Description:

Reagan Ronald

Ronald Reagan Re: Imminent "Moscow summit"

 

1p TLS signed by sitting 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) as "Dutch" near center. Written at the White House in Washington, D.C. on March 7, 1988. On watermarked cream stationery with cobalt blue embossed "The White House / Washington" letterhead complete with a blind-stamped presidential seal at top. Expected wear includes light paper folds and isolated minor foxing, else near fine. 7" x 10.5".

 

In part:

 

"There are no words to properly express my gratitude and my pleasure at having that lovely painting of a spot so dear to my heart. In just a few weeks we'll be handcarrying it to the ranch…

 

Let us know when you'll be in Washington. I'll hope we are on hand. I say that because there are a few things such as the Moscow summit pending with no exact dates set as yet. If we're here, you can bet you'll be in the Oval Office…"

 

The Moscow Summit, the fourth of five groundbreaking summits held between President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev (born 1931), General Secretary of the Communist Party, took place between May 29-June 3, 1988 at the Kremlin. During the conference, the two world leaders continued their on-going discussion of nuclear arms control, humanitarian issues, and international politics. One of the specific talking points in 1988 was the anticipated Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. Moscow (1988) had followed summits at Geneva (1985), Reykjavik (1986), and Washington (1987) and preceded the summit at Malta (1989).

 

Letter recipients Jean and Bill Thompson of Dixon, Illinois, were actively involved in the Ronald Reagan Home Restoration and Preservation Association, a non-profit organization established in 1980 to restore Ronald Reagan's childhood home there. The group fundraised to acquire period furnishings, and make structural and cosmetic repairs to the late-nineteenth-century white clapboarded farmhouse where Reagan and his family lived between 1920-1923. On September 29, 1983, President Reagan wrote in his White House diary: "Bill & Jean Thompson of Dixon came by. They are really the sparkplugs behind the renovation of my boyhood home."

 

In the winter of 1988, the Thompsons presented President Reagan with a painting of Lowell Park. Reagan had worked as a life guard at this swimming hole on the Rock River near his hometown between ages 16-23. President Reagan promised that the artwork would soon be exhibited at the "ranch", referring to the 688-acre farm near Santa Barbara, California purchased in 1974. Rancho del Cielo was known as the "Western White House." Gorbachev was just one of many VIP to visit there; others included Queen Elizabeth II and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

 

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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