Sincerely, Ronald Reagan

Excerpts from some of the 276 letters Ronald Reagan sent to Lorraine Wagner from 1943 to 1994. They were provided by Wagner and Steven S. Raab Autographs:

“Janie is still a pretty sick girl, but I’m still hoping that things will be different when she gets over the nervousness, so don’t listen to things you hear, please. I know she loves me, even though she thinks she doesn’t. . . . Keep your fingers crossed for me.”--Jan. 8, 1948, on marital problems with Jane Wyman

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“I’m under contract to them for just one picture a year, they decided I wasn’t a very big drawing card, and are afraid to risk giving me good parts.”--Sept. 21, 1949, on losing his contract with Warner Bros.

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“The aim of welfare should be to salvage people and make them able to take care of themselves. . . . In America today there are 458 different welfare and poverty programs, and the only result seems to be more people on the dole, not less.”--May 31, 1968

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“You know I’ve always resented the radical kids spoiling the Churchill V for Victory sign by their use of it as an anti-Vietnam gesture.”--Dec. 29, 1969

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“I also share your frustration about Watergate. I have to tell you it is not hard for me to accept that this could have gone on without the president’s knowledge. . . . If my staff wanted to keep something of this kind from me, it would be very easy for them to do so.”--June 22, 1973

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“[President Jimmy] Carter disturbs me more than a little. I have a deep-seated feeling that he is a real phony.”--Oct. 26, 1976

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“My interrogation on the Poindexter case was at worst a few hours of boredom. I had to say ‘I can’t recall’ to so many questions--like what I did on Nov. 26, 1986. I was tempted several times to reply by asking the lawyer, ‘Where were you three years ago last Friday?’ But I didn’t.”--March 4, 1990, on his deposition in the Iran-Contra case

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“I’m with you with regard to women serving in combat in the military. I’m against it. . . . I think our men today are better soldiers if they are fighting in defense of our women.”--April 1, 1991

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“I am grateful for your friendship through the years.”--June 20, 1994, his last letter to Wagner