Free Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America by Craig Shirley Page A

symbolism of the location. 50 In truth, Reagan didn't have a racist bone in his body, and it pained him terribly when people falsely charged him with racism.

    Yet another myth is that Reagan was somehow “unknowable.” I did not know the man well, but after working on his campaigns; after immersing myself in his writings, speeches, columns, diaries; after conversations with countless who knew him; and after reading hundreds of books and articles and monographs about him, I feel I at least understand him.

    Reagan often said that he genuinely liked people and maybe that's why they liked him. He was garrulous, chatty, could be very thoughtful, but when people disturbed him or got on his nerves, especially strangers, he'd simply clam up. With friends, close aides, and associates, he might let on some anger, break a pencil, but he would also verbally express himself. With two people, he never clammed up. Peter Hannaford and Ken Khachigian were clearly his and Mrs. Reagan's two favorite speechwriters. For all of his big speeches, from his acceptance speech in Detroit to his breathtaking remarks on the eve of the 1980 election to his inaugural address, he always turned to Peter and Ken. 51

    The people who didn't know Reagan would draw the wrong conclusion that he had some sort of mysterious zone of privacy. While he clearly relished his solitude with Nancy, especially alone at the ranch, his life was not a mystery. They had their private corners like all happily married couples and he could easily make himself happy alone, reading, writing, working at the ranch.

    Many who felt they couldn't know Reagan probably never really understood him. That category may include his own vice president. George Bush, in 1989, told the Gridiron Club in Washington, “Let's face it. If I was funnier than Ronald Reagan, I would have won in 1980.” 52 The same went for Reagan's erstwhile campaign manager, John Sears, who slammed Reagan for simply looking to others “to tell him what to do.” 53

    The unknowable Reagan seems to be a myth created by people who weren't paying attention.

     
    D ESPITE HIS LANDSLIDE VICTORY , not everyone was happy about the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. At Berkeley, two thousand students and professors took to the streets, rioting for three days. The violent protests, which resulted in scores of arrests, were sponsored by Students for Peace. 54
    Edward Heath, the former British Conservative prime minister, said on the BBC that while he was pleased Reagan had been elected, “it would be disastrous if Reagan really let people believe that there were simple ways to solve the problems of terrorism or oil prices.” 55

    Radical chic conductor Leonard Bernstein said Reagan's election would unleash the forces of fascism in America. 56 Columnist Judy Bachrach of the Washington Star had come up with a term of derision to describe Reagan: the “Great Communicator.” She never knew that one day he and his supporters would embrace it. 57

    The Soviets weren't happy about Reagan's victory either. Several days after the election, on the anniversary of “Revolution Day,” a giant parade was held in Moscow, complete with tanks, “goose-stepping troops,” and “missile carriers that roared across cobblestoned Red Square,” as UPI reported. Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov said the Soviets “would never accept second place to the Americans.” 58

    Even some of Reagan's conservative supporters seemed unhappy after Election Day. Campaign aide Michele Davis, who had traveled for several months and hundreds of thousands of air miles with the Gipper and the staff, went into a funk when it all ended. “Everything is different,” she confided in her diary. “There are different Secret Service agents, advance men that I've never seen before and guys in dark suits in every nook and cranny. And my traveling buddy the Gipper is far away from us all. Sigh.” She later did what any sane campaign worker would do at the end of