Revealing TV look at First Lady

Press, 24 June 1985, Page 6

Revealing TV look at First Lady

By

SUSANNE SCHAFER,

of Associated Press

(through NZPA) Washington

Nancy Reagan, wearing jeans and a work shirt, is giving the White House dog, Lucky, a scrubbing. As she hoses down the black bouvier puppy in a metal washtub, her wedding ring plops into the soapy water. The First Lady pokes repeatedly into the water, mildly frantic until the golden band is recovered. "I found it! I found it!” Mrs Reagan exclaims, the dog still squirming in her arms.

Such charmingly simple scenes of a relaxed, confident First Lady — contrasted against the formal glitter and glamour of the Reagan White House — are part of the N.8.C.-TV special, “The First Lady: Nancy Reagan,” to be shown today. The show, which offers views of the Reagans’ private rooms in White

House, their Santa Barbara mountain-top ranch, and the Presidential hideaway at Camp David, Maryland, provides a rare glimpse into the life of Ronald Reagan and his wife.

But it also portrays Mrs Reagan as a tough-minded and assertive woman, one who is an ever-growing centre of influence in the White House and a power to be reckoned with in her own right. Besides tracing her sometimes painful childhood and early days as an actress, with scenes from films like “Donovan’s Brain” that might be best forgotten, the show also details her rather rocky development as First Lady. Buffeted by criticism of her thousand-dollar designer dresses and purchase of expensive White House china while America lapsed into a painful recession, the show reveals how Mrs Reagan became the focus of a calculated White House effort' to give her a more compas-

II X. NANCY REAGAN sionate image. She plunged into her highly praised anti-drug campaign, topped off most recently with her visit in Rome with Pope John Paul 11. As if her clothes were meant to tip off her mindset, Mrs Reagan is

shown wearing a business suit, having shunned her veil and long gown to lend a more serious note to her talks with the Pope. Culled from nearly three hours of interviews with a reporter, Chris Wallace, Mrs Reagan admits to using “all my little antennas” to ferret out White House personnel problems and will try to stop it if she thinks someone is not serving her husband well.

Mr Reagan says that his wife steps in because he is a soft touch when it comes to disciplining or firing people. Or as their son, Ron, puts it, “The bottom line for my Mom is, is this person hurting my father or helping him?

“And, once she’s come down on one side or the other, then she’s gonna be either a very powerful ally or an enemy you don’t want to have.”

In the show Mrs Reagan even drops her normal reticence to speak out

issues, saying that she would prefer her husband and the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to hold a get-acquainted session rather than a formal summit conference.

She says that she is intrigued by Mr Gorbachev’s Westernised style, but that it’s still the same philosophy of Soviet communism that he represents. Interviews with long-time political aides and friends also throw some light on Mrs Reagan’s role. Edward Rollins, one of Mr Reagan’s chief political advisers, says that Mrs Reagan has as much clout as she wants to. “I think if she wants to weigh in on something, it certainly becomes the focus on his agenda, and certainly can become the focus of a lot of other attention around the White House.”

On a personal note, Mrs Reagan is shown in touching moments with her aged mother, Edith Davis. In recounting the death of the

man who adopted her, Loyal Davis, tears well up in her eyes. Even Michael Reagan, the son of the President and his first wife, Jane Wyman, and one who has openly feuded with his stepmother, gives her credit.

“She is probably one of the most caring people in the world,” he says. “And really cares about family and home life.”

Mrs Reagan acknowledges that it has taken time for her to be able to laugh at herself and allow herself to be more open, so that people can learn to know her. “If I think people like me, I’m better,” she says.

But the driving force in Mrs Reagan’s life is clear — her support of her husband. As a long-time aide, Michael Deaver, puts it, “She’s watched out for him, she’s taken care of him ...

she’s worried, worried and worried for him. And it’s because of that, they are bqjth where they are today.”