Ronald Reagan and His Notes
In 2010 the RR Library began readying for the 2011 anniversary of his 100th birthday.
Among the items in storage was a plain cardboard box on which was handwritten “RR’s desk.”
Inside were hundreds of 4 x 6 cards with many hundreds of jokes, sayings, “one-liners” and other “nuggets” that he had written down them.
He started his card collection when working as a spokesperson for General Electric in 1952.
All through his professional life, including the presidency, he would often have a couple blank cards tucked into a jacket pocket.
When he heard a good joke or an important point, he would often pull out one of these cards and write it down for later reuse in one of the thousands of speeches he was required to give over his lifetime. Researchers at the library have found many note card passages that later appeared in some of his most well-known speeches.
Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, and Mahatma Gandhi were among those quoted.
Historian Douglas Brinkley said “If the Reagans’ home in Palisades were burning, this would be one of the things Reagan would immediately drag out of the house. He carried them with him all over like a carpenter brings their tools. These were the tools for his trade.”
Passages from many of these cards are found in the book, The Notes, which is also found for sale at the library.
To watch a short video on these notes, check out the Ronald Reagan Library:
USA Today also wrote an article on these wonderful cards:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-05-08-reagan-notes-book-brinkley_n.htm
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