‘The Reagans’ Episode 1 ‘The Hollywood Myth Machine’: Did Nancy trap Ronald into marrying her after their date?
"Do you think of yourself as a politician?" Ronald Reagan — the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 — was once asked. Pat came the reply, "No, ex-actor!" How did a Hollywood actor transition from the world of glitz and glamor to the game of politics? Showtime's new documentary ‘The Reagans’ encapsulates his journey in an eye-opening four-part series.
Award-winning documentarian and journalist Matt Tyrnauer combines archival footage, exhaustive research and first-person accounts from the couple’s inner circle to craft a revealing portrait of their unlikely rise from Hollywood to the presidency – and Nancy Reagan’s powerful position at the helm of their unprecedented partnership. So what is the one thing that will catch you off guard in the story of power, its legacy, and a political performance few knew until now?
The first episode ‘The Hollywood Myth Machine’ dives right into Reagans' lives and Ronald's words will ring in your ears: "If you are not a good actor, you cannot be a good president." The documentary also sheds light on how he could not have got elected without Nancy. In a clip, when Ronald is dumfounded after a question by a reporter, Nancy mutters the words for him: "Doing everything we can."
The rise of Ronald Reagan from a liberal movie star to an unlikely conservative politician shocked the nation by capturing the governorship of the largest state. Closely examining American myths and the myth-making so expertly exploited by the Reagans to seize power, episode one also looks at the ruthless rise of the corporate political right, which led Reagan to become an evangelist for small government.
“Ronald Reagan was an incredible mythmaker. He reinforced a myth of America that served many, but actually hurt many, many people,” the documentary goes on to say. It also shows how Nancy worked socially to help her husband politically. He couldn't have been what he was without her. The one question going on in many fans' minds is: Did she trap her into marrying her?
"I don't know if it was exactly love at first sight," Nancy Reagan said in an interview, "but it was pretty close." In 1949, contacted him as president of the Screen Actors Guild and he helped her with issues regarding her name appearing on a Communist blacklist in Hollywood on which she had been mistaken for another woman. A BBC report says Ron and Nancy were in "the biz" when they first met - but their date was politically motivated.
The report goes on to say, "She knew that Ronald Reagan, then president of the Screen Actors Guild, was a staunch anti-communist who could help her out, and she sought a meeting with him. Still getting over his divorce from actress Jane Wyman, with whom he had two children, the actor agreed to meet but said he could not have a late-night as he had a pre-dawn call. At 3 am on that first date, they were already planning their next."
Three years later, he said "let's get married" over dinner at their favorite restaurant and she replied, "let's". A simple affair blossomed into a secret ceremony on 4 March, 1952 at the Little Brown Church just out of Los Angeles. Their daughter Patti was born seven months later, and Ron followed in 1958.
The same report goes on to say: "Nancy Reagan was also accused of having too much influence on her husband during his campaigns - hardly an uncommon criticism of first ladies." It is her continued support that got Ronald where he was during his presidency. Like her husband, she too was an opportunist. Whether or not that was a bad thing is a debate for another day.
The first episode of ‘The Reagans’ titled ‘The Hollywood Myth Machine’ aired November 15, 2020, on Showtime at 8 pm ET.