Here's a Reagan story from my grandmother, Nancy Anderson, from her years as a reporter with an L.A. newspaper (she went on to become an editor at Photoplay Magazine.)

"A long time ago I was at the Reagans' house. Ron, Jr was toddling around and Patti was about five or something, and (Ronald Reagan) and I were talking about economics or something related, and I told him he'd made a very good talk at a meeting of the Palos Verdes Woman's Club. Then I pointed out that California was going to have an open U.S. Senate seat and that I thought he should run for it.

He said he wasn't interested, but I argued that he could easily be elected, because the only thing a candidate had to do to win a race was to be able to handle himself well on camera, something Mr. Reagan had been doing for years. After all, I said to him, look how well that young senator from Massachusetts (JFK) is using television in his campaign.

But he insisted he wasn't interested in holding political office. As it turned out, another actor, George Murphy, ran for the Senate and won. He was the actor who years earlier had introduced Bob to Delores Hope."

She also told me that she was at the Reagans' house on the day of JFK's funeral and watched the television coverage with them. She was no JFK fan, and she says that the Reagans' comments on that day were pretty harsh...of course she agreed with them, but...