The Triumph of Nancy Reagan by Karen Tumulty (short books for teens txt) 📕

That day, there was a lot to iron out. The president’s diary entries during 1983 and 1984 contain frequent references to his concerns about Michael. Ronnie was dismissive of the investigation of his son for securities fraud, which he believed was politically motivated and aimed at him. But the private struggle within the family weighed upon him:

Wednesday, March 30, 1983: “Left for LA. Met Nancy at Century Plaza late afternoon. Maureen came by re Mike. She’s really being a trooper [sic] & solid sister about the problem.”

Wednesday, December 28, 1983: “I’m worried about Nancy. A deep cough continues beyond when I believe it should have dried up. Mermie [Maureen’s nickname since childhood] came by for a short visit. We still have no break in the Mike situation. We must find an answer to that.”

Monday, November 19 through Sunday, November 25, 1984, after the eruption over Nancy’s comment about the “estrangement” in the family: “One other sour note on Thanksgiving had to do with Mike R. He blew up at something on the TV news based on an interview Nancy had given. He called me & when I tried to straighten him out he screamed at me about having been adopted & hung up on me.”

Monday, November 26, 1984: “To top the day off I called Mike R. We talked for half an hour & I’m more than ever convinced that he has a real emotional problem that is making him paranoid.”

Thursday, November 29, 1984: “Another call from Mike. He is a really disturbed young man. I’ve contacted his Minister & believe maybe we can get through to Mike. [… ] Mermie is here for overnight.”

Thursday, December 27, 1984, through Wednesday, January 2, 1985: “On Fri. will meet with Mike & Colleen to see our granddaughter for the 1st time. Had time for a trip to Dr. House. My hearing has suffered no loss since last year. The other good news was our family meeting. I think we passed a watershed & the wounds are healed.”

“The wounds are healed.” That was the official story, at least. Nancy put out a statement through the White House Press Office: “It was a nice visit. There are no differences. All is resolved. Everybody loves each other, and this is a wonderful way to start the new year.” A White House photographer had been stationed to record the two-hour session in the Century Plaza’s Presidential Suite. Ronnie and Nancy brought gifts, and the president got down on all fours to play with his granddaughter. Then the children were dismissed, and, with Michael’s pastor as an intermediary, the adults tried to clear the air.

According to Michael’s account of the meeting, Ronnie told his son that he accepted his explanations for how he had obtained the supposedly shoplifted items. He promised to have the Secret Service write a letter exonerating Michael, which arrived six months later. Michael also asked his father to announce to the media at the next presidential press conference that their stories should quit referring to him as the “adopted” son. Ronnie wisely rebuffed that request, no doubt aware this would only have reignited the story line about their family difficulties. During the session, Nancy acknowledged that her “estrangement” comment had been a mistake, which was the first time Michael ever recalled her apologizing. On the way out, Michael mentioned one more thing.

“You know,” he told Ronnie, “you’ve never told me that you love me.”

His father looked surprised. “Michael, I love you,” he said.

As Michael left the hotel, he made no comment to the media. Things had gone well enough that it was agreed Michael and his family would attend Ronnie’s second inauguration in January 1985. The day before the ceremonies, Ronnie asked five-year-old Cameron if he would like to make a snowman in the Rose Garden. When grandfather and grandson stepped into the frigid air, a line of news photographers was waiting, as was a partially completed snowman put together by the White House staff. The base and midsection were there. All that remained was for Ronnie and Cameron to construct a smaller snowball for the head and put it on top, with the president’s dog Lucky, a lively Bouvier des Flandres, joining them.

“They frolicked in the snow making the head while the press snapped pictures. It was the first picture of us as a family taken together since the rift,” Michael wrote later. “I remember thinking how sad it was that when Dad wanted to do something fun and private with his grandson, it had to become a media event. He had lost all his privacy. I could only think: Was the cost worth the price?” What Ronnie’s son doesn’t appear to have recognized—or chose not to—was that privacy wasn’t the point of that heartwarming family scene. It had been a carefully staged photo op.

The tension with Michael was far from ended. In early 1987 Nancy read that Michael was writing a book about his father. The reported title—On the Outside Looking In— suggested it was not going to be a valentine. Nancy called him and demanded to know what was up. Michael told her he had been offered a lot of money. The deal was said to be in the high six figures. “Of course,” Nancy replied. “I could get lots of money for walking naked up and down Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s a question of taste.”

On April 12, which was Palm Sunday, Michael’s family came to the ranch to celebrate Ashley’s fourth birthday. Nancy was determined to find out what he planned to put in his book. And as usual, she was more attuned than Ronnie to the fact that there was something else in the air. “Michael seemed anxious and upset, and although he didn’t say anything, I could sense that he wanted some time alone with Ronnie and me,” Nancy recalled. “After lunch, I suggested that Colleen take the children