or eight”: PI, Gertrude Crockett.
39 “the school closed”: Modem Screen, 1944.
(fn) “Maureen Reagan”: PI, Crockett.
40 “charisma—everyone”: Ibid.
“The sun streamed”: undated article, Ida Zeitlin.
41 “Evenings Neil and Dutch”: DET, February 4, 1984.
“racing across the”: Ibid.
“What’s the”: Ibid.
“His dad had”: Ibid.
“the thunder or’: Reagan, p. 19.
42 “My worst experience” Ibid.
“[On Sundays] we”: DET, February 4, 1984.
“We was poor”: Ibid.
43 “mystic atmosphere”: Reagan, p. 20.
“with breathless attention”: Ibid., p. 23.
44 “the zest of a”: Ibid., p. 20.
“she recited”: Ibid.
“Neil seemed always”: PI, Jean Kinney.
“scrawny”: Reagan, p. 21.
“There was no field”: Ibid.
“I got a wild”: Ibid.
45 “My mother would”: Bread of Life, May 1981.
“I can’t hope”: Perrett, The ‘20s, p. 116.
CHAPTER 3
47 “Dixon was always”: DET, February 4, 1984.
“the backbone of”: Ibid.
48 “the drab hues”: Sinclair Lewis, Main Street, p. 24.
“We didn’t know”: Time, September 30, 1980.
“gaunt frame shelters”: Lewis, p. 31.
50 “As the [three Dixon]”: DET, undated, circa 1920.
51 “All of us”: Reagan, p. 23.
“Everybody thought he”: PI, Thompson.
“Dutch was a bit”: DET, February 4, 1984.
(fn) “The Depression”: Reagan, p. 50.
52 “the whole world”: Ibid., p. 25.
“the ball appeared”: Ibid.
“a glorious, sharply”: Ibid.
“with huge”: Ibid.
“the miracle or’: Ibid.
“who strutted”: Eureka Pegasus.
(fn) “I hate them”: Reagan, p. 25.
53 “Think I’m made”: “Dearest Mom,” undated article by Cynthia Miller.
“was going to sit”: Modem Screen, 1944.
“The Klan’s the”: Ibid.
“Nobody in those”: PI, Thompson.
54 “Dixon was no”: PI, Violet McReynolds.
“This was a success”: DET, April 26, 1984.
“Lincoln stood here”: Ibid.
55 “[He] would punch”: UCLA Oral History Archives.
“a little business”: Ibid.
“The pool hall”: Ibid.
“When someone”: Ibid.
> 56 “My mother was”: PI, Kinney.
“in the cloistered”: Perrett, The ‘20s, p. 197.
“Damned on Saturday”: Ibid.
“The Lord [will]”: Reagan, p. 66.
(fn) “The infallibility of the”: PI, Reverend Benjamin H. Moore,
(fn) “The President”: Ibid.
57 “Jesus hated prosy”: UCLA Oral History Archives.
“Jesus walked barefoot”: Ibid.
“People in Dixon”: Ibid.
“I was eleven”: Reagan, p. 12.
58 “bouts with the”: Ibid.
“lusty, vulgar humor”: Ibid., p. 14.
“If [Jack] was”: Ibid.
“Arise and walk”: “Ronald Reagan’s Boyhood Church,” March 26, 1984.
“We [Dutch and]”: PI, Kinney.
“a personal experience”: PI, Thompson.
59 “My Sunday School”: “Ronald Reagan’s Boyhood Church,” March 26, 1984.
“phrase might just”: Bread of Life, May 1981.
“Everybody loved Nelle”: Ibid.
“Well, a kid who”: Ibid.
“If Nelle had had”: Ibid.
(fn) “the war of the”: PI.
60 “She had a way”: Bread of Life, May 1981.
“She was thin”: PI, Isabelle Newman.
“an old-time pastor”: Bread of Life, May 1981.
“Mrs. Catherine Sherer”: DET, August 12, 1923.
61 “Electrical entertainer”: Ibid.
“This kid of yours”: Reagan, p. 27.
62 “No need to put”: UCLA Oral History Archives.
“Jack always wanted”: Ibid.
“I took the long”: Ibid.
“We [South Dixon]”: Ibid.
“extra something”: PI.
“As a kid I lived”: Motion Picture, November 1937.
63 “There was a dam”: Reagan, p. 28.
(fn) “My memory”: Reagan to McReynolds, 1966.
64 “In those days”: PI, Thompson.
“I guess you”: Letter to Bill Thompson.
“You’re pretty young”: Welcome Home Mr. President, Improv Press and Communications, February 6, 1984.
“Everybody piled”: Ibid.
“kitty-corner from”: Ibid.
“I kind of had”: Ibid.
“He liked it and”: Ibid.
65 “He was the perfect”: PI, Thompson.
“How many you”: Reagan’s Dixon, 1984.
“Drowning Youth”: Dixonian, 1928.
“a sparkling brunette”: Reagan, p. 28.
“Dutch had a portable”: The Register Star, March 31, 1981.
66 “Oh, that’s just”: Welcome Home Mr. President.
“hippopotamus”: “Meditations of a Lifeguard,” Dixonian, 1928.
“She [Margaret] was”: Reagan, p. 28.
“I think”: Ibid., p. 29.
67 “he had an inside”: Reagan’s Dixon.
“We were poor”: UCLA Oral History Archives.
68 “I was eighteen”: Neil Reagan to Jean Kinney on
“Around About.”
“Look people straight”: Bread of Life, May 1981.
69 “head and shoulders”: Reagan’s Dixon.
“Clean Speech, Clean”: Ibid.
73 “congenial, straightforward”: Perrett, The ‘20s, p. 308.
“You have to start”: Time, October 7, 1966.
(fn) “made a million”: Washington Star, October 3, 1982.
74 “I was stretched out”: Reagan interview, undated.
CHAPTER 4
81 “On that rise”: The History of Eureka College.
“I am not ambitious”: Ibid.
“We intend to make”: Ibid.
82 “The Bible is a”: Ibid.
“Religious values”: Ibid.
“I fell head”: Reagan, p. 30.
84 “annual dancing speech”: The Pegasus.
“a tradition”: Ibid.
85 “We had a special”: Reagan, p. 33.
“perpetually broke”: Ibid.
“for the necessities”: Ibid.
87 “Just because the”: PI, Ralph McKinzie.
“It’s tough to go”: Reagan, p. 32.
“Swimming?”: PI, McKinzie.
88 “I always let”: Motion Picture, November 1939.
“He was indifferent”: Journal Star, March 8, 1981.
89 “Affiliated churches”: Ibid.
“By questioning”: The Pegasus.
“as usual”: Reagan, p. 34.
“if anybody”: Ibid.
“In the second”: Ibid.
90 “flew into action”: Journal Star, March 8, 1981.
“When the bell rang”: Ibid.
“I’d been told”: Reagan, p. 36.
91 “We, the students”: Journal Star, March 8, 1981.
“police escorts”: Ibid.
“The agitation was”: Ibid.
“The strike climaxed”: Ibid.
92 “Hell, with two”: Reagan, p. 37.
“We knew she”: Bread of Life, May 1981.
“the supposedly original”: Reagan, p. 37.
93 “For two and a”: Ibid.
“If I had only”: Ibid.
“quick end to the”: Journal Star, March 8, 1981.
(fn) “The situation that has”: Ibid.
94 “Bert Wilson was not”: Ibid.
“The students were”: Ibid.
“presence”: Welcome Home Mr. President, February 6, 1984.
“of sauntering across”: Ibid.
“He stuck with the”: Ibid.
95 “Everyone admired Dutch”: Ibid.
“drama, sports, and”: Reagan, p. 11.
“I was afraid”: Motion Picture, November 1939.
“serious, well-planned”: Reagan, p. 34.
CHAPTER 5
97 “What a football player”: Time, October 5, 1925.
98 “Outlined against a”: Ibid.
“I couldn’t believe”: PI.
99 “He was always”: Journal Star, March 8, 1981.
“a last sad date”: Reagan, p. 39.
100 “God bless”: Ibid.
“mellow, small-town”: Ibid., p. 40.
“he’d never paid me”: Ibid.
“laid it on”: Ibid.
“hashing in the”: UCLA Oral History Archives.
“Nelle, I thought”: Ibid.
101 “Dutch Reagan’s brother”: Ibid.
“I sort of had”: PI.
“Anytime I heard”: UCLA Oral History Archives.
102 “out of a bottle”: Reagan, p. 67.
“We tiptoed through”: Ibid., p. 41.
“Moon was a natural”: PI, McKinzie.
“Bud made the decisions”: Reagan, p. 45.
103 “was limited to one”: Reagan, p. 44.
“I’m a sucker for”: Ibid.
“Eureka opened”: The Prism, 1929-30.
“nabbed a twenty yard”: Ibid.
“and his calm”: Reagan, p. 43.
104 “country fashions”: The Pegasus, November 9, 1929.
“Subdued lights”: Ibid., November 23, 1929.
“She always said Dutch”: Bread of Life, May 1981.
“When our little daughter”: Ibid.
105 “Many of us believed”: Ibid.
“barely above a”: PI.
107 “On what grounds”: Leighton, p. 237.
109 “the young attractively”: Reagan, p. 48.
“disease”: Ibid.
“leading-ladyitus”: Ibid.
“in light of the”: Ibid.
110 “Sometimes, I would say”: Bread of Life, May 1981.
“a cheap shoe chain”: Reagan, p. 50.
“hole-in-the-wall”: Ibid.
“he started telling”: PI, McKinzie.
“Moon and I were”: Reagan, p. 50.
112 “Rah for Seniors”: The Pegasus, April 1, 1932.
“Snap of the Late”: Ibid., April 9, 1932.
“It seem
ed there”: PI, McKinzie.
“bully them into”: Clyde Lyon, Eureka graduation address, 1932.
“hold God and God’s”: Reverend Ben Cleaver, Eureka graduation blessing, 1932.
CHAPTER 6
115 “the boys could have”: Reagan’s Dixon, 1980.
116 “the Army”: Caro, p. 246.
“to combat the ravages”: DET, March 14, 1932.
“These things”: Ibid.
“Paul Rader Pantry”: Ibid., July 19, 1932.
“The ridding of old”: Ibid., August 20, 1932.
117 “Myrtle, when we get”: Walgreen, p. 163.
“just a long”: Ibid.
“a game room”: Ibid., p. 173.
“the log cabin”: Ibid.
118 “I was trying”: Reagan, p. 51.
“There it was—”: Ibid.
“this was a time”: Ibid., p. 53.
119 “Well, you’ve picked”: Ibid.
“a rapid-fire routine’’. Ibid., p. 54.
“A new deal for”: Gies, p. 99.
“somebody to do”: Ibid.
“the Vice Presidency”: Ibid., p. 94.
“… because I was”: Time, October 7, 1966.
“I’m still in favor”: Ibid.
“A job, any job”: Time, January 5, 1981.
120 “If I’m not making”: Reagan, p. 54.
(fn) “You don’t remember”: Reagan’s Dixon.
121 “afraid of the damn”: Reagan, p. 55.
“rides were short”: Ibid.
“a fellow who told”: Ibid.
“where the West begins”: Ibid., p. 58.
122 “How does anyone”: Ibid.
“thumping and cursing”: Ibid., p. 59.
“Not so fast”: Ibid.
“Do ye think”: Ibid.
“was all alone in an”: Ibid.
“We are going into”: Ibid., p. 60.
123 “five dollars and”: Ibid., p. 61.
“Let the Kid”: Ibid.
“It’s a wonder there”: Gies, p. 98.
124 “set his face like flint”: Caro, p. 247.
“that had been afforded”: Ibid.
“In Iowa, a mob”: Ibid.
125 “[Reagan’s] crisp account”: Chicago Tribune, undated article.
“three meals a day”: Reagan, p. 66.
“Would the Lord”: Ibid.
126 “king’s ransom”: Ibid.
“eking by”: Ibid.
“just to gild”: Ibid.
“to the first”: Ibid.
“I’ve always believed”: Ibid., p. 68.
127 “Tea was concluded”: Gies, p. 101.