What happened is I was Googling for a link to Ron Reagan's appearance on 20/20 where he discussed his suspicion, in retrospect, that his father was showing early signs of Alzheimer's while in office.
I stumbled upon an article about it on a website called "The Hill," which was (as is typical) followed up by reader comments.
Here is an excerpt from one: "This guy has no shame! Apparently he is unable to sustain himself without benefit of denigrading his late father."
Well, nevermind that most of the posters couldn't spell, but--overwhelmingly--the comments suggested that it is only Ron Jr.s liberal, atheist, evil mindset that could possibly cause him to say something horrible like his father showed signs of AD in office.
All politics aside, this is extremely troubling, because what these people were saying, repeatedly, was that it was a shameful thing for the son to point out that the father had AD, and that it was "damaging his legacy,"
As immersed as I am in the day to day life of an Alzheimer Spouse, apparently I'm not nearly immersed enough in Alzheimer's activism. I really didn't realize that people still think of it as a great embarrassment as opposed to a great tragedy.
And yes, I blasted them.
edit: Checked some more sites---this is getting politicized all over the net. Michael Reagan (a staunch Republican) is rejecting Ron's (a liberal) "charge," and pundits are lining up all over as if this is about politics. As if you would ONLY say such a horrible thing to discredit someone. It's pretty ridiculous.
Emily...I saw a site with the same type of comments and it really ticked me off. It was like they thought Alz was like having VD or something. Like...please hide the family members no one must know. WOW
I just got home from vacation and had too much to do to put up the article and my comments. I also have not had a chance to read the article thoroughly - I only skimmed it, but my first reaction was similar to yours. In the first place, OF COURSE Reagan had AD years before it was formally diagnosed. Almost every AD patient does. Secondly, I did not think Ron Jr. was doing anything to 'denigrate' his father or his legacy. Politics should have NOTHING to do with it. NOTHING. People have to know that AD sneaks up slowly, years before it is obvious, and there is NO SHAME in it. Would they be ashamed and afraid of Reagan's "legacy" if he had died from cancer?? Of course not.
This is why we try so hard to raise awareness of AD - so people will recognize and understand the disease in its earliest stages.
Joang: This might be a great opportunity for you to try an get on Michael Reagan's radio show and talk about alz. So many people think it is just old people, ma and pa, but we all know it hits the young famlies. How it is nothing to hide from. There is so much you could say and so much better then most. Most people don't know this is a fatal illness and they certainly don't know the hardship physically and financially on the caregivers. Go for it leader.
I read on a conservative website that just posted an article about this and Michael Reagan is supposed to have said RonJr is an embarrassment to the whole Reagan family. I would tend to agree. I know his daughter Patti Davis and he and her mother had differences but later in their story she came around to her father and was supportive and loving. It will be interesting to see if she has anything to say to counter this.
Ron Jr is no Ronald Reagan. And for this "son" to so insult his father's memory like this is truly an insult to him. Alzheimer's is no more an embarrassment that one with cancer or Parkinsons etc. Ron Jr, ( who by the way is not rally Jr...to be a JR you have to have the same name and they do not but not to put too fine a point on it) is a disgrace. He would be better served dressing up in his tutu and going back to ballet.
Mimi, I'm not following your point, or at least I'm getting slightly mixed messages.
Mine was that no matter how you feel about Ron, Patty, or anyone else in the clan--I don't care whether you like them or not--seriously, it doesn't matter...no matter what you think politically, it is an insult to THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY of Alzheimer's victims and their loved ones to imply that it in any way denigrates President Reagan's legacy to say that hints of his Alzheimer's symptoms were visible early.
In other words, IF Ron did a disservice to his father and family by making these statements, then aren't we really saying that Alzheimer's is shameful and should be hidden? That it is "something of which we do not speak?"
Here, we're all about getting it out in the open. We want people to know that the damage begins years before serious cognitive disability shows up. We want people to know that this is not only a disease of the ancient. We want people to know how common it is, and that it is not a smear of a person's legacy to be upfront about his illness.
So, remove politics from the situation entirely. A son is saying that, in retrospect, he saw signs of trouble in his father early. This makes sense. We want this kind of honesty. For pundits to turn it into something political is an insult and an absurdity.
I thought it was a fairly well accepted notion that Reagan probably had AD while serving. The subsequent diagnosis explained why he had fallen asleep so often in cabinet meetings, and why Nancy was so involved.
At any rate, people are probably upset that the son is trying to PROFIT from his father’s illness - by writing a book and promoting it with this supposed salacious fact. And it would tarnish the president’s legacy because most people do not understand that people suffer from cognitive impairments with no self awareness of them. They would assume that Reagan was selfishly holding on to the reins of power, when he should have stepped down.
That is why this is an excellent opportunity for education, and for advocacy of early and accurate diagnosis.
I think the thing that upsets people is the comments on blogs from the general public that Ron, Jr. should not have written the book because it puts his father in a bad light ....from these statements one could think the general public is expressing that they think this illness should be kept in the closet. I would link to the blog, but I don't remember where I read this.
No question that there is still a huge stigma asociated with AD and the public generally thinks of it as a mental illness. It would be great if Ron Reagan decided to give the profits from the book to the Alz Association or some other organization to fund research. Purely looking at the ages of most of our presidents, I would be surprised if Reagan was the only one who had some brain issues while in office! I'll bet the annual physical the President gets doesn't include the MMSE.
I watched the 20/20 interview Friday night. Also, in today's Sunday Parade there is basically the same article. I am at a loss to how anyone could find anything said to be demeaning to his father's legacy. As mentioned above, we all know or should know that dementia begins much sooner than diagnosed. It would be nice if Ron Jr. donates profits to research, however, if he doesn't, at least he has brought the topic of dementia back in the news.
If Reagan was showing subtle signs while in office, which I would not doubt, he definitely would not be the first. You can look back in history and find plenty of world leaders that were ill. Some didn't affect their work, others had to have lots of help from aids to run their government.. Most recent is Castro. As others here have stated, we know the symptoms show up long before they are really noticeable to the point of making sense. If Reagan was, it just shows how intelligent he was to pick staff that could cover deficiencies and cover it up. I really do not think anything his sons say or do will change the way the world looks at him - unless he tries to say his father was hiding in the back room letting his staff run the country - which we know was not true.
The positive: this seems to be bringing to the forefront an open discussion on Alzheimer's and how it very slowly affects people.
Just because he was the president doesn't make him immune to the AZ or any other dementia, I am glad that you blasted them too emily. Thank you for giving us all voices. Some people will say anything to get a buck(meaning his son).
Actually, I don't think Ron Jr. said it to get a buck. I think he wrote a book because he wanted to write a book. About his dad. Of course he hopes to sell it. Virtually anyone who writes a book hopes it will sell.
So, I hesitate to quibble with other posters here--love you guys--BUT...please don't misconstrue me as coming down on Ron Jr. for writing the book. Or for trying to sell a book. My comments are in no way about Ron Jr and his book. Or his character. He's ok by me. Actually, I don't know the guy, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
I guess I haven't expressed myself clearly. The ONLY people I wanted to scold were the ones who were saying that it was shameful for Ron Jr to state that he suspected there was something wrong with his dad early.
I'm glad Ron Jr wrote the book, come to think of it. And I hope he does sell it. I'll thank him, actually, for bringing this issue more into the forefront of the public's attention. I'm in no way attempting to rally everyone to agree with me. The Reagan family inspires strong feelings across the board, good and bad, and I've got my own feelings. (I am politically moderate, leaning slightly toward the left.) But my politics, or how I feel about any of the Reagans or their motivations is entirely beside the point.
The point is just this: Thank you Ron Jr for speaking honestly and openly about Alzheimer's, and shame on anyone who thinks that to do so is scandalous.
I agree with you Emily. It is the people who say that Ron Jr. is demeaning his Dad by saying he had Alzheimer's in office, who deserve the blasting. It's not demeaning. Why should they think that Alzheimer's is demeaning? Because they are ignorantly uniformed.
Emily and others: For me it wasn't that Ron Jr was being disrespectful it was on a blog where so many of the commentors were blasting him and the article. It was like they were saying Ron, Jr. should not have written the book because Alz. is something we shouldn't talk about. Also, they were bad mouthing that no one told the public, if in fact, the family knew and didn't say anything when he was in the White House.
Right Judith...that's what I saw too. Ron Jr was clear though, that he's certain no one suspected Alzheimer's at the time...his observations about something being wrong are retrospective in that he noticed something but didn't know what it meant.
The public apparently doesn't understand this, because they haven't been through the long confusing process most of us HAVE been through which started with minor symptoms and led, eventually, to diagnosis.
This is a shining example of why we need to be as open and education-oriented as we can, isn't it!?
I just read Reagan's letter to the American people in which he tells about finding out he has AD...he stated that he hated the thought of his family having to deal with the disease. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, this is sad. We all know what a family faces and I'm glad that Reagan and his son have spoken about this.
I listened to an interview Diane Sawyer (I think) did with Nancy Reagan back in the early 2000s I think. In it she talks about how hard emotionally it is on the family. She said she is one of the lucky ones in that she has secret service to help, but that does not help with the emotional toll.
The last sentence is the kind of thing that Michael Reagan is upset about - a tarnishing of the legacy: "The Gipper was slipping while he was occupying the most powerful position in the world, and the public was kept in the dark."
But really, I do not think it speaks to Reagan's character, so much as it does to the character of those around him. As we all know, Reagan was probably unaware of his own impairments.
With the possible new blood test that will tell many years before notice that a person has AZ - a bit scary. Somebody may decide that all candidates for public office have to have the test and should not do anything! if there is an AZ gene present. As I understand the study, this is a potential screening that could occur when everyone hits the age of 2?, 10? 18? etc and ruin potential lives.
We need to stress that most AZ people can and do function in their respective lives until the disease has been "active" for several years. My friend's husband, a barber, could give haircuts right up to the last year. He couldn't drive or other things, and he probably couldn't give a haircut with a new modern version - just other older men who wore their hair the same way they had for years. It was only when his barbershop flooded and she found him trying to sweep the water with a broom that she closed the business.
I notice that many of you have spouses with apparent early onset - I am so sad for you and remind myself that we had many good years before "this." Since PJs family history was of lifespans into the 90s, on one hand I feel robbed that our good years were cut short. But PJ was able to retire without any outward sign of AZ and so we continue.
Joang - go for the radio show or for other opportunity. For one thing this site has been a real blessing in the short time since I found it. And am sharing with other spouses as possible.
Mary22033, I went on the website you mentioned and was struck by the comments made by Leslie Stahl. I would have figured she would have known better. I left my comments on that website as well.
I can't think of any reason for Lesley Stahl to have pulled punches. She saw and observed what she did, and wavered over whether to say anything public about it. I think she made the right call by not saying anything, but I'm not a bit surprised that several people have admitted to observing his slippages during his term.
Of course Nancy covered for him. Why wouldn't she? A presidential term, after all, is a pretty short thing, so it seems natural to me that they would have just resolved to get through it.
This does not mean they had an AD Dx at the time. Most likely, all are telling the truth when they say they did not have such a Dx. We all know how, in the stage of those early signs, when you don't have a Dx, you just kind of go on hoping things will get better.