Reagan's Diaries Show Humorous, Easygoing Man

By BROOKE DONALD The Associated Press

Published: May 3, 2007

LOS ANGELES - After he was seriously wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt, Ronald Reagan described the experience simply in one of his presidential diaries: "Getting shot hurts."

That excerpt and many others form a portrait of an uncomplicated and amiable man who - despite occasional periods of worry and bursts of temper - took his eight years in the White House pretty much in stride.

Excerpts from the writings, which are in the custody of Reagan's widow, Nancy, were published in June's issue of Vanity Fair magazine. They were edited by historian Douglas Brinkley for a book.

Reagan wrote on a wide range of topics, including fearing for the world's survival, arguing with son Ron Reagan and daughter Patti Davis, and suffering through an embarrassing moment with Prince Charles in which the heir to the British throne was served tea brewed from a tea bag.

In the entry about the assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. outside a Washington hotel, Reagan recalls how he first thought he had suffered a broken rib at the hands of a Secret Service agent who shoved him into a car and jumped on top of him after the shooting started.

"I walked into the emergency room and was hoisted onto a cart where I was stripped of my clothes," Reagan wrote. "It was then we learned I'd been shot and had a bullet in my lung."

A 1981 entry on Cuban leader Fidel Castro states: "Intelligence reports say he Castro is very worried about me. I'm very worried that we can't come up with something to justify his worrying."

Reagan thought Alexander Haig was "utterly paranoid."

When he accepted Haig's resignation from the Cabinet and Haig said they had had disagreements over foreign policy, Reagan wrote: "Actually the only disagreement was over whether I made policy or the Sec. of State did."

He Was Aware Of Public Image

The former actor was well aware of his public image and tweaked the Fourth Estate after he deliberately reversed the order of the opening sentences of his welcome at the 1984 Olympics: "The press having a copy of the lines as written are gleefully tagging me with senility & inability to learn my lines."

When his former chief of staff Donald Regan disclosed that Nancy Reagan had consulted an astrologer for advice on her husband's travel schedule, the president remained in denial:

"The press have a new one thanks to Don Regan's book. We make decisions on the basis of going to Astrologers. The media are behaving like kids with a new toy - never mind that there is no truth to it."

Reagan, who died in June 2004 at age 93, faithfully wrote every day during his two terms in office except when he was in the hospital.

Each page of the diaries - five 8-by-11 hardback books bound in maroon leather - are filled to the bottom with Reagan's neat handwriting. He sometimes used abbreviations, often referring to Democrats as "Dems" or "Demos," for example, and he never wrote out curse words, substituting h--l for hell.

Trouble With Children Chronicled

The diaries display a spare writing style that gives a colorful peek into the private thoughts of one of the most popular presidents in modern American history.

In one entry, Reagan noted, "Ron called this evening all exercised because S.S. [Secret Service] agents had gone into their apartment while they were in California to fix an alarm on one of his windows. I tried to reason with him that this was a perfectly O.K. thing for them to do. ... I told him quite firmly not to talk to me that way & he hung up on me. Not a perfect day."

In another entry a few weeks later, Reagan said he wasn't talking to his son until he apologized for hanging up.

In one from April 1984, he said, "Patti screamed & complained so much" about her privacy being invaded that her Secret Service detail was being eliminated, leaving her security at risk.

"Insanity is hereditary," he wrote. "You catch it from your kids."

Reagan also wrote frequently of his love for Nancy. An entry noting his wedding anniversary described their marriage as "29 years of more happiness than any man could rightly deserve."

He also recalled Israel's bombing of Iraq in 1981 ("I swear I believe Armageddon is near"), the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger ("A day we'll remember for the rest of our lives") and the 1981 assassination of Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat ("He was truly a great man, a kind man with warmth and humor").

He also mused about a disastrous tea he had with Prince Charles ("a most likable person") in 1981.

"The ushers brought him the tea - horror of horrors they served it our way with a tea bag in the cup. It finally dawned on me that he was just holding the cup & finally put it down on a table. I didn't know what to do."

In a March 13, 1981, entry, Reagan said he was humbled by the crowds who came out to watch his motorcade during a visit to New York.

"They cheered & clapped and I wore my arms out waving back to them. I keep thinking this can't continue and yet their warmth & affection seems so genuine I get a lump in my throat. I pray constantly that I won't let them down."

Information from The Washington Post was used in this report.