Ronnie and Nancy_ Their Path to the White House - Bob Colacello [284]
On the morning of July 26, Reagan made his announcement on television in Los Angeles, and Schweiker called Drew Lewis, who not only refused to switch sides but also called President Ford and reaffirmed his support. The right wing was outraged; Howard Phillips, director of the Conservative Caucus, said Reagan had “betrayed the trust of those who look to him for leadership.”99 “Never mind that Kennedy had picked Johnson in 1960 to unify the Democrats,” an exasperated Nancy said.
“Never mind that two conservatives on the same ticket had no chance of winning. As always, some of Ronnie’s supporters insisted on putting ideological purity ahead of victory.”100 Bill Buckley, who was supporting Reagan, came to his defense. “It is worth recalling just how traditional, in essence, such a choice actually is,” he reminded his readers in a column defending the Schweiker ploy.101
But in the few days left before the convention, it became clear that Reagan would not pick up more than a handful of delegates in the Northeast, and, to make matters worse, the Mississippi delegation, which had been leaning toward Reagan, was now completely up in the air. Reagan and Schweiker flew to Jackson, to meet directly with the delegates, taking along John Wayne, who told a reporter that he had always thought “Schweiker was a commie, but if he’s good enough for Ronnie, that’s enough for me.”102
At the 1964 convention in San Francisco, Ronald Reagan had been a bit player. In Miami Beach in 1968, he had taken a more important part but was not quite sure how to play it. In 1972, in Miami Beach again, he had performed perfectly, but his was still a supporting role. Now, as the Grand Old Party gathered in Kansas City, Ronnie was definitely a star, playing his part to the hilt. And so was Nancy. In fact, she and Betty Ford nearly upstaged their husbands. As Jerald terHorst, Ford’s former press secretary, wrote in his syndicated column:
The impact of the “presidential women,” their importance in making or breaking a ticket—perhaps even in shaping it—is now of Reagan vs. Ford: 1975–1976
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such significance that we should no longer discount or disguise it.
The Republican scene in Kansas City last week was a testimonial to the fact. Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan were more than symbols in the intense rivalry between their husbands. They were competitors in their own right, vying for space in the papers and a place in the spotlight, their entrances to the convention hall carefully stage-managed to extract maximum attention from delegates and television viewers. On the sidewalks, street vendors hawked buttons reading “Vote for Betty’s Husband” and “Betty Can Dance But Nancy Can Lead.” Except for the two principals, no other Republican politician in the hall rated the special salute and the acknowledgement of personal influence and popularity accorded the First Lady. One cannot imagine Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, Jackie Kennedy, or even Pat Nixon standing at the lectern with up-turned face, right fist punching the air, while defiantly shouting,
“We’re going to win!”103
The Reagans arrived in Kansas City on Sunday, August 15, the day before the convention opened. Flying with them were Maureen, Michael and Colleen, who was now his wife, and Ron, all of whom had done their part in the primary campaigns, and would surround Nancy in her skybox at the Kemper Arena for the next four nights. Though The New York Times delegate count now showed Ford only ten votes short, Reagan maintained that he could still win. In a last-ditch effort to pull off an upset, Sears had proposed a rule change that would require candidates to name a running mate before the presidential roll call. Reagan’s choice, Richard Schweiker, was waiting at the airport with