Interview with Michael Reagan about his new book ‘Lessons My Father Taught Me’

By W. Scott Lamb - Monday, June 13, 2016

Michael Reagan, son of the late President Ronald Reagan, recently published a book titled, Lessons My Father Taught Me: The Strength, Integrity, and Faith of Ronald Reagan.

I enjoyed reading this tribute to his father. The book aims for candidness, as Michael shares stories and anecdotes full of emotion and intimacy.

Recently, Michael sat down with me to talk about the new book. The bulk of the interview was about the legacy of his father.

That said, I did ask Michael a “current events” question. I asked him if he thought his father’s spirit could influence the current 2016 election by raising the bar of civility and political discourse. Michael spoke briefly about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton:

I think whoever is going to be most likeable and relatable is going to win the day in November.

Trump is going to have to get out of the 16 million person bubble. Talk radio has about 16 million people in it—and they’re all basically activists, they’ve been activated for Trump. What he’s proven is, he’s listened to talk radio for the last twenty years—because all he’s doing is regurgitating what talk radio has been saying for twenty years.

He’s going to have to figure out, “How do I reach out to the people outside that 16 million bubble? How do I get them to relate to me?”

And I don’t think it’s by name calling. That might work for the 16 million, but there’s another 100 million out there that are going to vote on election day, and you got to touch them. And I don’t think it’s going to be through name-calling and being disparaging and demeaning to people. Because you’ve got to bring them in and be a likeable Donald Trump.

And I think he’s got an easier road than Hillary Clinton has got. She’s been trying to be likeable for thirty years, and it really hasn’t worked for her. I mean a 74-year-old guy almost beat her.