The Presidential Diarists: Ronald Reagan
Another President who kept a diary or journal during his time in the White House was Ronald Reagan. In 2009 an edited and abridged version called The Reagan Diaries was published by Harper Collins Publishing. Edited by Douglas Brinkley, the diary covers the eight years that Reagan as President kept regular, dutiful entries in a diary. The edited diaries reached #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Reagan was one of five American Presidents to have kept a consistent diary as President, and the only one to record accounts of his life every day. The only exception was when he was in the hospital recovering from an assassination attempt. The actual diaries consist of five volumes of thick, maroon, leather-bound books. The originals are now kept on display at the Reagan Presidential Library. Reagain wrote in a simple prose, writing in a frank, matter-of-fact style. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan made the diaries available to be transcribed in 2005 and the Reagan Library Foundation partnered with Harper Collins to print them in 2007. The company bought the world rights to publish this book.
In his diaries Reagan wrote openly about his relationship with his children. He once wrote that he refused to talk to his son, Ron. A frequent topic is his relationship with his wife Nancy, and he wrote about his love, devotion, and adoration for his wife. For example, when Nancy Reagan was away on one of her frequent "Just Say No" anti-drug crusades, Reagan wrote in his diary about going "upstairs to a lonely old house". On another occasion he wrote that their anniversary was "29 years of more happiness than any man could rightly deserve." On another occasion, he wrote "I pray I'll never face a day when she isn't there."
When Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981, his entry for that day begins: "Getting shot hurts."
There are a couple of other recurring themes in the diary. Although Reagan was not a regular churchgoer, his faith in God is a consistent theme in the diaries. Also, Reagan took care not to spell out even mild swear words. The diary is free of any profanity. Even the word "hell" was written h--l and the word "damn" was d--n.
Critics of the diary comment that, compared to other Presidential diary recordings like those of John Quincy Adams, James K. Polk or Rutherford Hayes, Reagan did not reflect as deeply as some others Presidents did. According to Nancy Reagan, her husband “just wanted a way to capture the moment and our feelings before we were whisked on to the next day".
In the diaries, Reagan does not present as having have much of a dark side. He was not critical of his political opponents and did not agonize and fall prey to insecurity. The diary has a number of recurring themes: (1) taxation is bad and (2) Communism is evil. The head archivist at the Reagan Library, Mike Dugan, sums up the Reagan Diaries with this assessment: "I wouldn't call it an introspective diary, but he states his position. What you read confirms that what you saw with Reagan is what you got."
Reagan was one of five American Presidents to have kept a consistent diary as President, and the only one to record accounts of his life every day. The only exception was when he was in the hospital recovering from an assassination attempt. The actual diaries consist of five volumes of thick, maroon, leather-bound books. The originals are now kept on display at the Reagan Presidential Library. Reagain wrote in a simple prose, writing in a frank, matter-of-fact style. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan made the diaries available to be transcribed in 2005 and the Reagan Library Foundation partnered with Harper Collins to print them in 2007. The company bought the world rights to publish this book.
In his diaries Reagan wrote openly about his relationship with his children. He once wrote that he refused to talk to his son, Ron. A frequent topic is his relationship with his wife Nancy, and he wrote about his love, devotion, and adoration for his wife. For example, when Nancy Reagan was away on one of her frequent "Just Say No" anti-drug crusades, Reagan wrote in his diary about going "upstairs to a lonely old house". On another occasion he wrote that their anniversary was "29 years of more happiness than any man could rightly deserve." On another occasion, he wrote "I pray I'll never face a day when she isn't there."
When Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981, his entry for that day begins: "Getting shot hurts."
There are a couple of other recurring themes in the diary. Although Reagan was not a regular churchgoer, his faith in God is a consistent theme in the diaries. Also, Reagan took care not to spell out even mild swear words. The diary is free of any profanity. Even the word "hell" was written h--l and the word "damn" was d--n.
Critics of the diary comment that, compared to other Presidential diary recordings like those of John Quincy Adams, James K. Polk or Rutherford Hayes, Reagan did not reflect as deeply as some others Presidents did. According to Nancy Reagan, her husband “just wanted a way to capture the moment and our feelings before we were whisked on to the next day".
In the diaries, Reagan does not present as having have much of a dark side. He was not critical of his political opponents and did not agonize and fall prey to insecurity. The diary has a number of recurring themes: (1) taxation is bad and (2) Communism is evil. The head archivist at the Reagan Library, Mike Dugan, sums up the Reagan Diaries with this assessment: "I wouldn't call it an introspective diary, but he states his position. What you read confirms that what you saw with Reagan is what you got."