Not mentally ill as in delusional and paranoid (like Nixon), but so many signs
pointed to his mental deficits over the years. All recent presidents made klutzy
mistakes, from President Ford's frequent clumsy falls, to George H.W.'s vomiting
on the Japanese prime minister, to George W.s' choking on a pretzel, to that time
Clinton tripped in the Oval Office and fell into an intern. Those were all covered
and often joked about in the press. But not only were Reagan's odd behaviors more
frequent, they were seldom joked about and instead often whitewashed. These include:
The attempted assassination in 1981, when he wasn't aware he'd been shot;
A period of several weeks during his first term when he disappeared from
public view for several weeks, supposedly because of some kind of terrorist
threat against his life;
The constant presence of Nancy Reagan at his side, who generally answered
questions posed by reporters instead of letting her husband speak;
A reporter asked him how he felt about getting a piece of legislation
passed; he responded, not with words (Nancy wasn't there), but by drawing
a smiley face picture of himself and holding it up;
Falling asleep during meetings with prominent world figures;
His radio program in which he jokingly announced that he would begin
bombing the Soviet Union in a matter of minutes, because he didn't realize his mike was on;
His forgetting of the names of the members of his Cabinet;
His use of cue cards during his press conferences--all Presidents use
teleprompters, but he needed every word of his small talk ("Hello, Sam,
how are you?") written out for him;
The Presidents' medical reports are generally released to the public,
with the doctors unafraid to point out that a President may be in good
or very good health, with a touch of arthritis, hearing loss, high blood
pressure, etc. In Reagan's case, the doctors would just claim that he
was in "amazing" health. Hmmm....
Press conferences which often degenerated into reminiscences about old
movies, which Reagan would confuse with reality: his claims that incidents he'd seen in old WWII movies had really happened, and that in the past, married couples really did all sleep in double beds like in the movies
(why was he even talking about this in press conferences, anyway?);
His memories about how he'd helped to liberate the Nazi concentration camps while he'd been in the military (he hadn't actually been there, but he remembered it, so it must have happened);
Did Reagan play golf with the frequency of other modern Presidents? I only
remember him at his ranch, riding his horse with Nancy and constantly chopping
wood and clearing brush (highlighted to show how manly and vigorous he still was, I guess). Golf being a more social activity, in which he would have to engage in chitchat with others without the presence of Nancy doing his talking for him, he might have been kept occupied with more private pursuits, such as the chopping wood thing.
There were many, many other instances where something seemed not right.
I m not crying, you fool, I m laughing!
Hewwo.
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kevin-bergin
10 years ago
I have got to respond to a least a few of those comments:
His radio program in which he jokingly announced that he would begin
bombing the Soviet Union in a matter of minutes, because he didn't realize his mike was on;
That was great! Showed the Soviet Union he was truly out to win the Cold War. Unlike his predecessors who only wanted to play-for-a-tie.
The attempted assassination in 1981, when he wasn't aware he'd been shot;
He said he thought the pain he felt was from the Secret Service agent pushing down on the floor of the car when they hustled him away. He never seemed unaware of what was going on or being in pain.
A period of several weeks during his first term when he disappeared from
public view for several weeks, supposedly because of some kind of terrorist
threat against his life;
I followed his administration very carefully, I need a source for this one???
His memories about how he'd helped to liberate the Nazi concentration camps while he'd been in the military
No, that is simply not true. Besides, use your sense of reality. If he had said that, would we really have to be reminded of it via an IMDb posting? That would still be front page news. I suspect you know better???
Did Reagan play golf with the frequency of other modern Presidents? I only remember him at his ranch, riding his horse with Nancy and constantly chopping wood and clearing brush (highlighted to show how manly and vigorous he still was, I guess). Golf being a more social activity,
What do you mean "only remember". Golf is first and foremost walking around the yard hitting a little white ball. How you can "spin" the vigorous activities Reagan engaged in and place golf, which Shaw (or Twain) once said "spoils a fine walk", as a superior action? That is just crazy.
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tmaj48
10 years ago
Sorry, my fault: He didn't claim to personally engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Nazis in order to liberate the camps. What he did claim is that he was
in the Signal Corps at the time, when he visited Buchenwald at the time of its
liberation and helped film the conditions at the camps. Simply untrue; he never
left Hollywood through the duration of WWII, and his only conncection to Nazis was
when he visited a German cemetery during his administration and placed a wreath
on a memorial for Nazi soldiers. For his Signal Corps claim, one source:
http://www.salon.com/2010/05/20/bushreagan
There are several other sources that report this. And it wasn't front page news
for the simple reason that Reagan's incapacitation was not widely reported by the press.
The joke about bombing the Soviet Union didn't indicate his toughness about
"winning" the Cold War. The Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse since 1980,
due more to the Solidarity movement in Poland, the Pope's opposition, and the crumbling economy of the Soviet Union at the time. With or without Reagan's inane
posturing, its collapse was all but inevitable. Reagan's joke was irresponsible
and childlike, and his goofiness was just another indication of his state of mind.
Beginning as early as 1981, Reagan's press conferences were few and far between. For a more accurate timeline, see The Clothes Have No Emperor:
A Chronicle of the American 80s by Paul Slansky, which provides the dates
of his relatively rare press conferences and the memory lapses, off-topic
stories about old movies, and lame jokes that took place during these events.
It also provides a rundown of Reagan's other odd comments, detachment, and
reluctance to even feign an interest in world events.
Yeah, golf is a ridiculous little game. But politicians love to get together and play for the sake of networking, shooting the bull, etc. Reagan didn't, preferring to disappear to
his ranch, from which the same reports about his activities there would be
headline news in the media: "CHOPPED LOGS, SAWING WOOD" accompanied by a photo
of Reagan grimacing with a saw in his hand.
I m not crying, you fool, I m laughing!
Hewwo.
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kevin-bergin
10 years ago
You have got to be kidding with that Conason article.
He claims Reagan said that comment was his pretext to question Reagan's mental state 7 different times in a 500 word opinion piece.
For good measure, in the last paragraph, he mentions that the White House press corps were basically asleep and living off press releases, just in case someone questions why this was not known by others.
A man who gets paid to give his opinions, in a political periodical like Salon, a liberal, excuse me, progressive magazine, not hired to record/tell the news, is probably not your best source. Especially when he has an axe to grind.
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tmaj48
10 years ago
Don't like that source? Okay, check out all the other sources for "Ronald Reagan
Signal Corps claim."
I m not crying, you fool, I m laughing!
Hewwo.
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