It was a speech: Author interview with Hertzberg.
He told Hertzberg: Speechwriters OH, 11.
“In a press conference”: Draft A-3 of Kennedy Library speech, with Carter edits, October 16, 1979, “10/20/79—Remarks—Dedication of Kennedy Library, Boston, MA [2]” folder, Speechwriters, Chron. File, Jimmy Carter Library.
“I wish I’d put that”: Author interview with Hertzberg.
On February 26, 1980: Adam Clymer, “Reagan Easily Defeats Bush and Baker in New Hampshire,” New York Times, February 27, 1980.
“We won with”: Author interview with Nesmith.
“As the first major”: Hendrick Smith, “Key Victories for Favorites; Carter and Reagan Gain Formidable Advantages,” New York Times, March 19, 1980.
Hertzberg was jarred awake: The account of the failed hostage rescue is drawn from Hertzberg diary and Hertzberg, Politics, 67–68.
“In reality”: Hertzberg, Politics, 138.
“a great man”: Ibid.
“All the political dinners”: Speechwriters OH, 92.
“Chris is no Sorensen”: Rick Hertzberg memo to Alonzo McDonald, October 4, 1979, “Administrative File—1979, MM, 9/1/79–12/31/79” folder, Speechwriters, Admin. File, Jimmy Carter Library.
They would send: Speechwriters OH, 92.
“We write the words”: Rick Hertzberg memo to Hamilton Jordan, October 1, 1980, “Oct
–3, 1980” folder, Donated Historical Materials, Hertzberg Collection, Chron. Files, Jimmy Carter Library.
The final: New York Times: Adam Clymer, “Reagan and Carter Stand Nearly Even in Last Polls,” New York Times, November 3, 1980.
“There was no longer”: Speechwriters OH, 101–02.
It was, Stewart recalled: Author interview with Stewart.
“Rick—not bad”: Hertzberg, Politics, 138.
9. THE MUSKETEERS
He drew lines: Author interview with Landon Parvin.
When a sentence: Speech cards for first inaugural, White House Office of Records Management (hereafter WHORM): SP100 begin-01299, Ronald Reagan Library.
Reagan had handed: Richard Reeves, President Reagan: Triumph of Imagination (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005, cited hereafter as Reeves), 4.
He wanted themes: Lou Cannon, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (New York: Touchstone, 1992, cited hereafter, as Cannon), 97.
“This ceremony itself”: Reeves, 4–5.
“As God watches over us”: Cannon, 97.
“My Pledge”: Ibid., 98.
When Khachigian asked: Ibid., 99.
His edits tightened: Speech cards for first inaugural, WHORM: SP100 begin-01299, Ronald Reagan Library.
“Ronald Reagan has a sense”: Cannon, 99–100.
where they would remain undisturbed: The inaugural file at the Ronald Reagan Library has a letter dated January 29, 1985, saying: “Attached are the speech cards from the 1981 Inaugural address. They were in the President’s Bible.” (January 29, 1985, note to David regarding the cards, WHORM: SP100 begin-01299, Ronald Reagan Library.)
It was a working weekend: Ronald Reagan, The Reagan Diaries (New York: HarperCollins, 2007), 4. Reagan’s handwritten draft is dated February 14, while in his diary he specifies working on it on February 15 (he describes his February 14 activities as “desk work”).
Writing in his rounded, cramped: Reagan handwritten draft, February 14, 1981, “Address to Joint Session/Economy/(Khachigian) 02/18/1981 Chronological Drafts Final” folders, Speechwriting, White House Office of: Speech Drafts, 1981–1989, Ronald Reagan Library.
“We will fill in”: Ken Khachigian memo to Ronald Reagan with Reagan notation, and attached draft, February 17, 1981, “Address to Joint Session/Economy/(Khachigian)
/18/1981 Chronological Draft Final” folders, Speechwriting, White House Office of: Speech Drafts, 1981–1989, Ronald Reagan Library.
“This was the big night”: Reagan Diaries, 5.
In the senior staff meeting: Handwritten note marked “Senior Staff,” “Senior Staff Meetings [Notes] (January 1981–March 1981)” folder, Khachigian, Kenneth L.: Files, 1981, Ronald Reagan Library.
The following day: Cannon, 118.
“I can still see it all”: Author interview with Mari Maseng-Will.
“It’s time for Ken to go away”: Invitation to Ken Khachigian farewell, “Ken Khachigian File,” Dolan, Anthony “Tony” R.: Files, 1981–1989, Ronald Reagan Library.
In mid-June: David Gergen, Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 179.
Gergen had helped: Ibid., 163.
“Reagan-bopper”: Author interview with Anthony Dolan.
“Join the SDS”: Peter Robinson, How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life (New York: HarperCollins, 2003), 212.
“industrial cigar-haze”: Author interview with Parvin.
“Tony was able to flesh out”: Author interview with Josh Gilder.
“We considered ourselves”: Author interview with Dana Rohrabacher.
“We took periodic heat”: Gergen, Eyewitness, 242.
“the wild-eyed, mean dog”: Juan Williams, “Writers of Speeches for President Claim Force Is with Him,” Washington Post, March 29, 1983.
the senior staff often tried: Landon Parvin, oral history exit interview, November 23, 1983, Ronald Reagan Library.
The State and Defense department had each: Cannon, 302.
the senior staff in October had asked: Aram Bakshian oral history interview, University of Virginia, Miller Center of Public Affairs, January 14, 2002, 57–58.
“Today was the big day”: Reagan Diaries, 50.
“West Europeans Are Enthusiastic”: John Vinocur, “West Europeans Are Enthusiastic,” New York Times, November 19, 1981.
“In the Reagan administration”: Author interview with Dolan.
A Californian: Robinson, How Ronald Reagan, 213.
and had worked as a press aide: William Ken Muir, The Bully Pulpit: The Presidential Leadership of Ronald Reagan (San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary Studies, 1992), 30.
He would walk: Author interview with Peter Robinson; Robinson, How Ronald Reagan, 213.
Another time he brought: Author interview with Maseng-Will.
“very much a flower child”: Author interview with Dolan.
“He once merged”: Bakshian UVA OH, 33.
“The amusing thing”: Author interview with Robinson.
He was central casting’s idea: Muir, Bully Pulpit, 23.
“bleeding heart conservative”: Peggy Noonan, What I Saw at the Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era (New York: Random House, 2003), 34.
“Green Beret in the Reagan Revolution”: Gerald M. Boyd, “Hot and Angry Words from the Wordsmiths,” New York Times, June 12, 1986.
An ardent proponent: Muir, Bully Pulpit, 23.
“You know what I think?”: Author interview with Bentley Elliot.
He was orderly and precise: Author interview with Parvin.
Bakshian refused to give up: Author interview with Bakshian.
“spiced his words”: Author interview with Elliott.
“That was a pleasant discovery”: Aram Bakshian, oral history exit interview, August 9, 1983, Ronald Reagan Library.
In his office in the old: Author interview with Bakshian.
An Air Florida 737: David Shribman, “A Deafening Roar and Then Icy Silence,” New York Times, January 14, 1982.
“It just made sense”: Author interview with Bakshian. Dolan disputes Bakshian’s account. He recalls the idea for including Skutnik coming from either himself or an aide to Elizabeth Dole, the director of public liaison, as a mass editing session of the speech was breaking up. Skutnik first appears in a January 22 State of the Union draft marked as having been edited by Bakshian. Dolan maintains that this was an edit of a draft that already had Skutnik. Separate Dolan-only January 22 drafts do not have Skutnik. (Author interview with Dolan; drafts in WHORM SP 230-82 057188-057211 and Dolan’s fil
es at the Reagan Library.)
“The best thing”: Author interview with Bakshian.
“I wonder if I’ll ever”: Reagan Diaries, 65.
“tried to return”: Aram Bakshian memo to the president and draft of speech to Parliament, May 14, 1982, “Address to Parliament: ‘The Future of Freedom’ (Bakshian) 06/08/1982” folders, Speechwriting, White House Office of: Speech Drafts, 1981–89, Ronald Reagan Library.
the president was unhappy: “Ash Heap of History: President Reagan’s Westminster Address 20 Years Later,” speech by Anthony Dolan at the Heritage Foundation, June 3, 2002; text available online at www.reagansheritage.org/html/reagan_panel_dolan.shtml.
Dolan’s ongoing feuds: Author interview with Dolan.
“in the councils”: Draft of speech with Reagan edits, “Address to Parliament: ‘The Future of Freedom’ (Bakshian) 06/08/1982” folders, Speechwriting, White House Office of: Speech Drafts, 1981–89, Ronald Reagan Library.
“The reason Reagan”: Author interview with Dolan.
He viewed the job: Muir, Bully Pulpit, 78.
Oh, replied Dolan: Author interview with Dolan.
one of “democracy’s shrines”: Speech insert with 3 pm note from Bill Clark, “Address to Parliament: ‘The Future of Freedom’ (Bakshian) 06/08/1982” folders, Speechwriting, White House Office of: Speech Drafts, 1981–1989, Ronald Reagan Library.
“regimes planted by bayonets”: Michael Waldman, My Fellow Americans: The Most Important Speeches of America’s Presidents, From George Washington to George W. Bush (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks media Fusion, 2003), 252.
“Soviet Says”: John F. Burns, “Soviet Says Crusade by Reagan May Risk Global Catastrophe,” New York Times, June 10, 1982.
“It was a bad week”: “In Moscow, Maybes Amid the Nos,” Time, June 21, 1982.
Reading the “indignant cables”: Dolan, “Ash Heap of History: President Reagan’s Westminster Address 20 Years Later.”
including the National Council of Churches: Frank Warner, “The Battle of Evil Empire” (originally “New World Order”) The Morning Call, March 5, 2000.
the Synagogue Council of America had: Francis X. Clines, “Reagan Denounces Ideology of Soviet as ‘Focus of Evil,’” New York Times, March 9, 1983.
“on the B-list”: Bakshian UVA OH, 47.
Dolan and Rohrabacher went: Warner, “The Battle of Evil Empire.”
“The human conscience”: Muir, Bully Pulpit, 78.
Back came the Soviet Union: Draft of National Association of Evangelicals address with president’s edits, March 5, 1983, Ronald Reagan Library.
“the State Department would have”: Author interview with Bakshian.
“Bud, we’ve got to go over this”: Gergen, Eyewitness, 242–43.
“on orders of the West Wing”: Author interview with Dolan.
“Reagan Denounces Ideology”: Clines, “Reagan Denounces Ideology of Soviet as ‘Focus of Evil.’”
This was not mere good luck: Author interview with Dolan.
“What is the world to think”: Anthony Lewis, “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” New York Times, March 10, 1983.
“The president has every right”: Bill Peterson, “Reagan’s Use of Moral Language to Explain Policies Draws Fire,” Washington Post, March 23, 1983.
“not presidential”: Williams, “Writers of Speeches for President Claim Force Is with Him.”
“The President knows”: Ibid.
“I hate to admit it”: Gergen, Eyewitness, 242–43.
“Out of it came”: Reagan Diaries, 130.
Some friends dated the wish: Reeves, 141–42.
“Let’s do it”: Cannon, 326–31.
“lunacy”: Ibid., 331.
“We’ve got to take this out!”: Reeves, 143.
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger: Cannon, 332.
“Much of it was to change”: Reagan Diaries, 139.
“I guess it was O.K.”: Ibid., 139–40.
“The Reagan White House was”: Except where noted, the account of Reagan’s talk with the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs comes from the author’s interview with Maseng-Will.
“There’s going to be girls”: Ibid.
Usually when he spoke: Steven R. Weisman, “Reagan’s Joke Sours His Apology to Women,” New York Times, August 4, 1983.
“very degrading”: Ibid.
the businesswomen were “wonderful”: Reagan Diaries, 172.
He did not want to be: Bakshian exit interview.
“There were many tussles”: Author interview with Elliott.
“When Aram Bakshian left”: Dave Gergen memo to Jim Baker and Mike Deaver, October 18, 1983, “[White House Staff Memoranda] Communications (1)” Baker, James A. III: Files, 1981–1985, Ronald Reagan Library.
“Everyone in the White House”: Author interview with Maseng-Will.
They were also aided: Author interview with Elliott.
Peggy Noonan was at work: Peggy Noonan, oral history exit interview, June 18, 1986, Ronald Reagan Library.
A partisan stuck: Noonan, What I Saw, 32–33.
She would keep it: Noonan exit interview.
“I guess everyone gets a president”: Noonan, What I Saw, 34.
“tall and blonde”: Muir, Bully Pulpit, 26.
“a personality that’s larger”: Author interview with Maseng-Will.
“The rub is”: Ben Elliott memo to the president, February 23, 1984, Darman, Richard G.: Files, 1981–1984, Box 2, Ronald Reagan Library.
Noonan got the formal offer: Noonan exit interview.
“I wasn’t sure why”: Ben Elliott memo to Michael K. Deaver, March 16, 1984, Darman, Richard G.: Files, 1981–1984, Box 2, Ronald Reagan Library.
Deaver had a good relationship: Cannon, 53, 433.
she had opposed Noonan’s hiring: Richard Darman, Who’s in Control? Polar Poltics and the Sensible Center (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), 191.
Noonan started at the White House: Noonan exit interview.
“It was a wonderful paradox”: Author interview with Dolan.
He huddled: Anthony R. Dolan memo to Richard Darman, undated, Darman, Richard G.: Files, 1981–1984, Box 2, Ronald Reagan Library.
“After that”: Author interview with Dolan.
“I hired you to write”: Noonan, What I Saw, 83.
“a little paralyzed”: Noonan exit interview.
a condition not helped: Noonan, What I Saw, 84.
She paced: Ibid., 84–85.
It took fifteen drafts: Noonan exit interview.
By Noonan’s estimate: Noonan, What I Saw, 75.
“like sending a beautiful”: Ibid., 76.
“It was really awful”: Noonan exit interview.
“It was controversial”: Muir, Bully Pulpit, 37.
The “boom” of the cannon: Noonan, What I Saw, 88–89.
“I have not incorporated”: Peggy Noonan memo to Ben Elliott, May 30, 1984, “Pointe du Hoc Address, Normandy, 06/06/1984 (Noonan)(White) (1)(2)” folders, Speechwriting, White House Office of: Speech Drafts, 1981–89, Ronald Reagan Library.
She and Bud McFarlane: Noonan, What I Saw, 90.
“I prefer ‘borne’”: Peggy Noonan memo to Ben Elliott, May 30, 1984, “Pointe du Hoc Address, Normandy, 06/06/1984 (Noonan)(White) (1)(2)” folders, Speechwriting, White House Office of: Speech Drafts, 1981–89, Ronald Reagan Library.
“But they’ll be there”: Noonan, What I Saw, 86–87.
There had been a fight: Cannon, 483.
Sitting in her New York apartment: Noonan exit interview.
“You know, a while ago”: Noonan, What I Saw, 66–67.
“The senior staff”: Author interview with Rohrabacher.
“Listen”: Noonan, What I Saw, 230.
“The single greatest mistake”: Anthony R. Dolan memo to Donald Regan, January 14, 1985, Ronald Reagan Files, Ronald Reagan Library.
and then spent two years studying: Robinson, How Ronald Reagan, 9.
>
He was an unlikely Reaganaut: Author interview with Gilder.
“When you’re writing”: Robinson, How Ronald Reagan, 64.
Gilder’s first assignment: Author interview with Gilder.
“You pretty quickly understood”: Ibid.
“Speeches could be yanked”: Author interview with Dolan.
Surrounding Regan were: Walter Shapiro, with Margaret Garrard Warner and Thomas M. DeFrank, “Of Mice and Metaphors,” Newsweek, February 1, 1986.
Noonan and Elliott wanted his speech: Muir, Bully Pulpit, 95–96.
“One of the things”: Noonan exit interview.
“One odd thing”: Noonan, What I Saw, 218.
“I speak as a friend”: The complete text of the original Noonan draft of the speech is printed in Muir, Bully Pulpit, 213–22.
“It was all unauthorized”: Noonan, What I Saw, 217–18.
“There were times”: Lesley Stahl, Reporting Live (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), 230.
“Within a speech you knew”: Author interview with Gilder.
“Reagan was much more relaxed”: Author interview with Buchanan.
Buchanan—who did not know: Stahl, Reporting, 231.
“The draft which has been circulated”: Noonan, What I Saw, 218–19.
“We in the United States feel”: Ibid., 220–21.
“Speech writers aren’t supposed to”: Lou Cannon, “Reagan Aides Clash Over Europe Speech,” Washington Post, April 30, 1985.
Reagan ended up giving: Stahl, Reporting, 231.
“potentially serious problem”: Patrick J. Buchanan memo to the Chief of Staff, December 9, 1985, Thomas, W. Dennis Files, OA14157, Box 2 of 7, Ronald Reagan Library.
The pre-summit speech: Bernard Weinraub, “State of the Union Prompts Debate in White House,” New York Times, January 28, 1986.
“infantile hopes”: “Bolshoi,” Washington Times, November 15, 1985.
“Now, admittedly”: Patrick J. Buchanan memo to the Chief of Staff, December 9, 1985, Thomas, W. Dennis Files, OA14157, Box 2 of 7, Ronald Reagan Library.
“It didn’t meet the specs”: Shapiro et al., “Of Mice and Metaphors.”
“America is back!”: Draft Revised, January 17, 1986, 11:00 am, WHORM: SP-230-86 (379864), Ronald Reagan Library.
“I believe the President”: January 15, 1986, 2:00 pm State of the Union draft with Ben covering note, WHORM: SP-230-86 (379864), Ronald Reagan Library.
White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters Page 64
