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[film crew chatting
over one another]
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dramatic music
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[ indistinct speaking]
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Economic future, priority B.
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[man] Get the last line in,
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be that much more convincing.
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dramatic music
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This is roll one, sound two.
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[Director] Stand by and action.
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In 1980, we said we would
reduce inflation and we have.
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We said we would create
new jobs, lower taxes,
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and rebuild our
defenses and we have.
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But in the next four
years, we must do more.
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We must help those who haven't
fully shared in the recovery.
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We must build a lasting
peace for our young,
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security for our aging,
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and create millions of new jobs.
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We pledged cities of promise,
a countryside of abundance.
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I don't think America ever
stops wanting to be better
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because Americans are only
satisfied with doing our best.
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[man] 20 seconds.
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[man] How much?
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[indistinct]
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- [man] 57, perfect.
- [woman] That was good.
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- [man] Perfect.
- [woman] That was good.
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- [man] Okay.
- [woman] Okay.
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tense music
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Ronald Reagan said himself,
if you are not a good actor,
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you cannot be a good president.
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And it came to pass,
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it absolutely came to pass.
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[crowd cheering]
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If someone's running
for president,
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and they are not willing
to do what an actor does,
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look good, read your lines well,
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you cannot lead.
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There were some strange
aspects to my father,
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particularly by
Washington standards.
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He was just a very
different kind of person.
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He was intelligent,
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but at the same
time, it's like, huh.
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You know, knowing
him as well as I do,
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this is kind of a strange fellow
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to be president of
the United States.
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You couldn't change
Ronald Reagan.
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We just made sure that
he never got off script.
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It was our job to protect
him, protect him from himself.
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[crowd] We want
Reagan, we want Reagan.
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[crowd cheering]
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He was a caricature out
of American culture.
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Here's the story as I see it.
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A caricature reinforced
by our belief
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that what happens
in the mass media,
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particularly in the movies,
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is more real than real life.
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And that was the appeal of
an actor turned president.
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I hope you're a good driver,
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you know what
you're doing I hope.
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Yes, I've been driving
this for quite a while.
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You probably got
used to one new.
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I don't want to
hurt your feelings,
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but this is the
scroungiest jeep.
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Ronald Reagan was an
incredible myth maker.
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He reinforced a myth of
America that served many,
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but actually hurt
many, many people.
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dramatic music
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[Reporter] Mr. President,
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the Soviets say that your
position has made it impossible
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to meet in Vienna in September.
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Well, we would come to
realize that Nancy Reagan
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was the most powerful
person behind the president.
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She was like the studio head.
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She was like the consigliere,
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because people around
her were afraid of her.
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And she was kind of the
presence over everything.
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It was 9% or 8% in the 1970s.
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By 1979, it brought
it down to 5%...
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[crowd laughing]
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...and we are holding it to 7%.
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[laughing]
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Blow the candle out.
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[woman] Make a wish.
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Make a wish.
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[crowd clapping]
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And you have to take
the first piece.
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[Sam] Did you bake it yourself?
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As a matter of fact, Sam,
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since she cut that
one smaller here,
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here, take mine, and I'll trade.
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No, no, no, no, that's bad luck.
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[all laughing]
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I have learned not to argue
with her superstitions.
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So much about the
Reagan presidency,
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so much about the
man was mysterious.
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People studied Reagan,
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biographers, historians,
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and nobody ever really
figured him out.
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There was this 10%
under the surface
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that really very few
people had access to.
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In many respects
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Ronald Reagan lived
in a world he created.
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It's the triumph
of the human mind.
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It's the triumph of
the human imagination.
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His imagination
was gigantic, okay?
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And that was true
throughout his whole life.
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The way he portrayed
his own childhood.
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The way he had the
marriage with Nancy
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was kind of imagination,
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what the ideal couple
would look like.
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It was imagination,
rather than reality.
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He saw himself as a hero,
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and he was playing
an American hero.
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It was a role first
in the movies,
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and then as a politician.
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Reagan was more than an expert
on this American mythology.
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That was based on an America
that really didn't exist.
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[Interviewer] Do you
actually think of yourself
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as a politician?
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What?
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[Interviewer] Do you think
of yourself as a politician?
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No, ex-actor.
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big band upbeat music
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How do you do, everybody?
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I'd like to introduce myself.
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My name is Ronald Reagan.
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A few months ago I
was a sports announcer
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on a radio station
in Des Moines, Iowa.
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One day I ran into one of
these movie talent scouts,
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I think I caught him off guard
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because the next thing I knew
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I was taking a screen test
for Warner Bros. in Hollywood.
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First picture,
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well what do you
think it was about?
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A radio station.
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In these United States,
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a man is always innocent until
he is legally proven guilty.
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[Interviewer] What
was it, Mr. Warner,
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that caught your eye
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when you looked at that
first test of Reagan?
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Well, he had his personality
projected in what,
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as I term it, off the
screen into the audience,
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it comes through.
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He had a good smile,
happy delivery,
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rather a little
good sense of humor.
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upbeat music
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In those days your Hollywood
life was a confection.
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It was something that
gossip columnists created.
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That was an era when
there were basically
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two reigning queens
of the gossip columns.
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Hedda Hopper and
Louella Parsons.
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And they really wrote
the story of Hollywood
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for the American heartland.
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Reagan was often referred
to as a lucky man.
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Louella Parsons was
from his small town.
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So for Reagan to be
mentioned favorably
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or to be written up in a
nationally syndicated column,
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it made all the
difference in the world.
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Suddenly, this hugely
powerful gossip columnist
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latches on to this
good-looking, young guy,
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essentially becomes his sponsor.
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But it starts, as to my mean,
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if you took people
and built them,
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exploited them,
and developed them,
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as I did with Greta
Garbo, Joan Crawford,
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Norma Shearer, and all
of those young women.
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[Interviewer] You mean
by signing them up,
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putting them under contract
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and publicizing them?
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Well, I think people
shop for stars.
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Well, here's to you, Louella.
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And to you.
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Now I see a great many more
celebrities coming down here.
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I'm gonna try and get some
of them up to the microphone
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to say hello to you.
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I'm sure that you're
going to wanna meet...
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[Jonathan] In many ways
he was playing himself
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in almost all of his movies.
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He was always the
dependable one,
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often the best friend
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and just had this winning way.
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Louella Parsons not only
becomes the stage mother
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of Ronald Reagan's career,
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but she also becomes
the godmother
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of his first marriage
to actress Jane Wyman.
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She wanted to bring
Ronnie up to Jane's level
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'cause he wasn't as big a star.
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So when they're seen out
together, gives him publicity,
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which is good for his career.
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He was willing to be influenced
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and do whatever
she told him to do.
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Pretty soon you believe
the Hollywood myth.
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He was very assiduous about
editing and shaping his story
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until the story
became the reality.
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upbeat music
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In the '20s, early '30s,
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he really wanted to
be a football player
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because that's how you
became a national hero
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if you were a young man.
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Problem was he was
blind as a bat,
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he was not terribly fast
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and was not really
all that large.
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So my father never became a
real hero on the grid iron,
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but he did get to be a
football leaguer eventually in
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"Knute Rockne All American"
where he plays George Gipp,
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uh, the famous Notre Dame star.
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bright music
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[crowd cheering]
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upbeat music
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So when Reagan in that
film could connect himself
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to being the hero, George Gipp,
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it helped put him in
the American grain.
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And he became Ronald
Reagan, All-American.
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We're all the heroes
of our own stories.
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He was just a little better at
it than most people, I think.
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He has appropriated other
American folk tales,
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making it difficult at
times to distinguish
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between the teller and the tale,
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between this one American
and America itself.
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That explains Reagan's intimacy
with the American psyche.
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He comes at it from within.
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[birds singing]
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It was always interesting to me
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in talking with Ronald Reagan
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how he sort of referred
and reflected his roots.
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Ronald Reagan was
born in this house
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on February 6th, 1911.
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In his book,
" Where's the Rest of Me? "
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he says, "That's where
the whole story began.
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My face was blue from screaming.
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My bottom was red from whacking.
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And my father claimed afterwards
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that he was white and shaken.
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Ever since my birth,
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I have been particularly
fond of the colors
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that were exhibited,
red, white, and blue."
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thoughtful music
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Both of his parents
were Roosevelt Democrats
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in a fairly Republican
area of Illinois.
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The WPA was a big lifeline
for them, actually,
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during The Depression.
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I think my father's
early liberalism
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probably sprang from that.
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FDR had put his father
and his brother to work
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when they were out of
work in The New Deal,
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you were grateful for that.
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We were poor.
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We had problems when my brother
and I were boys growing up
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that seemed insurmountable
to young boys at the time.
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[Walters] You mean your father?
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Yes.
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A lot has been made
of Jack's drinking
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and that he was an alcoholic.
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My father kind of pushed
that story a bit himself.
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Jack's drinking didn't
sit well with Nelly.
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She would give him
hell about this.
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I've heard him talk about
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Christmases where the
little money that they had
258
00:14:11,225 --> 00:14:15,145
would go to alcohol.
259
00:14:15,187 --> 00:14:17,106
He tells some very
poignant stories about
260
00:14:18,732 --> 00:14:21,193
going out to find his
father in the snow
261
00:14:21,235 --> 00:14:22,528
in the early morning
262
00:14:22,570 --> 00:14:24,864
and pulling him back into
the house unconscious.
263
00:14:27,491 --> 00:14:32,246
- [wind whooshing]
- soft music
264
00:14:35,875 --> 00:14:38,002
In my father's
version of the story,
265
00:14:38,043 --> 00:14:41,672
he, as an 11-year-old
boy, grabs his father,
266
00:14:41,714 --> 00:14:43,966
pulls him into the house
267
00:14:44,008 --> 00:14:46,552
and somehow gets
him onto his feet
268
00:14:46,594 --> 00:14:50,139
and half carries him up this
narrow winding staircase.
269
00:14:51,432 --> 00:14:53,559
I went to see the house,
270
00:14:53,601 --> 00:14:56,228
and I thought about
my 11-year-old father
271
00:14:56,270 --> 00:14:59,565
and his 180-pound dad.
272
00:14:59,607 --> 00:15:03,360
And I thought, he didn't
drag him into the house,
273
00:15:03,402 --> 00:15:06,155
and he sure as hell didn't
get them onto his feet
274
00:15:06,196 --> 00:15:09,241
and, you know, hoist
him up these stairs.
275
00:15:09,283 --> 00:15:10,409
This is a story,
276
00:15:12,036 --> 00:15:15,497
a story in which
Jack barely appears.
277
00:15:15,539 --> 00:15:18,584
Jack is not a subject, he
is an object in the story.
278
00:15:18,626 --> 00:15:20,711
This is a story about my father
279
00:15:20,753 --> 00:15:23,964
and what he would like you to
think is his coming of age.
280
00:15:30,262 --> 00:15:32,389
For Reagan, who
held himself tight,
281
00:15:32,431 --> 00:15:33,891
that is did not disclose
282
00:15:33,933 --> 00:15:36,393
a lot about what
was going on inside,
283
00:15:36,435 --> 00:15:38,604
you'll find this among people
who don't want to open up
284
00:15:38,646 --> 00:15:41,106
or make themselves too
vulnerable to other people,
285
00:15:41,148 --> 00:15:45,277
they use storytelling
to deflect interest
286
00:15:45,319 --> 00:15:49,490
or inquiry into his
personality and psyche.
287
00:15:53,410 --> 00:15:56,330
[Ron] He trained himself
to ignore the negative
288
00:15:56,372 --> 00:15:57,915
and accentuate the positive.
289
00:15:59,708 --> 00:16:01,919
soft music
290
00:16:07,049 --> 00:16:08,676
[Ron] As the years went by,
291
00:16:08,717 --> 00:16:11,428
Nelly became more
and more religious.
292
00:16:11,470 --> 00:16:13,681
And my father became
part of her church,
293
00:16:13,722 --> 00:16:15,891
the Disciples of Christ.
294
00:16:15,933 --> 00:16:19,353
She was a preacher and healer
295
00:16:19,395 --> 00:16:21,313
and she invested so
much of her own life
296
00:16:21,355 --> 00:16:24,274
and belief systems into her son.
297
00:16:25,734 --> 00:16:27,403
That instilled a belief
298
00:16:27,444 --> 00:16:29,989
in what you could
call magical thinking,
299
00:16:30,030 --> 00:16:33,117
that if you will
it, it will happen.
300
00:16:33,158 --> 00:16:36,412
That you can write
your own story.
301
00:16:36,453 --> 00:16:37,788
And that's what Reagan did.
302
00:16:37,830 --> 00:16:40,499
His whole life created
his own reality.
303
00:16:41,542 --> 00:16:43,836
Johnny, what happened to you?
304
00:16:43,877 --> 00:16:46,338
Nothing, I just changed clothes.
305
00:16:46,380 --> 00:16:47,756
You've enlisted.
306
00:16:47,798 --> 00:16:49,967
You knew it was gonna
happen sooner or later.
307
00:16:50,009 --> 00:16:51,677
You look wonderful
in that uniform.
308
00:16:51,719 --> 00:16:52,845
Not any better than
the rest of the fellas,
309
00:16:52,886 --> 00:16:54,179
we all have the same tailor.
310
00:16:54,221 --> 00:16:56,306
upbeat music
311
00:16:56,348 --> 00:17:00,352
Reagan had joined the
Army Reserve in '37.
312
00:17:00,394 --> 00:17:04,690
Then when war came, he
failed his eye test.
313
00:17:04,732 --> 00:17:07,359
[Optician] Tell me when
you see just one, one now.
314
00:17:07,401 --> 00:17:09,445
[Lou] He always was
terribly near sighted.
315
00:17:09,486 --> 00:17:11,530
No, still two.
316
00:17:12,406 --> 00:17:15,075
And he spent the
war in Culver City
317
00:17:15,117 --> 00:17:18,787
making training films, never
left the United States.
318
00:17:18,829 --> 00:17:22,041
He worked under
Pearl Jack Warner
319
00:17:22,082 --> 00:17:24,251
making propaganda films,
320
00:17:24,293 --> 00:17:26,086
Charlie, I'm coming home.
321
00:17:26,128 --> 00:17:29,840
[Jonathan] Using his fame to
sell war bonds with his wife.
322
00:17:32,384 --> 00:17:33,886
[Director] And action.
323
00:17:33,927 --> 00:17:35,220
[coins rattling]
324
00:17:35,262 --> 00:17:37,347
Ronald Reagan, aren't
you ashamed of yourself,
325
00:17:37,389 --> 00:17:39,141
robbing from your
own daughter's bank?
326
00:17:39,183 --> 00:17:40,726
What's the big idea, you bandit?
327
00:17:40,768 --> 00:17:42,311
Now, don't fly off
the handle, Jenny,
328
00:17:42,352 --> 00:17:43,687
I'm gonna invest it for her.
329
00:17:43,729 --> 00:17:45,814
United States defense bonds.
330
00:17:45,856 --> 00:17:47,399
And the freedom of this country
331
00:17:47,441 --> 00:17:49,401
is the best thing we can
buy for our children today.
332
00:17:51,236 --> 00:17:53,238
The propaganda films
were important,
333
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,157
but it wasn't fighting.
334
00:17:55,199 --> 00:17:58,660
intense music
335
00:17:58,702 --> 00:18:00,370
During World War II,
336
00:18:00,412 --> 00:18:03,248
Jimmy Stewart was a
legitimate war hero.
337
00:18:04,708 --> 00:18:07,920
He left Hollywood,
he went overseas.
338
00:18:08,712 --> 00:18:11,381
He flew a bunch of
combat missions,
339
00:18:11,423 --> 00:18:12,549
was almost killed.
340
00:18:14,593 --> 00:18:18,555
And if you're Ronald Reagan
and you never leave home,
341
00:18:18,597 --> 00:18:21,100
this is hard to take.
342
00:18:23,102 --> 00:18:27,523
To compensate he starts
to merge his own life
343
00:18:27,564 --> 00:18:29,108
with his cinematic life.
344
00:18:31,860 --> 00:18:32,778
You know, I've often wondered
345
00:18:32,820 --> 00:18:34,154
if it's the same
with other people
346
00:18:34,196 --> 00:18:37,449
as it is with me, that the war,
347
00:18:37,491 --> 00:18:39,576
the four years that I
was gone during the war,
348
00:18:39,618 --> 00:18:42,955
seems to have done something
in my own sense of time.
349
00:18:42,996 --> 00:18:45,124
It's as if those four
years were taken out
350
00:18:45,165 --> 00:18:47,626
and then spliced together.
351
00:19:01,181 --> 00:19:04,017
I came back from the service
352
00:19:04,059 --> 00:19:06,061
after the four years
in World War II
353
00:19:06,603 --> 00:19:10,107
and discovered that something
was going on in Hollywood.
354
00:19:10,149 --> 00:19:11,483
[crowd jeering]
355
00:19:11,525 --> 00:19:14,069
Some of the people from
our own FBI made contact
356
00:19:15,445 --> 00:19:17,948
because of what they
saw I was doing,
357
00:19:17,990 --> 00:19:20,284
and I'd become President
of the Screen Actors Guild.
358
00:19:20,325 --> 00:19:22,786
And they came wanting
some findings from me
359
00:19:22,828 --> 00:19:25,414
on people that I had
dealt with and so forth.
360
00:19:25,455 --> 00:19:29,209
And it did give me
a real understanding
361
00:19:29,251 --> 00:19:30,627
of the communist menace.
362
00:19:31,587 --> 00:19:34,256
upbeat music
363
00:19:34,298 --> 00:19:36,383
In the early stages
of the Cold War
364
00:19:36,425 --> 00:19:39,428
the FBI set out under Hoover
365
00:19:39,469 --> 00:19:41,930
to enroll as many
actors as it could
366
00:19:41,972 --> 00:19:45,475
who cooperated with them
during the Red Scare.
367
00:19:45,517 --> 00:19:48,353
And Reagan did
cooperate with the FBI.
368
00:19:49,396 --> 00:19:51,190
He didn't have what I would call
369
00:19:51,231 --> 00:19:55,444
a coherent political philosophy
during any of that time.
370
00:19:55,485 --> 00:19:57,863
He wanted to come out on top
371
00:19:57,905 --> 00:20:00,741
and he would make concessions
so he could come out on top.
372
00:20:01,366 --> 00:20:05,037
[Jonathan] He had been
adopted by J. Edgar Hoover
373
00:20:05,078 --> 00:20:08,999
and he became a private
informant for the FBI
374
00:20:09,041 --> 00:20:10,709
at the expense of
his colleagues.
375
00:20:13,086 --> 00:20:15,714
Hollywood was a scary
place to be in those times,
376
00:20:15,756 --> 00:20:18,884
because if you were somebody
who was actually a communist
377
00:20:18,926 --> 00:20:20,802
or who was associated
with a communist,
378
00:20:20,844 --> 00:20:23,764
you couldn't work in Hollywood.
379
00:20:23,805 --> 00:20:26,892
The Screen Actors Guild
became part of the instrument
380
00:20:26,934 --> 00:20:29,269
that enforced the blacklist
381
00:20:29,311 --> 00:20:32,272
and routed the
communist faction.
382
00:20:32,314 --> 00:20:33,941
[Reporter] George
Murphy, Ronald Reagan
383
00:20:33,982 --> 00:20:35,525
and Robert Montgomery
384
00:20:35,567 --> 00:20:38,070
are among the top flight
movie actors testifying before
385
00:20:38,111 --> 00:20:40,572
the House Un-American Activities
Committee in Washington.
386
00:20:40,614 --> 00:20:42,574
[gavel banging]
387
00:20:42,616 --> 00:20:44,368
[Chair] You have no
knowledge yourself
388
00:20:44,409 --> 00:20:46,245
as to whether or not any of them
389
00:20:46,286 --> 00:20:48,747
are members of the
Communist Party?
390
00:20:48,789 --> 00:20:51,750
Would you refer to them
as a disrupting influence
391
00:20:51,792 --> 00:20:52,584
within the Guild?
392
00:20:54,795 --> 00:20:58,090
I happen to be very proud of
the industry in which I work.
393
00:20:58,131 --> 00:20:59,424
I have to be very
proud of the way
394
00:20:59,466 --> 00:21:01,260
in which we've
conducted the fight.
395
00:21:01,301 --> 00:21:04,429
I do not believe that the
communist has ever at any time
396
00:21:04,471 --> 00:21:06,431
been able to use the
motion picture screen
397
00:21:06,473 --> 00:21:08,809
as a sounding board for
his philosophy or ideology.
398
00:21:10,727 --> 00:21:13,772
That was politically
skillful on Reagan's part
399
00:21:13,814 --> 00:21:17,901
because he gets his
anti-communism credentials,
400
00:21:17,943 --> 00:21:20,696
stay on J. Edgar
Hoover's right side,
401
00:21:20,737 --> 00:21:22,406
and also not get tagged
402
00:21:22,447 --> 00:21:25,951
with ruining the careers
of his colleagues.
403
00:21:25,993 --> 00:21:29,830
He was willing to do whatever
it took to get ahead.
404
00:21:29,871 --> 00:21:32,249
This was Reagan
at his most slick.
405
00:21:34,042 --> 00:21:35,669
[Narrator] His embroilment
in political affairs
406
00:21:35,711 --> 00:21:37,504
by then were so strong
407
00:21:37,546 --> 00:21:41,091
that his wife Jane Wyman, the
actress, sued for divorce.
408
00:21:41,133 --> 00:21:42,801
His concentration on politics
409
00:21:42,843 --> 00:21:44,803
made home life
impossible, she said.
410
00:21:47,139 --> 00:21:50,017
She was tired of his politics.
411
00:21:50,058 --> 00:21:52,644
She found it an embarrassment.
412
00:21:52,686 --> 00:21:55,689
It alienated her from
the people she liked.
413
00:21:57,899 --> 00:22:00,319
[Ron] And when her career
started to take off...
414
00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,071
[Presenter] And the winner,
Jane Wyman in "Johnny Belinda."
415
00:22:03,113 --> 00:22:06,575
[audience cheering and clapping]
416
00:22:06,616 --> 00:22:09,453
And his was on the down slope.
417
00:22:09,494 --> 00:22:12,497
I think she saw it as
a drag on her career.
418
00:22:15,876 --> 00:22:17,669
That was the first
time I believe
419
00:22:17,711 --> 00:22:22,674
that he'd been really rejected
conclusively by somebody.
420
00:22:22,716 --> 00:22:25,844
And it must've stung terribly.
421
00:22:27,054 --> 00:22:28,847
That made him very wary
422
00:22:28,889 --> 00:22:30,891
about opening his
heart to other people.
423
00:22:33,393 --> 00:22:35,687
This was a low point,
424
00:22:35,729 --> 00:22:39,191
probably the lowest point
in Ronald Reagan's life.
425
00:22:41,902 --> 00:22:45,238
Religiously,
socially, personally,
426
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:47,032
he really felt a failure.
427
00:22:49,868 --> 00:22:54,081
enchanting music
428
00:23:03,048 --> 00:23:06,468
[Nancy] Hello, so nice
of you guys to be here.
429
00:23:06,510 --> 00:23:07,844
Where should we go?
430
00:23:07,886 --> 00:23:10,389
Right over there.
431
00:23:12,391 --> 00:23:14,893
Now I just wanna
make a voice check.
432
00:23:14,935 --> 00:23:16,895
[clears voice] Let's see.
433
00:23:20,941 --> 00:23:23,068
Did you ever think that you'd
be so much in the public eye
434
00:23:23,110 --> 00:23:24,069
when you were younger?
435
00:23:24,111 --> 00:23:26,905
No, never. [laughs]
436
00:23:26,947 --> 00:23:28,990
[Interviewer] What did
you want to be or do?
437
00:23:29,032 --> 00:23:30,409
I just wanted to be married.
438
00:23:31,952 --> 00:23:34,162
[Interviewer] How did
you meet your husband?
439
00:23:34,204 --> 00:23:36,873
We met through Mervyn LeRoy.
440
00:23:36,915 --> 00:23:38,708
She was working on
a picture with him,
441
00:23:38,750 --> 00:23:40,419
he was directing.
442
00:23:40,460 --> 00:23:44,548
I was getting mail addressed
to another Nancy Davis,
443
00:23:44,589 --> 00:23:46,091
was obviously not
intended for me,
444
00:23:46,133 --> 00:23:48,009
and it began to be bothersome.
445
00:23:49,094 --> 00:23:51,012
So I mentioned it to Mervyn,
446
00:23:51,513 --> 00:23:54,433
and he said, "Well,
I know Ronald Reagan
447
00:23:54,474 --> 00:23:56,268
and he's president of
the Screen Actors Guild
448
00:23:56,309 --> 00:23:58,437
and I'm sure that he might
be able to help you."
449
00:23:58,478 --> 00:23:59,980
I don't know whether
she told you this,
450
00:24:00,021 --> 00:24:01,857
but there are four,
451
00:24:01,898 --> 00:24:03,775
we found out there
were four Nancy Davises
452
00:24:03,817 --> 00:24:05,318
connected with this business.
453
00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:08,530
And one of them must have some
rather exotic political ideas
454
00:24:08,572 --> 00:24:09,865
because she began getting
455
00:24:09,906 --> 00:24:12,993
notices and invitations
to meetings.
456
00:24:13,034 --> 00:24:18,290
And " The Daily Worker "
began arriving at her door.
457
00:24:18,331 --> 00:24:21,793
The story involves this
Nancy Davis and the Red Scare
458
00:24:21,835 --> 00:24:23,211
and all of that kind of stuff.
459
00:24:23,253 --> 00:24:24,629
I think she just wanted
to meet Ronald Reagan.
460
00:24:24,671 --> 00:24:26,047
She knew he was single
461
00:24:26,089 --> 00:24:27,799
and thought he was a
pretty handsome guy,
462
00:24:27,841 --> 00:24:29,968
and maybe they could,
you know, hit it off.
463
00:24:30,010 --> 00:24:33,305
Well, Ronnie didn't know me,
464
00:24:33,346 --> 00:24:35,474
but I knew him
from the pictures.
465
00:24:35,515 --> 00:24:37,392
And I thought that
was just a dandy idea.
466
00:24:37,434 --> 00:24:38,727
[laughing]
467
00:24:38,768 --> 00:24:40,145
So Mervyn had him call me,
468
00:24:40,187 --> 00:24:41,646
and we went out to dinner.
469
00:24:41,688 --> 00:24:43,440
We went to see Sophie Tucker,
470
00:24:43,482 --> 00:24:45,609
and after the
first show he said,
471
00:24:45,650 --> 00:24:49,488
"Well, being as you've never
seen Sophie Tucker before,
472
00:24:49,529 --> 00:24:52,032
how would you like to stay
and see the second show?"
473
00:24:52,073 --> 00:24:53,825
[laughter] And I said, "Fine."
474
00:24:55,076 --> 00:24:57,120
And at 3:00 we
were still watching
475
00:24:57,162 --> 00:24:58,872
Sophie Tucker at Ciro's.
476
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,958
And then we had dinner
the next night. [laughter]
477
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:03,210
[Interviewer] So it was
love at first sight?
478
00:25:03,251 --> 00:25:04,002
Yes.
479
00:25:07,088 --> 00:25:09,799
I don't think that my mother
was all that interested
480
00:25:09,841 --> 00:25:11,468
in being a professional actress.
481
00:25:11,510 --> 00:25:13,637
She would've taken it,
it would've been fine.
482
00:25:13,678 --> 00:25:16,431
I think she was actually
a pretty good actress.
483
00:25:16,473 --> 00:25:18,642
Jan, I thought you'd
never get here.
484
00:25:18,683 --> 00:25:19,643
Where's Graham?
485
00:25:19,684 --> 00:25:21,269
He's meeting me here.
486
00:25:21,311 --> 00:25:22,771
Looks like a wonderful party.
487
00:25:22,812 --> 00:25:24,272
It would be even better
if it had a host.
488
00:25:24,439 --> 00:25:25,690
[Ron] It didn't take too long
489
00:25:25,732 --> 00:25:27,359
after she arrived in Hollywood
490
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,528
to find divorced
actor Ronald Reagan.
491
00:25:30,070 --> 00:25:32,322
[Reporter] Just in case
you men haven't noticed
492
00:25:32,364 --> 00:25:34,115
the sports shirt
Reagan is wearing,
493
00:25:34,157 --> 00:25:35,534
take a good look at it.
494
00:25:35,575 --> 00:25:36,993
It's a one-piece affair
495
00:25:37,035 --> 00:25:39,037
called the Ronald
Reagan sports shirt.
496
00:25:41,414 --> 00:25:43,166
[Ron] He was knocking around
497
00:25:43,208 --> 00:25:46,211
in need of a woman to take
care of him. [laughing]
498
00:25:46,253 --> 00:25:47,546
[Reporter] I can't
help but wonder
499
00:25:47,587 --> 00:25:49,881
what you young ladies
are thinking about.
500
00:25:49,923 --> 00:25:52,884
I have a hunch that you're
saying, "Lucky colt."
501
00:25:54,219 --> 00:25:56,721
He was now a divorcee.
502
00:25:56,763 --> 00:26:00,517
He was caddying around,
the studio didn't like it.
503
00:26:00,559 --> 00:26:04,229
He finds Nancy, and she's
gonna keep him out of trouble.
504
00:26:04,271 --> 00:26:07,649
And the studio applauds
it, this is the one, right?
505
00:26:07,691 --> 00:26:09,818
And so it's a
business relationship.
506
00:26:09,859 --> 00:26:12,988
upbeat music
507
00:26:13,029 --> 00:26:16,575
When Nancy Davis got
Ronald Reagan to marry her,
508
00:26:16,616 --> 00:26:18,451
and he was really reluctant,
509
00:26:18,493 --> 00:26:22,539
but because they were
pregnant it had to be.
510
00:26:23,707 --> 00:26:27,752
Patti was born seven months
after they got married.
511
00:26:27,794 --> 00:26:31,381
She came out a healthy baby
at seven and a half pounds.
512
00:26:31,423 --> 00:26:35,385
And so it was very,
very hard to pretend,
513
00:26:35,427 --> 00:26:38,722
although Nancy did
try and pretend
514
00:26:38,763 --> 00:26:41,474
that it wasn't a
shotgun marriage.
515
00:26:44,102 --> 00:26:47,564
Part of Nancy's
restructuring of reality
516
00:26:47,606 --> 00:26:51,860
is to say that her daughter
Patti was premature.
517
00:26:52,444 --> 00:26:56,448
She was going to control
as much as she could
518
00:26:56,489 --> 00:27:00,910
of who she was and how she
was presented to the world.
519
00:27:00,952 --> 00:27:01,870
[Interviewer] Aside
from your husband,
520
00:27:01,911 --> 00:27:03,955
who is the man that
you admire most?
521
00:27:03,997 --> 00:27:05,915
[Nancy] My father.
522
00:27:05,957 --> 00:27:07,876
[Interviewer] Do any
women come to mind?
523
00:27:07,917 --> 00:27:11,338
My mother. [laughs]
524
00:27:11,379 --> 00:27:14,841
I'm a family type girl. [laughs]
525
00:27:14,883 --> 00:27:18,136
For the first eight
years of Nancy's life
526
00:27:18,178 --> 00:27:20,930
her mother really
wasn't around that much,
527
00:27:20,972 --> 00:27:24,392
but that didn't fit into
Nancy's fantasy of family.
528
00:27:24,434 --> 00:27:26,811
tense music
529
00:27:27,896 --> 00:27:30,357
Edith Luckett was an actress.
530
00:27:30,940 --> 00:27:36,279
She married an automobile
salesman, had Nancy,
531
00:27:36,321 --> 00:27:40,158
but when Nancy was two
years old, they separated.
532
00:27:40,700 --> 00:27:45,080
Edith went back on stage and
left Nancy with her sister.
533
00:27:51,336 --> 00:27:53,171
Underneath all of that
534
00:27:53,213 --> 00:27:55,840
is the idea that I'm
somebody who can be left.
535
00:27:55,882 --> 00:27:58,635
You know, my own mother
can just leave me.
536
00:27:58,677 --> 00:27:59,969
And that's, you know,
537
00:28:00,011 --> 00:28:03,014
I mean, that's a
deep-seated sort of thing.
538
00:28:03,056 --> 00:28:06,267
[Kitty] There was a social
insecurity about Nancy Reagan
539
00:28:06,309 --> 00:28:09,396
and she herself said
she always felt like
540
00:28:09,437 --> 00:28:11,606
a little girl on the
outside looking in.
541
00:28:16,695 --> 00:28:18,780
[Nancy] Oh, well I didn't
mean to neglect you.
542
00:28:18,822 --> 00:28:21,366
No, I didn't mean
to neglect you.
543
00:28:25,036 --> 00:28:27,747
Eventually, Edith wanted
to find herself a husband
544
00:28:27,789 --> 00:28:29,708
and on a cruise over to Europe,
545
00:28:29,749 --> 00:28:32,168
she ran into Loyal Davis.
546
00:28:32,836 --> 00:28:36,339
She was actually about eight
years older than he was,
547
00:28:36,381 --> 00:28:40,093
but, you know, she wasn't
gonna tell him that. [laughs]
548
00:28:40,135 --> 00:28:41,928
So they became the same age.
549
00:28:43,596 --> 00:28:46,224
Loyal Davis was a
prominent neurosurgeon,
550
00:28:46,266 --> 00:28:49,060
and that gave her a sort of
entrée into a social class
551
00:28:49,102 --> 00:28:51,896
that had been elusive for her.
552
00:28:53,565 --> 00:28:55,567
Women's ambitions in that era
553
00:28:55,608 --> 00:28:58,069
would play out in their
husband's success.
554
00:28:58,111 --> 00:29:01,906
It was really Edith
who made a point of
555
00:29:01,948 --> 00:29:04,284
getting to know
the right people,
556
00:29:04,325 --> 00:29:08,830
setting the path for this
social trajectory in Chicago.
557
00:29:10,457 --> 00:29:13,168
Loyal Davis was a doctor.
558
00:29:13,209 --> 00:29:16,337
Do you know how many
social steps that is
559
00:29:16,379 --> 00:29:19,090
up from the used
car automobile guy?
560
00:29:20,842 --> 00:29:23,511
She was able to
give Nancy a life
561
00:29:23,553 --> 00:29:25,555
that Nancy wouldn't
have had otherwise.
562
00:29:28,641 --> 00:29:31,895
Nancy absolutely loved her
stepfather, Loyal Davis.
563
00:29:32,562 --> 00:29:37,776
They were close, and he
was nut, a right wing nut.
564
00:29:38,777 --> 00:29:43,072
Loyal Davis was
famously conservative,
565
00:29:43,114 --> 00:29:46,701
famously racist and antisemitic,
566
00:29:46,743 --> 00:29:50,622
but also very charming,
smart, and convincing.
567
00:29:51,372 --> 00:29:56,878
The more liberal Reagan is
brought into this social milieu
568
00:29:57,378 --> 00:30:02,300
where they were imbibing Loyal
Davis' conservative views.
569
00:30:06,805 --> 00:30:09,432
He was able to convince
his son-in-law that
570
00:30:09,474 --> 00:30:13,144
Truman's healthcare plan
was socialized medicine.
571
00:30:13,186 --> 00:30:16,731
And that was only one of
many incremental conversions
572
00:30:16,773 --> 00:30:18,983
from left to right
in Reagan's life.
573
00:30:21,861 --> 00:30:24,489
pulsing music
574
00:30:27,742 --> 00:30:28,868
Our story tonight
575
00:30:28,910 --> 00:30:31,329
asks rather a
disturbing question.
576
00:30:31,371 --> 00:30:34,457
How much do you and I
really know about ourselves?
577
00:30:34,499 --> 00:30:36,167
Are we honest, for instance?
578
00:30:36,209 --> 00:30:38,044
It's only because
circumstances have conspired
579
00:30:38,086 --> 00:30:39,963
to keep us honest.
580
00:30:40,004 --> 00:30:41,381
And if circumstances
were to change,
581
00:30:41,422 --> 00:30:43,675
would we also change?
582
00:30:43,716 --> 00:30:47,178
His film career
started to take a dive.
583
00:30:48,221 --> 00:30:52,016
Now a guy with
responsibilities, a divorce,
584
00:30:52,058 --> 00:30:55,687
two kids from that
marriage, soon another,
585
00:30:55,728 --> 00:30:58,773
and then another kid
in his second marriage.
586
00:31:00,733 --> 00:31:04,362
Yet the tax man was still
coming and collecting his due.
587
00:31:04,404 --> 00:31:07,198
[crowd laughing]
588
00:31:09,075 --> 00:31:13,162
And he just began to
feel beleaguered by that.
589
00:31:13,204 --> 00:31:16,374
And I think in a stressful
time in my father's life,
590
00:31:16,416 --> 00:31:18,835
I don't mean to insult him,
591
00:31:18,877 --> 00:31:21,504
but he relied a little
more on low effort thinking
592
00:31:21,546 --> 00:31:23,214
and became a little
more conservative,
593
00:31:23,256 --> 00:31:25,049
much more conservative in fact.
594
00:31:27,260 --> 00:31:31,681
As Ronald Reagan's movie
career is going down the tubes
595
00:31:31,723 --> 00:31:36,686
and he's becoming more and more
involved in union activities
596
00:31:36,853 --> 00:31:39,606
as the President of the
Screen Actors Guild,
597
00:31:39,647 --> 00:31:44,402
he does one gigantic favor
for his agent Lew Wasserman.
598
00:31:46,237 --> 00:31:49,407
He cuts a deal where his agency
599
00:31:49,449 --> 00:31:53,411
could also produce
television programs.
600
00:31:53,453 --> 00:31:56,372
And it's a blatant
conflict of interest.
601
00:31:56,414 --> 00:32:00,043
No agent could wear the two hats
602
00:32:00,084 --> 00:32:02,795
of employee, as an agent,
603
00:32:02,837 --> 00:32:07,759
and employer as a
production company.
604
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,595
And the Screen Actors
Guild did grant a waiver
605
00:32:10,637 --> 00:32:13,389
to this regulation to MCA.
606
00:32:13,431 --> 00:32:17,393
And of course, that was
a quite unprincipled,
607
00:32:17,435 --> 00:32:19,228
wrong thing to do.
608
00:32:19,270 --> 00:32:20,605
[Narrator] It may
have been wrong,
609
00:32:20,647 --> 00:32:22,106
but as Reagan saw it,
610
00:32:22,148 --> 00:32:25,109
what was good for business
was good for everybody.
611
00:32:25,151 --> 00:32:27,111
At least it was good for Reagan.
612
00:32:27,153 --> 00:32:28,947
dramatic music
613
00:32:28,988 --> 00:32:32,450
When in 1954, MCA
launched the flagship
614
00:32:32,492 --> 00:32:35,203
of its television
production empire,
615
00:32:35,244 --> 00:32:36,955
Reagan was named host
616
00:32:36,996 --> 00:32:41,417
and given a contract worth
over $125,000 a year.
617
00:32:42,001 --> 00:32:44,337
I'm Ronald Reagan speaking
for General Electric.
618
00:32:44,379 --> 00:32:47,298
Lew Wasserman was the key there.
619
00:32:47,340 --> 00:32:50,468
He engineered that
generous contract
620
00:32:50,510 --> 00:32:53,012
and there were a lot of people
who were unhappy with it.
621
00:32:54,055 --> 00:32:56,140
The General Electric contract
622
00:32:56,182 --> 00:33:00,478
was financially a very,
very big deal for them.
623
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,481
Also, not to put too
fine a point on it,
624
00:33:03,523 --> 00:33:07,318
GE gave them a GE house.
625
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:08,027
[Reporter] Well, the
Reagans have started
626
00:33:08,069 --> 00:33:09,612
to build their new home,
627
00:33:09,654 --> 00:33:12,490
and their home's going
to have full house power,
628
00:33:12,532 --> 00:33:14,826
so they can live
better electrically.
629
00:33:17,537 --> 00:33:20,915
A very cool mid-century
modern house with, of course,
630
00:33:20,957 --> 00:33:24,002
every electrical gadget
you could possibly
631
00:33:24,043 --> 00:33:25,837
cram into this place.
632
00:33:25,878 --> 00:33:27,338
Behind this picture,
633
00:33:27,380 --> 00:33:30,258
inside here is a projection
machine for home movies.
634
00:33:30,299 --> 00:33:31,509
If we want entertainment...
635
00:33:31,551 --> 00:33:34,429
All we do is flick a switch.
636
00:33:34,470 --> 00:33:36,681
[Ron] There were
lights everywhere.
637
00:33:36,723 --> 00:33:39,267
By turning the knobs
of this dimmer,
638
00:33:39,308 --> 00:33:40,852
we can change the
colors, mix them,
639
00:33:40,893 --> 00:33:42,186
and get different effects.
640
00:33:44,105 --> 00:33:45,857
Eye-catching, isn't it?
641
00:33:45,898 --> 00:33:49,360
Curtains were on this
electrical thing, until it broke
642
00:33:49,402 --> 00:33:52,363
and we just went back
to the usual way.
643
00:33:52,405 --> 00:33:54,073
This is a portable
television set.
644
00:33:54,115 --> 00:33:57,201
Most of the time it's out here
on the patio or by the pool.
645
00:33:57,243 --> 00:33:59,328
With a steady heat,
and the exact timing
646
00:33:59,370 --> 00:34:01,372
of my new automatic skillet,
647
00:34:01,414 --> 00:34:03,791
even a soufflé is
easy and safe to make.
648
00:34:03,833 --> 00:34:06,377
My electric servants
do everything.
649
00:34:06,419 --> 00:34:08,337
That's why every
housewife wants them,
650
00:34:08,379 --> 00:34:11,340
the latest models with
the newest improvements.
651
00:34:11,382 --> 00:34:12,925
Because she knows that
you really begin to live
652
00:34:12,967 --> 00:34:14,635
when you live better...
653
00:34:14,677 --> 00:34:15,845
Electrically.
654
00:34:17,388 --> 00:34:20,808
He was no longer a
grade B movie star.
655
00:34:20,850 --> 00:34:23,644
He became a kind of
living advertisement
656
00:34:23,686 --> 00:34:25,396
for corporate America.
657
00:34:26,606 --> 00:34:29,400
melancholy music
658
00:34:31,194 --> 00:34:32,403
[Ronald] A part of my job now
659
00:34:32,445 --> 00:34:34,739
is, twice a year, going
around the country
660
00:34:34,781 --> 00:34:38,409
to the plant cities, uh,
meeting the employees,
661
00:34:38,451 --> 00:34:40,745
participating in whatever
community functions
662
00:34:40,787 --> 00:34:42,246
are going on in that community
663
00:34:42,288 --> 00:34:44,165
that General Electric
wants to be a part of,
664
00:34:44,207 --> 00:34:46,584
and tries to be a part of.
665
00:34:47,126 --> 00:34:51,589
[Lou] He went to 39 states,
speaking at 138 plants.
666
00:34:53,132 --> 00:34:55,218
He talked to maybe
200,000 people.
667
00:34:58,262 --> 00:35:00,890
He embraces a notion
of the free market
668
00:35:00,932 --> 00:35:02,517
and it's now working,
669
00:35:02,558 --> 00:35:04,727
and we don't want a government
getting in the way of it.
670
00:35:04,769 --> 00:35:06,771
We don't need
government regulation
671
00:35:06,813 --> 00:35:09,982
and there's Ronnie Reagan
ready to take advantage of it.
672
00:35:11,901 --> 00:35:15,279
What he developed was a pro
corporate view of America.
673
00:35:15,321 --> 00:35:18,241
This was really the political
re-education of Reagan.
674
00:35:22,036 --> 00:35:24,080
You have to remember Reagan was
675
00:35:24,122 --> 00:35:26,749
the liberal head
of a labor union.
676
00:35:26,791 --> 00:35:29,210
And a few years later,
677
00:35:29,252 --> 00:35:31,921
he is arguing on GE's behalf
678
00:35:31,963 --> 00:35:33,798
that they don't
need labor unions,
679
00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:36,634
because of course GE didn't
want to be unionized.
680
00:35:39,512 --> 00:35:41,889
He's working for
this big corporation
681
00:35:41,931 --> 00:35:44,308
and of course, now
he's gonna benefit
682
00:35:44,350 --> 00:35:47,103
if he's in an
anti-labor position.
683
00:35:47,145 --> 00:35:49,939
So it was very
convenient for him
684
00:35:49,981 --> 00:35:51,816
to take these positions.
685
00:35:51,858 --> 00:35:53,818
And he was able to
convince himself of that.
686
00:35:55,695 --> 00:35:58,489
thoughtful music
687
00:36:04,287 --> 00:36:07,665
[Narrator] In 1962, after
eight years as GE spokesman
688
00:36:07,707 --> 00:36:09,375
Reagan was fired.
689
00:36:09,417 --> 00:36:11,419
The reasons are unclear,
690
00:36:11,460 --> 00:36:14,046
but at the time,
his producer, MCA,
691
00:36:14,088 --> 00:36:15,840
was facing possible indictment
692
00:36:15,882 --> 00:36:17,717
by the Kennedy
Justice Department
693
00:36:17,758 --> 00:36:19,552
for monopolistic practices.
694
00:36:20,553 --> 00:36:22,638
There was this allegation
695
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:27,310
that his lucrative job
with GE was a kickback
696
00:36:27,351 --> 00:36:30,730
because of the waiver
that he had granted MCA.
697
00:36:35,234 --> 00:36:37,778
I think he really resented
698
00:36:37,820 --> 00:36:40,990
that he was essentially a target
699
00:36:41,032 --> 00:36:43,367
of the Kennedy
Justice Department.
700
00:36:43,409 --> 00:36:46,704
And that was the last
straw that convinced him
701
00:36:46,746 --> 00:36:48,539
to change his
party registration.
702
00:36:51,918 --> 00:36:54,045
Mrs. Reagan, your husband
used to be a Democrat.
703
00:36:54,086 --> 00:36:55,880
As a matter of fact, I
hear that he once wanted
704
00:36:55,922 --> 00:36:58,007
General Eisenhower to run
on the Democratic ticket.
705
00:36:58,049 --> 00:36:59,175
Yes.
706
00:36:59,217 --> 00:37:00,801
[Interviewer] What,
in your opinion,
707
00:37:00,843 --> 00:37:03,888
made him switch from being a
Democrat to being a Republican?
708
00:37:04,931 --> 00:37:07,642
Well, he says that he
didn't leave his party,
709
00:37:07,683 --> 00:37:08,976
his party left him,
710
00:37:09,018 --> 00:37:10,686
that the Democratic
Party of today
711
00:37:10,728 --> 00:37:15,066
is not the Democratic Party
that he joined as a young man.
712
00:37:15,107 --> 00:37:17,735
dramatic music
713
00:37:21,614 --> 00:37:24,367
[crowds jeering]
714
00:37:27,286 --> 00:37:28,621
[gun banging]
715
00:37:28,663 --> 00:37:31,207
There was all of this
demonstration and protest
716
00:37:31,249 --> 00:37:35,086
in the '60s from the
anti-Vietnam War demonstrations,
717
00:37:35,127 --> 00:37:37,546
as well as the civil
rights movement.
718
00:37:38,798 --> 00:37:41,842
There were many different groups
coming forward and saying,
719
00:37:41,884 --> 00:37:44,428
"We want
transformational change."
720
00:37:44,929 --> 00:37:48,516
By saying, "The
Democratic Party left me,"
721
00:37:48,557 --> 00:37:51,018
what Reagan's really saying was,
722
00:37:51,060 --> 00:37:52,603
"You're supposed to be the party
723
00:37:52,645 --> 00:37:54,772
of the hard-working
white people,
724
00:37:54,814 --> 00:37:58,693
and if you are elevating
the rights of others,
725
00:37:58,734 --> 00:38:02,280
you're working
against my interests".
726
00:38:06,909 --> 00:38:10,204
And this was something
that presidential candidate
727
00:38:10,246 --> 00:38:12,123
Barry Goldwater also
believed at that time.
728
00:38:12,164 --> 00:38:17,086
And it was part of the
rising tide of conservatism.
729
00:38:17,712 --> 00:38:21,132
And the Republican Party went
more and more to the right.
730
00:38:21,173 --> 00:38:24,302
Reagan really understood
the big picture.
731
00:38:24,343 --> 00:38:26,887
He knew middle America,
732
00:38:26,929 --> 00:38:29,682
and the principles and
values that he embraced
733
00:38:29,724 --> 00:38:31,976
were conservative
Republican principles.
734
00:38:32,018 --> 00:38:33,477
The Goldwater boom
735
00:38:33,519 --> 00:38:36,439
for the presidential
nomination is well underway.
736
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,607
It's been a long time
since the Republicans
737
00:38:38,649 --> 00:38:41,485
have picked an avowed and
militant conservative,
738
00:38:41,527 --> 00:38:43,154
but then it's been a long time
739
00:38:43,195 --> 00:38:45,281
since they've had anyone
who seems to have made
740
00:38:45,323 --> 00:38:47,658
conservatism as
politically attractive
741
00:38:47,700 --> 00:38:49,618
as Senator Goldwater has.
742
00:38:49,660 --> 00:38:52,913
In 1964 Barry Goldwater's
running for president
743
00:38:52,955 --> 00:38:55,249
as this reactionary.
744
00:38:55,291 --> 00:38:59,420
And one of his surrogates at
the time is Ronald Reagan.
745
00:38:59,462 --> 00:39:01,839
[indistinct conversations]
746
00:39:01,881 --> 00:39:03,632
It's very important
to understand
747
00:39:03,674 --> 00:39:06,761
just how outside of the
mainstream their ideas were.
748
00:39:07,303 --> 00:39:11,432
They really were tilting
against the notion
749
00:39:11,474 --> 00:39:14,769
of the government should
work for regular people.
750
00:39:14,810 --> 00:39:18,314
They were promoting government
should work for big money.
751
00:39:18,356 --> 00:39:21,317
That's a really extreme idea.
752
00:39:23,486 --> 00:39:25,654
So the question is how
you sell an extreme idea
753
00:39:25,696 --> 00:39:26,739
to the American public.
754
00:39:29,575 --> 00:39:33,371
Late in the campaign, and
we're talking October 1964,
755
00:39:33,412 --> 00:39:36,040
Barry Goldwater knew he
was heading for defeat,
756
00:39:36,082 --> 00:39:37,792
but he wanted to
go down fighting.
757
00:39:37,833 --> 00:39:39,126
And they had to
raise some money,
758
00:39:39,168 --> 00:39:41,962
so they had a
national broadcast.
759
00:39:42,004 --> 00:39:45,091
And Goldwater says,
"Get Ronnie to do it."
760
00:39:45,132 --> 00:39:49,178
So Ronald Reagan, whose
star had never shone
761
00:39:49,220 --> 00:39:52,056
all that brightly as an actor,
762
00:39:52,556 --> 00:39:56,560
suddenly was a rookie star
on the political scene.
763
00:39:56,602 --> 00:39:58,646
A sponsor has been identified,
764
00:39:58,687 --> 00:40:00,564
but unlike most
television programs,
765
00:40:00,606 --> 00:40:03,901
the performer hasn't been
provided with a script.
766
00:40:03,943 --> 00:40:05,236
As a matter of fact,
767
00:40:05,277 --> 00:40:06,904
I have been permitted
to choose my own words
768
00:40:06,946 --> 00:40:10,533
and discuss my own ideas
regarding the choice
769
00:40:10,574 --> 00:40:13,077
that we face in
the next few weeks.
770
00:40:13,119 --> 00:40:14,745
Ronald Reagan stepped in
771
00:40:14,787 --> 00:40:16,705
with the "Time for
Choosing" speech,
772
00:40:16,747 --> 00:40:19,834
which explained what
the conservative vision
773
00:40:19,875 --> 00:40:22,336
for the Republican Party was.
774
00:40:22,378 --> 00:40:24,964
The full power of
centralized government,
775
00:40:25,005 --> 00:40:26,257
this was the very thing
776
00:40:26,298 --> 00:40:28,759
the founding fathers
sought to minimize.
777
00:40:28,801 --> 00:40:31,762
They knew that governments
don't control things.
778
00:40:31,804 --> 00:40:33,556
A government can't
control the economy
779
00:40:33,597 --> 00:40:35,766
without controlling people.
780
00:40:35,808 --> 00:40:38,102
And they know when a
government sets out to do that,
781
00:40:38,144 --> 00:40:41,730
it must use force and coercion
to achieve its purpose.
782
00:40:41,772 --> 00:40:43,607
They also knew, those
founding fathers,
783
00:40:43,649 --> 00:40:46,485
that outside of its
legitimate functions,
784
00:40:46,527 --> 00:40:49,780
government does nothing
as well or as economically
785
00:40:49,822 --> 00:40:52,992
as the private sector
of the economy.
786
00:40:53,033 --> 00:40:56,996
To give a speech in 1964 about
the threat of government,
787
00:40:57,037 --> 00:40:58,873
the threat of welfare,
788
00:40:58,914 --> 00:41:02,585
that's the sort of rhetoric
that aims to scare people.
789
00:41:02,626 --> 00:41:05,379
It became a theme
for Ronald Reagan,
790
00:41:05,421 --> 00:41:07,423
and this became the way in which
791
00:41:07,465 --> 00:41:10,259
the Republican
Party recast itself.
792
00:41:10,301 --> 00:41:13,053
You and I have a
rendezvous with destiny.
793
00:41:13,095 --> 00:41:14,972
We'll preserve for our children
794
00:41:15,014 --> 00:41:17,475
this, the last best
hope of man on earth,
795
00:41:17,516 --> 00:41:19,435
or we'll sentence them
to take the last step
796
00:41:19,477 --> 00:41:21,645
into a thousand
years of darkness.
797
00:41:21,687 --> 00:41:23,147
We will keep them in mind
798
00:41:23,189 --> 00:41:26,609
and remember that Barry
Goldwater has faith in us.
799
00:41:26,650 --> 00:41:29,487
He has faith that you
and I have the ability
800
00:41:29,528 --> 00:41:33,616
and the dignity, and the right
to make our own decisions
801
00:41:33,657 --> 00:41:35,868
and determine our own destiny.
802
00:41:35,910 --> 00:41:36,952
Thank you very much.
803
00:41:36,994 --> 00:41:39,663
[crowd clapping]
804
00:41:45,377 --> 00:41:48,214
He gives this speech
and the phones light up
805
00:41:48,255 --> 00:41:49,673
and the money pours in.
806
00:41:50,758 --> 00:41:53,677
And some people noticed.
807
00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:55,846
[Reporter] Henry Salvatori,
President of a group called
808
00:41:55,888 --> 00:41:58,015
the Anti-Communist
Voters League,
809
00:41:58,057 --> 00:41:59,683
a millionaire from
the oil industry
810
00:41:59,725 --> 00:42:01,685
and a prominent
backer of Goldwater,
811
00:42:01,727 --> 00:42:03,812
told Bill Styles
what happened next.
812
00:42:03,854 --> 00:42:06,690
He made his talk on national TV,
813
00:42:06,732 --> 00:42:10,361
which just was received
throughout the nation
814
00:42:10,402 --> 00:42:12,112
with tremendous enthusiasm
815
00:42:12,154 --> 00:42:15,032
and resulted in
millions of dollars
816
00:42:15,074 --> 00:42:16,992
coming into the campaign.
817
00:42:17,034 --> 00:42:20,412
So we knew that
he had a terrific
818
00:42:22,081 --> 00:42:24,124
capacity to move people.
819
00:42:24,166 --> 00:42:27,044
And shortly after
the Goldwater defeat,
820
00:42:27,086 --> 00:42:29,338
three or four of
us got together,
821
00:42:29,380 --> 00:42:33,384
and we decided that we
had to look for someone
822
00:42:33,425 --> 00:42:35,511
who had the qualifications
823
00:42:35,553 --> 00:42:38,931
that would make him an
electable candidate.
824
00:42:38,973 --> 00:42:41,934
And Ronnie Reagan was
the man we all agreed
825
00:42:41,976 --> 00:42:44,061
would be that particular fella.
826
00:42:45,604 --> 00:42:48,232
This group of
California millionaires,
827
00:42:48,274 --> 00:42:51,777
Justin Dart, Holmes Tuttle,
Alfred Bloomingdale,
828
00:42:51,819 --> 00:42:53,696
what they call the
Kitchen Cabinet,
829
00:42:53,737 --> 00:42:55,531
they needed somebody
who could sell
830
00:42:55,573 --> 00:42:59,743
their free market
ideology, sell their idea
831
00:42:59,785 --> 00:43:01,912
of getting the government
out of their lives,
832
00:43:01,954 --> 00:43:06,625
whether that was lower
taxes or less regulation.
833
00:43:08,377 --> 00:43:11,005
They also had a
common cause with
834
00:43:11,046 --> 00:43:14,300
anti-communism,
anti-civil rights.
835
00:43:14,967 --> 00:43:20,347
And they found in this actor
the perfect front man for them.
836
00:43:20,639 --> 00:43:22,099
[Reporter] Have you
seen my old friend,
837
00:43:22,141 --> 00:43:23,934
Henry Salvatori lately?
838
00:43:25,477 --> 00:43:28,272
I talked to him, uh, Thursday.
839
00:43:28,314 --> 00:43:31,191
tense music
840
00:43:31,233 --> 00:43:34,570
They sat down in '65
with Stu Spencer.
841
00:43:34,612 --> 00:43:36,071
And they said to Stu,
842
00:43:36,113 --> 00:43:38,782
"How much would it cost to
run a gubernatorial campaign?"
843
00:43:38,824 --> 00:43:39,908
And Stu says, "I don't
know, I've never won one".
844
00:43:39,950 --> 00:43:42,286
He said, "$2.5, $3
million, I don't know,
845
00:43:42,328 --> 00:43:44,079
say $2.5 million".
846
00:43:44,121 --> 00:43:45,414
And Holmes said,
"Well, gentlemen,
847
00:43:45,456 --> 00:43:46,999
there's 10 of you here.
848
00:43:47,041 --> 00:43:49,084
it's gonna be the most
expensive lunch you ever had.
849
00:43:49,126 --> 00:43:51,295
Pull out the checkbooks,
850
00:43:51,337 --> 00:43:52,963
and write out checks
for $2.5 million".
851
00:43:53,005 --> 00:43:54,256
[Reporter] The election campaign
852
00:43:54,298 --> 00:43:56,258
was run by a political
consulting firm
853
00:43:56,300 --> 00:43:57,343
known as Spencer Roberts.
854
00:43:59,887 --> 00:44:02,056
We were not ideologues.
855
00:44:02,514 --> 00:44:07,186
Our criterion was good
human being, smart,
856
00:44:07,227 --> 00:44:10,481
not too many
scandals, that was it.
857
00:44:10,522 --> 00:44:12,316
And our next meeting
was with Reagan.
858
00:44:15,819 --> 00:44:18,822
People don't understand
what a big gamble it was,
859
00:44:18,864 --> 00:44:21,492
but the guy had
something that we liked,
860
00:44:21,533 --> 00:44:25,829
freshness, articulation,
a belief system.
861
00:44:25,871 --> 00:44:28,207
We said, "You know,
this is, maybe the guy."
862
00:44:30,292 --> 00:44:33,003
As of now, I am a candidate
863
00:44:33,045 --> 00:44:35,172
seeking the Republican
nomination for governor.
864
00:44:37,216 --> 00:44:39,134
[Narrator] To coach Reagan,
Spencer hired a team
865
00:44:39,176 --> 00:44:41,011
of behavioral scientists.
866
00:44:43,222 --> 00:44:45,474
Through his actoral training,
867
00:44:45,516 --> 00:44:47,601
he was used to working
off of cue cards.
868
00:44:47,643 --> 00:44:50,813
So what we did was take
five-by-eight cards,
869
00:44:50,854 --> 00:44:54,983
organize them into a
total of 13 black books
870
00:44:55,025 --> 00:44:56,735
on 17 issues of California.
871
00:44:56,777 --> 00:44:59,405
And it was amazing how he
would take all of them,
872
00:44:59,446 --> 00:45:01,532
not miss anything that we said
873
00:45:01,573 --> 00:45:02,741
and click the things off
[fingers clicking]
874
00:45:02,783 --> 00:45:04,034
like that, one, two, three.
875
00:45:05,744 --> 00:45:06,745
Now, would there be anyone here
876
00:45:06,787 --> 00:45:07,913
who would want to
make a bet that
877
00:45:07,955 --> 00:45:09,957
somebody isn't cooking
up two budgets,
878
00:45:09,998 --> 00:45:12,960
depending on who's going
to wind up governor?
879
00:45:13,001 --> 00:45:16,213
The interesting part
of those meetings,
880
00:45:16,255 --> 00:45:19,007
we were in the living room of
their home in the Palisades
881
00:45:19,049 --> 00:45:23,721
and over there is sitting
Nancy Reagan with the big eyes.
882
00:45:24,221 --> 00:45:28,350
She was very alert
and she was absorbing.
883
00:45:30,769 --> 00:45:32,896
It was politics 101 for her.
884
00:45:32,938 --> 00:45:36,233
She had no idea what her
husband was getting into.
885
00:45:37,526 --> 00:45:39,528
She didn't care about politics.
886
00:45:39,570 --> 00:45:41,405
She didn't have a
political ideology.
887
00:45:41,447 --> 00:45:43,073
She just wanted to help him.
888
00:45:43,115 --> 00:45:44,700
Whatever was good for him,
889
00:45:44,742 --> 00:45:46,577
that's what she was
gonna be promoting.
890
00:45:46,618 --> 00:45:48,412
[Reporter] How do you feel
about that, Mrs. Reagan?
891
00:45:48,454 --> 00:45:51,248
I agree with everything he
says, I always do. [laughs]
892
00:45:51,290 --> 00:45:56,336
There is absolutely no
question that Nancy Reagan
893
00:45:56,503 --> 00:46:00,549
worked socially to help
her husband politically.
894
00:46:00,591 --> 00:46:02,634
She had seen her mother do it.
895
00:46:02,676 --> 00:46:05,971
She knew how effective it was.
896
00:46:06,013 --> 00:46:08,265
They had such a partnership
897
00:46:08,307 --> 00:46:11,810
that he couldn't have been
who he was without her.
898
00:46:14,563 --> 00:46:18,942
The Kitchen Cabinet wives
ran their social lives.
899
00:46:18,984 --> 00:46:22,321
And Nancy connected
with these women,
900
00:46:22,362 --> 00:46:26,450
in some cases became very
close friends with them.
901
00:46:26,492 --> 00:46:28,285
bright music
902
00:46:28,327 --> 00:46:30,037
[Narrator] With her
friend Betsy Bloomingdale,
903
00:46:30,078 --> 00:46:32,456
Nancy Reagan took a
drive out to Lake Malibu
904
00:46:32,498 --> 00:46:33,457
and the Reagan ranch.
905
00:46:35,667 --> 00:46:36,627
Right here.
906
00:46:38,587 --> 00:46:40,047
All my fences need painting.
907
00:46:41,256 --> 00:46:43,050
I really did paint all these,
908
00:46:44,009 --> 00:46:46,762
and Ronnie really
did build them all.
909
00:46:46,804 --> 00:46:49,389
My parents were never
very wealthy, really.
910
00:46:51,183 --> 00:46:53,894
You know, they had this house
because GE built it for them.
911
00:46:53,936 --> 00:46:54,812
[Nancy] You know what I need?
912
00:46:54,853 --> 00:46:56,396
I need some kibble for the dog.
913
00:46:56,438 --> 00:46:58,315
[Shop Worker] A 25-pound bag?
914
00:46:58,357 --> 00:47:01,068
[Ron] But a lot of these
other people like Justin Dart
915
00:47:01,109 --> 00:47:03,111
and, you know, and the
Bloomingdales and all,
916
00:47:03,153 --> 00:47:05,447
these were people who
had a lot of money.
917
00:47:05,489 --> 00:47:06,573
[Nancy] You know what, Al?
918
00:47:06,615 --> 00:47:07,699
Name it.
919
00:47:07,741 --> 00:47:08,951
I haven't got any
money. [Laughs]
920
00:47:08,992 --> 00:47:09,827
[Shop Worker] Sign that.
921
00:47:13,872 --> 00:47:16,041
Appearances are important.
922
00:47:16,083 --> 00:47:19,336
They were paramount
to the Reagans,
923
00:47:19,378 --> 00:47:22,130
and they lived a moneyed life.
924
00:47:22,172 --> 00:47:26,093
But she really got concerned
and she called Holmes Tuttle,
925
00:47:26,134 --> 00:47:29,930
and she cried several
times and said,
926
00:47:29,972 --> 00:47:32,266
"Ronnie and I can't
afford to do this."
927
00:47:32,307 --> 00:47:35,102
And Holmes Tuttle
reassured her and said,
928
00:47:35,143 --> 00:47:38,397
"Don't worry, there's
private money."
929
00:47:38,438 --> 00:47:40,524
And you know, he was right.
930
00:47:40,566 --> 00:47:43,277
They didn't have to worry
from that point forward.
931
00:47:45,070 --> 00:47:46,864
[Reporter] Here she is
in the Galanos showroom,
932
00:47:46,905 --> 00:47:48,866
picking out some clothes.
933
00:47:48,907 --> 00:47:52,035
The only thing she loves
better than picking them out
934
00:47:52,077 --> 00:47:53,537
is wearing them.
935
00:47:53,579 --> 00:47:54,371
That's pretty,
936
00:47:55,664 --> 00:47:57,082
I'd like that in another color.
937
00:48:00,085 --> 00:48:03,589
Don't need a gray dress, but
I'd like it in another color.
938
00:48:03,630 --> 00:48:04,590
[Male] So, you're
gonna have to tell me
939
00:48:04,631 --> 00:48:06,216
what you're gonna
need for the fall.
940
00:48:06,884 --> 00:48:10,053
And then we can work a plan,
it's a little difficult
941
00:48:10,095 --> 00:48:12,431
right at this moment, until
I know exactly what you want.
942
00:48:12,472 --> 00:48:15,225
[Nancy] Oh, look,
red. [laughing]
943
00:48:15,267 --> 00:48:18,437
tense rapid music
944
00:48:19,021 --> 00:48:23,358
Any campaign, you're
looking for some thematic.
945
00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:26,737
We were sitting around one
day, two or three top people.
946
00:48:27,279 --> 00:48:31,241
And one of them was a
preacher who came from Texas.
947
00:48:31,283 --> 00:48:36,246
This guy knew people, and his
business is screwing people.
948
00:48:36,538 --> 00:48:40,542
He had a lot of money
in the name of the Lord.
949
00:48:40,584 --> 00:48:44,087
That guy says, sitting
next to me, he says,
950
00:48:44,129 --> 00:48:46,298
"How about citizen politician?"
951
00:48:47,299 --> 00:48:49,176
And I looked at him,
I said, "You got it."
952
00:48:50,135 --> 00:48:51,929
That's where it came from.
953
00:48:51,970 --> 00:48:54,598
[Reporter] Reagan's campaign
as a citizen politician
954
00:48:54,640 --> 00:48:56,767
with common sense
answers to problems
955
00:48:56,808 --> 00:48:59,311
has enormous appeal
in California.
956
00:49:00,437 --> 00:49:02,272
The people have a
definite feeling
957
00:49:02,314 --> 00:49:04,274
that maybe they'd like a change
958
00:49:04,316 --> 00:49:06,985
from the professional
politician.
959
00:49:07,027 --> 00:49:10,864
By that time he's been
on camera for 29 years.
960
00:49:13,325 --> 00:49:18,288
He fuses these two worlds,
image-making and politics.
961
00:49:18,455 --> 00:49:20,791
[Reporter] At age
61, Governor Brown
962
00:49:20,832 --> 00:49:23,669
is trying for an almost
unprecedented third term.
963
00:49:23,710 --> 00:49:26,088
That is his biggest liability.
964
00:49:26,129 --> 00:49:27,923
Brown has a good
record as Governor,
965
00:49:27,965 --> 00:49:29,883
but after eight years in office
966
00:49:29,925 --> 00:49:32,135
he has become a focal
point for discontent.
967
00:49:34,888 --> 00:49:39,977
Sacramento was seen as
being a corrupt place.
968
00:49:40,018 --> 00:49:43,605
So I think that the movie
that Reagan has in his mind
969
00:49:43,647 --> 00:49:46,024
is "Mr. Smith Goes
to Washington".
970
00:49:46,066 --> 00:49:48,276
It's about an outsider
971
00:49:48,318 --> 00:49:50,654
who represents
a breath of fresh air.
972
00:49:50,696 --> 00:49:53,115
I don't think I'm gonna
be much help to you
973
00:49:53,156 --> 00:49:54,491
down there in
Washington, Senator.
974
00:49:54,533 --> 00:49:56,118
[audience laughing]
975
00:49:56,159 --> 00:49:59,955
I'll do my best
with all my might.
976
00:49:59,997 --> 00:50:03,500
Reagan absorbed himself
into that role completely.
977
00:50:03,542 --> 00:50:06,336
And he believes in
the myths that are
978
00:50:06,378 --> 00:50:09,339
at the root of these characters.
979
00:50:09,381 --> 00:50:11,174
I'm a citizen, I'm
not an office holder,
980
00:50:11,216 --> 00:50:13,176
or a party official.
981
00:50:13,218 --> 00:50:15,929
And I have gone wherever
I've been asked to.
982
00:50:15,971 --> 00:50:17,848
I'll make a speech at a bus stop
983
00:50:17,889 --> 00:50:19,933
if enough people are waiting.
984
00:50:19,975 --> 00:50:21,810
Reagan played the voiceover
985
00:50:21,852 --> 00:50:26,231
for the myth of Good Guy
America, and it worked.
986
00:50:28,734 --> 00:50:31,486
[Reporter] Can Governor
Brown stop Ronald Reagan?
987
00:50:31,528 --> 00:50:34,865
Will California turn to a
Republican governor this year,
988
00:50:34,906 --> 00:50:37,868
or will it continue
with Democrat Pat Brown?
989
00:50:41,288 --> 00:50:43,498
It looks now, at
this early day, like
990
00:50:44,958 --> 00:50:47,878
Mr. Reagan has
won this campaign.
991
00:50:47,919 --> 00:50:50,714
[crowds cheering]
992
00:50:53,717 --> 00:50:56,178
bright music
993
00:51:02,642 --> 00:51:07,147
His story was one of
a hero in his mind.
994
00:51:07,189 --> 00:51:09,066
Playing a politician, though,
995
00:51:09,107 --> 00:51:10,317
he got to be that hero.
996
00:51:12,861 --> 00:51:15,781
He could do that by having
wealthy, powerful friends,
997
00:51:18,700 --> 00:51:23,038
but he had always depended
on my mother to be his rock.
998
00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:25,749
She knew he was an
actor at his core,
999
00:51:25,791 --> 00:51:27,626
so she would give
him encouragement.
1000
00:51:30,128 --> 00:51:31,838
She was a strong woman.
1001
00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:34,424
Presented herself
as the little lady,
1002
00:51:34,466 --> 00:51:37,928
but she became a very
much more powerful force
1003
00:51:37,969 --> 00:51:39,096
behind the scenes.
1004
00:51:43,642 --> 00:51:44,768
He lived in a world,
1005
00:51:47,312 --> 00:51:50,440
he didn't need you or me.
1006
00:51:50,482 --> 00:51:52,567
He needed Nancy.
1007
00:51:52,609 --> 00:51:56,822
He would not have got elected
governor without Nancy,
1008
00:51:56,863 --> 00:51:58,698
or president without Nancy.
1009
00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:04,412
And I don't find anybody
as close as those two were.
1010
00:52:07,332 --> 00:52:09,334
That's the sort of thing
you don't mess with.
1011
00:52:18,510 --> 00:52:23,306
[Pilot] 727 transit flight to
Sacramento, our state capital.
1012
00:52:23,348 --> 00:52:24,724
enchanting music
1013
00:52:24,766 --> 00:52:26,226
[airplane engines roaring]
1014
00:52:26,268 --> 00:52:27,477
[Reporter] This charming woman
1015
00:52:27,519 --> 00:52:30,063
flying over the land she loves,
1016
00:52:30,105 --> 00:52:33,650
no longer gets mail meant for
three other Nancy Davises.
1017
00:52:33,692 --> 00:52:36,611
She long ago left the
world of the Nancy Davises.
1018
00:52:36,653 --> 00:52:39,656
She's now the one and
only Nancy Reagan,
1019
00:52:39,698 --> 00:52:41,324
First Lady of California.
1020
00:52:44,703 --> 00:52:47,706
[Nancy] California,
what a wonderful state.
1021
00:52:47,747 --> 00:52:50,709
I think if I had to choose the
one thing that I love best,
1022
00:52:50,750 --> 00:52:53,295
it would be the place in a
state where there's water.
1023
00:52:53,336 --> 00:52:55,547
The lakes are lovely of course,
1024
00:52:55,589 --> 00:52:57,007
but there's nothing in the
world like the beaches.
1025
00:52:57,048 --> 00:52:59,759
[waves crashing]
1026
00:53:01,219 --> 00:53:03,471
Call me sentimental
if you want to,
1027
00:53:03,513 --> 00:53:05,307
but the song says it all
1028
00:53:05,348 --> 00:53:08,435
and I still get a lump in
my throat when I hear it,
1029
00:53:08,476 --> 00:53:12,147
"America the beautiful,
from sea to shining sea."
1030
00:53:13,231 --> 00:53:16,109
sentimental music
1031
00:53:29,915 --> 00:53:35,962
tense rapid music