Longtime NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, former California Governor and Senator Pete Wilson and distinguished presidential historians shared their expertise in Simi Valley on February 2. The occasion was the launch of a series of special events to commemorate the Centennial of Ronald Reagan’s birth and opening of its renovated Presidential history exhibits at the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. The event also marked the beginning of joint research initiatives between the Reagan Presidential Library and the University of Southern California Center on Communication Leadership & Policy.
The audience of over one-thousand were presented with a detailed look at how historians use a combination of expert views and archive documents to further our understanding of the past. As historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University explained, “a legacy is rewritten as new facts are discovered and the world takes on new perspectives.” The discussion began with a simple example. That is that when Reagan began his radio sports casting career, radio was live and improvisation was a recognized key to success. This early career conditioning in radio improvisation became a recurring theme during Reagan’s long political career as President of the Screen Actors Guild, Governor of California and President of the United States.
The distinguished panel maintained high academic standards and included candor about Reagan’s shortcomings in the discussion. Several instances of Reagan’s inclination to improvise with verbal attacks came up. For example, when questioned about the Free Speech movement at UC Berkeley during the 1966 California’s Governor’s race, Reagan remarked “I’d like to harness their youthful energy with a strap.” Reagan’s disappointment at the forced evacuation of U.S. Marines from Beirut following hundreds of casualties suffered by U.S. and French peacekeeping troops portrayed a leader who experienced his share of failures but also showed continued resilience thereafter.
Southern Californians can take advantages of extraordinary educational programs at the Reagan Presidential Library that are usually free with advance registration. Regular visitor Richard Randall of Thousand Oaks shared his experience: “I’ve been coming to the museum since it opened and am very impressed. I’m really excited about the Centennial celebration and want to see all of the new exhibits.”
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