Reagan actually was an intelligence officer......
Done to death elsewhere, but...
Technically, yes. His actual job was providing voice-overs for training and propaganda films, and since the production of such films was under the intelligence aegis, he was technically an intelligence officer.
That job, of course, is nothing to be ashamed of. As an assignment, it made eminent good sense. What else would the army do with an actor? (I'm also sure that the Warner organization exerted some considerable influence to keep potentially valuable property out of harm's way, which is only natural, but that's not really Reagan's fault). And I'm sure he did the job to the best of his ability, perhaps even staying in the studio late at night to meet a deadline.
But - and it's a big but - using those words intelligence officer to conjure up images of spying, of cool, dispassionate review and assessment of classified information, of powerfully worded recommendations that Saved The Day, of... well, of intelligence - is a big stretch.
He had a small, simple, job. He did it. He got lucky, and skated through it in one of the easiest jobs possible, probably with the unsought help of powerful patrons who had business reasons for wanting him intact. Not much else to be said. |
