Reagan’s Daughter Missed Early Sign of Alzheimer’s

Maureen Reagan, the eldest daughter of former President Ronald Reagan, said in an essay released Sunday that a conversation she had with her father in late 1993 should have triggered concern about his health.

“We were discussing a 1950 film he made, ‘Prisoner of War,’ ” she wrote in Newsweek magazine. “Finally he looked at me and said, ‘Mermie, I have no recollection of making that movie.’ ”

“No actor ever forgets a role,” she says of that moment, “so I should have realized something was wrong.” Six months later, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

In the magazine’s Jan. 31 issue, Maureen Reagan offers a rare glimpse into the life of the 40th president, who lives in his home near Beverly Hills in the care of his wife, former first lady Nancy Reagan, and his nurse.

Nancy Reagan said last month in an interview that her husband, who will turn 89 on Feb. 6, no longer recognizes old friends, takes walks or holds conversations that make sense.

Maureen Reagan, who said in October that her father’s world “gets smaller every day,” recalled poignant memories of his struggle with Alzheimer’s. “When people ask me how my dad is doing, my response is ‘not so good.’ But it is hard to say that because he makes it so easy for us. In other words, he’s still him.”

To illustrate the starkness of his condition, Maureen Reagan wrote that his caregivers have discovered that he likes her red fingernails. “He looks at those nails and we get a big smile.”