On this day in 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan is born. Much could be said about the man who went on to become our 40th President, of course, but one observation often made about him is that he had a great sense of humor.
“Ronald Reagan’s sense of humor,” his biographer Lou Cannon writes, “was a key to his character. . . . While adversaries interpreted his heavy reliance on anecdotes as a telltale reflection of a deficient intellect, Reagan treasured humorous stories and knew that his willingness to poke fun at himself was a vital component of his popularity.”
One common topic of these self-deprecating jokes was Reagan’s age.
“Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works,’” Reagan said in jest. “And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.” On another occasion, he quipped: “I can remember when a hot story broke, and the reporters would run in yelling, ‘Stop the chisels!’”
But it was more than just joking around. Reagan knew that laughter could soften the edges when it came to difficult topics. “He used humor to illustrate a point, defuse a moment, clinch a deal,” speechwriter Peggy Noonan explains.
Indeed, Reagan’s witty comments could get people on both sides of the political aisle laughing. Perhaps the most memorable example of this came as he debated Walter Mondale in 1984. “I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign,” the 73-year-old Reagan deadpanned to the crowd. “I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Even Mondale had to laugh.
Pretty much anything was fair game when Reagan was joking around. “He genially told jokes that were unflattering to economists to economists, anti-attorney jokes to lawyers, and anti-bureaucrat jokes to bureaucrats,” author Arthur Sloane writes.
Likewise, one joke during a soundcheck prompted a little bit of trouble. “My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes,” Reagan said, during what was supposed to be a soundcheck, not a hot mic moment.
Russians were not amused, but at least one newspaper would later list the joke as one of Reagan’s “10 best.”
Jokes could come out in serious moments, too, as when Reagan was nearly assassinated.
“Please assure me that you are all Republicans!” the wounded President joked to a room full of surgeons. As doctors and nurses hovered over him, he quipped: “If I had this much attention in Hollywood, I’d have stayed there.”
Reagan left office with sky-high approval ratings. He’d had policy disagreements with people over the years, of course, but many also felt that it was hard to personally dislike him.
“In my fifty years in public life,” Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill said, “I’ve never seen a man more popular than you with the American people.” Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo concurred, speaking at a dinner during Reagan’s last year in office.
“John F. Kennedy, whose wit used to enliven these gatherings,” Cuomo began, “once observed that there are only three things in life that are real—God, human folly, and laughter—and since the first two are beyond our comprehension, we must do what we can with the third. It’s one of the reasons I, and most of America, loved John Kennedy. And it’s one of the reasons that we Americans love, and respect, another man of gentle humor, our president, Ronald Reagan.”
Happy heavenly birthday, Mr. President.
Primary Sources:
Arthur A. Sloane, Humor in the White House: The Wit of Five American Presidents (2001)
Elizabeth Kastor & Barbara Feinman, The Gridiron and the Fond Farewell (Wash. Post; March 27, 1988)
Lily Rothman, Read President Reagan’s Best Jokes About Being Shot (Time Mag.; March 30, 2015)
Lou Cannon, Ronald Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (1991)
Lou Cannon, The Truth in Reagan's Humor (Wash. Post; April 26, 1987)
Michael De Groote, Ronald Reagan's 10 best quotes (Deseret News; Feb. 7, 2011) (archived HERE)
Peggy Noonan, What I Saw at the Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era (1990)
Ronald Wilson Reagan: Humor in the Highest Office (Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery)
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