Alzheimer’s in the White House?

Ronald Wilson Reagan (From Wikipedia) February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician, commentator, and actor, who served as the 40th President of the United Statesfrom 1981 to 1989. Prior to his presidency, he served as the 33rdGovernor of California from 1967 to 1975, following a career as an actor and union leader in Hollywood.

Ronald Reagan may also be known as one of the most notable public figures to have Alzheimer’s. Even today, there is disagreement about when his Alzheimer’s began.

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Ronald Reagan’s sons (both authors) have disputed whether Ronald Reagan had Alzheimer’s while living in the White house. After leaving office, the Reagans remained in Calif where they owned a home and visited their Ranch often.

In 1994, at the age of 83, Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and made the announcement which ended with: “I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.“

Ronald Reagan died on June 5, 2004  at the age of 93 in his Bel Air, California home.

Reagan’s son reported that: “Father showed signs of Alzheimer’s in White House”

From CNN Reports:

Former President Ronald Reagan’s youngest son, Ron, suggests in his book that his father showed signs of Alzheimer’s disease while he was in the White House. In the book titled “My Father at 100,” which is due out next week, Ron Reagan writes, “Three years into his first term as President … I was feeling the first shivers of concern that something beyond mellowing was affecting my father.”

He writes about watching his father’s first debate with Walter Mondale, the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee.

“I began to experience the nausea of a bad dream coming true,” Ron Reagan writes. He adds: “My heart sank as he floundered his way through his responses, fumbling with his notes, uncharacteristically lost for words. He looked tired and bewildered.”

But the younger Reagan also admits, “I’ve seen no evidence that my father (or anyone else) was aware of his medical condition while he was in office.” He then questions: “Had the diagnosis been made in, say, 1987, would he have stepped down? I believe he would have.”

Former president Reagan disclosed he had Alzheimer’s disease in 1994, five years after he left the White House. Questions have been raised in the past about whether he developed the disease while he was still in office, but suggestions that he did have been widely dismissed.

In an effort to set the record straight, four of the president’s White House doctors spoke to the New York Times in 1997 to say the president didn’t show evidence of the disease until 1993 and that he was mentally sound while in office. The newspaper reported the doctors said, “they had taken the unusual step of discussing their former patient’s medical history publicly because neither they nor Mr. Reagan had covered up any illness, and because they did not want history to see them as having done so.”

Some people who served in the Reagan Administration are dismissing Ron Reagan’s new claims.

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Michael Reagan Disputes His Brother’s Statements Regarding Pres. Reagan

From PRNewswire

“Pres. Reagan championed freedom throughout the world.  He believed in the power of the people. His fundamental core beliefs about individual freedoms and liberties, and against government intrusion into the lives of citizens, were foremost on his agenda.

Michael also rebuked the assertion that his father showed signs of Alzheimer’s during his presidency.

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Both of President Ronald Reagan’s daughters also became authors.

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