Staff Gets in the Spirit of 76th, Surprises Reagan on Birthday

President Reagan, told he was about to get a briefing on a government program, walked into a surprise party marking his 76th birthday Friday and was saluted by the Marine Band playing “Seventy-Six Trombones.”

Hundreds of White House employees, from senior staff members to secretaries, were waiting for Reagan when he stepped into the fourth-floor auditorium of the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House.

With assistance from the Marine Band, the audience sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.” The chorus was interrupted by applause as Nancy Reagan slipped onto the stage to help her husband blow out seven candles on a huge cake.

Underscoring the theme of the day, a banner above the stage read: “Happy Birthday Mr. President. Here’s to the Spirit of ’76.”

Reagan mistakenly added a year to his age when he told the crowd, “Of all the 38 anniversaries of my 39th birthday, this is about the nicest.” He should have said 37 instead of 38.

The President’s staff gave him an original drawing by cartoonist Jim Borgman of the Cincinnati Enquirer showing Reagan being doused with a bucket of Gatorade while saying, “Really, fellas, a simple chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ would have been sufficient.” He noted that the cake in the cartoon had “about 156 candles.”

Reagan and his wife planned to celebrate privately Friday night with friends in a White House dining room.