President Ronald Reagan Details His Grievances Against the Press, and Says “I’ve got a million…examples of press dishonesty.”

“A black family back here had a cross burned on their lawn. I visited them. I wanted to do it without press so they couldn’t say (as they did) that I was doing it as an image building device. There was no way I could do it my way. We were a parade all the way.”

 

He also accuses President Kennedy of having smuggled young women – “pretty little cocker spaniels – in and out of the White House”

President Reagan’s approach to the press arose principally from the conviction within the Administration that reporters’ pursuit of information, by its very nature, disrupted Administration plans, hampered the President’s need to communicate a basic message, and construed his motives and intentions. In the process, he and his advisers believed, the institution of the Presidency itself was weakened. Reagan’s aides came into office mindful that the last four Presidents had been politically defeated or driven from office and convinced that the press’s reporting had contributed to their downfall. The emotional press treatment of the Iran hostage crisis during the Carter Administration has never ceased to haunt them. Reagan’s intention from the start was to keep the press from calling the shots: No longer would reporters be the arbiters of what constitutes a crisis, nor be the judges of a President’s responsibility; and to limit their ability to define his agenda and misinterpret his feelings.

Douglas Morrow was a Hollywood screenwriter and film producer. He earned an Academy Award for his script for 1949’s The Stratton Story, a biography of Baseball player Monty Stratton, who was disabled in a hunting accident. Reagan, who catapulted to fame as an actor, became friends with Morrow when Morrow sought to cast him in that part, remained friends throughout the Hollywood days and kept in contact through most of his presidency.

Typed letter signed, on White House letterhead, Washington, January 10, 1983, to Morrow, detailing his displeasure with the press and giving examples of incidents in which his motives were mischaracterized. “You must have cut one or two ski runs short to write that letter. First, I’m glad you were on the slopes and feeling great, but how come you now look like Al Haig— were you in for plastic surgery?

“Doug, I appreciate very much your concern and, indeed, share much of it, but have to tell you there are no answers to some of the things you cited. For example, photos of me in riding boots, white tie, etc. Custom has it that helicopter departures from the South Lawn (and security makes helicopters a must) are covered by the entire press corps which is stationed right there in the west wing of the White House. I have to pass them to get to the copter and usually they are screaming questions which I usually ignore. The white tie incident you mentioned was a case of a quick in and out of New York in which we had to leave and return to the White House already dressed.

“The same applies to Camp David. And, Camp David is a must and has been for every President since F.D.R. Doug, we’d go stir crazy if we couldn’t escape the “gilded cage.” But again, it’s that South Lawn gauntlet you have to run. Yes, a President once smuggled pretty little cocker spaniels in and out of the White House but, believe me, that can be done only as long as he’s not with them. Now don’t jump to a false conclusion — I’m not engaged in that sport. But I have been able to meet with some important figures with no press awareness if I did so in the private quarters.

“It gets frustrating. A black family back here had a cross burned on their lawn. I visited them. I wanted to do it without press so they couldn’t say (as they did) that I was doing it as an image building device. There was no way I could do it my way. We were a parade all the way.

“Now, a couple of the other points you made of a similar nature. Easter in the Barbados; I not only met with Seaga, I met with a dozen heads of state of Caribbean countries. We spent two afternoons swimming at Claudette’s beach house. The press corps continues to refer to our four and sometimes five day vacation. H—l, we had two state dinners in addition to the meetings and a day and a half to ourselves.

“As for the sandbags and the Fort Wayne flood, I was in the West and on the way home when we decided to stop and see if we could give a morale boost. At one point where a levee was in danger of going out, a bunch of high school kids were sandbagging and had been there since dawn. They yelled to me to join them — so I did. It was pretty hard on a dark suit, but I passed sandbags until we had to get back to the plane.

“But now let’s get down to the real frustration — the leaks. Doug, I’ve never seen anything like it and we’re trying everything but a “plumbers squad” to find and clobber the guilty. I’m convinced they are down at a lower level and, yes, they are grinding their own axes with no regard for us or what we are trying to do. They are responsible for the stories of feuds and in-fighting which I assure you are untrue. The tax on unemployment insurance was a classic example. Down on a lower staff level someone was listing every possible option for reducing deficits. None of us up top had ever seen it. We read about it in the papers.

“But now let me show you what we’re up against with the press. You saw the coast to coast fire storm – Ronald Reagan wants to tax the unemployed. No one called first to ask if it was true. They never do.
Doug, there is presently a tax (passed in the Carter days) on unemployment insurance for anyone with an income of $12,000 and up. More than that — last August prominent Democratic Senators and Representatives introduced a bill to tax every dollar of unemployment insurance and everyone getting it. Not one mention of that in any news story.

“One more sample of what can only be a concerted campaign. A few weeks ago, as you know, the market dived 36 points in one day. The TV news that night and the papers next morning trumpeted that it was the biggest loss since 1929 when the market fell 38 points. Then they added — ‘just before the great crash and the depression.’ But none of them pointed out that the 36 points were from a Dow—Jones of about 1040. In 1929 the 38 points were from a Dow-Jones of only 200. Like Jimmy Durante, ‘I’ve got a million’ of those examples of press dishonesty…”

This is the finest exposition of Reagan’s view of the press, filled with important examples, that we have seen.