Tax Haulover Now Law, With Signature of Reagan Ronald

The carefully choreographed ceremony for President Reagan’s signing of the landmark tax overhaul bill was timed down to the second, but not everything went according to plan.

As Reagan signed the cover sheets of the bill--the full text itself weighed more than 33 pounds--top officials on the podium began laughing.

“I was in such a hurry,” Reagan explained, “I wrote my last name first.”

Reagan used 12 commemorative pens to sign the bill, one for each letter of his name, writing “Reagan” first, then adding “Ronald” above his last name and a little to the left, according to White House spokesman Larry Speakes.

Meanwhile, two of the key architects of the new law--Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) and Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.)--were together in Portland, Ore., watching the ceremony on television instead of witnessing it.

Packwood, campaigning for reelection, had not planned to attend, but Bradley, who was in Oregon to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Neil Goldschmidt, had his flight to Washington canceled by fog.

“I only worked about four years of my life on this project, and then to be fogged into Portland, Oregon!” Bradley told Reagan during a phone conversation. “I’m going to ask you, maybe for Bob Packwood and I. Could we have a second take?”