Ronald Reagan and John Wayne Signed Letter Collection.

REAGAN, Ronald and John Wayne.

$4,800.00

Item Number: 145408

California:, May 20-26, 1967.

Rare pairing of letters exchanged and signed by President Ronald Reagan as Governor and American actor John Wayne, comprised of a typed letter signed by Wayne to Reagan and Regan’s handwritten draft of his reply. Three pages, 8.5 inches by 11 inches, the typed letter from John Wayne to Reagan is signed “Duke” by Wayne, expressing frustration that a friend had not been appointed to California’s Horse Racing Board in favor of a Democrat’s term together while taking aim at California car salesman Holmes Tuttle, a member of Reagan’s ‘Kitchen Cabinet,’ the letter reads in part, “I was under the impression from your last note that Mr. Reafsnyder was going to be appointed to the Horse Racing Board in place of Bob Fluor who was appointed by Brown. Dennis Carpenter now informs me that you mentioned to him that you were being pressured to reappoint Bob Fluor who, may I mention again, was appointed by Brown. We have all read in the L.A. Times that Tuttle Holmes or Holmes Tuttle or whatever his name is has a heavy influence on your decisions. I also understand that he is making a personal issue of this, so I guess I can do the same…,” with postscript that reads in full, “Tell Nancy that if you reappoint all the Brown members to all the Boards, Commissions and Committees in the State, that it won’t affect my love for the both of you. D.” In fine condition with mail folds. Three pages on stapled yellow lined paper, the handwritten drafted autograph letter is signed “Ron” by Reagan and explains his rationale for leaving Fluor on the board, the letter reads in part, “You’ll never know what this Horse Racing Board has cost me in sleeping pills. First off, let me clear up one thing about Holmes Tuttle; he wasn’t a crusader on this, he was in the middle. Actually I put him in a bracket with Walter Knott, which means they are my candidates for greatest citizens in the land … Duke, if this was a case of choosing between suggested appointees for an existing vacancy, the problem would have been quite different, but this was a case of replacing a Board member when there seemed to be no reason for doing so.” In near fine condition. Also included is a retained carbon copy of Reagan’s final typed letter to Wayne. A fascinating insider’s look at Reagan‘s measured governing style and willingness to reach ‘across the aisle,’ even if it meant frustrating his friends and benefactors.

Ronald Wilson Reagan served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and became a highly influential voice of modern conservatism. Prior to his presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and union leader before serving as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975. When Reagan left office in 1989, he held an approval rating of 68%, matching those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later Bill Clinton, as the highest ratings for departing presidents in the modern era. He was the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve two full terms after the five prior presidents did not. Evaluations of his presidency among historians and the general public place him among the upper tier of American presidents.