Reagan, in his own words...

[Virginia Dare]

from these few excerpts, he comes off as simple and child-like. On getting shot "it hurts". He never spells out even mild cuss words (why use them at all?). On his screwed up relationship with his son "I'm not talking to him until he apologizes for hanging up on me". For somebody who was supposed to be this big bad cold warrior, he seems pretty mild and milquetoast to me. Pretty surprising. Sounds like very boring reading.


A self-portrait of the 40th president -- determined, funny, wistful, at times clinging to his beliefs despite countervailing facts -- emerges from diaries that he faithfully kept from 1981 to 1989, his eight years in the White House. Historian Douglas Brinkley had exclusive access to the five hardback books bound in maroon leather, each page filled to the bottom with Reagan's neat handwriting. Vanity Fair magazine, in its June issue, is publishing excerpts of the book "The Reagan Diaries," edited by Brinkley and due out this month from publisher HarperCollins.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050102070.html?hpid=topnews

[AlCzervik]

1. i just read this in my local-"He thought Haig was nuts" us too Ronnie, we all knew

he was cat shit crazy.

[gatorboy]

Hey, the man stood on his marks and said his lines just like any good ACTOR.

That Repugs consider this man The Greatest Leader EVAH is laughable. He was a Wal-Mart greeter, nothing more.

[The Count]

5. The jury is out on that "goodity" too...But he sure lived his parts - as it seems

he was convinced he actually fought in the war. Unless of course I am mixing him with John Wayne.

[Philosoraptor]

2. You will go to hell head first for daring to speak ill of st. ron.

I will now call you a traitor and say good day to you madame....good day.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. Chance The Gardener n/t

[SteppingRazor]

4. "simple and child-like," or "senile and demented"?

From what we know of Reagan now, it's pretty obvious that his last years in office were certainly the beginning of the Alzheimer's.

[Virginia Dare]

6. Well, since the diaries were "edited"...

and Nancy Reagan is still with us, I imagine they took anything that may have been in there out that would make it appear as if he was mentally incapacitated in any way.

None of this will officially come out while she's still alive.

He also writes that he's shocked and appalled that North and Scowcroft hid the Iran/Contra issue from him. Riiiight.

[SteppingRazor]

7. Hell, if we just had a president who would obey the law...

we'd have all of Reagan's papers in the public doomain, except where it affected national security. Unfortunately, our current delight of a president signed an executive order upon taking office in 2000 that essentially said he could flout the Presidential Records Act. And this is even in the "pre-9/11 world," mind you. :eyes: