MICHAEL REAGAN ~ LIVING THE RONALD REAGAN LEGACY

Narrator: With breaking news and political commentary from a public servant, serial entrepreneur, community leader, philanthropist, and American patriot, and a darn nice guy, it’s time for the GrassRoots TruthCast, and your host, Gene Valentino.

Gene Valentino: Hi friends, Gene Valentino and welcome to another episode of Gene Valentino’s Grassroots Truth cast. You know, we have guests on from different political and social walks of life on Grassroots Truth cast. Today’s guest is a gentleman who has come to us. And he’s a very unique individual.

He happens to be the oldest of four children of the 50th, 40th president of the United States. His name is Michael Reagan. Michael, thank you for joining us here today on GrassRoots TruthCast. Good to be with you, but I also had a

Michael Reagan: mother, Jane Wyman. Yes, sir. And to let you know, I was Jane Wyman’s son until [00:01:00] November of 1964, and my father gave that great speech, A Time for Choosing, and the next day I became Ronald Reagan’s son.

So for half my life, I was explaining I had a father, and the last half of my life I’m explaining I had a mother.

Gene Valentino: Well, there’s that, and we’re going to get into that and a whole plethora of issues of what Michael Reagan, who’s out in the West coast in California right now, we’re going to talk about Michael’s history his past that he’s just described and the Reagan legacy.

What he’s doing now with it and where it’s going right after this.

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Gene Valentino: hi friends, and welcome back to Grassroots Truthcast. And my guest today, Michael Reagan one of four children of Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman award winning actress in California.

Michael, I thought today we talk in the beginning about the past, what it was like being the president’s son, your [00:03:00] early days in the Reagan household. And then let’s transition to some of the current events and some of the legacy issues that you’re involved in, in, in the found, including the foundation about the about your background.

Tell us, tell us the early days of the Reagan family.

Michael Reagan: You

Gene Valentino: know, it’s really

Michael Reagan: interesting because I go out and speak and I’m a really good speaker. And in fact, I’m giving a speech in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania next week. And if I open it up to Q& A, which I normally do, that’s the first question. First question is how was it growing up in that household?

And I could have told them the World Trade Center just got hit by planes. They go, yeah, but how was it being raised in the Reagan household? I mean, that’s what you deal with on a regular basis. I mean, I’m, there’s only two people. And that was my sister, Maureen and I, born into a family. Where the mother would go on to become an Academy Award winning actress and the father would go on to become President of the United States.

No other [00:04:00] two people have ever lived that life ever and it will probably never, ever happen again. And, and so people ask me that question all the time. It wasn’t much different except that I was in Hollywood. And all the Hollywood kids, we all went to boarding school. People say, when did you leave home? I said, I was six.

Six! Yeah, we all went to boarding school. Six years old, you can go to first grade. And so, I went to boarding school, like my sister went to boarding school, like the Crosby kids went to boarding school, like the Hope kids went to boarding school. It was like student body right, student body left. And it sucked.

If you go back to a six year old, seven year old, eight year old, and you see other kids being picked up by their parents, who are day students, and you’re going to a dorm at night, sleeping in a dorm, Without your family. I mean, I understand it now I’m older and if you don’t end up dealing with it You’ll be a ticked off child all of your entire life because it’s not easy [00:05:00] Just seeing your parents on the weekend and basically having to reintroduce yourself to them.

Say I’m your son Michael I was here last Sunday. Remember me you dropped me off at school. So that’s what it was growing up, but my dad Who was terrific. My mom and dad divorced when I was three and she won the Academy Award in 1948, Best Actress for Johnny Belinda. And my dad never forgot about Maureen and I.

He would come over and pick us up on Saturday and take us out to the ranch. I learned about America sitting in the right front seat of a station wagon. I ain’t giving Saturday more. Listening to him sing the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, all those, all those songs. Tell me about America and the greatness of it.

Where I learned about it. I learned about the tax system in America, sitting in that same right front seat. And Sunday he’d come pick Marie and I up and take us over to Grandma’s, his, his mom. His mom was a Sunday school teacher and we go over there and we go [00:06:00] to Sunday school and come back and have lunch in her backyard with a big tortoise.

So, I mean, they did the best they could as parents being in the acting business and you’re on location. So that’s why so many of us went to boarding school because. The parents weren’t going to be home anyway.

Gene Valentino: Did you, but that was that was because of both of their careers. And, but you had, you said you lost your sister.

You want to, it was Maureen.

Michael Reagan: No, I lost Maureen at 60 years old, you know, 2000, you know, 21. Yeah. Yeah. Or not two, I’m sorry. 2001.

Gene Valentino: No, no. I, I, I knew that. So remaining our three others, uh, half, half or step siblings Ron Prescott, and is it Priscilla? Patty. Patty, forgive me. And are they in California now too?

Michael Reagan: Patty is, I think [00:07:00] Ron goes between Italy. and Washington State. His wife has a place in Italy, so they go back and forth, if you will. His wife died first wife died quite a few years ago, and he got remarried and what have you. But Patti lives here in California, yes.

Gene Valentino: Well, long before that time, when you were growing up, I heard a story.

I don’t know if you want to talk about it, but tell me about Marilyn Monroe knocking at your door.

Michael Reagan: Well, no, it’s, it’s, As I said, I go out and speak a lot. And, you know, when I speak to Christian groups one question always comes up. When did you know there was a God? I said, that’s the easiest thing. I said, my sister and I were going to buy a gift for our mother for her 40th birthday.

Rode our bikes into Beverly Hills

And there was this beautiful silver serving tray and inlaid on it was this beautiful blonde haired woman looked like red satin over the top of her.

I [00:08:00] Murm, let’s get this for mom. She’d say, we can’t get that for mom. I said, but it’s really pretty. Might be pretty. We can’t take that to mom for her birthday. So we found something else and took it on home. And that night I was in charge of the front door for people coming in, open the front door, tell people where to go in the house from the party.

And the doorbell rang and I said, open the door. And I was looking at the door. The layout on that silver tray, Marilyn Monroe. And I tell the, I tell the Christian group I’m talking to, that’s when I knew there was a God. And, and let me tell you, every time I tell that story to a Christian group, a hundred percent of the men go, yeah, baby.

Yeah, baby. And their, and their wives look at them like, yeah, baby. What are you doing?

Gene Valentino: What are you talking about? I can see it now. That’s funny. So one of the stories I also heard about that you may want to share is that your dad always carried [00:09:00] around with him index cards. What was that about?

Michael Reagan: Well, he didn’t always carry those around.

He just, that’s where he wrote his speeches, his notes and notes. You come out to the Reagan Library, there’s a whole area there. Where you see his index cards, where he, in fact, wrote his speeches, kept them in his left pocket of his suit, and when he was going to give a speech, he pulled them out. That was it.

And he wrote his own speeches. He, you know, he was one of these people who, if you looked at his library, he actually read all the books in his library. They weren’t there for show. He actually read them and re read them. He had like a, his memory was unbelievable. As you can tell just by listening to him, and what have you.

So those were his speech cards when he’d go out and give a speech. And he had them you know, with rubber bands around him. So depending on what speech he was going to give, he’d go in the lower right hand drawer of his desk at home and pull out whatever stack it was he was going to give that speech, put it in his pocket, and off he’d go to give a speech.[00:10:00]

So those are the index cards. But Newt Gingrich tells a great story. He introduced him one night at an event. And stepped away and dad, you know, stepped up to the microphone, he reached in his pocket and pulled out the cards and they fell on the floor. And Newt said, Oh my God. He says, and my dad just reached down and just shuffled them back together.

you know, and started his speech, which from wherever the one was on top. So it, it didn’t matter which one ended up on top, he knew the speech anyway, so he knew that’s, he started, knew the speech.

Gene Valentino: What’s this story about Kaddafi, you mentioned boarding school earlier and there was this, that’s a jump.

School.

Michael Reagan: Gafi. .

Gene Valentino: Yeah. I There was something from on Kadafi that you, that when you were in school?

Michael Reagan: No, no, no, no. That was way outta school. This was like 1980s. This was like, pardon? [00:11:00] 1980s. 1980s. Like 1980s. Okay. When dad, he sends planes into, you know, in there and they take out two of his homes and Gaddafi comes out and gives a speech the next day at a press conference and said.

In taking out the homes in Tripoli, they killed his adopted daughter, which was not true, but that was the announcement. He understood that Ronald Reagan had adopted a child also, and maybe he should return the favor. So I had Secret Service basically in bed with me for about six months making sure I was okay.

I tried to convince Gaddafi it was my brother, Ron, that was adopted, but that didn’t work.

Gene Valentino: Oh, there’s an inside joke there somewhere. Well, I’m the

Michael Reagan: adopted one, but if I could say, you know, yeah, look at him, not

Gene Valentino: me.

Michael Reagan: But no, so he threatened my life and very worrisome for my wife and my family to have somebody of that nature threaten your life.

Gene Valentino: Sure. That’s why you have Secret

Michael Reagan: [00:12:00] Service, I guess.

Gene Valentino: Yeah. Yeah. The going I, I know you never stayed in the White House. You were young, you were rather young when your dad became the 40th president of the United States. No, I was, I was 35. Oh, 35. I’m confusing it with your siblings. Yeah. I was 35, 35 years old,

Michael Reagan: so I stayed at the White House and stayed in the Queen’s bedroom.

My kids stayed there. Oh yeah. We, yeah, we stayed, we stayed at the White House. Nice place. Good

Gene Valentino: food? No, I, I think I was confusing it with your two, your son and your daughter. They must have been very young at age when you first when your dad was first elected.

Michael Reagan: Well, well, Cameron was three.

Gene Valentino: Yes.

Michael Reagan: When dad was elected the first time, and Ashley wasn’t born until 1984.

And so Cameron was at the first and second inaugural and Ashley was at the second inaugural because she was born in 1984. In fact when dad flipped the coin for the Super Bowl [00:13:00] that year he had Ashley over his shoulder. So Ashley was over his shoulder asleep while dad was flipping coins on the who was going to Get the kickoff in the Super Bowl.

So that’s kind of cool. We had a big Super Bowl party at the White House that year because Inauguration Day. And swearing in day which was January 20th was also the day from the Super Bowl. And so it kind of worked out kind of cool.

Gene Valentino: Boy, I remember the, the fact that there were so many different incidences.

I wanted to talk about one of the ones that has me most surprised in terms of the Reagan history is that you were in fact, the keeper of the legacy as time went on, it was clear that you were the one. espousing and protecting the Ronald Reagan legacy, and there’s so many parts of it. I want to, I want to share, get into with you right now, but one of them that really was impressive to me and showed leadership [00:14:00] was when Ronald Reagan was in Reykjavik.

And he stepped away from the negotiations with Gorbachev. You want to delve into that? I think this is new ground for our Gen X, Y, and Z folks. There’s, this is very interesting about a true leader. You want to describe what your dad did in Reykjavik?

Michael Reagan: Well, this is the problem with America today in the world today.

People, people talk about that. It’s not your fault. You know about that incident, but every incident had a beginning. And nobody wants, nobody goes back to the beginning anymore and say, how did we get there? If we ever went back to the beginning, we could solve all the problems we have, but we don’t.

Because most people today think the history of the country started when they woke up this morning. And that’s just not true. But Reykjavik, which I will be there this, gosh, this June and July, I’ll actually be in Reykjavik, I’ll actually be, you know, at the house that they were at, Gorbachev and, and, and my dad, [00:15:00] and what have you.

But you have to go back to 1976, when dad lost the nomination of the Republican Party. And we went back to the hotel, all of us, didn’t know if the president was going to ask my dad to be the VP or not, not sure, had a room full of people, but somehow I ended up alone with my dad near a fireplace. In August, in Kansas City, last place you want to be in Kansas City is near a fireplace.

They thought it’d be like ambiance, right? You go, God, it’s really hot. And I said to my dad, why do you want to run for president? He says, you know, Michael, For so long, I’ve watched American presidents sit down with Secretary Generals of the Soviet Union, and every time we sit down with them, they always ask us to give up something and get along with them.

He says, I was running, hopefully to win the nomination and then win the presidency, so I’m going to be the first president to sit down with the Secretary General of the Soviet Union. And Michael? I was [00:16:00] going to let them pick the table, the chairs, and the place, because, you know, that’s how they do things at that level.

And while the Secretary General was telling me, the American President, what it was, I was going to have to give up to get along with them. I was going to get up from my chair, walk around the other side of the table, lean over and whisper in his ear, Nyet! I want to be the first President to say nyet to a Secretary General of the Soviet Union.

Now this is 1976. Nancy had not yet told dad, you’re going to run again in 1980. So he wasn’t aware 1980 was going to come around, he was going to run. But if you go almost 10 years to the date, because that was August of 76, and you now go to October November of 1986, my dad’s called Reykjavik. He’s called there, why?

To sign a treaty. He gets there and he’s proposed. He gets to him and Kyle Gorbachev says, I’ll only sign the treaty if you give up STI or Star Wars. [00:17:00] I was the only guy on the planet that knew what the answer was going to be, because he told me the answer in 1976. And so when you look at the picture of him walking away with a stern face He said no.

However, a year later in Washington, D. C., Mikhail Gorbachev showed up and signed that agreement.

Gene Valentino: It wasn’t yet then.

Michael Reagan: And what’s happening right now at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. You go there today through March or not through March, I’m sorry, through September. They have the Star Wars SDI exhibit going on.

Gene Valentino: Folks, we’re talking with Michael Reagan, the first of four children of Ronald Reagan, and Jane Wyman was his mom, a famous actress, award winning actress. Michael is recanting a lot of the experiences of his dad, our 40th president of the United States, Ronald [00:18:00] Reagan. He was dad to you, but he had a, he had his mind, he had a mindset of his own.

He was head of the Screen Actors Guild, of which I’m a member, and he was also probably someone who had interesting conversation around the dining room table. What were the dining room conversations like at Thanksgiving?

Michael Reagan: We really try to stay away from politics, because Patty and Ron, you know, didn’t vote for their father.

Patty led a march on Washington against her father when he was president of the United States. So we really, you know, didn’t get into politics somewhat. We did get into politics. But we just, yeah, I’d say this. And I’m going to say it again next week in Pennsylvania, and I tell it to a lot of Republicans.

Because all this infighting going on today. He had two children. Neither one of them voted for him. And it’s interesting because Maureen and I, the night before an election, would always flip a coin to see whose vote we [00:19:00] were going to cancel. I was going to, you know, you cancel Patty’s, you cancel Ron’s, we’ll flip a coin, heads or tails.

But the fact of the matter, Don’t even though they disagree with my father politically and voted didn’t vote for him or voted against it or let him march on Washington against Thanksgiving. They were there. Dad never chased him away from the table, which is what’s happening today. We’re chasing people away from the table.

We disagree with. And then we figure out what’s going on. What’s wrong with us? What’s wrong with us is you keep on talking about Ronald Reagan, but you’ll learn nothing from, from Ronald Reagan. So Thanksgiving was great to have the family there and talk and be together. Get the family photo, if you will for the White House and send it, send it across America.

But it really stayed away from politics that much. More about the ranch. You go into the ranch house. You don’t see famous pictures of anything but horses. That’s it. Horses. No people. Horses. [00:20:00] And Nancy found out a long time ago, if she would have made my dad make a choice between her or the ranch, she may never have married my dad.

That ranch was all important to my dad.

Gene Valentino: You know, it’s so interesting because that is the story that everybody loves. That’s the Image that everybody loves. One of the key things that I think sticks with us today has transcended even to the, into the Trump administration is this this legacy of liberty and freedom, you manage it.

In a foundation that perpetuates those principles, but it’s even interesting to see how the press today may try to distinguish Trump from Reagan, even though Trump himself would not deny the importance of the Reagan legacy. Your comment on that?

Michael Reagan: They’re two different people, two different times. Yeah, you’re talking about the 1960s, [00:21:00] 70s and 80s, you’re now in social media world is where you’re at today.

Gene Valentino: But would you say the principles are the same?

Michael Reagan: I think the principles in many ways, many ways are the same, but I think it’s a hard, more of a hardcore belief with my father, where I think you have, you have Trump more plays the political game. What’s, you know, where do I need to go to get this done? I, I think that.

Trump, Trump becomes his own worst enemy in so many ways. You get Trump overload, if you will. You’re on the news every day, every day you get tired, type thing. It’s like today, I was telling someone, I said, with what’s going on in the world today, Trump should be 50 points up on everybody, but he’s tied or three points up or four points up or what have you.

And people to win, you’ve got to have people [00:22:00] who believe in you. I run into more people who will tell me that. They disagreed with my father politically, but they voted for him because they trusted him and they liked him. You don’t find that on the Trump side. You really don’t find that. With Trump, you either hate him or you love him.

And that’s a, that’s a problem for Trump. And he’s got, he’s got to deal with that side of it. And that’s before all this stuff he’s going on now. You either love him or you hate him. And many people have a hard time dealing with a New York businessman, which is exactly what he is. And New York businessmen do business in a completely different way.

Anybody else on the planet. And so it conjures up hate, and that’s unfortunate that we’re in that, in that area arena. But he’s gotta work on solving that problem if he’s gonna get independence and like-minded Democrats to come over and vote for him [00:23:00] in November, because that’s gonna make the difference.

People don’t hate Biden, they hate Trump. So he’s gonna make that. Make that work for him.

Gene Valentino: Do you think there’s any part of that that said that, look, I may not have liked Trump, Trump’s personality and it rubs me, but oh my God, look at the situation we’re in now with Biden. Do you think maybe three and a half years with Biden people have, have come to realize principles come before personalities?

At

Michael Reagan: the end of the day, people vote for the most likable candidate.

Gene Valentino: Not the best candidate, the most

Michael Reagan: likable. Most likable. Why did Trump beat Hillary? Nobody likes Hillary. I mean, it’s all about likability. In 2020, you know, people like Biden more than they like Trump. A lot going on at that period of time.[00:24:00]

Biden wins out of likability. So, it’s all about likability coming up in 2024. And, you know, I think Trump absolutely is becoming more likable. I mean, you’re starting to feel sorry for this guy with all that’s going on. So, I mean, it’s working in his favor. Will it stay working in his favor after the nomination process in the summer?

Gene Valentino: I just, I just wonder, Michael, and you’re better suited to answer this. You can’t make this up. The difference on one level between your father. and Biden is I remember the speech that brought a tear to my eyes. Well, it was actually a letter that he had written to the nation talking about his confirmed concern with his own personal failing cognition.

He did it in the most leadership classy way that I can imagine. I said to myself, even at a younger age, what other [00:25:00] leader had the balls to do that or would do that? And here. It sits against a backdrop of our current leader, who not only is not acknowledging it, but orchid is orchestrating a regime behind the scenes to give him the license to hide away in his basement because, and to stage court cases against Trump.

During the time necessary for people to see a debate between Trump and Biden is not likely to happen, not because Biden’s willing to do it. And, or one of them is not willing to do it. It’s because they’re staging court cases against Trump. that run up against all this early voting schedules that vary from state to state.

My concern is we may not see a debate between Trump and Biden, not because, um, Biden’s not willing to debate, but because Biden has [00:26:00] orchestrated selective prosecution charges through corrupted DAs and prosecutors to keep Trump busy in court. And hey guys, what do you want from me, Mr. Trump’s a little But you’re

Michael Reagan: saying, Megan, the misnomer is you’re saying Biden’s doing this.

Do you really believe Biden is doing this? Oh no! Do you Biden is this? That’s correct. Do you think it’s like Obama doing this? I’m glad you said that. And then what have

Gene Valentino: you that’s going on? So let’s define the deep state. Who’s behind Biden?

Michael Reagan: But the other side of the coin is Look at the media. Where’s the media on this?

Gene Valentino: Okay,

Michael Reagan: where’s, where? Where, where’s the media? Media is not to be found and silent and, and there’s absolute silence from the media questioning Biden or any of these things. It’s hopefully people are starting to really see it and understand it, especially with what’s going on today in the world that we live in, on the college campuses and every place else, two wars, college [00:27:00] campuses on fire and what have you.

Hopefully, it’s to a point, the media is having to cover those things now.

Gene Valentino: Well, it’s gone a step, a step too far. Even in today’s news, I’m watching New York City Police finally step up and address the Columbia University issue. I hope

Michael Reagan: They can’t go in unless they’re at. They couldn’t go in until they were asked by the university.

Gene Valentino: But if, I will tell you. That is a leadership issue at the university issue I’d like to ask you about. But isn’t it true that private institutions, when there’s public or civil unrest, whether they are, whether they ask government to step in and help them or not, they weren’t shy about asking government for funding, but if they’re going to now ask for government’s help with these police.

Why would they why would government have to wait for that? Why, if there’s civil unrest, reported actual civil unrest, vandalism, or assault of one type or another, intimidation? [00:28:00] If

Michael Reagan: it were, if it were white supremacists, Calling for death to America and death to Blacks. The National Guard would have been there within 24 hours and this would be over.

Gene Valentino: So why? What’s the difference? Why has it? The difference

Michael Reagan: is, the difference is all those people rioting are youthful voters and they think they can bring them on board to vote for them in November. So that’s why they won’t take a stand. They’re standing in the middle of getting run over by everybody. You have a president actually in hiding, but out here in California, have you seen our governor out anywhere?

We have UCLA and SC on fire. And our governor is AWOL, absent without leave, like with all the Democrats out there, that’s their constituents. Those are their people. And so they’re really having trouble how to deal with their people who have now turned on them.

Gene Valentino: Yes. Well, 40 years ago your dad said, and I’m quoting, I’m sick [00:29:00] and tired of the argument, argument about whether if there is some sort, some effort to enforce law and order is going to escalate anything at all.

The plain truth is of the matter is that it has to stop and it has to stop, like. The day before yesterday, he was talking about uprisings in the universities and the liberal professors he was engaged with were trying to shoot him down as if to say you’re, you’re part of the problem, Ronald Reagan, you’re not the solution.

Well, I think, I think he nailed it in the bud and proved them wrong. You know, the end of the story, end of that story,

Michael Reagan: that night or one of those nights when all that was going on, somebody threw a Molotov cocktail through the window downstairs in their home up in Sacramento. Scared the hell out of Nancy and Dad.

And so they went, you know, went to the stairs and Dad’s going down the stairs. Nancy’s at the top of the stairs saying, what are you doing? And Dad goes [00:30:00] down the stairs, he gets to the bottom of the stairs, he starts to chuckle. It’s just only in California. And they said, what are you talking about? Well, the Molotov cocktail, they threw the window through the window.

Was in a champagne bottle.

Gene Valentino: I want to hear more of

Michael Reagan: these. But that was, that was the magic. That was the magic of my father compared to Donald Trump. Dad dealt with things with humor. He found humor in everything. A wink and a nod, a little bit of humor. He reached across the aisle. He got things done. He had the largest tax break in American history.

He came with my dad and Tip O’Neill working together. That would not happen today in America. Wouldn’t happen. But how did it happen? It happened because my dad invited Tip O’Neill and his wife to the White House for dinner. The next day, Tip O’Neill would go back to his staff and said, I’m going to take the bill to the floor.

And you know what? They said, what did he promise you? [00:31:00] He promised me nothing. What’d you talk about? The president talked about the greatness of America, the goodness of her people and how we working together can make it better for all. Before I knew it, I’m telling Irish stories with the President. We’re drinking a glass of wine, and today I’m telling you, I’m gonna take that bill to the floor and I know it’ll pass.

Gene Valentino: Tip O’Neill, that doesn’t have anymore Tip O’Neill, a staunch Democrat from Massachusetts sitting with Ronald Reagan. That’s, that’s a wonderful, we

Michael Reagan: don’t, we don’t have those giants anymore. We don’t have the Hubert Humphreys, the Tip O’Neills. We don’t have any giants anymore. There’s no statesmen out there.

Name a statesman that we have. Where are they? There’s nobody out there to stop. The stuff that’s going on now is happening because we have no leadership anywhere. There’s no statesman.

Gene Valentino: What’s your, what’s your take on, on on some of the states of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for example. Does he help or hurt Trump?

Does he help or hurt Biden?

Michael Reagan: Who knows? But I do know that my dad became president of the United [00:32:00] States because of Robert Kennedy. Not Nancy. It was Robert Kennedy who made him president of the United States. Made him governor first, because my dad was doing a television show called General Electric Theater back in the 19, late 50s, early 60s.

And sure enough, Robert Kennedy called the president of General Electric and said, you know that guy that’s working for a television show you have, Ronald Reagan? Yeah. He’s running around the country, the GE plant, speaking ill of my brother, the president, and the issues, and the issues my brother brings up.

And I understand your government contracts are coming up for renewal, and it’ll go a long ways towards getting your government contracts renewed if you can find a way to get rid of that that guy going around the country to do GE plants within 48 hours. General Electric Theater is canceled. Ronald Reagan’s out of a job.

He was a Democrat, by the way, at that point. My sister Maureen Brow beat her father. [00:33:00] She was a Republican. My dad changed registration. Remember he said the party left me? The party left him without a job. That’s what they did. So now he’s jobless, a little upset, changes his registration from Democrat to Republican, and he now has time to write a brand new speech.

He ends up writing a brand new speech. You know what the speech is? A Time for Choosing. Remember Barry Goldwater in November of 1964? Launches his career into the governorship and ultimately into the presence of the United States. Robert K. doesn’t make that call. He has to in Gene’s Theater. How do I know that story?

My sister, Maureen, myself, Nancy sitting at a dining room table with my dad, and dad’s explaining how he’s not going to be on TV Sunday night because show had been canceled. And why? Wow.

Gene Valentino: Wow. Talk to me about the You might say my father was the [00:34:00] first one canceled by the left. Yeah, he was cancelled by the left, you could say.

That certainly helped him in this case. Well this is one of the interesting stories. There’s not too many people who also, who, or who may have forgotten, like you said earlier, it wasn’t in the news today or this morning, and so their history is zero. But it is true, Ronald Reagan was a Democrat before he became a Republican, and that transition was very disruptive not only as you described just now in his personal life, but it certainly impacted the Democrat and Republican party in California.

Michael Reagan: Well, it also, it should go back to say you’re a member of SADD, you know, my dad was president of SADD nine times. You know, SAG and the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild all went on strike this year. You know, last time they were on strike was 1960. You know who led them on strike in 1960? Ronald Reagan.

Gene Valentino: Wow.

Michael Reagan: You know, you know why you get residuals? Ronald Reagan. [00:35:00] And when he put that into place, when he was president of the Screen Actors Guild, he wrote himself out of it, because he didn’t want people to think. He only put it into place so when his career was on the wane, He would find a way to make money.

So he’s the only guy on the planet never got residual. From his work. Damn

Gene Valentino: it! That, that yeah, yeah, it affects, it affects others. Right now it’s affecting others. I I saw your letter from, that you had written at the Reagan Legacy Foundation website, and I’ll come back to the quote that you posted, the banner at at the top from your dad, but talk about the the Reagan Legacy website.

Michael Reagan: Well, let me tell you that first of all, my sister was dying of melanoma and back in 2001. And we were, she was at St. John’s [00:36:00] about three months before she would pass. And she chased everybody out of the room. I started to leave. She said, not you, but I closed the door and locked it. And we had that brother, sister talk.

And she said, you know, Michael I’m not going to be around much longer. And our father has a wonderful legacy. And will you promise me that you get to a point in your life, you can give up radio You’ll give up radio to carry on the legacy of our father because it needs to be, the story needs to be told.

And I promised my sister literally on her deathbed that I would do that. In 2009 was that time where I could go out and speak and go around the country and speak, which I did do. And we started the Legacy Foundation. We started originally. We’re providing scholarships to the men and women who serve aboard the USS Ronald Reagan.

We still do. We also provide scholarships to their family members who are at home trying to better their education. Nobody else does that. Government helps the kids on the ship. They don’t help the family members at home. [00:37:00] So, we do that. And then we started a program a few years ago at Normandy, France.

St. Mary Glees. First town freed by America. On D Day morning, 4am in the morning, and we started a brick project. People go online, order a brick, and we install it there at St. Mary Eglise, Normandy, France, with the name someone who bought Second World War European theater, and we’ve been doing that. It’s been on hold now for, God, almost a year, because they’re, they’re redoing the whole area, because we’re getting ready for the 80th anniversary.

of D Day coming up on June 6th, and it’s also the 40th anniversary of my dad speaking on D Day at Pointe du Hoc, my dad being the first president to ever speak at Normandy on D Day. And every president since then has in fact spoken on D Day at Normandy, France, which is phenomenal. Then I go there. All the time.

And it’s, [00:38:00] it’s breathtaking to go there and just see what these kids did at 17, 18, 19 years old and, and what have you. But so we work with them quite a bit.

Gene Valentino: And part of the Reagan legacy foundation is on display at the Reagan library. Is it not?

Michael Reagan: No, the Reagan, no Reagan library, Reagan, excuse me, Reagan library, Reagan legacy foundation is completely separate.

Completely separate. But yeah, we have, we have a Reagan exhibit at St. Mary Glees, Normandy, France. We have that. We have an exhibit that we put in at in Germany on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall at, at the Maurer Museum or Checkpoint Charlie Museum, we put a display in there through our foundation.

So, so we’re busy. We worked with Poland to put in a statue of my father and Pope John Paul in Gdansk, Poland. To honor them for the part they played in bringing freedom to the world.

Gene Valentino: Michael Reagan is our guest today, the son of Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman. The oldest of [00:39:00] four children of Ronald Reagan.

And Michael has given us his precious time to. Talk about the legacy and, and a comparison to some of the current events, the, between a Reagan administration and how some of these current event issues might have been handled differently. But you can see a lot more of this legacy at www.

reagan. org. Legacyfoundation. org. I’m certain you’ll, through that website, you’ll be able to make a contact to Michael Reagan directly or indirectly. If not on Twitter, he’s got a very popular Twitter page too, folks. So, hey, in fact I’m one of your followers, Michael, and I’ll be throwing in my two cents when I see your good stuff posted.

Yeah, There’s so much more to talk about and I fear we’re running out of time, your time so why don’t you, why don’t you capsulize two or three things that we may or may not have talked about and take us, [00:40:00] take us to a close.

Michael Reagan: June 5th. will be the 20th anniversary of the passing of my father.

We’re doing big events in the Reagan library in Simi Valley. And it brings back to memory of the day after my father was buried and I had breakfast with Margaret Thatcher that morning. And when I ran into Margaret Thatcher, she said to me, Michael, think of what we could have accomplished. Had your father been elected in 1976?

I said, Lady Thatcher, the Berlin Wall would still be up, the Cold War would still be going on. And she said, why would you say that? I said, I think God chooses his people, he chooses his time. She said, what do you mean? I said, where were you in 1976? Where was Lech Walesa? Where was Vaclav Havel? Where was Helmut Kohl?

Where was Mikhail Gorbachev? And where was Pope John Paul? None of you were in place in 1976. If my [00:41:00] father would have elected, he would have been out of office January of 1985. Mikhail Gorbachev doesn’t come into play till 1985. But where were you in 1980? You were in place. John Paul was in place. Like Valencia, Vaco Havel.

All of you were in place. All you needed was a leader to bring you together for a common goal. And the common goal was bringing freedom to the world. God chooses his time and his people. And she looked at me and said, I’ve never thought of that. I said, it’s something I thought about a whole lot. Thank God you all found that leader.

And that’s what the world needs today. They need that leader to bring the world together. And the world is waiting. And unfortunately, We’re twiddling our thumbs.

Gene Valentino: Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. The timing couldn’t have been better for a [00:42:00] transatlantic relationship that was codified between the two of them.

And you are correct. Timing is everything. It’s godly. You know we all have different experiences in our lives at different times. And I look today at what’s on the news and what’s being, um, brought forward and whether it’s Trump, Reagan, Biden, you pick the, pick the poison. The fact of the matter is we are all learning things at different times.

I’m just. I’m sad that I don’t see the current generation of educators and students learning from these lessons, some of which you’ve just presented today. And that history Well, I will tell you. Go ahead. I was, I was just going to say, and it’s regrettable that history has to repeat itself. Go ahead.

Michael Reagan: I will, I will tell you this.

I do a lot of work with the Young Americans Foundation who [00:43:00] bought my father’s ranch in 1998. Who kept it pristine. It is exactly the way dad left it because he didn’t know he wasn’t going back. They used it as a fundraising tool to raise money, to promote conservatives on college campuses and high school campuses, now middle schools.

They just took over the the home in Dixon, Illinois, Tampico, Illinois. My daughter Ashley’s on that board of directors of Young Americans Foundation. I’ll be speaking there June 16th to 200 high school students. They’re trying, they’re trying to make that. And by teaching young children about Ronald Reagan, having to go up to the ranch and walk in the steps of my father, he called the ranch his cathedral in the sky.

And it truly, truly was. And these young kids get to go visit it every year when we have the meetings at the Young Americans Foundation at the Ranch Center in St. Barbara’s. So I would suggest people want to find out more about that. Go to yaf. org. They can go there and learn about [00:44:00] yaf. org and what they’re doing to keep the legacy of my father moving forward and how they may want to take one of their kids and get them enrolled to come on one of the meetings that they have.

They’re in Santa Barbara or Washington DC or in Illinois. And maybe even visit the ranch and walk in the footsteps of my father. Yaf. org.

Gene Valentino: Yaf, spell it.

Michael Reagan: Yaf, Y A F, dot org.

Gene Valentino: Oh, one F, okay. Yaf. org. Folks, we’ve been talking today with Michael Reagan, son of Ronald Reagan, our 40th President of the United States.

Michael, I can’t thank you enough. I hope we can do an update sometime in the future. Again. Boy, it’d be nice to just say, Hey, remember that last episode we did. Where are we? Since then, I just, yeah, anytime that, that would be a lot of fun. I’d like to close with something, ladies and gentlemen. It’s, it’s on Michael’s website, [00:45:00] www.reaganlegacyfoundation.org.

Check that out too. There’s a place in that organization for you and, here’s what a very famous and important person left us with. He left Michael with the thought that whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appeared to your best hopes, not your worst fears.

To your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with Liberty’s lamp guiding your steps. An opportunity’s arm, steadying your way. Should I be so lucky to have had a father like that with that guidance, Michael? Where is that guy? Where’s that guy? That guy is Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States.

And I’m so glad you captured that as Ronald Reagan’s quote. He’s had a [00:46:00] quite a few quotes, but that one shows leadership, vision, vision. Inspiration, opportunity, and freedom. Thank you, Michael Reagan, for being with me today. Thank you. God bless. And thank all of you for joining us on another episode of Gene Valentino’s Grassroots Truthcast.

See you soon.

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