The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - 255: Michael Reagan—Just Say Nyet

Episode Date: June 14, 2022

After Mike reprises The Man Behind the Microphone, a story about the most influential sportscaster of all time, he chats with that man's eldest son about his dad's fondness for frugality and trepidation of taxes – SPOILER ALERT – it's Michael Reagan. 

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is called just say niet. And I'll explain why we call it that. And I'll talk a little bit about my guest today who just gave us a terrific interview. But first, I want to play you a story from the library that inspired the conversation you're about to hear. That story is called The Man Behind the Microphone. If you've heard it before, you can fast forward.

It's only six, seven minutes long. But if you haven't, and even if you have, give it another listen. It's one of my favorite stories from this podcast. It's short, but it's relevant to the conversation that follows. Give it a listen. Back in a moment. The tension hung in the air, a palpable thing.

With two down and runners on the corners, the batter crowded the plate, and the pitcher waited for his sign. He got it and unleashed a fastball, very high and very inside. The batter ducked. Both benches leapt to their feet, and the umpire issued a warning. Now with the count at three and two and the prospect of a brawl very real, the man behind the microphone knew exactly how to play it. It all comes down to this, ladies and gentlemen, the moment of truth, this epic confrontation where two men meet on the field of battle,

but only one can prevail. In kitchens and living rooms across the country, fans leaned into their radios and held their collective breath as the pitcher went into a stretch. The runner on first bolted for second. The pitcher ignored him and served up a wicked slider. The batter swung and sent the ball deep into left field, but just foul. The crowd groaned, but stayed on their feet.

The catcher walked to the mound for a quick conference. The batter stepped back into the box and waited for the sign he wanted. He got it. This time, a change-up and another foul ball high into the cheap seats. The announcer described the chaos as the two men fought for the souvenir. painting a picture that came alive in the mind's eye of all those who listened, but the drama was just getting started. The next three pitches were all foul balls,

each sent to a different part of the stadium. So were the next three after that, and the next three after that. It was an extraordinary opportunity for the tall Irish kid with the radio voice and the Hollywood smile, and he made the most of every second. The batter, stepping out of the box at the last moment to disrupt the pitcher's timing, the pitcher prowling the mound like a tiger determined to get into the batter's head.

Each pitch had become a chess match, a steely test of wills brought to life by the announcer's urgent paratone, a voice that dripped with anticipation and possibility. Another foul ball. And another after that. And another after that. Finally, after 14 foul balls, half a dozen trips to the mound, and nearly 12 minutes of unrelenting tension, the man behind the mic set the scene for the final time. Here we are, ladies and gentlemen, another moment of truth in this battle royale, another payoff pitch in this eternal showdown, this operatic contest of wills. Both men are exhausted and both understand exactly what they must do.

Here's the wind-up, and here's the pitch. It's a strike, fast and hard and right down the middle, and the side is retired. And so ended one of the most unusual at-bats in the history of baseball. A called third strike on a batter of no great consequence from a pitcher of no particular acclaim. in a game of no great importance, chronicled for posterity by an announcer who made the whole thing up. It's true. The batter did strike out, but all those foul balls and everything in between was a figment of the sportscaster's imagination. You see, in those days, baseball games were called by announcers in radio stations far from the actual ballpark. They sat in small gray rooms behind large gray microphones waiting for a telegraph operator to send them the play-by-play,

which they would then bring to life as best they could. But when this particular telegraph signal was interrupted in the middle of this particular game, this particular sportscaster didn't panic. The man behind the mic closed his eyes and called the game. exactly the way he imagined it, and the fans loved him for it. And so decades later, it came as no great surprise when America sat down to watch the biggest game of the year and listened with rapt attention to the play-by-play, delivered by the now legendary broadcaster, a man who understood the importance of choosing just the right words at just the right time.

Once again, the tension hung in the air, a palpable thing, and the prospect of a brawl seemed very real. And once again, when the moment came for the payoff pitch, the words he chose did not appear on his teleprompter or on the approved transcript on the podium before him. Now, the words he chose on that particular day were his and his alone. alone. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. This was no game, but those words were a strike, nevertheless thrown fast and hard and right down the middle, delivered extemporaneously by the man behind the mic, a man who knew exactly how to play it. The 40th president of these United States and the most influential sportscaster of all time. Ronald Reagan.

Anyway, that's the way I heard. So I love that story. I hope you enjoyed it. It's a good one. Yeah, here's a little did you know, though. That story is among a few dozen that have been brought to life by TBN, and it just aired a week or two ago. They did a great job with it,

and that show, not to confuse things horribly, but that show on TBN is called The Story Behind the Story. But the story that's behind the story that's behind the story is really the interview we just did with Ronald Reagan's son, Michael. What a bottomless well of fascinating stories. I could have gone for another hour or two even. And it feels like he could have as well. And he just recovered from pneumonia.

He was supposed to be on the podcast a couple of weeks ago. Double pneumonia. Double pneumonia. He's getting over it. And he canceled the day of the record, actually. actually, and went into the hospital. But he's feeling a lot better now, and I can't believe this guy's energy. He could go forever.

And I hope he does because he had a front row seat to one of the most unique families in the world. He was adopted, as I'm sure many of you know, at a very young age. And he has just really, I think, gone on to become the standard bearer for the Reagan legacy. He's involved in projects in Normandy today. He runs the Ronald Reagan Foundation. He's written a terrific book called Lessons for My Father. I just thought it would be fun on Father's Day to talk to a guy whose dad impacted so many lives. And I mean, honestly, Chuck, just as I talked to him, I couldn't help just selfishly thinking about the way my own life was impacted by so many things that came out of that guy's mouth.

Well, the one thing that really stuck out to me is when he spoke about his dad that reminded me of your dad is the frugality. Oh, yeah. You know, your dad is a pretty frugal guy, and so, too, was Ronald Reagan. Yeah. We went up to the ranch there, and he mentions it that the bed that Nancy and Ronald Reagan slept in was two twin beds tied together. And he was so big, they were smaller beds, so he built an extension for his feet. Yeah. the leader of the free world needed a place to put his feet.

So rather than call in a bedmaker or call security or do any one of a thousand things, he like makes it himself. He jerry rigs it. Yeah, he jerry rigs an extension so he can lie next to his wife on a surface that can accommodate his frame. There's nothing new to learn about Ronald Reagan. I don't think that hasn't been written before. But when you hear it from a guy who had a front row seat to all of it, I think it's really interesting.

And like you say, it could have gone on for hours. He's a busy guy, but he gave us every bit of an hour. And I think you're going to enjoy all of it. We're calling the episode Just Say Niet. Because, well, that word, regardless of what language it occurs in, was probably the most important word Ronald Reagan ever used. It certainly changed the history of the world. You'll hear why momentarily. Episode 255, just say.

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Start when whatever, but let's say something. Our countdowns start at six for some reason. No one knows why. As your dad would have said, three seemed to work for all the great directors, but for some reason, we got to go with six. I just can't explain it. Good deal. How are you?

I'm good. I'm better, a lot better than I was a week ago. What was ale in you? We were supposed to talk. I guess it was a week ago, right? I had pneumonia. Oh, my God. I still have it.

I'm just getting over it. I'm about 95% right now, but a week ago, we were. Well, a week and a half ago, I was in bed. I was supposed to get you a week ago today. Yeah. And I was like, you didn't want to talk to me a week ago today. I'd been coughing away through the whole system and I had double pneumonia. Isn't it interesting how things changed?

Like all of a sudden, for the first time in my life listening to you talk, pneumonia sounded like this weird foreign thing. Like people still get pneumonia, I guess. but after the last three years, nobody seems to talk about it. It was eclipsed by that other thing. I tested at home for COVID. I was clear. Went to urgent care, clear. Went to my pulmonary doctor, clear, and took pictures of my lung, said, no, you've got pneumonia.

What you've got? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in the hospital? And I said, because I've been taken care of at home by my wife and what have you, we're good. I go to the hospital. I go to the nurses coming in every three minutes to just check you out. I'm good. So I took my antibiotics and did everything I was told to do, and I'm all right.

I'm much better. Well, I'm glad you're up and Adam. Thank you for making the time for this. I'm sure Chuck told you. Thank you. We've got Father's Day right around the corner. Oh, which reminds you can get that. Ta-da-da-da-da.

Lessons my father taught me. Okay. Well, let's plug it right now. When did you write that? I wrote that a few years ago. It's like an evergreen book because it has lessons. my father taught me. And I wrote it about five, six, seven years ago. Yeah. And it's on Amazon and people are still getting it and reading it and what have you. So it's been fun. How many pages is it?

Not many. Gosh, let me look. I'll tell you. I forget how many pages is. You know, with everything, it's about 240 pages. Okay. So it's 240 pages worth of lessons from Ronald Reagan. I mean, 243 pages of lessons, Michael. So I wasn't sure where to begin, but let's start there. Top three, top five, whatever ones you want. Hit me with the biggest lessons that Ronald Reagan imparted to his son. I'm like everybody else lessons my father taught me. I didn't realize that he was teaching me lessons until I was an adult.

Right. You know, and then went, oh, I get it. You can love it. I love a family, right? the top. With the business, the industry he was in, Hollywood, politics and what have you, but I grew up with him in Hollywood. And, you know, he would pick me up on any given Saturday morning. My mom and dad divorced when I was three, but he'd pick me up and take me out to the ranch. I'd sit in the right front seat of the car. And he would regale me with songs of the military army, Navy,

Marine Corps, Coast Guard, tell me stories about America. And what have you. That's how I learned about America, sitting the right front seat of a station wagon with my dad. Also, I'll say, learned about the tax issues in America because I thought my dad was cheap yeah yeah I was born of raising Beverly Hills I was with the Hope kids and the Crosby kids and all these other brats you know and I was getting a buck a week allowance how can you live in Beverly Hills on a buck a week what year was this this is like I'm eight years old nine years old 19503 54 I said in my dad I need a larger allowance your dad to get along with these people my dad was one of these people If you asked him what time it was, he told you how the watch was made.

Right. So you really couched your questions. Yeah. And so I asked him for a larger allowance. And for 15 minutes, I heard about the tax system in America, how the government took 90 cents out of every dollar. And the 10 cents that was left, he had to take care of his ex-wife, my mother, Jane Wyman, his new wife, Nancy, their new daughter, Patty, take care of me, take care of my sister, Marine, the ranch we are driving to. I felt so sorry for him that when we drove into the ranch, I offered him back

half my allowance. Keep the money, dad. I had no idea you were dealing with all this. Oh, yeah, my dad says, hey, listen, when the president's elected gives me a tax break, I'll give you a larger allowance. And so the county tax break goes to a 1964 under Linda Johnson.

He goes from 90% to 70% and raises me from $1 to $5. So there you go. I was now in high school. still a bit tough. The great thing about my dad, if he made a promise to you, gave you his word, he lived by it. And so he remembered the story he told his son when he was eight. And even though I was a junior in high school now or whatever, senior, he remembered that

and raised me up to five bucks a week allowance if well, so I had to learn to play poker to take money away from these rich kids. That's how I kind of survived. So that's probably the great lesson about my dad, that he never forget. forgot his first family. A lot of dads do that. They get divorced for whatever reason. They forget about those first kids. My dad never forgot about those first kids. But one of the greatest lessons I learned is really the last lesson is forgiveness. And that really plays in today to what's going on with Hinkley and so on and so forth. My dad forgave John Hinkley. And I said, you know,

the man who got shot by John Hinkley is willing to forgive John Hinkley? Who am I? Just to say, wait a minute and start, you know, saying foul, foul, foul. But it's interesting because you look what happened from there. My dad gets shot, forgives John Hinkley. Pope John Paul a couple of months later gets shot, and he forgives the man who tried to kill him. Both of them go back to the respective jobs, White House and, of course, to the Vatican. Two months later, three months later, they meet for the first time. Look now what they have in common.

The Protestant and the Catholic meet. You know, what do you think they said? Did it hurt? I mean, they meet for the first time and begin a relationship and a friendship that almost took place every other day they would talk to each other that ultimately brings freedom to Poland and wraps around the world and ultimately with the help of others, Maggie Thatcher and what have you, brings down the Berlin Wall. And so you have two people who could recite the Lord's Prayer, but you have two people who actually

lived the Lord's Prayer. Did you understand at that point in your life what you were actually witnessing in terms of, I mean, on the one hand, he's your dad. On the other hand, you're negotiating allowances with the president of the Screen Actors Guild. And then you're just watching a friendship unfold between the leader of the free world and the leader of the Catholic Church. I mean, were there days when you woke up and just said, good grief? man I have a front row seat to something pretty incredible here you know it's really you see Mike because there's only two people in the world who were ever born and or raised in a family where the father would go on to become president of the

United States and the mother would go on to become a Academy Award winning actress now is my sister Maureen and I right and so I could go out and give the greatest speeches of the world because I've made a living giving speeches I was radio for 27 years number one question asked to me so how was it being raised you know how was it and you start to understand understand it when you realize only two people ever fit that mode. And that was myself and Marine, who we lost back in 2001 to melanoma. Yeah.

I don't know if I realized in the beginning, you've got to understand, in 1966, my dad ran for governor. I just turned 21. Mike, I was thinking about dating. And I was thinking this is going to be really easy to go find dates now, because my father's like the governor of the state. Right. I'm looking at the bright side of this is a 21-year-old. I'm looking to have a one up to the next guy over. Hey, wait, I'm the governor's son.

Want to go out to dinner or whatever? Go to a movie. But as time went by, you really started to realize who he was and what he was. But what's interesting is that he realized it a long time before I realized the importance of where he was. Because for some reason, he always shared with me things and put me in positions to have the knowledge to share it when I share his legacy. Like when I go to the library, I'll go there this next week, taking some people there on a tour.

I love going up there and playing docent. And like the docent say, we know the stories, but you want him because he knows the backstory to the stories. And for some reason, Dad understood that and had me, and also Marine, but had me in positions that I could share these stories, whether there's Mikhail Gorbachev at the ranch, being up there with him was amazing or the Pope John Paul

I'm Catholic so that was kind of cool with all of those things and being able to meet these world leaders and to be in that position and he understood it more so than I because I got it later and he got it real early he wanted I think a family member

to be in that position to be able to say no no no no this is what happened not that what about the story that I shared with this audience about your dad. I called it the man behind the microphone. I stumbled across it years ago, and I know I took some liberties,

but I asked Chuck to send it to you because I really wanted to get your honest critique on it. Dizzy Dean was on the mound, pitching that day, by the way, just to let you know. Tony Lazeri was at bat, just to let you know. And you would have found all that out. If you've ever been invited to a state dinner at the White House,

and you're lucky enough get the ticket seeing next to the president, the United States and you want to talk about the economy, you want to talk about politics, you want to talk about this, you want to talk about that? No. You would hear that story from the President of the United States about what he called the game of baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals, Dizzy Dane on the Mountain, and how he told the story of this pitch being fouled off. The two kids were lucky enough they did school that day, brought their mitts.

You know, they were able to catch one of those foul balls or the ball that would go, going, going, Oh, my God, it was fouled by a foot. And you would hear that story from my dad. And that's just who he was. He never forgot his roots. He never forgot WHO, WOC, and being that radio announcer and that sports announcer, he loved it. And I used to say to people, they said, you ever thought about running for office? I said, it'd be easier to run as an announcer than run for President of the United States.

I said, why didn't he stay as an announcer? I could have gotten a job doing that. You can't just become President of the United States overnight. That doesn't work. But no, that's a great story he used to tell, and he used to tell everybody that story. Did he really? He just love the fact. Oh, yeah, he would tell everybody that story.

I'm so glad, you know, because you stumble across artifacts of tales. It's why this podcast is called The Way I heard it, because I don't know. I wasn't there. But I'll tell you, when I read the story selfishly, the first thing that resonated with me was the time I auditioned for QVC and they had me talk about a pencil for eight minutes. And I thought, well, I'm not really comparing one to the next, but there is a part of your brain that if you access it and if you're lucky, you can fill time. Well, your dad could fill time, but he did it with such imagination and such passion. I just wonder what your thoughts are in terms of the skill set a great president needs to have.

I mean, they called him the great communicator. But they weren't talking about his ability to make up a baseball game unless maybe they were. I want to say one thing about that, Mike, where Reagan is telling this story. He doesn't know how long he's got to make it up, right? He has no idea. No, he doesn't. Could have gone on for hours. Tickert tape went dead.

Curly was his engineer. And Curly said the ticker tape's gone dead and pitches on the way to the plate. Right. I mean, uh-oh, what do I do? Well, foul it off. You know, still dead. He fell off another one. He fouled off so many.

There was actually a person who called the Guinness Book of World Records and thought it was the longest at bat in history. And most foul balls that ever been fouled off in a baseball game. And, of course, then they found out, well, it wasn't really a, you know, it wasn't really a true story. But that wasn't the first time he'd done that, Mike. When he didn't get the job that he wanted at one of the companies back in Iowa, he was looking for work, and he saw an ad for WOC, World of Chiropractor.

was looking for an announcer. So he went over there to get a job as an announcer. And the head of the world of chiropractor says to him, young man, go in that studio and give me a football game. So he goes into a studio, and he had been at the Eureka College game the week before. And he recreated the college football game into a microphone for the owner and president of WOC. And the owner and president at WOC finally says to him,

that's good enough. My dad walks out and he said to him, you've done good, you son of a bitch. And the rest is history. And he goes into radio and we go on from there. Now here's an admittedly a colossal leap. But in my mind, I love the idea of a guy who could kill eight, ten minutes going off script with the president decades later who would decide to add a few words to the carefully crafted speech delivered fatefully that day, where the words Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall, from what I read, were not on the prompter, they did not want him to say it, and he just decided to say it. How much of that is true? All of it. All of it true. He had put it back in there eight times. They'd taken out every time he put it in there.

Remember, he wrote his own speeches or, in fact, had last calls. Paul on the speeches. He wanted to say that. And they didn't want to make anybody mad. And so when he got to that part, by the way, that wasn't in the speech that day. He just knew where to insert it. Yeah. So he inserted it back in, of course, and ends up making history at that moment in time. But he was careful. He wrote his own speeches. All of his life, he wrote his own speeches.

I remember in the bedroom at the house, lower right-hand drawer, he'd pull it open and he had stacks. of three by five cards with rubber bands around them for different speeches. You get a call to give a speech. You'd say on what? And he'd reach and go through the three by five cards and pull one out. This will work. In fact, Newt Gingrich tells a story about one time he pulled the cards out of his pocket. And they all fell on the floor.

And Newt said, oh, my God, what's you going to do? My dad just shuffled them together and started the speech wherever they started. That is so awesome. The federal government is not going to close America's skills gap. They have an important role to play for sure, but if we're serious about reinvigorating the skilled trades on a national level, we need more organizations like Skills USA making a real difference on a local level. These guys have been around since 1965, and today they are relevant like never before with hundreds of chapters in schools all over the country and hundreds of thousands of students participating and competing. every year. Nobody is doing more to train the next generation of skilled workers than Skills USA. And I'm encouraging you to at least consider being a part of this movement. Skills USA advisors

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I'm talking skills, U.S. Skills, U.S.S.S. U.S.S.S.S.S. USA. Do you think part of the reason he was such a great communicator was that he looked at his speeches as scripts to a certain degree? That could be a certain degree. But remember, my dad was a great reader. You read everything. I always tell kids readers or leaders, and you would know that too, both of you. And that's true.

The knowledge you gained, so that's why he's able to write those speeches as scripts. But if you really think about it and listen to his speeches, it doesn't matter which speech you listen to. Remember, he grew up in the Midwest, Tapico, Dixie, Illinois. Mother was a teacher in the church there. So he grew up in the church. He was a Sunday school teacher. And if you really listen to his speeches, he spoke to you in parables. And that's how he learned going through the Bible.

And he tells you stories, stories about taxes, stories about whatever. Remember, he's the first one to bring heroes to a state of the union address. You know, he's the first president to go to Normandy on D-Day and speak on D-Day, the point to Hawke speech. Yeah. But he spoke to us in parables. And I tell politicians today when they come to me, what do you think I need to do? I said, well, what you need to do is listen to my dad's speeches. but what you really need to do,

I don't want to hear your speech, I want to feel it. And you can listen to a Ronald Reagan speech today and you will cry where you would have cried 40 years ago. You will laugh where you would have laughed 40 years ago because you felt the speech because it was so earnest the way he gave it to you and really spoke to you and what have you. It's amazing the history on that.

And it's all because of Bobby Kennedy. What? Okay. I'll go with that. Why is it all because of Bobby Kennedy? You might remember my dad has a show called General Electric Theater. Back in the late 50s, early 60s. I don't remember, but I've heard tell of it.

Yeah, right. Top 10 every Sunday night. You know, I wanted to watch Gunsmoke or I wanted to watch Bonanza. Nancy turned it to Dad, Gee, Theater. And so we're sitting down one night, Sunday night to have dinner. Dad, Maureen, myself, and Nancy. He said, I'm not going to be on TV night. Why?

The show's been canceled. The show's been canceled. canceled. Why? Bobby Kennedy picked up the phone and called the head of General Electric and said, we got a problem. You've got your contracts are coming up. Your government contracts are coming up for renewal. I don't appreciate that guy going out around the country to G.E. Plans speaking negatively about government, which is run by my brother. And it would be best to find a way to get of him if you want to get your contracts. Seventy two hours later, G. Theater is canceled. Okay, dad doesn't have a job, right?

But he's a little ticked off at Democrats because he was a Democrat. Changes from Democrat to Republican. Cisda starts writing a brand new speech, right? Garnered from all the speech he's been given to all these GE plants, and he gives it for Barry Goldwater. And you might remember that one, a time for choosing. A time for choosing. Bobby Kennedy doesn't make that call.

Dad's not campaigning for anybody. He's too busy doing a television show. But because now he doesn't really have a job, and he's upset. He gives a time for choosing speech, which launches a career into the governorship, ultimately to the presidency of the United States. Good grief.

I mean, think about it. He quite possibly wouldn't have become president, but for the cancellation of that show. Way leads on to Way, right? Absolutely correct. My dad was able to make, you know, applesauce out of apples and what have you. I mean, he really,

he didn't let anything bother him. Nothing bothered him. He didn't care if you attacked him. Nancy would eat bananas at night. She just couldn't sleep. Dad would sleep like a baby. But Dad never got angry, never got mad. He just went about his ways.

But time for choosing, launched that political career. But there's what I was telling you is the fact that for some reason, I'm in the room with my sister Marine and Nancy and dad, and we're the only people privy to that story about General Electric to Bobby County making that phone call. Incredible. Speaking of just a couple people in the room and speaking of writing, is it also true that your dad wrote love notes to Nancy pretty much all the time? Oh, yeah. You couldn't break them apart with the crowbar. They were just hooked up together all the time. Love notes, great letter writer. People don't do that today. They text and type or email, what have you, but he wrote. He wrote a letter to me when I got married about marriage. about marriage, how important marriage was.

And, you know, at the end of it, he says, P.S, you'll never get in trouble if you say, I love you once a day. Their love affair is what people have talked about for a long time, to the detriment sometimes of the family. Yeah. Because you're going like, hello, we're over here. Excuse us, but we need some time. But I was lucky enough because I had 20 years with my dad

before he got into politics, riding out to that ranch with him, cutting firewood. I bought him his first chainsaw. We'd horseback ride together. We'd swim together. We'd shoot ground squirrels together and what have you. And we did those things. Same with Maureen.

Patty and Ron didn't get that. Patty was like just turning 13 when dad decided to become a politician. And Ron was just, what, seven or eight? And so they didn't get that time that Maureen and I had with dad. And you can get to a point honestly where you get a little pissed. Like you're saying, you know what, I want some. time too. You don't need to always go be at this event or that event and speaking of those people, raise the money here and raise the money there. I'm over here. And you have to come to

turns and understand it. I was raised at a boarding school. I mean, all those Hollywood kids all grew up at boarding schools. Came home on weekends, basically. And what have you, most of us were angry. We're the ones that coined the phrase, Mike. We're only here for the photo. Smile and wave, boys. Back then, in 1940s and 50, 100% of my family photos are all the photos of the family were taken by the studios. Warner Brothers took all the photos. I don't have any photos taken by the family. They're all taken by Warner Brothers.

And that was one of the reasons they went on strike years ago, led by my father, to get the rights back to the actual actor, is to have always, you know, with the studio. But all the pictures I have as a child are from Warner Brothers. But the plus side of that is because I was adopted. my birth mother from Ohio. In fact, that's how she kept up with me and the family and knew what was going on in my life.

She'd go down on a Saturday morning. She'd go get a movie magazine that she'd thumb through it, see if there's any stories or pictures of the Regans and what have you and any pictures of me. And when I met my birth brother Barry for the first time, he gave me three scrapbooks full of pictures and photos of me as a child with my mom, my dad, my sister, Marine, the dog, all of these things. And it was an amazing, she had about 10 scrapbooks. But that's

she kept track of me all those years. Never met her. But my brother Barry and I are great college football fans. He's in Ohio. I'm in L.A. So we talked 30 times on Saturday. What a fascinating, link. Speaking of Warner Brothers, how incredible is it that my boss over at the Discovery Channel has purchased Jack Warner's company? What would your dad say about that transaction? Good. grief. Well, it's what's going on there. You know who Lou Wostersman's first client was? Ronald Reagan. No. Sunny Werbling, remember him? Yeah. Sunny Werbley, you know who his first client was? Jane Wyman. So I grew up with Lou Wasserman and this whole group and Sunny Warblin, if you will. So if there are houses on Saturday and Sundays and what have you for dinner or whatever it might be.

But things change. I mean, look what's going on in the world today. Things have changed. much. But you know, so you remember it, I remember it, but the kids who raised today have no history of what it was. No. They think history started this morning when they got out of bed. Here's what's extraordinary to me. When I think about your childhood and what it must have been like for your dad to be the head of the Screen Actors Guild, living in Beverly Hills, contract player. I mean, it's a major movie star. Chuck, I think you'll agree. When we went up to the Reagan ranch. I have a small staff, half a dozen people.

And we took everybody up there, a little team building exercise, went to the library, and then we went up to the ranch. And I'd like you to talk about the austerity of that place, the modesty, the aggressive, breathtaking modesty of where Ron and Nancy slept. It's almost unbelievable. It's like walking through George Washington's house. when you look at just the sparseness of it.

That's the same guy who lived in Beverly Hills. That's the same movie star that people grew up with. And he could have lived anywhere he wanted. And I talked to John Barletta, too, who I'm sure you remember. Oh, yeah. And read his terrific book, Writing with Reagan and met him on that same day, too. But that part of your dad's world, I was exposed to it in the 80s, and honestly, I just thought it was PR.

I just thought it was a thing that people talked about. the cowboy hat, the chain saws the work. But when we went up there and saw it firsthand, it changed my experience of the man. John Barletta's ashes, in fact, spread at Rancho Delcello. Oh, wow. And what a guy. Talking about volunteerism.

When Dad wins the presidency, you know, and they know they're going to cover the ranch, the Secret Service goes to Secret Service. Anybody here know how to ride a horse? Barletta raises his hands as I do. Barletta has been a horse in his life. But he said, I do. So he ends up heading up the Secret Service at the ranch.

But you're right, the ranch I grew up in Malibu or the ranch in the valley. This is the third ranch is one. You went to Ranch Adelcello. They're all like that. And if you ever visit Tampa Co or Dixon, Illinois and saw where he was raised, you swear to a guy, you just walked into Tampa Co or Dixon, Illinois. Now, they changed. They're so austere.

But it was him. You don't go into the house and see pictures of famous people. You see pictures of famous horses. Yeah. It's a ranch house that he built. Most of it, all the railing around it, all done with the telephone poles. He had delivered to the ranch, and then he built that. If he didn't have a ranch, there never would have been a White House because he really garnered his strength.

They're at the ranch, whether it was Malibu, where I grew up, a Rancho del Cello. You're talking about their bedroom? I mean, who ties their beds together with little ties you use in your garden? Two twin beds. My dad does. because Nancy, she was comfortable on her side of the bed. And he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. So he never went and got another bed.

But the problem was he was 6162. And he didn't fit on his side of the bed. So at the end of the bed is what? A little table, a little pillow on it and a cover. So he has a place to put his feet because he wanted Nancy to be comfortable. His feet are off the bed on a top of a little table. I mean, it's just, that's who he was. we all learned it and it was amazing to sit there.

It's amazing every time I go there. I'll be up there in a couple of weeks again with kids. I go to Young Americans Foundation who bought the ranch, have it exactly the way it was. The last day my dad was there because he didn't know he was not going to go back. But they bring high school kids and college kids up there all the time. I'm going to be up there on Saturday, the 25th, I think, talking about the high school or college kids about my dad and about the ranch.

And it's just amazing. We just buried, we're still using Boot Hill. We just buried my son Cameron, his wife's cat up there about three weeks ago. So we're still using Boothill. Animals are buried there and up there digging holes and burying cats, dogs and what a a half of you. As long as they don't bury me, I'm a happy guy. But what I tell people, you actually got it.

And what you got, Mike, was the fact that all the things you thought about Ronald Reagan, when you open the door to that house, you go, oh, my God, I was right. or oh my God, I was wrong. That's what you do. Yeah. And you go, oh, my God. It wasn't a photo op. I still remember the photo.

I think it was the cover of Time Magazine. He's like standing there. He's got his foot on a stump. He's holding an axe. It looked like he just cleared the South 40. And he looks so much like an aging cowboy that this is just my own bias and my own inertia. But coming from the industry, I'm like, okay, just out of the shot, there's a photo director.

There's makeup. up. Yeah, right. Right. Like, it's short. I mean, there's no way that shot just happened, but it did. It did. But it did.

And the day we were up there with Mikhail Gorbachev, and he came to visit, and you probably heard the story. Nobody would tell McCauley had his hat on backwards because he was like, the top guy there, right? And dad had given him a hat, and he put it on backwards. Nobody said, hey, McCallie, you got it on backwards. But probably the funniest event that day was that my dad goes over and grabs the blue Jeep, drives up with the blue jeep, says McAle Gorbachev, hey, Mr. President, get in the Jeep. I'll take you for a ride, show you the ranch.

McCallie Gorgell Jop jumps in the right front seat. And they start driving off. And the Secret Service is going, oh, my God. He's off the reservation. He's off the reservation. And you have the Secret Service running behind the Jeep to jump in the back of the Jeep, says, you can't drive. Did anyone ever tell Mikhail his hat was on backwards?

No, no. No, no, no, no. Nobody had the guts. I mean, nobody wanted to tell the president of Russia, the leader of Russia, hey, you have your hat on backwards. Forgive the pivot, but I'm constantly reminded these days of Hans Christian Anderson's, the Emperor's New Clothes. We talk about it on this podcast all the time in some way, shape, or form. It seems like what's going on in the country today, to some extent anyway, is a result of people being either afraid or unwilling to say, hey, you know, that border doesn't really look secure or hey you know I'm not sure that withdrawal from Afghanistan was super successful based on stuff I can see right or hey Mikhail your hats on

backwards right people are afraid to say the thing and your dad always struck me as a guy who was not only unafraid to point out the screamingly obvious whether it was a 90% tax bill whatever it was, but he would find a way to do it that didn't pit people at each other. And so you must be sick of this question, but what in the world would the old man do today if he were still, you know, sitting on the Iron Throne, as it were? If they would listen? You mean, if they would listen today? Yeah. To my dad, the problem is, would they listen to him at all?

You remember with my dad who put together the largest tax break in American history, how did he do it? He worked with Tip O'Neill. Yeah. I mean, there are people in the party who would go absolutely nuts today. Ronald Reagan working with Tip O'Neill. But you know what's interesting about that is that Tip O'Neill, when he went back to his student office the next day and told his staff, I'm going to take the bill and put it on the floor of the house.

The staff looked and said, you're nuts. The Bull Weevils, who now are Blue Dog Democrats, but Bull Weevils back then, you know, there's enough votes he has to pass that. And you disagree with everything he stands for. Why are you doing it? What did the president promise you last night when you went to the White House for dinner with your wife? We never talked about taxes all night long. He never talked about taxes?

No. What do you talk about? He talked about the greatness of America, the goodness of her people, and how the two of us working together can make it better for every American. Before I knew it, I'm having a glass of wine with the president. We're telling Irish stories. And today I'm telling you, we're going to carry this to the floor of the House of Representatives. But he did add one thing as I was leaving. Well, what's that?

He said, any one of the people that vote for it in your committee, I won't campaign against him in the next election. And it's it. And it got passed and it got done. They worked together. My dad believed in that 80% rule. Who with me 80% of time? We're good to go. And now everyone wants 100% of everything. All the time.

And nothing happens. Nothing happens at all. So he'd be saddened by that. So what they listened to him and what he would have to say because they talk about him all the time. But talking about my dad and really understanding him and where he came from and what he'd be willing to do. Somebody asked me the other day, would your dad be able to get the nomination today? I said, it'd be very tough for him to get the nomination in the Republican Party. Equally, it would be as tough for John F. Kennedy to get the nomination of Democrat Party.

John F. Kennedy would be too conservative, and my dad would be too liberal. And that's what's sad, these two great Americans who really loved America, even though you may do. disagree with them or agree it didn't matter. They were great leaders. And they were able to get things done where today we're not working together at all. We're finding ways not to work together. And maybe that's because everybody wants ratings instead of things being actually accomplished. So I think my dad would have a lot of trouble with what's going on today. He would tell the Republican Party, sit down and listen. Shameless plug.

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It's my favorite way to support Microworks and my favorite whiskey to sip responsibly after a long day of interviewing people on this podcast. Pick up a bottle at noblespirits.com. K-N-O-B-E-L spirits. com. Soon may the nobleman come to bring a bottle for everyone. One day when the waitin is done, we'll take a drink and go. What struck me at the library too, I watched a retrospective of the negative press and just some of the cultural negativity that was directed toward your dad in the mid-80s.

And again, I was a young guy at the time. I remember seeing it. But, boy, to see it again, like example after example, in a way, it made me feel a little bit better about the divisiveness today, which in my own bias I've been looking at as a relatively new thing. But your dad had his detractors. And boy, the knives were out. And what did it feel like to watch that from the point of view of his kid? Maureen and I would get angry but my dad handled it with humor

I tell people when he took his oath of office there in 1981 raise his hand become president of the United States and everybody talks about that day the hostages went free and people think these things happen what in a vacuum where do you think they happen

but if you remember that campaign you're alluding to how the lives were out for him he was going to start World War III he could turn ran into a glass factory to kill everybody. You need to vote for the other guy. You will never find a statement from Ronald Reagan,

an op-ed from Ronald Reagan denying any of that. And like you're in the media, both you're in the media, and he's in the media, he got it. He knew when he spoke, or when people spoke, there was a bigger audience than the people just in front of you. There's a larger audience. So when the left was coming after him with those knives, He knew there was an audience on the other side of the world who was listening.

And you had a man who was going to be present who never denied he was not going to do that. Never denied it at all. And so he had people in the Middle East scared to death that, my God, maybe the left is right. Maybe he will start World War III. And lo and behold, he takes the oath of office and the hostages, in fact, go free. He understood the media in that way. He understood that. Today, we don't seem to understand that, that there's people listening.

other than the people in front of you. And they're getting the message, their own message. But to carry on to that story, a few weeks after my dad goes into the White House, my son gets a note from his grandfather, Cameron. And it says, dear Cameron, I'm paraphrase you, dear Cameron, somebody just sold my signature for $10,000. Can you believe that?

He said, so I was thinking, my goodness, It's worth 10,000 bucks. He says, so I thought I'd write you a little note and tell you the hostage went free, but there was one hostage left, the female that we've been negotiating to get her home with the Secretary of State and I'm about ready to meet with our Secretary of State to see where we are in negotiations to bring her home. And I hope we're finally able to do that. But I want to just let you know we're working on it and hopefully she'll be home sued.

Love, Grandpa, P.S., your grandfather is the 40th. president of the United States Ronald Reagan. So he signs his sign and then he puts, I hope this helps pay for your college education. It's like all my letters are now worth 10 grand. Yeah, you're going like, oh my God. So it's really interesting when you think about he really knew history. He writes his grandson. Of course, now people wanted that, the libraries wanted that letter forever. Sure. They don't talk to me. Talk to my son. It's in a safety deposit box. He ain't giving it to you. I'll tell you the letter I can't find that breaks my heart a little bit.

And just to your point, if you never know who is watching, back in 1991, after talking about that stupid pencil for eight minutes, I'm on the air at QVC. I'd been there about a year. I got a note from a really nice lady who said she enjoyed watching my program because it was different than the others and to please say hello to a couple of the other hosts there. that woman was Nancy Reagan she wrote a note to me because QVC must have been on in the bedroom I had the midnight shift she must have been up late

and she just wrote me a little note I mean who does that Nancy Reagan yeah Nancy Reagan did it and I remember showing it around to the other co-host and they were like Nancy Reagan wrote you a note and then there was a guy named Jeff Hewson he was like yeah she sent me one too

I'm like, son of a bitch. I thought I was the only one. I think she wrote everybody notes. There you go. Oh, no. There are people, people. Midwest, my mother, Jane, was phenomenal. I remember when I started my radio show.

I was one of those radio guys. I did it for 26, 27 years. But I was one of those guys, I was driving to San Diego, doing my show down there, a local show. All of a sudden, one day, on a Monday, I come into work, and they say, you're fired. Why? We just replaced you with,

Rush Limbaugh. I said, what? He said, well, he became available and he's really big and you don't have a job anymore. So I had drive home to L.A. with my tail between my legs, telling my, I just got fired from the radio show in San Diego. And what are you going to do? I said, I don't know. But what I did was, I said, you know, maybe I should start my own national show, do one to others before they have a chance to do it to you again. I found a couple of people who said, okay, let's try that out. But they were in San Diego. So I was driving two. 262 miles a day round-trip to San Diego to start a radio show with no listeners. I had no live stations.

I had a phone booth outside the building, and the producer would go outside the building and call me from that phone booth, long-time listener, first-time caller, and I talked to Bob from St. Louis, and about 10 minutes later, Mary would call his wife. Same phone. Right. He said, this is Mary from, you know, Oshkosh. Hi, Mary, how are you? Long-time listener, first-time caller.

And for the first six months of my show, I had phony callers calling in, pretending that they were all over the country before I got a live station. KVI up in Seattle went live. And oh, my God, I've got a live station going on. But that's how I started the show. I had no money coming in. I called my mom one day on my drive down there. And I said, Mom, I got your two grandkids, Cameron and Ashley.

I got no money coming in. I'm trying to get this show off the ground. Can you help me? She said, yes, I can. Great. What can you do? She said, I can tell you this. shut up and keep driving.

She hung up on me. I called her back and I said, what the hell was that all about? Well, there's somebody die and say, you didn't have to pay your dues like everybody else? I said, no. Well, pay your damn dues. Shut up and keep driving. Boom.

She hung up on me again. That show lasted 19 years until I walked away in 2009. Shut up and keep driving. So I was driving 22 miles every single day. That's incredible. But in the interest of, you know, the apple not falling far from the tree. Two things.

First of all, when you were fired to make room for Rush Limbaugh, did you think of the night your dad got the call, courtesy of Bobby Kennedy that got Westinghouse to fire him, just like that? And secondly, what was the second thing? It was a good one. But focus on that for a second. Oh, the second thing is your show is driven by fake callers

in much the same way. The 40th president made up a baseball game. When the ticker tape went out. I mean, I think you come by all this honestly, Michael. Well, I could people sit there and watch my mom and my dad. But, you know, so when you're doing talk radio, as you will, the phones sometimes just go out and you've got to just vamp until the phone's come back on.

Everybody's gone through that. And you better know how to dance because you have to know how to dance when the phones don't work and lines start going down and so on. But my mom, when I was 10 years old, I asked her for a 10-speed bike from Schwinn. and my mom said, how badly do you want it? I said, I want more than anything, Mauna, I love you forever, you give it to me. I know no kids ever told her mother that.

And my mom said, hmm, she said, do you like it enough to sign a note? What note? Well, you don't think I'm going to give you the money, do you? I said, yeah? She said, no, you're going to sign a note. You're going to owe me the money. And so she made me sign a note at 10 years old, owning her money for the 10-speed twin bicycle she was going to buy for me. And she said, you know what you could do with this?

I said, what? She could get a job. I said, I'm 10. She said, you can sell papers. So I started selling papers in front of church on Sunday morning, Sunday papers, 25 cents a piece back then. And I would pay her back with some of the proceeds I would make. And I paid her back.

But I asked her at the time, I said, why are you making me do this when all my friends in Beverly Hills are getting bikes given to them by their parents and they're not paying anything? She says, because I build men, I don't build boys. I give you everything you want. I don't want you to be a 40-year-old child. I want you to be a 40-year-old man. And that's the lesson she taught me when I was 10 years old,

and it never changed to where shut up and keep driving. I want to be respectful of your time, but I got to ask you about the museum, the Legacy Foundation, D-Day. I think I understand more or less what you're doing up there, but it just seems so important. We've just had another anniversary of D-Day. So talk, if you would, about how you wound up running this foundation.

and what its ultimate goals are. Actually, we started the Foundation, Reagan Legacy Foundation, back in early 2000 when the USS Ronald Reagan was christened and commissioned. We wanted to do something for the kids on the ship and their family members at home. And so my wife and I and our daughter and family started Reagan Legacy Foundation to raise money to give scholarships to the men and women to serve aboard the USS Ronald Reagan and their family members. Awesome. And that just kind of moved on to where we've done things in Berlin to commemorate my dad's speech,

tear down the wall speech, Poland with a statue of my dad and Pope John Paul, and what have you. And then I was invited to raise the American flag in the American Cemetery at Normandy a few years ago. By the way, I was telling a young man, 25 years old I was playing golf with what I was going to do when he said to me,

why is there an American cemetery at Normandy, France? Had no idea. I said, did you think D-Day is when your report card came out? I'm not sure. So I went over there and visited Normandy. My dad, you remember, was the first president to speak at Normandy. on D-Day. And every president since then has chosen a D-Day to show up and give a talk on D-Day. My dad was the first one. And to go out to Point the Hock and see all that and go to St. Mary

Glees, which is the first town freed by America on D-Day morning, 4 o'clock in the morning. The longest day was filmed at St. Mary Glees. That's where the 101st, 802nd Airborne, that's their Gettysburg, if you will. It's an important place for them. Sure. That's where all the paratroopers were headed. And so the Airborne Museum there, which is dedicated to all that, and I got together and said, what can we do? And we decided to put together a brick project to where we could brick in the pathways and the walkways there at the Airborne Museum with the names of those who served in the European theater during the Second World War. So people can go to walkway to victory.com.

Order a brick. It's $250 for a brick. We're a 501c, so it's tax deductible. and put the name of a loved one or a friend who served, the unit they served in, the years that they served. If they don't know somebody, they can send a check to the Reagan Legacy Foundation. We'll find a World War II vet, but we'll send you all the information so you'll know who you sponsored to have a brick. And what happens is that any money that's left over from that brick

pays forward to this generation of sailors that are on the USS Ronald Reagan for the scholarship program. So it all moves through from the greatest generation to the newest generation fighting for our freedom around the world. And that's what we do with the Reagan Legacy Foundation. And it's been a great project for it. I mean, things have been slow because of COVID. It's in France, what have you. But we finally got some more bricks there.

We have more bricks being made. It's a great project. When you see a living person who landed at Normandy in that time, see a brick with their name out. It brings them in tears. They just can't believe somebody's remembered. them. Even though they never really talked about it, they're in tears. It's not so different than any great memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, to see a name on a wall. Another brick in the wall in this case. Chuck, your grandpa was over there, wasn't he?

Yes, Lewis Rosenbush Ruley, and he's going to get a brick for sure. That's great. It's really a great program, and it's all done to really honor my dad. My dad couldn't go overseas and fight in the Second World War. He was in the cavalry, wanted to be in the Army, but he had bad. bad eyes so he couldn't get into the Army unless he cheated. And how he cheated was he went out and memorized the eye charts. And so when he went for his eye exam to get in the Army,

they tell him read line three, he had to memorize. He just tell you what it was. That's how he got in the Army. But he ended up doing 300 films, training films for the military during the Second World War and retired as a captain back in the day. It's amazing. And it just reminds me of another story in our little library here about Eisenhower, who lied at West Point. Just a little white lie. He played ball professionally under another name. And that all came out years later. And you just have to ask yourself, knowing that way leads on to way, what happens if Ronald Reagan doesn't lie to the Army? What if Dwight D. Eisenhower didn't lie at West Point? Do they become presidents? And if They don't become presidents. Good grief.

D-Day would be a very different sort of thing. Absolutely a different sort of thing. And I think you just, you get the right people of the right time, all of a sudden show up. You know, I remember after we buried my father, the next morning we stayed hotel that night, the Bel Air Hotel. And Margaret Thatcher was there and what have you. And we ended up having breakfast together. And she said to me, Michael, think what we could have done. if indeed your father had been elected in 1976.

And I said to her, I said, Lady Thatcher, the Cold War would still be going on, the Berlin Wall would still be up. It says, why do you say that? I said, where were you in 1976? Where was John Paul? Where was Lecholenza? Where was Valka Havel?

Ultimately, where was McCaule Gormichot? Where were any of you? None of you were in place, except in 1980. Ronald Reagan gets elected. You now have a leader in the United States, leader of the free world. But now all of you were in place, and the only one missing is Mikhail Gorbachev, who doesn't come into play to 1985. Dad would have been out of office in 1985 and never would have met Mikhail Gorbachev had he been elected in 1976. And the two of them

get together. And what happens? It really changes the dynamic and changes the world. So 1980 was the right time. God or whatever chose that time for all of you to be together on the same page and want to get the same thing, bring freedom to a part of the world, hadn't been free in years. And you found a way to work together to get those things done. And she said, I've never thought of that. Never really put it that way before. Well, look, you've done a lot of remarkable things, Michael, but keeping your dad's memory alive is just laudable and important. And what you just said before about the, I guess ignorance isn't too strong a word, but the fact that so many people don't understand what happened over there in Normandy

and the idea that a simple name on a brick and a brick on a walkway might help more people take a deeper dive and get a better understanding of all that came before us. I just think it's a tremendous endeavor you're involved in. Is there anything else we can do to help spread the word? No, exactly what you're doing. but I would say to people who are in government today, doesn't matter what level of government. Remember the placard on my dad's desk.

No telling him what a man can accomplish or where he can go if he doesn't worry who gets the credit. Who gets the credit. We have too many people today trying to take credit and getting nothing done instead of sharing the credit. My dad never used the word I. It was always we working together. I talked about the greatness of America, all of America,

what have you. I'll tell you one more story about my dad because I asked him in 1976. you know, when he lost. I said to him, we're in Kansas City. I was upstairs waiting for the president to come in or whatever. And I said, why in the world did you want to run for the presidency? He said, you know, Michael, for so long,

I have sat and watched American presidents sit down with Secretary General's of the Soviet Union. And every time we sit down with them, they always ask us to give up something to get along with them. I wanted to be the first president to sit down with the Secretary General of the Soviet Union. Union. I was going to let him pick the table, the chairs, and the place, because you know, Michael, that's how they do things at that level. And as the Russian was telling me, Secretary General of Russia was telling me what it was, I was going to have to give up to get along with them. I was going to get up from my side of the table, walk around the other side of it, lean over and whisper in his ear,

nett. I want to be the first president to say, nip to a secretary general of the Soviet Union. Now, you've got to remember, Nancy had not told him yet he was going to run again in 1980. He didn't know that. But in 1980, he runs, becomes President of the United States, almost 10 years to the date, you know, in October of 1986 is with Mikhail Gorbachev and Reckov. They're there to sign the assault agreements. McCall Gorbachev says, if you want me to sign it, you have to give up SDI, Star Wars. And we've all seen the photograph of my dad turning away with that stern face. after saying Net walks away.

Everybody thought it was a great failure because his staff, everybody thought that was going to be Ronald Reagan's legacy. That agreement was going to be his legacy. Ronald Reagan never cared about his legacy. He cared about the America people. And so his staff was upset. He didn't sign on to that. The media took him to pieces and what have you.

But a year later, McCau Gorbachev shows up in Washington, D.C. and does what? Signs the agreement. Yep. And SDI is in it. As I told a Jewish family that was at the library the other day that I was giving a tour of, I said, and that's why you're able to defend yourself in Israel today, because Star Wars did not come out of that agreement. It stayed in.

And what came from that agreement is what defends Israel. Yeah. Because your dad just said no. Isn't it funny that while your mom was saying, just say no, he was saying just say yet? That's good. That's good. That's not bad. Yeah, I won't even use it.

I'll let you keep it. So we got a couple potential titles for this episode. I'd love your feedback. I like, Hey, McKele, your hat's on backwards. I like shut up and keep driving. I also like the leader of the free world needs a place to put his feet, which made me laugh. But just say, Nett is starting to feel pretty strong right now, too. You partial?

Oh, just saying yet, because it changed the dynamic of the world. Just say Nets. That's it. Yeah, we've done it. Just say yet. one of my contenders was you done good you son of a bitch that's not bad either that's good too and Montgomery Ward turned him down said he wasn't qualified to work at Montgomery Ward so and we all know what happened to them yeah right good he didn't take that job right

hey man I'm glad you're up and around again thank you for making time and best of luck with your endeavor overseas and with the foundation it's all just yeoman's work thank you for what you all do I see you all the time and what have you. And thanks for having me on any time. I'm good. And just don't forget. All right, great. We'll see you tomorrow.

We got it. Lessons. My father taught me by Michael Reagan available at Amazon and every other place in the world. And happy Father's Day to you all. Don't hang up, Michael. We've got to make sure you're uploaded. But this will officially conclude the way I heard it with Michael Reagan. When you leave a review, which we hope that you'll do, tell us who you are.

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