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Authors: Mike Wallace
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still speak to me.”
“Well,” I reminded her, “you did such a good job yourself.”
“You helped me.”
I have no idea what she meant by that, because as I said, I hadn’t met Nancy until she was a college student, and even then I didn’t really know her well.
Reagancompleted his second term as governor in1974. That was also the year the Watergate crisis reached its boiling point and brought
[ 54 ]
F I R S T C O U P L E S
the end to Nixon’s presidency. That disruptive change did not deter Reaganfrom going ahead with his planto runfor president in1976, even though such a move now meant challenging the new White House incumbent, Gerald Ford, for the Republican nomination.
In the fall of 1975, shortly after he announced his candidacy, I did a profile of the Reagans for 60 Minutes. Part of the story dealt with such predictable matters as Reagan’s campaign strategy and his political philosophy. At the time, most Americans didn’t know very much about the Reagans as a couple, so most of what we filmed was a family portrait. We showed them relaxing at their 640-acre ranch near Santa Barbara, where I talked to them at some length about the life they shared and their rapturous devotion to each other. I had heard a charming story about the circumstances that first brought them together in Hollywood, and so I asked Nancy about that.
W A L L A C E : Mrs. Reagan, I understand that you met this fellow first about twenty-four years ago because you were a subscriber to the Daily Worker. The Communist Party newspaper?
M R S . R E A G A N : I wasn’t, but there was a Nancy Davis who was. I was doing a picture for Mervyn LeRoy, and I complained to him about it. And he said, “I know Ronald Reagan.
He’s president of the Screen Actors Guild, and he’ll be able to straighten out your problem.”
W A L L A C E : You didn’t want to get on any blacklist or anything of the sort? Nancy Davis, Daily Worker subscriber.
M R S . R E A G A N : (Laughs) Well, at that point I just wanted to meet Ronald Reagan.
She had recently been quoted as saying that “my life began when I met Ronnie,” and I mentioned that when some people heard that,
[ 55 ]
B E T W E E N Y O U A N D M E
they were inclined to chuckle. And she replied, “Well, then they chuckle. But it did.” For his part, Reagan was no less rhapsodic in his comments about their relationship.
R E A G A N : For all the years we’ve been married, it’s been “we,”
not “you and I.” It would be inconceivable to me to go my own way on something without her. And I think it would be the same with her.
W A L L A C E : She’s your Lady Bird?
R E A G A N : (Laughs) No, no. There’s no Lady Bird in Nancy.
W A L L A C E : What do you mean?
R E A G A N : Well, you’ve known her longer than I have. And you know her as a very private person, and a very vulnerable person.
Although Reagandid n
ot succeed inhis in
surgen
t campaign
against President Ford, he came a lot closer to winning the GOP
nominationin1976 thanmany of us had anticipated. And if, as expected, he chose to runagainin1980, he was likely to be evenmore formidable. Like many other Americans, I’d underestimated Reagan’s appeal as a national candidate, and for me, this was starting to pose a problem. There was no doubt in my mind that Nancy (and, to a lesser extent, her husband) looked upon me more as a friend than as a reporter.
In fairness, they had little reason to think otherwise. The only major story I had done on them was the 1975 profile, which turned out to be not much more than a soft-touch feature piece. That, of course, had been our intention; we had purposely set out to do a “getting to know you” story. But with the arrival of 1980 and another campaign, one that could easily put the Reagans in the White House,
[ 56 ]
F I R S T C O U P L E S
I decided the time had come to make it clear to them that being their friend did not make me their toady. And the best way to get
“Well,” I reminded her, “you did such a good job yourself.”
“You helped me.”
I have no idea what she meant by that, because as I said, I hadn’t met Nancy until she was a college student, and even then I didn’t really know her well.
Reagancompleted his second term as governor in1974. That was also the year the Watergate crisis reached its boiling point and brought
[ 54 ]
F I R S T C O U P L E S
the end to Nixon’s presidency. That disruptive change did not deter Reaganfrom going ahead with his planto runfor president in1976, even though such a move now meant challenging the new White House incumbent, Gerald Ford, for the Republican nomination.
In the fall of 1975, shortly after he announced his candidacy, I did a profile of the Reagans for 60 Minutes. Part of the story dealt with such predictable matters as Reagan’s campaign strategy and his political philosophy. At the time, most Americans didn’t know very much about the Reagans as a couple, so most of what we filmed was a family portrait. We showed them relaxing at their 640-acre ranch near Santa Barbara, where I talked to them at some length about the life they shared and their rapturous devotion to each other. I had heard a charming story about the circumstances that first brought them together in Hollywood, and so I asked Nancy about that.
W A L L A C E : Mrs. Reagan, I understand that you met this fellow first about twenty-four years ago because you were a subscriber to the Daily Worker. The Communist Party newspaper?
M R S . R E A G A N : I wasn’t, but there was a Nancy Davis who was. I was doing a picture for Mervyn LeRoy, and I complained to him about it. And he said, “I know Ronald Reagan.
He’s president of the Screen Actors Guild, and he’ll be able to straighten out your problem.”
W A L L A C E : You didn’t want to get on any blacklist or anything of the sort? Nancy Davis, Daily Worker subscriber.
M R S . R E A G A N : (Laughs) Well, at that point I just wanted to meet Ronald Reagan.
She had recently been quoted as saying that “my life began when I met Ronnie,” and I mentioned that when some people heard that,
[ 55 ]
B E T W E E N Y O U A N D M E
they were inclined to chuckle. And she replied, “Well, then they chuckle. But it did.” For his part, Reagan was no less rhapsodic in his comments about their relationship.
R E A G A N : For all the years we’ve been married, it’s been “we,”
not “you and I.” It would be inconceivable to me to go my own way on something without her. And I think it would be the same with her.
W A L L A C E : She’s your Lady Bird?
R E A G A N : (Laughs) No, no. There’s no Lady Bird in Nancy.
W A L L A C E : What do you mean?
R E A G A N : Well, you’ve known her longer than I have. And you know her as a very private person, and a very vulnerable person.
Although Reagandid n
ot succeed inhis in
surgen
t campaign
against President Ford, he came a lot closer to winning the GOP
nominationin1976 thanmany of us had anticipated. And if, as expected, he chose to runagainin1980, he was likely to be evenmore formidable. Like many other Americans, I’d underestimated Reagan’s appeal as a national candidate, and for me, this was starting to pose a problem. There was no doubt in my mind that Nancy (and, to a lesser extent, her husband) looked upon me more as a friend than as a reporter.
In fairness, they had little reason to think otherwise. The only major story I had done on them was the 1975 profile, which turned out to be not much more than a soft-touch feature piece. That, of course, had been our intention; we had purposely set out to do a “getting to know you” story. But with the arrival of 1980 and another campaign, one that could easily put the Reagans in the White House,
[ 56 ]
F I R S T C O U P L E S
I decided the time had come to make it clear to them that being their friend did not make me their toady. And the best way to get
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