The weekend of March 19–20, 1983: Ron came down for a talk at the W.H. Same old problem—his itchiness at having S.S. protection. I wish he’d be more thoughtful of what it means to me to have him do that.
April 7, 1983: This evening Ron called all exercised because S.S. agents had gone into their apartment while they were in Calif. to fix an alarm on one of the windows. I tried to reason with him that this was a perfectly O.K. thing for them to do.… I told him quite firmly not to talk to me that way & he hung up on me. End of a not perfect day.
May 1, 1983: Nancy phoned—very upset. Ron casually told the S.S. he was going to Paris in a few days. I don’t know what it is with him. He refuses to cooperate with them.… I’m not talking to him until he apologizes for hanging up on me.
May 19, 1983: Meets with Regan, who as Treasury secretary is in charge of the Secret Service, about “Ron & his paranoia about S.S. protection. I think he’s being ridiculous & d—n unfair to the guys who are trying to protect his hide. This is settled—we let him sign off permanently—no protection.”
“He worked hard at a small space… never used his status to his advantage”: Weinberg, Movie Nights with the Reagans, 137.
a 1986 ad for American Express… continue the conversation in privacy: “American Express Card with Ron Reagan Jr. Classic TV Commercial 1986,” YouTube, 0:55, Front Seat Media, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va2Mhd5VWaE.
“These are issues of unique concern to women… also family concerns and community concerns”: Maureen Reagan, First Father, First Daughter, 296–97.
“Well, Maureen was a little worked up… I shouldn’t have said, too”: Ed Rollins with Tom DeFrank, Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms: My Life in American Politics (New York: Broadway Books, 1996), 101–2.
“chatting like schoolgirls”: Speakes with Pack, Speaking Out, 98.
“Michael Reagan always had schemes for making money… ‘Well, Sonny Boy’s at it again.’ ”: ibid., 99.
“He was a wheeler-dealer.… you just had to know that”: Kuhn, author interview, October 7, 2018.
It got even dicier… They suggested he get psychiatric help: Michael Reagan with Hyams, Outside Looking In, 219–40.
“I felt attacked… his Achilles’ heel: Nancy”: ibid., 228.
“We’ve tried to keep a little fuss private… as all families do from time to time”: Reagan Presidential Library, Subject Files, WHORM, PP 0005-01 095999, 247108 5300 4620 PP00J.
“The wounds are healed”… “Michael, I love you”: ibid., 243–45.
“They frolicked… worth the price?”: ibid., 250.
“I love you”: Nancy Reagan with Novak, My Turn, 134
“It was the first time… I was elated”: Michael Reagan with Hyams, Outside Looking In, 263–68.
“Ironically, this book… a better relationship”: Nancy Reagan with Novak, My Turn, 134.
“a literary striptease… a First Family parlor game”: Scot Haler, “The Problem of Being Patti,” People online, February 24, 1986, https://people.com/archive/cover-story-the-problem-of-being-patti-vol-25-no-8.
“one of the most painful and disappointing aspects of my life… we seem to square off”: Nancy Reagan with Novak, My Turn, 136.
“Tell you what… happen in my life”: Patti Davis, The Way I See It, 264–66.
“being used”: ibid., 267–68.
Caldicott’s later account… Reader’s Digest: Ronnie Dugger, “The President and the Peace Activist,” St. Petersburg (FL) Times, September 30, 1984, 4D.
“I had hoped that Patti’s wedding… people would understand”: Nancy Reagan with Novak, My Turn, 140–41.
“Ron’s reaction hurt me more than anyone else’s… motivation in it”: Patti Davis, The Way I See It, 311.
“Patti was excited that night about her book… such a thing”: Ron Reagan to author, email, August 20, 2019.
“I think sometimes… only silence and distance”: Patti Davis, Long Goodbye, 80–81.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“a steady drumbeat”: “President Reagan’s and Nancy Reagan’s Interview with Chris Wallace for Upcoming NBC Special, Camp David, Maryland,” May 18, 1985, YouTube, 36:23, Reagan Presidential Library, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhIeW-fbYiM.
if Ronnie’s name were not at the top of the ticket: Rollins, author interview, January 26, 2018.
“For a while, we talked about it every night… ‘I’m not crazy about it, but okay’ ”: Nancy Reagan with Novak, My Turn, 224.
internal numbers: Cannon, President Reagan, 197.
“I think it’s going to be a tough, personal, close campaign… glad when the next nine months are over”: Nancy Reagan with Novak, My Turn, 225.
$21 million budget for the 1984 primary season: Rollins with DeFrank, Bare Knuckles, 125.
She started to worry more… Hart, the insurgent in the race: Stuart Spencer, quoted in Wallace, First Lady, 116–17.
“She could smell fear all over you, Rollins. You’re doomed”: Rollins with DeFrank, Bare Knuckles, 137.
“Don’t forget who your clients are.… Their friends are going to see the commercials”: Rollins, author interview, January 26, 2018.
“These days… more relaxed speaker”: Maureen Dowd, “A More Relaxed Nancy Reagan Tours the South,” New York Times, October 14, 1984, 28.
hefty 55-percent-to-37-percent lead… 8 percent of voters undecided: Cannon, President Reagan, 475.
“I’m against debates… defend his own record”: Nancy Reagan with Novak, My Turn, 225.
“the worst night of Ronnie’s political career… that debate was a nightmare”: ibid., 226.
cold as ice: ibid., 226–27.
“a Reagan without confidence would not be Reagan… must interpret all tales of Nancy Reagan’s ‘ruthlessness’ ”: Garry Wills, Reagan’s America: Innocents at Home (New York: Open Road Integrated Media, 2017), loc. 4781 of 13714, Kindle.
“In recognizing the actor’s truth… may have been to Baker and Darman”: Cannon, President Reagan, 484.
“Well, you better be right… better be right”: Rollins with DeFrank, Bare Knuckles, 149–50.
“Although Nancy Reagan did not realize it… no longer Morning Again in America”: Cannon, President Reagan, 487.
“If, by some miracle, I could take back one decision… this new arrangement would lead to a political disaster”: Nancy Reagan with Novak, My Turn, 267.
“a bad omen”: ibid., 230.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“It also made me squirm… weakened both the Justice Department and the presidency”: Nancy Reagan with Novak, My Turn, 203.
“listened to our words… did not occur to me”: Regan, For the Record, 251.
“He seemed to
