Nancy Reagan
n.p., ca. May 21, 1963
Nancy Reagan AN On Barry Goldwater TLS Re: 1963 Ronald Reagan Kansas Campaigning, & Stu Udall's Crack About Unemployed Actors
AN

A 1p typed letter signed by Barry Goldwater (1909-1998), then U.S. Senator from Arizona and future 1964 Republican presidential nominee, as "Barry" above his typed signature as "Barry Goldwater." May 21, 1963. [Washington, D.C.] On watermarked stationery with "Barry Goldwater / Arizona / United States Senate / Washington, D.C." letterhead. Goldwater's letter addressed to Ronald Reagan has been inscribed at bottom by Nancy Reagan (1921-2016) as: "This is the letter I told you about on the phone -." Expected wear including flattened folds, a few extra wrinkles, and isolated closed tears. Staple holes at upper left. One letter of Nancy's inscription is slightly smeared. Else near fine. 8" x 10.5." With impeccable provenance.

Barry Goldwater wrote to Ronald Reagan about the latter's trip to Wichita, Kansas earlier that month to campaign for the Republican Party, a political party that Reagan had fully embraced by the early 1960s. Whether through accident or design, Kansas Republicans and Kansas Democrats scheduled banquets on the same day at the same time, the evening of May 4, 1963. Republican champion Ronald Reagan had welcomed 2,000 Republicans to the Sedgwick County Republican Dinner at the Broadview Hotel in Wichita, Kansas; while defender of the Kennedy administration and Secretary of the Interior Stewart "Stu" Udall (1920-2010) had mustered 400 Democrats to the Roosevelt-Truman Dinner hosted by area Democrats at the nearby Lassen Hotel. Goldwater significantly refers to these lopsided banquet statistics in his letter to Reagan.

Goldwater wrote in part:

"Dear Ronnie, Neither you nor I is unemployed, but I think I have a little more ham in me than you give me credit for, and I recognize you as one of our outstanding actors. Stu Udall is mis-employed and should be unemployed and if the reaction to him in Wichita where only 400 turned out, compared to your 2,000, is any indicator, I think he may be becoming too much of a stone for even Kennedy's neck?"

At the Roosevelt-Truman Dinner in Wichita, Secretary Udall had dug at Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, calling them both "unemployed actors." This was an especially offensive remark to Barry Goldwater, as he had never been a professional actor like Reagan had. But Goldwater assures Reagan that he has sufficient "ham" in him to sway future voters.

Reagan continued supporting Goldwater's campaign over the next 18 months, culminating in his October 27, 1964 "A Time for Choosing" speech, sometimes simply called "The Speech." Reagan's remarks on conservatism on this occasion catapulted him into the limelight of conservative circles. Goldwater's presidential campaign against Lyndon B. Johnson failed in November 1964, but it launched the political career of Ronald Reagan, who was elected Governor of California in 1966.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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8" x 10.5"
With impeccable provenance, coming from the files of Helene von Damm (b. 1938), Reagan's longtime personal secretary and later Ambassador to Austria, and gifted to our consignor, her White House assistant.