Posted on 09/24/2005 11:48:38 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler
William F. Buckley Jr. NRO Editor at Large
Little Memories
Remembering Ronald Reagan.
Q: You knew him well, right? Even back when he was still a Democrat?
A: Yes. It happened one night. It was his job to introduce me, as the evening's speaker, to a group of California doctors. He acted like a gymnast out of Barnum and Bailey. The control room for the loudspeakers had been left locked. Nobody could find the janitor. So he cat-walked above the traffic to the window of the control room and smashed it open with his elbow, turning on the juice, the show must go on. Nice preview of Reagan, policymaker.
Q: You became friends and stayed friends, right?
A: Right again. He befriended people, as his volume of letters attests, all the time, and kept up with his friends through letters and other communications. Last week I heard from Mrs. Alistair Cooke, the widow of the British Mr. America, that she really "hated" Reagan until she read those letters. And that volume came out only a couple of years ago.
Q: How was it when there was disagreement?
A: It was sometimes vigorous, but never sundering. For instance, he was opposed to ratifying the Panama Canal Treaty, and we debated the subject for two hours on television, each of us with illustrious assistants. We punched each other pretty hard. A couple of months later I was scheduled for dinner at his home in Bel Air. He got me on the telephone: "Drive slowly up the drive, real slow." I did — and came upon, every twenty yards, huge hand-drawn signs: "WE BUILT IT." "WE PAID FOR IT." "IT'S OURS!"
Q: Did he offer you a job when he became president?
A: Yes/No. I had written him during the campaign that I didn't want a job. He answered back that he was disappointed: "I've had it in mind to appoint you ambassador to Afghanistan." Big joke, the Soviet Union having just taken over there. But in correspondence thereafter he always referred to me as "Mr. Ambassador," and the week before leaving the White House he wrote to commend me on the Soviet withdrawal — "and you did it," he wrote, "without leaving Kabul for a minute." Good-humored fantasies played long with Ronald Reagan.
Q: Did he ever call you to express any special frustration?
A: Yes. One day, half way through his term of office, he called and said he had seen criticism all his life and understood it, but what he had read just now, printed in the National Catholic Reporter, was a bit much, an article by Alden Whitman which said that "President Reagan is bringing fascism to America as certainly as Mussolini did to Italy."
I told him the Catholic bishop in Kansas City was suing the National Catholic Reporter to make it remove the word "Catholic" from its logo, since the weekly had no connection with the Church. And I told him that Whitman, who wrote obituaries for the New York Times, had taken the Fifth Amendment when asked if he was a member of the Communist Party.
He said that information made him feel a whole lot better.
Q: When did you know he was sick? When he announced the Alzheimer's in his public letter?
A: No, I suspected it six months earlier. What happened was that Brent Bozell, my nephew and head of the Media Research Center, came to see me. He said that the public in Washington hadn't really had an opportunity to express their thanks to Reagan for what he had done over eight years as president. He had an idea: to conduct a huge Reagan Rally in RFK Stadium and have it teeming with people. But only Rush Limbaugh could bring that size crowd together.
I called Rush. He came over, thought about it, and said "It will be great, and I can guarantee you sold-out attendance!"
Though it was to be a surprise event, I needed the okay of Mrs. Reagan, and I called her. I was astonished to hear her say, "Ronnie is simply not up to it." That meant to me that he was truly ailing. In the good old days that would have been simply one more evening's event.
Q: Did you see him when he was sick?
A: No, I never even suggested it. The last time we met was when he did two Firing Line programs back-to-back promoting his autobiography, after which we lunched at his house in Bel Air with Nancy and Ron.
Q: Was he absolutely normal?
A: No. His wit and incisiveness were a little less than par. I attributed this to a little deafness, to which he was gradually accommodating.
Q: Did you have the sense of being in touch?
A: Yes. That was 14 years ago, but he has always been a part of my life and of my political faith.
* * *
for a moment there I thought it was an obit.
LOL! How old is Buckley?
He will be 80 this year. Served in World war II
Too bad the event at RFK couldn't come together. Three of my favorite people would have been there.
They re-aired that several years back on TV, and I must say Reagan kicked Buckley's arse.
I didn't know that.
I like the ambassador to Afghanistan joke.
what impresses me most about Buckley is his trip around the Horn in his 60s.
Some people, like me, think Reagan won hands down. It was overheard, RFK told his handlers, don't ever schedule another debate with Reagan. EVER! LOL
I watched that debate live in 67. Reagan was so good in that debate, his credibility as a National Candidate just soared as a result. This debate also helped convince me that Robert Kennedy was just a fly on the ass of an elephant when compared to both Reagan and his brother, the late 35th President.
No doubt future historians will attempt to pin him as a womanizer, pervert, or whatever.
Ditto.
I was a member of my HS`s Young Republicans Club and we concluded early on that LBJ&Company had no intention of securing a final victory in VietNam. We supported Dick Nixon for POTUS. In hindsight, the GOP should have nominated Ronald Reagan instead of Nixon. IMO, RFK and JFK were both social liberals and not in the same class with Reagan. God does have a plan. Look who survived assassination.
Thanks.. good read...
"Ditto"
It is good to hear from someone in my generation with my view of thing. I live in NJ which about as close to becoming a Communist Country as Massachusetts (or is it Taxa-teddy-kerry-shits).
Same here. I was born in Queens NY and spent 18 years growing up in Brooklyn NY. A great learning experience. In the 50`s and 60`s Brooklyn was the center of the world. Left after college and haven't looked back. Living the Rocky Mountain high and loving every minute.
three of my favorites.
In college I read "Up From Liberalism" and "Quotes from Chairman Bill", and anxiously waited for each copy of National Review. Being from Arizona, I admired Barry Goldwater. How different the world would have been if he would have won the presidency in '64
As for President Reagan, he was the absolute "BEST" president of the twentieth century. He was a Man among men.
Blessings, bobo
When did that happen? As far as I can tell RFK, in the 50's and early 60's was to the right of JFK. He was a protege of Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Why were they social liberals? Both were anticomminist, pro-life, etc.
How I miss him. May God rest your soul, Mr. President.
That makes for a complicated explanation. Didn't we argue this once or twice before? Etcetera covers a multitude of issues. When we discuss the Kennedy brothers (all three) and life in America in the early 1960`s versus life after the decade ended, we must include caveats for political, societal and cultural changes.
For starters, social liberalism has nothing to do with being a supporter of a strong national defense. In that regard, both JFK and RFK showed support for the US military through their early life. JFK was war hero. Remember Senator Scoop Jackson? Conservative Democrat, but liberal on social issues. Never thought of whether John or Bobby were pro-lifers, or "anti-abortion" as people were called before Roe v Wade. From reports of JFK's personal private life, he got several women pregnant over the years and as far as I know, no one is stepping forward today to proclaim, "I'm the son of JFK!", or "I'm the daughter of JFK!". Know what I mean? RFK also wasn't the moral man he presented in public either.
Not only that, but by 1967-1968 RFK was definitely morphing into a liberal just like his brother FatTeddy Kennedy. I don't remember RFK opposing LBJ`s Great Society programs either. Many of which had their roots in the mindsets of Democratic President's from FDR, to Truman to JFK.
Frankly, a case can be made that John was the most conservative of the Kennedy brothers. Personally, I think if JFK and RFK had lived longer their politics would be very similiar to that of their brother Teddy's. In fact, a strong case can be made that FatTeddyK is a socialist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.