Visits to Spokane popular
Ronald Reagan visited Spokane several times over the course of his public life, ranging from an appearance as “Ronald Reagan, Star” in 1959 to a presidential visit in 1986 on behalf of a campaigning Republican. His wife, Nancy Reagan, also came to Spokane in 1984 for the dedication of the Nancy Reagan CareUnit at Deaconess Medical Center.
Here are details of five visits Ronald Reagan made to Spokane, based on Spokesman-Review archives:
• Oct. 5, 1959 – Reagan came to address a crowd at the Davenport Hotel as part of the Spokane Business and Professional Women’s Club.
The headline in The Spokesman-Review announcing his visit read: “BPW will welcome Ronald Reagan, Star.”
Though the article focused heavily on his life and experience as an actor, it foreshadowed Reagan’s interest in public life: “Although Reagan declines to discuss it, he has long been one of Hollywood’s most vigorous public-minded citizens. He has played more than 500 benefits for good causes, fought communism from the day he detected it, and served as president of the Screen Actors Guild . . .”
• Oct. 23, 1972 – Then the governor of California, Reagan came to Spokane to rally support for President Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign. Reagan spoke to a packed house at the Ridpath Hotel in downtown Spokane, criticizing Democratic Sen. George McGovern’s plan to pull the United States from Vietnam. “We can’t retreat into isolationism,” he said. “If we do, you and I will live to see the day when the United States stands alone in the world – defenseless.”
• June 19, 1976 – In yet another election-year visit, Reagan – now a former governor and presidential candidate – addressed the state Republican convention.
• July 11, 1978 – With support for a presidential run against President Jimmy Carter building, Reagan appeared as part of the Spokane Symphony Women’s Association Celebrity Speakers Series. About 1,200 people attended the Opera House speech, and he told them that “government is inventing miracle cures for which there are no known diseases.”
Reagan also expressed his concerns about the Soviet Union, which he said was building the “biggest war machine known to man.”
“Will we, before it is too late, use the vitality and magic of the free market to save this way of life – or will we face our children, and our children’s children, when they ask where we were and what we did on the day freedom was lost?”
• Oct. 30-31, 1986 – Midway through his second term as president, Reagan visited Spokane to support Sen. Slade Gorton’s re-election effort. More than 5,000 people crowded into the Coliseum for the appearance. The crowd did the wave, dropped balloons and shouted, “We love you Ronnie.” He answered, “I love all of you.”
During his speech, Reagan addressed the controversial issue of nuclear waste dumping at a time when Washington’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation was one of three sites being considered for a nuclear dump that eventually was placed in Nevada. He said only that his administration would follow the law in making the choice.
He also criticized Gorton’s opponent, Brock Adams, for opposing the Strategic Defense Initiative, touted an improving economy and urged the crowd to vote Republican. He also implored voters to “win one for Slade Gorton. And, I can’t resist saying it, win one for the Gipper.”
Adams won four days later. Observers speculated that Gorton’s campaign was harmed by his admission that a 20-minute limo ride with Reagan before the speech was the first time he’d spoken to the president about Hanford.