Ronald Reagan - A Remembrance

I had the pleasure to meet Ronald W. Reagan, who would have turned 100 this weekend, many years ago.

I worked for former US Sen. Lowell Weicker as a junior press aide back then and was a part of a small delegation that was asked to escort Reagan and his entourage up to the senator's office in The Russell Office Building.

Reagan was criss-crossing the country at the time, trying to glean support for his run for the Oval Office.

Reagan, and a slew of other Republicans back then, including Weicker, smelled Blood in the Water regarding Jimmy Carter's prospects of winning a second term as President. If you'll recall, Gas Lines formed around the country when oil prices soared through the roof, Inflation spun in the Double Digits, and then there was this little matter known as the Iran Hostage Crisis.

To top it off, the country blamed Jimmy Carter for Three Mile Island.

This all went down in the Spring of 1979. Washington was (and still is) is a magnificent place to be in Springtime. Throngs -- potential voters -- roamed the Capitol before they headed off to the museums and the historical monuments. Cherry blossoms were at peak color of pink, and so were the azelia.

On a particular day of such magnificence, the limo carrying Reagan and his entourage pulled up to the Russell Building's Delaware Avenue entrance. A nice, young man, who I later learned was Ralph Reed, jumped out to open the door.

Lee Attwater was the first to exit, followed a nano-second by John Sears. Attwater and Sears served as Mr. Reagan's Brain Trust, molding and continuously refining Reagan's Conservative politics.

Reed, we learned later, was a genius at organizing a political campaign at the Grass Roots level, especially becoming effective in energizing the Evangelicals and the Rural South -- a skill that would be used consummately many years later when "W" beat Al Gore.

Reagan was in his late 60s back then and stood about 6'2". His light, brown hair either didn't contain a hint of gray, or else he had discovered a great Coloring Product to hide it.

He wore an impeccable, custom-tailored Brown Suit -- about a quarter-inch of a monogrammed white handkerchief peeked, neatly, from the jacket pocket.

As I also recall, a perfect Windsor Knot graced his Mojave Gold tie, clasped to his starched white shirt by a gold Tie Clip.

(Note to all under 30 years old: Google "monogrammed white handkerchief", "Windsor Knot" and "Tie Clip" to get some idea of what I'm talking about here.)

I was last in line from Weicker's delegation to shake Ronald Reagan's hand. And let me tell you: he looked me right into the eyes, winked, and gripped my hand firmly, reassuringly. "Nice to see you," he said.

Believe me, Governor, the Pleasure Was All Mine.

We escorted Reagan et.al. through the Foyer, to the elevators, up to the Second Floor, and then down the hall to Senator Weicker's office. Pete Kinsey, Weicker's Top Gun at the time, greeted Reagan at the Reception Desk.

Now joined by Dick McGowan and Noel Koch, Kinsey led everyone into Weicker's Inner Sanctum.

I'll get into a mini-Blow Back of what took place behind Closed Doors in a minute, but first ...

Thirty Years later, I can't help but think about the tremendous differences that existed between Ronald Reagan and Lowell Weicker.

Each man's political philosophy stood in near-diametric opposition to the other's: not to oversimplify this point, but let's just say one (Reagan) thought government and politicians were the "Bad Guys" while the other (Weicker) believed goverment played a useful role and that politics was a Noble Profession.

Reagan saw himself as the Resurrection of Barry Goldwater, embracing the Conservative Message of Fiscal Belt-tightening, Christian Salvation, and Pioneer Self-Reliance. The Beloved One of the Republican Party, Reagan was the High Priest of The Laffer Curve, business and individual tax cuts, reining in Big Government, and playing hardball with the Evil Empire.

Get Big Government off of the backs of businesses and individuals, he proclaimed, and the American People Will Prosper.

(For the record, this is the man who gave Californians their largest Tax Increase in their History and who, after he became President, raised taxes in America 11 times during his two terms of office. You can look that up.)

On the other hand, GOP Blue Bloods loathed Weicker for his pivotal role in the Watergate Scandal which collapsed the Richard Nixon Administration. He was (and probably still is) a Maverick Moderate who believed government has a proper and rightful role to play in assisting those who endure misfortunes through no fault of their own.

Weicker was also the Senate Champion of Small Business, authoring many bills that made it easier for that sector of the economy to compete on the Global Stage, and to obtain working capital through investment.

(For the record, Weicker paid a heavy political price for taking tough but correct positions -- many of which placed him against the Agenda of the Republican Party. The GOP turned on him in 1988, and Weicker was defeated for reelection by Joe Lieberman. Two years later, he formed his own political party, went on to become elected governor of Connecticut, and then proposed a State Income Tax to stabilize revenues-- which is now law.)

Let's get back to the Prayer Session, which ran for a little less than 20 minutes.

Weicker and Reagan were apparently quite cordial to one another. The session, obviously, trended along general Major National Issues. They also got into several "What If" scenarios: such as "What do you think of George Bush as a Running Mate?"

Reagan knew that both Weicker and Bush were Eastern Elites with Yale pedigrees; he had no idea about what each man thought of the other -- which wasn't much.

The most interesting tid-bit?

Reagan sat to Weicker's left on one of the senator's aircraft carrier-sized leather sofas. Each time Weicker, one of the Fathers of the "Americans With Disabilities Act,"  made a point about this, that, or the other thing, Reagan would lean over to Sears and whisper: "What did he just say?"

Sears would then whisper the gist of what Weicker had said, right into The Gipper's Left Ear.

Apparently, Reagan was either Very Hard of Hearing -- or Nearly Totally Deaf in his Right Ear!

So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I got to shake the hand, of the hand that shook the hand, of the man who kissed Marilyn Monroe.