Interview with H.W. Brands, author of Reagan: The Life

Introduction

H.W. Brands, who spent six years writing a book about Ronald Reagan, provided me wonderful insights. In brief, the public Reagan who appeared so warm and approachable was in fact distant. Brands commented that if Reagan had not succeeded politically, the only person who would have attended his funeral was his wife, Nancy.

Some thoughts:

Alcoholic Father: Like many children of alcoholics, Reagan suffered his whole lifetime from his dysfunctional childhood. One day the father was a loving parent who would play football with his son. The next day the drunken father would beat Reagan.

In Reagan’s autobiography written near the end of his life, Reagan recounted a chilling story. One day when Reagan was 11 he was returning home. He saw his father drunk, lying in the snow. Reagan admitted that he thought about leaving his father to die in the snow.

Nancy Reagan: Nancy was not only Ronald Reagan’s best friend, but may his only one.  Reagan remained aloof from almost all of his associates. According to Brand, Nancy had much better insights than her husband as to the effectiveness of his appointees. She used her influence to promote or demote.

Radio: Reagan, like Franklin Roosevelt, was very adept on communicating through the radio. Reagan began his career by broadcasting football games for his local radio station. Reagan did not personally attend the games, but updated the fans through telegrams.

Writing his speeches: Reagan wrote more of his speeches in the twentieth century with the possible exception of Woodrow Wilson. In the case of Reagan, almost all of his speeches expressed the same theme: Government was the problem! The Soviet Union was the evil empire

Relationship with children: Reagan had a distant relationship with his children. On one occasion, his son by Jane Wyman, Michael, needed his father to speak at his high school commencement so that Michael could graduate. That is, Michael was a poor student and was missing the necessary credits. The school headmaster told Michael that if his father spoke at the graduation ceremony he would give Michael his high school diploma. Reagan agreed and went to the event. Reagan was working the room and making small banter with Michael’s classmates.  Reagan not recognizing his son, started in the same way with Michael. Michael had to stop his father and say “Dad, this is me!”

Creating connection with audience: Reagan invariably started his speeches with a joke.

Senility: Brands was ambivalent about the status of Reagan’s mind in his second term. He argued that Reagan was never interested in details, but rather the big picture. For the most part, Reagan was correct on the big picture.