Reagan, the Movie: Memories of a Reagan staffer
By Ann Guthrie Hingston
The movie "Reagan" is a reminder of how principled and determined leaders - Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II - brought an end to the Cold War and freed the peoples of Eastern Europe from communism. I recommend the movie especially to younger generations unaware of the dangers of Communism and how the tactics used by today's radical Left in politics, on campuses and on our streets are not new. They are the same Communist tactics we fought against in the Cold War.
I was present and contributed to events portrayed in the movie at the 1964 Republican Convention when Reagan emerged, and then as a staffer on his Presidential speechwriting team followed by eight years at the US Information Agency. The Ronald Reagan I observed was more sophisticated than portrayed in the Reagan film. At the White House I served as staff assistant to the Director of Presidential Speechwriting, Aram Bakshian, a very gifted writer. I spent my days proofreading and facilitating the writing and production of Reagan’s speeches for teleprompter or printed on cards designed to slip nicely into his suit pocket. Sometimes I joined the advance team scouting out speech venues. Because Reagan wanted his letters to heads of State written in plain English and not in foreign policy jargon, letters drafted by the NSC landed on my desk to review and have the first crack at editing. This was before computers and the Internet and it worked quite well.
As portrayed in the movie, I witnessed the frequent back and forth among conservative factions fighting for or against the use of words in his speeches. The President's speechwriters were often up against State Department officials. Reagan’s famous lines about the "the evil empire" and "tear down this wall" were speechwriter victories. The words were left in the final product for the President to decide.
The US Information Agency was founded after World War II to tell America’s story of liberty and freedom to the world as a diplomatic tool in the Cold War. Soon after I arrived at USIA, Reagan launched a PR campaign called "Let Poland be Poland" which was lampooned by the US media. Working alongside Pope John Paul the US helped weaken communists in Poland which contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall. I had the good fortune to be at USIA, as an appointee of George H.W. Bush, when the Berlin Wall came down. I will never forget being in a staff meeting and hearing the amazing news and noticing complete silence. No one knew what would happen next. USIA had accomplished its mission!
At USIA, I was Executive Director of a Presidential advisory committee concerned with preserving and protecting the cultural patrimony of other nations, especially important to Eastern European countries beginning to reclaim their national identities and items symbolizing their cultural heritage. At an international conference in Krakow, Poland, as a member of the US delegation, I spoke about US efforts to help newly liberated countries to repatriate art taken from them by Nazis and Russians. I was suddenly approached by a Russian General who asked whether I knew the whereabouts of the famous "Amber Room" taken from Russia by the Nazis. Perhaps he thought it was in the bowels of the Pentagon? To this day it is a mystery and has never been found. Undoubtedly important to Russia’s heritage, Putin has had a replica constructed.
The Reagan movie is a reminder of what principled Presidential leadership looks like. It is no surprise that Facebook and others are trying to block folks from seeing it.
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Ann Guthrie Hingston serves on the Montgomery County Maryland Republican Central Committee.