THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411060200
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: OAKLAND, CALIF. LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
President Clinton led an arena full of Democratic partisans in a rousing tribute to Ronald Reagan on Saturday, wishing the former president ``godspeed as he deals with this illness.''
The president, less than an hour after he heard the news about Reagan's battle with Alzheimer's disease, shared the information with several thousand participants at a Democratic rally here.
He urged them temporarily to put aside their political passions.
``A few moments ago, President Reagan announced he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. And when he said that, it touched my heart in a particular way,'' Clinton said.
Clinton told the suddenly hushed crowd in Oakland's Kaiser Arena that, when he visited Reagan in Los Angeles in November 1992, after his election, ``he talked to me for a long time and in the course of the conversation, he said, `you know, I've forgotten what I was talking about, and it really makes me mad.' ''
``We disagreed on a lot of the things over the years, all of us have with Mr. Reagan, but he always talked with a sense of optimism and spirit. And in the days since he left office, he's been willing to put partisanship aside to stand up for our country,'' Clinton said.
He praised Reagan for helping him pass the North American free trade agreement, the ban on assault weapons and the Brady handgun control bill.
And, while not quite heeding his own advice to put partisanship aside, Clinton added: ``He and his wife stood up against Oliver North in Virginia.''
``I want every one of you in this room now to give Ronald Reagan a hand and wish him well and godspeed as he deals with this illness,'' Clinton said.
That brought those in the arena who weren't already standing to their feet in a moving ovation for the one-time California governor.
Clinton's press secretary, Dee Dee Myers, notified the president about Reagan's announcement shortly before he was to go on stage. by CNB