Photo credit: Janet Donovan
“The question of Reagan’s age and stamina, frequently raised, was often deftly shut down by the man himself. Sure, he might have dozed off on occasion during long meetings, but he was hardly alone in that; younger heads had nodded at the endless drone of economic figures or national security details. More impactful were his presence of mind, his calm demeanor and his near serenity, even in crises.” Three Days in Moscow: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Soviet Empire.
Not even a looming derecho could keep guests from attending the book launch for Bret Baier at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Washington, DC hosted by Carrie & David Marriott; Mae & Ande Grennan. “In Bret’s opening chapter of Three Days in Moscow, [he notes] that Reagan kept on his desk in the oval office a [slogan] which read: ‘There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can do it if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.’ Bret I think, is much like Reagan in this sense,” said David Marriott while introducing his friend, “in his humility, his lack of ego and his ability to not only listen to people, but really want to hear what they have to say. And it’s always amazed Cary and me how Bret is able to weave a story told by a guest or a friend during an evening and bring that back into the conversation hours later. His genuine interest and care for others is evidence in his personal and professional life. He will outwork anybody but he isn’t seeking the accolades and I’ve always been impressed by this. He is truly always fair and balanced.”
(L) Bret and Amy Baier
“I’m really excited about this launch,” responded Bret. “You know they say that rain on your wedding day is good luck so I think a derecho on your book launch is really, really powerful – on the way to number one. My co-author Catherine Whitney is here. She is fantastic, a real partner in this experiment which we have found works. (They have had an enduring partnership and formula on several books). Every time that we bounced back and forth about ideas and writings, it just really works. Sometimes it’s really late at night, but she always answers the emails.”
On the 4th summit between Reagan & Gorbachev: “Gorbachev had come to Washington and had been received like a rock star and he got out of the car on Connecticut Avenue and went to the sandwich shops and they were chanting. ‘Gorby, Gorby.’ And it was all caught on television. Reagan was watching this as Gorbachev was delayed about 30 minutes to get to the White House. This was the third summit.”
Lorraine and Chris Wallace with Amy Baier
“Reagan has his moment and he goes to Moscow and decides …. Nancy Reagan actually decided …. we need to have our moment. So they’re at what’s called the Spaso House where they’re standing and they decide that they want to walk out and meet the Russian people, the Soviet’s in Arbat Square. Well, the Secret Service has no idea that this is going to happen and everybody is freaking out. The press pool is gathered up by Marlin Fitzwater and they walk out. Arbat is a square with shops and carts and it starts filling up with people and they realize Reagan is there and suddenly the chanting is, ‘Reagan, Reagan.’ Hundreds of people are flocking to the square, so he has his moment caught on camera much bigger than Gorbachev’s moment on Connecticut Avenue, but it starts to get a little hairy and people are flooding everywhere. The KGB and the Secret Service are tying to hold them back. The KGB is a little bit more aggressive than the Secret Service. They’re hitting people. Finally they say, ‘We can’t see you Mr. President.’ And he gets up on vegetable cart with Nancy next to him and says, ‘I just wanted to meet you and say hello.’ And everyone’s chanting. It’s really chaotic and the Secret Service says, ‘We have to go.’ So they grab everybody, they go, they form a bubble and they’re going back and there are some of the press that are outside the bubble because they’re just getting trampled essentially and they move back in this bubble and Helen Thomas is on the outside of the circle. Long time reporter, you remember Helen Thomas, and Nancy Reagan sees her and says, ‘She’s with us.’ And one of the Secret Service guys grabs her and pulls her back into the bubble and they get into the Spaso House and everybody’s breathing heavily and Nancy Reagan turns to Marlin Fitzwater and says, ‘Okay, what did you think? How’d it go?’ Marlin Fitzwater doesn’t miss a beat. He says: ‘Well, we lost our last best chance to get rid of Helen Thomas.'”
“That’s the real purpose here, is to introduce presidents and moments of history to the next generation. Our generation could stand to learn a little bit from the past too, but the next generation really can. June 12th, 1987, is also the day when Reagan delivered the Brandenburg Gate speech. Tear down this wall Mr. Gorbachev. I didn’t plan it. I had nothing to do with the calendar, but it’s really a great, great moment to look back at the past, so that we can look at the future. The man who wrote that speech, tear down this wall, and was a part of it. Tony Dolan, whose here and he was instrumental in helping us get the speech writers point of view from the inside. We, I think, have everybody covered. Reagan people who’ve read this say that we got it covered, which means it’s probably pretty good to Reagan, but it’s really a reporters look. Our look back at history and reporting on it, and hopefully we can get it to number one this week. The Marriott’s and Brennan’s thank you so much for throwing this tonight. Thank you all for weathering the weather and enjoy. Go Cavs!”
