Reagan excelled as a raconteur

LOS ANGELES — The world knew Ronald Reagan as the “Great Communicator” for his now-famous phrases on the world stage — from challenging the “evil empire” to asking his Soviet counterpart to “tear down this (Berlin) wall.”

But one of Reagan’s great gifts was his ability to communicate on a much smaller scale, to connect with people he met on a personal level.

Those who knew, including reporters who covered him regularly, found him always ready with a joke. Wit and down-home wisdom were his trademarks in almost any setting.

Reagan always brushed aside the “Great Communicator” label, saying, “I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things.”

One of the tragedies of his battle with Alzheimer’s disease, which he lost June 5 at age 93, is that the disease ended his ability to tell stories and jokes. He spent his last decade almost completely sheltered from the public and hadn’t recognized his own children in years.

Before his public disclosure that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s, when he poignantly told America that he had begun the journey that would take him into the sunset of his life, Reagan loved to tell stories.

In his post-White House years, he could enrapture people with the details of pruning oak trees, one of his favorite pastimes at his Santa Barbara County, Calif., ranch.

“Well, that reminds me of a story,” Reagan would say whenever he started a tale, making the room grow hushed.

In 1990, he told an Associated Press reporter about a brief trip to see the family’s future home in Southern California while he still was president.

Nancy Reagan spirited him away from the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City to see the Bel-Air house she had found for their post-White House years. With a twinkle in his blue eyes, he related how he had ridden the five miles crouched on the floor of a sedan.

“If I went anyplace, the press would have been in attendance, and we didn’t want that publicity at the time,” he said. “She said if I was willing to get down on the floor of the car and go there, the press wouldn’t be following or any photographers or anything, so I did. I didn’t get up until we were in the driveway.”

Reagan often told jokes to set a room at ease. One he told often was about a businessman who had ordered flowers for the opening of his new office.

The man was shocked when the flowers arrived with a card reading, “Rest in peace.” He complained to the florist, who told him: “Just remember there’s somebody today getting the message, ‘Congratulations on your new location.’ ”

Reagan also didn’t mind making fun of himself, particularly his age.

“I can remember when a hot story broke and reporters would run off and shout, ‘Stop the chisels,’ ” Reagan was fond of saying in his later years, referring jokingly to ancient text hammered into stone.

One of the most touching aspects of the former president’s life was his relationship with Nancy. Their 52-year marriage was like a continuous love affair, eloquently illustrated during his burial last week when Nancy said her final goodbye, resting her head on his casket and crying.