Description:

Ronald Reagan
n.p., n.d.
Ronald Reagan Speech "thanks to... Jackie Robinson, baseball became a truly American game...great BLACK ATHLETES" Amazing
ALS
A speech in both Reagan's handwriting and typescript with annotations, three pages, 8.5" x 10.75", June 19, 1981, titled in Reagan's hand "WH Rec. for Champions of Sports 5:30pm 6/18/81." Stapled together at top left. The holograph portions are penned on lined yellow notepaper, with the smaller sheet exhibiting offsetting from having been taped to the first page of the typescript. Otherwise, in fine condition. Impeccable provenance as this item comes from the files of Helene von Damm (b. 1938) Reagan's longtime personal secretary and later Ambassador to Austria, gifted to our consignor her White House assistant.

Reagan begins his draft in holograph, in part: "…It's a pleasure to welcome you to the W[hite] H[ouse]. I used to talk about some of you on my broadcast when I was sports announcing. Now I'll meet you in the flesh. The 'Champions of Sports' exhibit was a champion of an idea…Sports has played an indispensable role in the development of the American character. You have provided, especially for young Americans, some one to look up to. It was the sports heroes of my day that created in me the ambition to participate in sports, 1st in High School & then in College. Indeed if it hadn't been for football, track & swimming I might not have been able to go to college. We didn't have athletic scholarships in those days. You had jobs, like winding the clock in the gym. And for 8 years I'll confess that I knew little of grades A & B. A 'C,' average, was the eligibility level and that was my goal. (MUSSO STORY). The men and women of sports have done much to bring this country together. One of our 1st great sports heroes was [boxer] John L. Sullivan at the time when there was a great discrimination against the Irish. When James J. Corbett finally took his world title from him, Sullivan's won the heart of the nation with his words 'I have fought once to [sic] often. But if I had to get licked, I'm glad it was by an American'…"

"…When I was broadcasting major league baseball there was a rule barring some Americans from playing. I'm proud that I was one of those in the sports reporting fraternity who continually editorialized against that rule - that baseball was for Caucasians only. Finally thanks to Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson, baseball became a truly American game…Those players have made baseball better - they have made America better. And so have the great BLACK ATHLETES in all other major sports…"

The talking points continue in typescript, with Reagan mentioning the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team beating the Russians, and the current era being the "golden age of sports."

Before he was "the Gipper," Reagan was a college athlete-turned-baseball announcer for WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. This experience combined a sport he loved with the opportunity for improvisation that allowed him to hone his considerable oratorial skills -- skills which would earn him the second memorable moniker of his career, "the Great Communicator."

Sports films were also the foundation of Reagan's Hollywood career, beginning with the 1940 film "Knute Rockne - All-American" that catapulted him to fame. This portrayal would be followed up in the 1952 biographical film "The Winning Team," in which Reagan played the real-life pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, aka "Alexander the Great."

Reagan's enthusiasm for sports, and baseball in particular, continued into his Presidential years. He often attended sporting events and threw ceremonial first pitches. Reagan once quipped: "Baseball of course is our national pastime, that is if you discount political campaigning." But the game made it into his political discourse as well: Reagan was fond of using baseball references as metaphors for politics, weaving anecdotes into his speeches and loved posing for photographers with sports stars.

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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    Dimensions:
  • 8.5" x 11"
  • Artist Name:
  • Ronald Reagan
  • Medium:
  • ALS

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