Ronnie and Nancy : Their Path to the White House--1911 to 1980

Ronnie and Nancy: he was born in modest circumstances in rural Illinois; she grew up in an enclave of Chicago in an atmosphere of privilege and high expectation. He would learn early on the value of befriending the monied and powerful...she would become the pet project of her ex-actress mother, thrust repeatedly into Hollywood circles and taught over and over again the value of connections. Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis couldn't have been more unlike in their origins - or more alike in their awareness of the value that can be extracted from relationships. Over the course of decades they elevated the social to an art form. Who better to chronicle that journey from obscurity to Hollywood's most talked about couple to ultimate political game players than Vanity Fair writer and ex-Interview Magazine's editor-in-chief Bob Colacello. In researching this book, which has been six years in the writing, Colacello has spent thousands of hours interviewing Nancy Regan as well as hundreds of Reagan intimates. This is a monumental work. "He was the son of an alcoholic shoe salesman. She was the adopted daughter of a wealthy doctor. Both Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis learned the value of cultivating the right friendships when they were young. Ronnie found his first marriage and political ambitions at irreconcilable odds, but when he met Nancy, one of the most remarkable career-building and romantic partnerships of all time was born." "Now comes the definitive portrait of America's First Couple, in a book that is at once a political saga, a social history, and an unforgettable love story." "With unprecedented access to Nancy Reagan, her personal papers, and the couple's closest friends - including many who have spoken on the record for the first time - Bob Colacello sheds light on the Reagans' early years and the development of the future president's political ideas. Delving into their Hollywood careers, Ronald Reagan's marriage to actress Jane Wyman, and the Reagans' complicated relationship with their children, Colacello sets the record straight about the most private aspects of their lives." "Most of all, he reveals how the Reagans perfected their social skills into an art form, rising through fashionable Los Angeles society to the governor's mansion in Sacramento in 1967 and to the front door of the White House in 1980. Behind them, helping them climb from one peak to the next, was the Group, a clique of wealthy men and glamorous wives that would wield tremendous power throughout Ronald Reagan's political life."--BOOK JACKET. Title page 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Prologue: Le Cirque, 1981 12 Chapter One: Early Ronnie, 1911-1932 26 Chapter Two: Early Nancy, 1921-1932 44 Chapter Three: Iowa, 1933-1937 69 Chapter Four: East Lake Shore Drive, 1933-1939 83 Chapter Five: Warner Bros., 1937-1941 104 Chapter Six: Nancy at Smith, 1939-1944 132 Chapter Seven: Ronnie and Jane, 1941-1946 160 Chapter Eight: Nancy in New York, 1944-1949 191 Chapter Nine: Divorce, 1947-1948 206 Chapter Ten: Ronnie and Nancy in Hollywood, 1949-1952 244 Photo Insert 236 Chapter Eleven: Pacific Palisades, 1952-1958 279 Chapter Twelve: The Group, 1958-1962 304 Chapter Thirteen: The Kitchen Cabineet, 1963-1966 332 Chapter Fourteen: Sacramento, 1967-1968 370 Chapter Fifteen: Sacramento II, 1969-1974 410 Chapter Sixteen: Reagan vs. Ford, 1975-1976 456 Photo Insert 448 Chapter Seventeen: Reagan vs. Carter, 1977-1980 488 Acknowledgments 534 Notes 538 Chapter One Notes 538 Chapter Two Notes 540 Chapter Three Notes 543 Chapter Four Notes 545 Chapter Five Notes 547 Chapter Six Notes 550 Chapter Seven Notes 553 Chapter Eight Notes 557 Chapter Nine Notes 559 Chapter Ten Notes 563 Chapter Eleven Notes 568 Chapter Twelve Notes 571 Chapter Thirteen Notes 574 Chapter Fourteen Notes 578 Chapter Fifteen Notes 583 Chapter Sixteen Notes 587 Chapter Seventeen Notes 591 Bibliography 598 Index 608 Six years in the making -- with unprecedented access to Nancy Reagan and the couple's closest friends -- here is the first volume in the definitive portrait of the remarkable, career building partnership between Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis.Celebrity insider and Vanity Fair special correspondent Bob Colacello reveals the social history of Ronald and Nancy Reagan as no one ever has before, from the formation of their unique alliance through their rise to the heights of power. Colacello exposes facets of their marriage that have always been hidden from public view. Ronald, born into modest circumstances in rural Illinois, and Nancy,raised in a fashionable enclave of Chicago, both learned early on the value and importance of cultivating the right friendships. Over the years, they perfected their social skills into an art form, becoming one of the film industry's most talked-about power couples. But Hollywood was only the beginning.... A first volume of a definitive portrait based on the author's unique access to the Reagan family and their friends shares previously undisclosed information about the marriage between Ronald and Nancy, Ronald Reagan's modest childhood in rural Illinois, and Nancy Reagan's carefully cultivated social connections. 50,000 first printing. Six years in the making--with unprecedented access to Nancy Reagan and the couple's closest friends--here is the first volume in the definitive portrait of the remarkable, career-building partnership between Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis. 16-page photo insert.