Betty, I think actually the only Reagan child devoted to her father is Maureen. Michael was treated as an absolute outcast, and so were his children. Patty has come around for reasons of closure, and because she realizes she should have tried to influence her father's opinions behind the scenes, instead of at peace demonstrations. Ron obviously loves his father on some level, as all children do, but made several comments in the PBS documentary which were really pretty unflattering. He is subtle and gracious, however, not strident like Patty used to be, so I am not sure you would have noticed all of them.
I agree with Janice that those two should not have had children. It is really wonderful when two people are that devoted to each other, but children need more attention than that to develop really well. And Reagan found it very hard to express his emotions with his children.
I wonder why we have to focus on this area, however. It doesn't have that much to do with being President. Certainly, no one has ever written anything critical of Billy's fathering skills, and yet there still seem to be problems with his presidency. |
