No big deal. It reminded me of a story my mom told me years ago. She worked as a publicist and ghostwriter for several years. Lobby Shop Well, the institutes and associations around Washington, whose bosses are often smug Republicans who represent (often literally) pernicious interests.
One of her last bosses, the head of a chemical industry trade group, was invited to the White House along with other heads of toxic industries to meet with the president toward the end of his second term, a period that even his fans acknowledged was a dark period.
He returned from the experience disheartened, telling my mother that Reagan had acted as if he hadn't been there, ignoring the polluters' praise for his tax-cut, deregulation presidency, with only a vague smile and a blank look on his face.
…until one visitor started talking about Reagan's film career, and a particular movie (I can't remember which one). Suddenly, Reagan remembered a co-star or a scene, and got all excited. In the midst of that euphoria, the visitor was ushered outside and handed out White House trinkets (which may have still been matches and ashtrays at the time).
That story came to mind today when I saw a CNN interview with Ramin Setoodeh, author of the new book “Apprentice in Wonderland,” in which he spoke about his interviews with Trump since taking office and his memory problems.
The part where Reagan is mentioned comes at the end of the clip, around the 4:50 mark.
“The happiest moment for him was when he was telling me about hosting The Apprentice. That was the happiest moment for him. We watched clips from the show together. He was so happy when he saw the theme song. He also saw Amarosa get fired.”
“Then he talks about what he did in the White House, and he gets somber and exasperated, and he mentions Afghanistan, he mentions Joe Biden.
“But he also seemed to think he still had foreign policy authority. One day he told me I needed to go upstairs and deal with Afghanistan.”
whether Setoodeh's recollections reminded me a lot of my mother's, whether the former president was showing signs of following a great communicator down a dark path or was simply one of those tired old men yearning for their glory days to return.
