On the subject of Michael Reagan (Adoption)

[shmoogrrrl]

Can anyone tell me WHY the newscasters and people who wrote articles about the Reagan thing last week insisted on mentioning that Michael Reagan was adopted at every opportunity?

I mean I understand that it needs to be mentioned when someone is detailing President Reagan's life, but is it necessary, when pointing out who the kids are, to add that he was adopted? It's like they are saying "There is his daughter Patti, and Ron and the adopted (less important) son, Michael.

I'm not adopted, and my daughter isn't adopted, but I can't imagine that if I had an adopted child I would be constantly pointing out that he/she was adopted. It doesn't sound like President Reagan did either (unless it was an important piece of information to what he was talking about) so I wish the media would stop.

Am I the only person who noticed this?

 

[Cruise04]

Because I didn't read the papers I didn't notice this but I noticed how "left out" he appeared with everything. Nancy didn't turn to him for console and neither did his "sister and brother". I felt very bad for him. Even at the sunset service, everyone clapped after Patti and Ron's words but not for Michael's.

 

[Eeyore1954]

I didn't take it that they were implying that Michael Reagan was less important. They may have mentioned it because not everyone knew it or watched every minute of their coverage.

Michael Reagan himself mentioned it during his eulogy on Friday night. I thought it was very touching ... in fact, I thought all the childrens' eulogies were very touching.

 

[EltonJohn]

shmoogrrrl,

Nope, I hadn't noticed it, but I haven't been reading the news this week either My mom is adopted, and to be honest I don't really see a problem. Being adopted doesn't imply that a person is less important IMO.

 

[missy28]

I agree it was tasteless... I was adopted when I was 8 days old, and I have an older brother who is adopted as well. I don't refer to him as my adopted brother, and my parents don't refer to either one of us as their adopted kids. I'm sure that Michael Reagan was loved as much by President Reagan as his other children... it's a shame that something so mainstream as adoption can still be used to stigmatize... Although I DID like the not-so-subtle jab he got in in his eulogy, "I'm Michael Reagan, the chosen son." I got a chuckle out of that one...

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Originally posted by Cruise04
Because I didn't read the papers I didn't notice this but I noticed how "left out" he appeared with everything. Nancy didn't turn to him for console and neither did his "sister and brother". I felt very bad for him. Even at the sunset service, everyone clapped after Patti and Ron's words but not for Michael's.

Yeah, I noticed that too, but I guess it makes sense that she wouldn't turn to him. He isn't her child. I also suspect (but have no actual knowledge) that he and Ron and Patti don't exactly act like Brother and Sister, if you know what I mean. They are so different! I have a hard time seeing them sitting down for family meals together, etc. I could be wrong.

 

[OhMari]

What about Jane Wyman -Ronalds First Wife, is she dead or alive yet?

 

[piglet too]

Originally posted by OhMari
What about Jane Wyman -Ronalds First Wife, is she dead or alive yet?

Just did a quick search and she is still alive. She broke what seems like a long time of silence (in regards to the media I am sure) to comment on his death.

 

[EltonJohn]

Originally posted by OhMari
What about Jane Wyman -Ronalds First Wife, is she dead or alive yet?

According to the IMDB she's alive.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I had only noticed/heard about the "adopted" son when reading the caption under a picture in the newspaper. And yes it DID strike me as odd that they would single him out and list him as "adopted son" like that. You don't usually see children listed out by name with "adopted" before the adopted child's name (as minor children OR as grown adult children). Seemed odd to me...

 

[Deb in IA]

Originally posted by piglet too
Just did a quick search and she is still alive. She broke what seems like a long time of silence (in regards to the media I am sure) to comment on his death.

What did she say?

 

[Galahad]

Originally posted by Deb in IA
What did she say?

I think it was fairly antiseptic.....honoring him as President but I don't think she said anything personal.

 

[Cruise04]

CNN did comment that she did send a letter stating her condolensces and they had read a piece of it but I don't remember what it was.

Does anyone know who that older man and lady with blond hair was that was sitting behind Nancy and the kids???? And who the older lady in the wheelchair was at the sunset service that got up and went up to the casket??

 

[Microcell]

I am glad I was not the only one who noticed the adopted son stuff. I did read somewhere that Maureen had been mad about the fact that her dad had not told her half siblings- Patti and Ron JR that she even existed until Patti was SEVEN years old! What was that about? This seems like a segmented family and their dad only had eyes for Nancy. Some people seem to be like that- loving someone to the exclusion of all others. My own father is that way, not enough love to go around. Sad for all the kids, adopted or not!

 

[AirForceRocks]

Does anyone know who that older man and lady with blond hair was that was sitting behind Nancy and the kids????

I believe that was Nancy's stepbrother and his wife.

And who the older lady in the wheelchair was at the sunset service that got up and went up to the casket??

I don't know for sure, but I wondered if perhaps it wasn't the widow of President Reagan's older brother, Neil (whom I believe also suffered from Alzheimer's).

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Originally posted by Cruise04

Does anyone know who that older man and lady with blond hair was that was sitting behind Nancy and the kids???? And who the older lady in the wheelchair was at the sunset service that got up and went up to the casket??

I am pretty sure it was Maureen Reagan's husband and his new fiance. They mentioned that Nancy Reagan had invited them to participate i the family events.

 

[Alice28]

I thought the same thing about the older man and lady- figured it was Nancy's brother and wife or something like that.

Maureen Reagan's husband was not that old- they showed him and said who he was at some point; he looked in his late 50's, tall, had glasses, and his fiance was also tall and blonde, maybe 45.

I also noticed that Michael Reagan was referred to over and over again as adopted. Michael Reagan is the only one of the 3 kids whom I feel I "know" as I listen to his radio show every once in awhile. I don't think he has a particularly close or loving relationship with his step-mother Nancy or his siblings, but somehow he makes it work. I felt a little bad for him, and yet I know he is a very strong person and he will be fine. He had his troubled times in his 20's and 30's (according to him) and now he is a pretty stable, regular guy. I guess the same can be said of Patti and Ron, but I can't help but think of what they were like when their father was in office... . I am glad they were able to make peace with their family toward the end.

 

[Keli]

I think that since Maureen has already passed it did leave Michael as the odd one out in the Reagan family. It did appear that the children from the first marrage weren't very close to the children from the second one and also that Nancy wasn't terribly close to them either. That is sad but I don't think the seperation had so much to do with Michael's adoption as it had to do with which family he belonged to and it just so happened that he was the only one left from Reagan's first family.
As for the media constantly referring to Michael's adoption, well, that kinda bothers me but I guess it shouldn't. I have three brothers that are adopted and one sister that is and there is no way that their status as 'adopted' makes them any less valuable to our family or in any way a lesser position within the family. We're all brothers and sisters whether adopted or born into the family.

 

[siouxi31]

I'm a person who is normally unaffected by comments (this is changing as I get older!), but the comments about Michael Reagan being the "adopted son" disgusted me. Why would they do that?
I was adopted, always knew I was adopted, my parents never treated me as an outsider. I AM their daughter.

 

[BabyLove99]

"Reagan's first wife, actress Jane Wyman, broke her silence about her former husband to praise him.

"America has lost a great president and a great, kind and gentle man," Wyman told a close friend, The Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs reported."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/12/reagan.main/index.html