Reagan’s ties long, strong to LV

Monday, June 7, 2004 | 11:26 a.m.

Dressed in casual clothing, including a T-shirt and cowboy hat, President Ronald Reagan in 1984 sat on the edge of his bed at his Southern California ranch and watched a tape of a campaign ad that was proposed for network airing.

Las Vegas political adviser Sig Rogich, who had directed the half-hour video, was nervous as he sat beside Reagan because the ad was days away from running on prime time TV at a time when the race against Democrat Walter Mondale was too close to call. To have to reshoot parts of it so late would have been pressing.

But, to Rogich's relief, Reagan, "approved the biography, then said, 'Come, let me show you what I have been doing.'

"He took me outside and showed me a fence he had just finished building. Here we were in the midst of election turmoil and he was calmly working on his ranch. That was typical of Ronald Reagan. No matter what the situation was, he never lost sight of the simple beauty of things."

Reagan died Saturday in California, leaving a legacy that included a significant role in ending the Cold War, bringing a large dose of Republican conservatism to the White House and improving the economy.

Reagan had a direct impact on Nevada during his time as governor of California, working to regulate development around Lake Tahoe.

He made eight trips to Nevada between 1982 and 1992, campaigning while he was president and making speeches after he left office.

Although Reagan's local stumping in the 1980s was viewed as paramount in helping Chic Hecht upset longtime U.S. Sen. Howard Cannon in 1982, the ex-president's efforts didn't always turn the tide for underdog Republicans.

In 1982 and 1984 Reagan made local visits partly on behalf of GOP congressional hopeful Peggy Cavnar, but she lost both times to Democrat Harry Reid. The same thing happened in 1986 when Reagan made three visits on behalf of Senate hopeful Jim Santini, who also lost to Reid.

Still, Nevadans who knew Reagan remembered him as a man who brought a sense of calmness to turbulent times and inspired Americans with his eternal optimism.

"Ronald Reagan believed people could do more for themselves than the government could do for them," Rogich said. "Among his greatest accomplishments was the sense of calmness he brought to the nation.

"He had a big shoulder to put a head on. He was like a father."

Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican, called Reagan "a role model."

"President Reagan was a strong leader whose policies strengthened the nation's economy and ended the Cold War," Guinn said. "As president, Mr. Reagan gained the confidence of the country through bold leadership."

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., in January introduced a House resolution honoring Reagan's 93rd birthday and worked to get the former president and first lady Nancy Reagan the Congressional Gold Medal.

"Throughout his tenure in office, President Reagan maintained a unique grace and uncanny wit," Gibbons said. "These endearing qualities enabled him to easily communicate with American citizens, foreign dignitaries, and public officials. (He) will forever be remembered for his eternal optimism."

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., called Reagan "one of the greatest presidents of modern time."

"The 'Great Communicator' inspired millions with his eternal optimism and made Americans feel good again," Porter said. "He believed in ... the principles of limited government. (He) was a peacemaker (whose policies) liberated many nations behind the iron curtain."

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., called Reagan "a man of grit, determination and true leadership."

"Ronald Reagan ushered in an unprecedented era of hope and optimism in America, and his legacy is one of courage, commitment, and a total belief in the principles that make America the greatest nation on earth," Ensign said.

But for other Nevadans, it is Reagan's April 1992 Las Vegas visit, two years after he left office, that defines their frustration with the proposed national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

While Reagan was speaking before the National Association of Broadcasters at the Las Vegas Hilton, anti-nuclear activist Rick Paul Springer came out of seemingly nowhere and smashed a 10-pound glass sculpture of a bald eagle landing on a tree branch -- a trophy that had been presented to Reagan.

After shattering the one-of-a-kind statuette made by the William DuPont Fine Crystal Inc., Springer briefly took the microphone. But before Springer could deliver his anti-nuclear message, Secret Service agents tackled Reagan for his own protection and wrestled Springer off the stage.

Reagan, then 81 and the survivor of a would-be assassin's bullet 11 years earlier, got up and said, "He must have been a Democrat." He then continued his speech, sharing anecdotes of his broadcasting of Chicago Cubs baseball games on radio as "Dutch" Reagan.

Springer, a bearded 41-year-old, self-employed carpenter, who before the incident was regarded as a peaceful man, became an instant celebrity. He was hailed by other anti-nuclear protesters for his stunt that brought national media attention to not only the dump but also nuclear weapons experiments.

Nuclear weapons experiments at the Nevada Test Site, including preliminary tests on the Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly known as Star Wars, were conducted frequently and drew the largest anti-nuclear protests in the site's history during the Reagan administration.

Anti-nuclear activists also note that in 1987 Reagan had signed the so-called "Screw Nevada" bill that designated Nevada as the only state to be considered as a nuclear dumping ground.

Others, however, hail Reagan for his nuclear efforts that caused the Russians to back down and eventually led to the downfall of the Soviet empire.

"I think he put this nation back on track," said Troy Wade, former Nevada Test Site manager and assistant secretary of energy for defense programs under Reagan.

"He was the one that said, we'll push 'em back until they topple over, and he did push and they toppled," said Wade, one of the few Nevadans who sat in on cabinet meetings with Reagan and accompanied Reagan to the 1988 Moscow summit with former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.

Reagan also could come across as very easygoing, Wade said.

"He was a very pleasant, pleasant guy," Wade said. "Every time he saw you, he'd shake your hand and say, 'Hi, good to see you again.' "

Reagan made 10 trips to Nevada during his presidency -- two were to Reno in 1982 and 1986 -- but his ties to the state date back a half-century to his days as an entertainer.

In 1954, then-out-of-work actor Reagan came to town to try his hand as a song-and-dance man and comedian at the Last Frontier Hotel on the Strip.

During a two-week engagement before mostly packed houses in the Ramona Room, Reagan clowned with The Continentals quartette and danced with the resort's showgirl chorus line The Adorabelles.

"Advance information would indicate that Ronald Reagan has no intentions of walking onstage unprepared," the Sun wrote in its Feb. 13, 1954, editions. "His shrewd showmanship ... has held him in good standing for many years."

Harvey Diederich, then public relations director at the Frontier, said, "While he (Reagan) enjoyed doing the act, he knew he was no song-and-dance man. However, he was a very optimistic man."

Reagan never returned to Las Vegas as a performer but visited often in his pre-political days. He enjoyed fishing and boating at Lake Mead. In the 1960s and 1970s, Reagan made more than a dozen visits to Las Vegas as an actor and governor of California, attending ribbon-cutting ceremonies and speeches.

In the mid-1960s, then-Nevada Gov. Paul Laxalt and Reagan, the California governor, created the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to curb runaway development at the lake. The signing of that compact laid the foundation for future cooperative partnership between the two states.

"I knew that Ron harbored some presidential aspirations (in the 1960s), but I wasn't involved at that stage and really didn't give it any thought until I went to Washington in late 1974 as Nevada's newly elected U.S. senator," Laxalt wrote in his 2000 book "Nevada's Paul Laxalt, A Memoir."

"The longer I was in Washington, the more attractive Ron Reagan became, not only in terms of how he handled difficult situations and his magnificent personal qualities, but also by virtue of almost everything that I felt was important to the presidency."

Reagan made campaign stops in Las Vegas during his unsuccessful bid for the GOP presidential nod in 1976 and again in 1980, when he won the nomination and the presidency.

In early October 1982, as important congressional races were heating up, Reagan came to town for a private fund-raiser at entertainer Wayne Newton's ranch, Casa de Shenandoah, at Sunset and Pecos roads.

Reagan addressed the partisan crowd on his conservative economic plan dubbed "Reaganomics" and blamed the Democrats for leaving him to deal with high inflation and skyrocketing interest rates.

Although not a public event, it was the first visit to Las Vegas by a president since April 1975, when then-President Gerald Ford made a stop. Earlier in the day Reagan made his first campaign appearance in Nevada as a president when he stopped in Reno for a $500-a-plate fund-raiser at University of Nevada, Reno, on behalf of Gov. Bob List and congressional candidate Barbara Vucanovich.

Later that month, Reagan spoke before a crowd of 7,000 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Newton sang "America the Beautiful" and played the banjo, Robert Goulet sang the national anthem.

Reagan, who was stumping for Hecht just four days before the general election, stayed at the old Sands hotel. Reagan was the fourth president to stay at that resort, located where the Venetian now stands.

Reagan again visited Las Vegas in February 1984 on his 73rd birthday. Born Feb. 6, 1911, in Tampico, Ill., the oldest-ever U.S.president spoke at a Republican fund-raiser and before 10,000 people attending the National Association of Secondary School Principals at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

He told the educators about how the administration planned to combat school discipline problems and urged that students be better taught the basics of math, science, history, reading and writing.

At times, it seemed that Reagan, a one-time Democrat, transcended party lines.

"I saw first hand President Reagan's class and his charm -- trademark qualities (that) would carry with him throughout his life," said Reid, recalling his first meeting with Reagan in the Oval Office.

"Though we were of different political parties, and didn't always see eye to eye, he was always a gentleman ... who was pragmatic in his approach to governing the Unite States."

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said Reagan "will be remembered for for his warm wit (and) his quiet strength. Ronald Reagan served our nation with distinction. His actions as president ... reshaped the course of history."

Bill Briare, a Democrat who served as mayor of Las Vegas from 1975 to 1987, found Reagan "to be approachable" when he would meet Reagan at public events.

"I was a great fan of him when he was in the movies," said Briare, who is retired and currently writing his memoir. "I was at an age where I enjoyed him as The Gipper (in "Knute Rockne All American") and in his cowboy shows.

"You had to like the guy. He was always the good guy in the movies."

Reagan had easily carried Nevada in the 1980 and 1984 presidential races, but, by 1986, it seemed that the love affair Las Vegas had with Reagan faltered as Southern Nevada became a potential dumping ground for nuclear waste.

Nevertheless, in two local visits that year, Reagan worked hard to boost GOP senatorial candidate Santini in his efforts to defeat then-Rep. Reid as they vied for the seat that was being vacated by a retiring Laxalt.

Laxalt, who was credited with bringing Reagan to Las Vegas for nearly all of his visits, was considered a shoo-in for a third Senate term. But Laxalt, at the time, was considering a run for the presidency when Reagan left in 1988.

The move left the Republicans vulnerable to losing a seat in -- and control of -- the Senate.

In late June, Reagan, after delaying his Las Vegas visit by one day to lobby House members for a $100 million aid package for Nicaraguan rebels, arrived at 5 p.m. on a 108-degree day and was greeted by about 2,000 supporters at Hughes Air Terminal. Despite the blistering temperature, Reagan wore a dark suit.

Things would get hotter as the presidential motorcade passed nuclear protesters on Paradise Road en route to the Las Vegas Hilton, where Reagan was to speak at a $1,000-a-plate dinner, raising $600,000 for the Santini campaign.

To address concerns of Nevada Republicans over a Yucca Mountain nuclear dump, Reagan said he and future presidents would do nothing "that is not totally safe" in selecting a site for the nation's nuclear waste repository.

That statement fell considerably short of assuring Nevadans the nuclear dump would be built elsewhere. About 600 Reagan supporters at the fund-raiser sat for the most part quiet during Reagan's nuclear waste comments.

One day before the November election, with Santini trailing Reid by eight points in the polls, Reagan made a visit to Las Vegas that the GOP hoped would put Santini over the top, just as it had helped Hecht beat Cannon four years earlier.

About 3,000 people heard Reagan urge them not to elect big-spending liberal Democrats. About 24 hours later, Reid was elected and today is the Senate minority whip.

In April 1988, Reagan returned to Las Vegas to address 4,000 members of the National Association of Broadcasters at the Las Vegas Hilton.

In October 1990, Reagan returned to Las Vegas as a private citizen, addressing the Mobile Oil Dealers convention at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The 1992 visit was Reagan's last known Las Vegas appearance. Two years later it was announced he had Alzheimer's disease.

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