NAMES IN THE NEWS : Could Have Revived Career but It Would Be ‘Cashing In’: Reagan

Ex-President Ronald Reagan says that he could have earned more than the $2 million he reportedly got for his controversial trip to Japan by reviving his acting career but that that would be “cashing in on the presidency.”

The trip was aimed at expanding trade with the Japanese, Reagan says in an interview with Barbara Walters airing tonight on ABC-TV’s “20-20.”

During the interview, Walters noted that Reagan has been criticized for reportedly accepting $2 million from Fujisankei Communications Group, a Japanese media company that sponsored the recent trip. Some have said the fee “just isn’t very presidential,” she said.

“There would have been more money than that if I’d decided to go back to my original career and go back to pictures,” Reagan replied.

Reagan was interviewed Nov. 13 along with his wife, Nancy, whom he defended for turning to an astrologer for help in arranging his schedule after the 1981 assassination attempt on his life.

Nancy Reagan said she’s not embarrassed about consulting an astrologer, although she concedes, “I’m sorry that I embarrassed Ronnie, which I think I did.”

“I wasn’t embarrassed,” Reagan said.