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American Morning
Reagan Turns 91; Interview With Dennis Revell
Aired February 06, 2002 - 09:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, we move on to a celebration of one of our former presidents. Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, turns 91 today. Of course, we have seen very little of the man since the nation learned he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, back in 1994. So, happy 91st birthday, Mr. President.
And Bruce Morton now with a closer look at the Mr. Reagan's legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's traveled far: small town boyhood, lifeguard, sports announcer, and he's changed things. First, he changed the Republican party. It was Barry Goldwater's plan -- never mind the moderates, never mind the Northeast. Go conservative, go South and West. It didn't work for Goldwater, but it worked for Reagan in 1980, a comfortable win over Jimmy Carter. Sense of humor, as always, on display.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Governor?
REAGAN: There you go, again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORTON: The party went conservative. The left assailed him for dismantling social programs and increasing the deficit. And Reagan? People liked him, made jokes on the way to the hospital after being shot, and he didn't just change the party. He changed the world. Presidents of both parties had worked at containing the Soviet Union, but Reagan negotiated the first real arms reductions with the Soviets, and he issued a challenge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAGAN: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORTON: He wasn't like Richard Nixon, say, or Lyndon Johnson, driven to be president. Knew who he was before he got to the White House, left and left it wishing his successor well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAGAN: Go out and win one last one for the Gipper.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORTON: Bush did, and the wall, in fact, came down. Reagan, in his eight years, did one more thing: Made a country turned cynical by Vietnam and Watergate proud again.
PEGGY NOONAN, AUTHOR: We're not victims, we're people who can walk forward and make life better. Now, Americans have known that for a long time, but had forgotten it somewhere along the way, I think, in 60's and 70's, and he reminded us of that, and that memory is with us still.
MORTON: Ronald Reagan: A successful president, and accept for the Alzheimer's which has clouded his last years, apparently a happy man.
Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And more memories of the president now, on his 91st birthday. Joining us now from Granite Bay, California, it is very early there, to tell us more about Ronald Reagan the man and the father, the president's son-in-law, Dennis Revell -- good to see you again, Dennis.
DENNIS REVELL, REAGAN'S SON-IN-LAW: Good morning.
ZAHN: I know that this is a bittersweet day for your whole family, and I just wanted to share with our audience a little bit of what Patti Davis wrote in "Newsweek" about the president's 91st birthday.
And she poignantly wrote, "we will commemorate his birthday, speak of it, but the word 'happy' won't be put in front of it. We are, after all, marking another year of distance, of slow departure, of eyes that look beyond us now more often than at us."
What does this birthday mean to you today, and the rest of the family?
REVELL: I suspect if Ronald Reagan were here rather than I, he would probably say, "what's all the fuss, I've had 90 of them already," but I think it means a special thing for the family, obviously, we're now dealing with eight years since the diagnosis, Nancy's day in and day out struggle to care for him, and the fact that he's comfortable and surviving this disease, in a way, that has afflicted so many other people in so many tragic ways.
ZAHN: I know the last time I spoke you, the president still had some physical strength. Does he continue to be strong physically?
REVELL: It's remarkable, I mean, for -- that given the fact that he has had this disease for eight years now, that it's been over a year since he fell and sustained a severe fracture to his hip. How quickly he regained his mobility, and that fracture healed, I mean, he's a remarkable individual. That being said, Alzheimer's is taking its toll. It is robbing him, and robbing Nancy, and the rest of the family and the nation of being able to share a normal life with him.
ZAHN: I think there's probably no one that more powerfully talked about the ravages of Alzheimer's than your wife Maureen, and I think she made okay for the American public to talk about the toll this takes on caretakers, and you've talked about some of the burden that Mrs. Reagan carries to this day. How is she holding up?
REVELL: Nancy is doing well. As I say, this disease takes its toll on all families and all caregivers, not just Nancy. I mean, but clearly she's an exemplary caregiver, but for -- the help and support that she receives from both the nurses as well as so many friends and family members, it would be even rougher.
ZAHN: I know at the top of interview, I could see the gleam in your eye where you talked about if the president were here himself, he'd be saying, what do you making the big deal over, what is all the fuss about today. What are your favorite memories of the spirit that you think, truly, is the spirit of Ronald Reagan?
REVELL: Well, I think as Bruce pointed out in his set-up piece, Ronald Reagan's sense of humor was just one of the most profound aspects of personality. I think one of my fondest memories was in the last year of his administration in Washington, D.C., having the opportunity to share one of those rare moments in which Nancy happened to be on the road for the "Just Say No" effort that she so powerfully led, and when that happened, oftentimes Ken Duberstein would set up a little dinner with a handful of people, and in which the process was to sit and have cocktails, then have dinner, and just do an evening of joke telling, and if you can imagine sitting at a table with Alan Simpson, now the former senator from Wyoming, Hal Haflin (ph), senator from the South, Dan Rostenkowski, member of Congress from Illinois, Ken Duberstein and myself and for three hours just sitting and telling jokes among ourselves. It was one of the most enjoyable, most memorable times and he had such a unique ability to convey humor and to enjoy humor.
ZAHN: Well, you have a lot of legacies to carry on as well. I know your wife Maureen made it a point to make sure that Americans stay safe in the sun because of what she endured with her battle with melanoma. Now I understand you're taking up her Alzheimer's cause. You've been named to the board?
REVELL: Yes. I was asked if I would serve out the balance of her term on the national board for the Alzheimer's Association, and I felt that that's what Maureen would have wanted me to do, and so I gladly agreed to do that. And I look forward to trying to bring whatever energy and talents I can to that association.
ZAHN: Well, the foundation does great work, and we wish you the best of luck. Dennis, thank you, again, for joining us...
REVELL: Thank you so much.
ZAHN: ...on this very important day. Now you can go take a nap since we dragged you out of bed so early in the morning. Again, take care, Dennis.
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