Killing Reagan by Bill O'Reilly Read Free Book Online Page B

grandeur—then so be it. Nancy was released from her Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio contract just two weeks prior. “I don’t want to do anything else except be married. I just want to be Ronnie’s wife,” she says later.
    To Reagan, this anonymous wedding is perfect. His life seems to become more complicated by the day, and he hardly needs a horde of press to remind him that his career is in peril. In addition to dealing with Davis’s pregnancy, Reagan was released from his contract with Warner Bros. just five weeks ago. He claims that he wants a small ceremony because the memory of his lavish first wedding to Jane Wyman is still painful. But the truth is that “to even contemplate facing reporters and flashbulbs made me break out in a cold sweat,” as Reagan will one day write.
    The wedding is so discreet that Reagan has not even invited his mother, Nelle. His father, Jack, died more than a decade ago, but Nelle Reagan now lives nearby, in Southern California. But even though Reagan has a close relationship with his mother, who is a member of the Disciples of Christ denomination, she is not in attendance.
    Nancy, on the other hand, has no living relations in Hollywood. Her godmother was Alla Nazimova, the late owner of the legendary Garden of Allah Hotel. Coincidentally, that same den of iniquity was the place where Reagan promised himself that he would stop sleeping around. Thanks to that moment, and to his relationship with Nancy, he is now seen less and less in the nightclubs of Hollywood, preferring to spend weekends at the Malibu ranch.
    â€œIt’s not that I hunger for somebody to love me,” Reagan has confided to Nancy, finally putting the memory of his divorce in the rearview mirror, “as much as I miss having somebody to love.”
    *   *   *
    â€œI pronounce you man and wife,” says Reverend Wells, adjusting his thin wire-frame glasses. Davis is so swept away by the moment that she will not remember saying “I do” or even Ronald Reagan’s kiss as their marriage is sealed. Instead, she will recall only the booming voice of Bill Holden as he comes to her side. “Can I kiss the bride?” he asks.
    â€œNot yet,” Davis protests. “It’s too soon.”
    But as the svelte Ardis looks on, Holden wraps his arms around Nancy’s waist and kisses her passionately on the lips.
    *   *   *
    Ardis Ankerson has arranged for a photographer to be present at her house as a beaming Nancy Reagan slices wedding cake with her new husband. The three tiers of white frosting, with the small plastic statue of bride and groom perched on top, rests on the Holdens’ dining room table. Reagan blinks as the shutter clicks, while Nancy leans in toward the camera with eyes wide open. It is a moment both iconic and timeless, re-created at countless weddings before and since. If not for Ardis possessing the forethought to hire a photographer, there would have been no pictures of this moment.
    The resulting images are unassuming. Yet one day they will be considered remarkable, for this evening begins a marriage that will change the world.
    It is midnight as the newly married Reagans arrive at the Mission Inn, an elaborate structure built to look like an old Spanish mission, with great stucco walls, exposed beams, and a garden courtyard. 4 A bouquet of red roses waits in their room, compliments of the house.
    In Ronald Reagan, Nancy sees a greatness that thus far has eluded him. She will dedicate her life to bringing it forth. Soon, her supplication will vanish and dominance will emerge. Reagan will reluctantly cease his womanizing, although continuing his affair with Christine Larson well past the day his baby daughter, Patti, is born on October 21, 1952. 5 And while there will be the occasional discreet liaison in the future, Reagan’s days as a playboy are in the past. In time, these affairs will come to haunt him. Not a