Reagan’s 80th Birthday Party Is Fit for a Star

When Harry S. Truman turned 80 in 1964, the feisty former President had a steak lunch with 300 friends in Missouri, then headed for Washington, where old foes and friends in the Senate paid him an emotional tribute.

Truman choked up. For the first time in his life, he couldn’t make a speech.

“If they’d cussed me out,” he explained later, “I’d have known what to do.”

On Wednesday, Ronald Reagan became the first former President since Truman to reach his 80th birthday. But Reagan’s octogenarian salute was as different from Truman’s as the Great Communicator is from Give ‘em Hell Harry.

Nearly 1,000 guests attended the black-tie affair at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, a fund-raiser that brought in $2 million for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley scheduled to open in November.

Reagan was treated to a menu of veal noisettes and chocolate truffle tortes, sung a rendition of “Happy Birthday” by hundreds of corporate magnates, movie stars and others and given tributes from world leaders in person and via videotape on giant screens.

“They’ll get you on Mt. Rushmore yet,” President Bush said in a video tribute.

Reagan leaned over and blew out his birthday cake candles so enthusiastically that he got frosting on the lapel of his tuxedo.

Unlike Truman, he was at not loss for words, quipping, “If only I’d thought about things like that years ago, I’d have been twice as good in pictures.”

“I’m not going to make a speech tonight,” he said. “I suspect you’ve heard one or two of them over the years anyway. . . .

“As I look back, I am filled with so many fond memories. I am thankful to God for allowing me to reap so much happiness in one lifetime, for remaining beside me in times of tremendous hardship and peril, and for keeping a watchful eye on this country of ours.”

Reagan also praised the members of the military taking part in Operation Desert Storm.

“My wish is that God will watch over every one of our men and women who are bravely serving in the Persian Gulf,” he said.

The event cost about $2,500 a person--a price tag high enough that one dinner coordinator explained many corporations graciously excused themselves.

Among those that bought tables, (most costing $25,000 each) were American Express, Hewlett-Packard, Rockwell International, Bank of America, Unocal and Arco, whose chairman, Lodwrick M. Cook, chairs the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, which is overseeing the library’s fund raising and construction.

Security was tight, considering the war in the Persian Gulf and a steady stream of public officials disembarking from limousines into a sea of sequins and strobe lights.

Among the guests were Vice President Dan Quayle, California Gov. Pete Wilson, former senator from Tennessee and Reagan chief of staff Howard Baker, and numerous former Reagan Cabinet ministers, including former Secretary of State George Shultz and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger.

“If we let everybody who is notable speak, we’d be there for three days,” said Reagan spokesman Bill Garber.

Liza Minnelli sang. Merv Griffin, who also owns the hotel, emceed. And former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave a personal tribute. Speaking by videotape were President Bush, Polish President Lech Walesa and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Apart from the elegant banquet, Reagan was treated at lunch to chocolate chip cookies delivered personally by Mrs. Fields.