The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity by Gibbs Nancy & Duffy Michael

Author:Gibbs, Nancy & Duffy, Michael [Gibbs, Nancy & Duffy, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography
ISBN: 9781439127704
Google: AaJQJ1BLQ2MC
Amazon: 1439127700
Goodreads: 12410640
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2012-04-17T00:00:00+00:00

The Impromptu Floor Speech That Wasn’t

But there was one last weird drama to play out. The final scene in Kansas City was to be a reminder that Reagan left few big moments to chance—and how much he saw himself on a mission that was broader than mere politics. It was Thursday night; the balloons were poised; the band was ready; the delegates were fired up. As Ford concluded his acceptance speech, he turned to Stan Anderson, a convention manager, and said, “That went well. Now go get Reagan.” And so Anderson scurried downstairs, ran headlong underneath the arena floor, through a passageway clogged with trash receptacles, and took an elevator up to a skybox on the first-tier balcony. He found Reagan, Nancy, and political aide Lyn Nofziger watching the activities on the floor below. “Governor Reagan,” Anderson said, “the president would like you to join him on the podium.”

“No fucking way,” Nofziger replied.

“Oh Ronnie,” added Nancy, “I don’t think you should.”

Anderson could see that the Reagans were still feeling bruised. But by now Ford was actually motioning Reagan to join him on the podium—and many on the floor were beckoning him with calls of their own. “Reagan, Reagan,” the crowd chanted. Television crews panned their cameras from the skybox to the podium, waiting for one man or the other to relent. Meanwhile, Anderson pressed: “With all due respect, Governor, the President of the United States has asked you to join him for the good of the party.” Anderson said it did not take Reagan long to rise to that challenge, whatever Nancy and Nofziger advised. “I’m doing it,” Reagan said. And, grabbing his wife’s hand, Reagan followed Anderson back toward the front of the hall.

The threesome took the elevator downstairs, back through the basement with Nancy, who implored her husband at one point, “Ronnie, why are we doing this?” But Reagan was determined, taking a comb out of his pocket to make sure his hair was in place.

What unfolded next was a performance that could have been translated: I came close. And I’ll be back. The Reagans joined the Fords, vice presidential nominee Bob Dole, and their families onstage and the president turned the microphone over to his vanquished rival, who proceeded to give what nearly everyone at the time believed were brief, impromptu remarks. They certainly seemed improvised. But Reagan had in fact been warned by his aides (who had been warned by Ford aides) that the president might ask him to speak. Though he prepared no remarks for such a moment, Reagan took those warnings seriously enough to at least discuss with policy advisor Martin Anderson what he might say should Ford call him to the podium. He did not arrive without the outline of a speech in his head.

And those remarks are surely one of the more curious speeches of any modern political convention.

Reagan did not mention, much less endorse, Ford beyond a brief thank-you at the top of the speech. He took credit for forcing the

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