Killing Reagan (35 page)

Authors: Bill O'Reilly

BOOK: Killing Reagan

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Chapter One

10
.âAs noted in Craig Shirley's
Rendezvous with Destiny
, the late Paul Corbin, an influential Democrat and friend of the Kennedy family who was bitter about Ted Kennedy losing to Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Democratic primary race, admitted to stealing the playbook shortly after copies were assembled in the White House on the night of October 23. The book was then given to William Casey, the former World War II OSS spy who led the Reagan campaign. Finally, on October 25, the Carter book was handed to the three key players in Reagan's debate prep: James Baker III, David Gergen, and David Stockman. Three years later, when word about the theft was leaked, a ten-month congressional and FBI investigation ensued. Corbin never surfaced as the culprit, and the truth did not come out about his involvement until after his death in 1990. Pat Caddell, when interviewed for this book, said he believes Corbin was given the book by a member of the National Security Council serving in Carter's White House.

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

ââ
5
.âThe battle against communism dogged Ronald Reagan right up to the very end of his term as Screen Actors Guild president. On January 16, 1952, during one of Reagan's final SAG meetings, powerful director Stanley Kramer explained to the board that his recent movie,
Death of a Salesman
, was being picketed by pro-Communist groups who were accusing him of discrimination because he refused to employ Communists. In order to prevent the increasing use of this tactic against other filmmakers, Kramer filed a libel lawsuit. Director John Ford, who gained fame making John Wayne Westerns such as
Stagecoach
, stepped forward to say that he would testify on Kramer's behalf. As a result, Reagan and the SAG board issued a formal resolution backing Kramer and repudiating the Communist pressure. Left unsaid was that during his tenure as president of the SAG board, Reagan had completely shifted the leadership from being sympathetic to communism to openly opposing the ideology and its tactics.

Chapter Four

ââ
1
.âNancy Davis has never been married. She was engaged briefly in 1944 to a young naval officer named J. P. White Jr. but broke it off after just a few months. A series of brief affairs followed. “She was what men at that time thought of as âavailable,'” a family friend will later recall. After moving from Chicago to New York in 1945 to pursue a Broadway career, Davis had affairs with actor Alfred Drake and producer Max Allentuck. She moved to California and signed with MGM in 1949, where she earned a reputation for being ambitious and allegedly having a torrid affair with producer Benny Thau, a man well known for using the casting couch to further the careers of young actresses. In 1949 Nancy made a list for herself of show business's most eligible bachelors, with an eye to trying to marry one. Ronald Reagan's name was at the top of the list, beginning the three years of pursuit leading to their marriage.

ââ
2
.âArdis Ankerson is a striking brunette who goes by the stage name of Brenda Marshall. Unlike many actresses, she insists that friends and family use her real name rather than her stage name. She is best known for playing Errol Flynn's love interest in the 1940 pirate film
The Sea Hawk
. She made her last film in 1950, preferring to put her career on hold to raise a family. After a number of separations, William Holden and Ardis Ankerson divorced in 1971. Among Holden's lovers during their marriage were costars Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Shelley Winters, and the French bombshell Capucine. He also had a torrid weeklong affair with Jackie Kennedy in the mid-1950s. Holden, who bragged to a friend that he had played the role of bedroom tutor to the wife of the future American president, commented, “If she goes back to Washington and works her magic with Kennedy he will owe me one.”

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