Ronald Reagan in 1988
© AFP/File Mike SargentNEW YORK (AFP) - Extracts of the diaries published in Vanity Fair magazine show a sensitive side to the former president and provide a rare glimpse into the closing chapters of the Cold War.
Reagan kept a diary throughout his eight years in power from 1981, only skipping days when he was in hospital, notably following an assassination attempt in the first months of his presidency.
The pages reveal his personal rapport with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom he negotiated an end to the US-Soviet nuclear arms race, and how his duties affected him personally.
A week after taking office, Reagan had to meet families of US troops killed in a failed hostage rescue mission in Iran: "One couple lost their only son. His widow was also here. I've had a lump in my throat all day," he wrote.
Ronald(L) and Nancy Reagan
© AFP/File Mike SargentHe deftly jumped from personal matters to world events, as in a March 4, 1981 entry:
"Our wedding anniversary. 29 years of more happiness than any man could rightly deserve. A Pakistani plane was hijacked and landed in Kabul."
Nine days later, though, he seems vulnerable, describing seeing streets lined with supporters during a motorcade through New York.
"I keep thinking this can't continue and yet their warmth affection seems so genuine I get a lump in my throat. I pray constantly that I won't let them down."
His diary entry for the day he was shot in Washington, written after being released from hospital, borders on the comical, ending simply: "Getting shot hurts."
Reagan described a visit in 1981 by Britain's Prince Charles as the "highlight" of the day, albeit marred by a faux pas: "The ushers brought him tea -- horror of horrors they served it our way with a tea bag in the cup... I didn't know what to do," he wrote.
(L-R)Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Princess Diana and Prince Charles
© AFP/File Don RypkaOn the political stage, he describes Kadhafi as "a madman" and "beneath contempt," while portraying then-Israeli defense minister Ariel Sharon as "the bad guy who seemingly looks forward to a war."
Family matters could be as troublesome. "I'm not talking to him until he apologizes for hanging up on me," a wounded Reagan wrote of his son Ron.
Other comments are disarming, such as this after meeting pop icon Michael Jackson in May 1984: "I was surprised at how shy he is."
Recounting a 12-course banquet in China later that year, he said: "We heeded Dick Nixon's advice didn't ask what things were -- we just swallowed them. There were a few items I managed to stir around on my plate leave. We both did well with our chopsticks."
Famous for his relationship with Gorbachev and helping bring an end to the Cold War, Reagan's first major mention of his Soviet counterpart in March 1985, when Gorbachev rose to power, has little sense of history. He only notes that he had to go to the Soviet embassy to sign "the grief book" for the late leader Konstantin Chernenko.
Having earlier said that Moscow seemed "paranoid about being attacked," he later warms to "Gorby."
"There is no question in my mind but that a certain chemistry does exist between us," he wrote in 1988.
His well-known sense of humor comes out in a February 1987 note on then-Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
"In Tehran the Iranians arrested an American press man (Wall St. Journal) took his passport accused him of being a Zionist spy threw him in jail. He's a Roman Catholic. I'm ready to kidnap the Khomeini."
The diaries are dotted with tributes to passing stars of stage and screen, such as Fred Astaire, who Reagan described as "a truly wonderful man."
And his love for wife Nancy shines through consistently. In September 1987 he wrote that Nancy was staying with friends. "As usual I'm lonesome so is Rex," the family dog.
On January 19th, 1989, his last day in office, his entry ends simply "Tomorrow I stop being President."
©AFP