BEHIND CLOSED DOORS by Ken Khachigian ( A Book Review) Special Edition - Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan

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In this special edition of our podcast we will be looking at the highly acclaimed best selling book written by former Ronald Reagan Speech writer Ken Khachigian.

The book offers an insiders view of not one President but two Presidents, both giants in our long long struggle against the forces of Communism in the Cold War. The two Presidents were two of history's giants, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

Few people have had as close an insiders look as Ken Khachigian has had with the inner workings of any White House, much less two of them. Plus, he was with Richard Nixon in San Clemente after Nixon was forced from office in the wake of the horribly unfair Watergate Scandal. Khachigian was one of the five staffers Nixon had who would help him prepare his Memoirs and rebuild his life and career.

From there Khachigian would move on to the 1980 campaign of Ronald Reagan becoming his chief Speech writer and the man who would pen some of his most memorable moments, from his 1980 Inaugural Address, to the address at the Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany as the President dug himself out of a controversy that had its origins in the war 40 years before.

This book offers intimate portraits of Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan, and mentions several lesser known figures we have talked about throughout our many seasons on the air such as Earl Butz, and most recently Stu Spencer who just passed away at age 97.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS by Ken Khachigian is a must read and we are very thankful for the opportunity to showcase it here on our broadcast.

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Chapters

1. Crafting a speech on Air Force One - Ronald Reagan Foundation (00:00:00)

2. Music Intro (00:03:40)

3. Presidential Speech writer remembers Nixon's resilience - Richard Nixon Foundation Video (00:04:04)

4. Host Randal Wallace introduces our new feature, book reviews and then introduces this book and its author Ken Khachigian (00:07:01)

5. Live Conversation with Reagan Speechwriter Ken Khachigian - Ronald Reagan Foundation event (00:09:58)

6. [Ad] Boundless Insights - with Aviva Klompas (00:18:25)

7. (Cont.) Live Conversation with Reagan Speechwriter Ken Khachigian - Ronald Reagan Foundation event (00:19:06)

8. Host Randal Wallace talks about Richard Nixon's relationships with various people (00:22:58)

9. PBD Podcast segment with Ken Khachigian - Spending time with Nixon - "Nixon Never Drank" (00:23:43)

10. Phone call between President Richard Nixon and Republican House leader Gerald Ford on the drinking issues with another Congressman, Hale Boggs (00:27:14)

11. PBD Podcast segment with Ken Khachigian - "Ford was not close" , Relationship with Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan (00:32:36)

12. President Nixon on the phone with Governor Ronald Reagan about potential golf visit with Japanese representatives (00:33:56)

13. "Inside the Nixon and Reagan White House with Ken Khachigian: - Hillsdale College - Watergate and Iran Contra Scandals (00:37:00)

14. Host Randal Wallace talks about Mark Felt and reads a paragraph from "Behind Closed Doors" (00:44:44)

15. [Ad] Make It Make Sense with Grant Hermes (00:44:44)

16. (Cont.) "Inside the Nixon and Reagan White House with Ken Khachigian: - Hillsdale College - Watergate and Iran Contra Scandals (00:45:23)

17. Phone call between President Richard Nixon and Governor Ronald Reagan on the night Nixon fired his Chief of Staff, Domestic Policy Advisor, White House Counsel, and accepted the resignation of the Attorney General (00:47:39)

18. Host Randal Wallace moves us on to Ronald Reagan (00:49:44)

19. PBD Podcast Segment with Ken Khachigian - segment on how he went to work with Ronald Reagan (00:49:50)

20. Host Randal Wallace talks about Ken Khachigian's time with Ronald Reagan (00:54:00)

21. Reagan Speechwriter discussed his most famous lines - Chris Cuomo on NewsNation (00:55:25)

22. Live Conversation with Reagan Speechwriter Ken Khachigian - Queston from the audience about what was the emotional issue for Ronald Reagan - Bitburg Cemetery - Ronald Reagan Foundation event (01:00:17)

23. Ronald Reagan visited a cemetery with SS (Nazi) Graves - News coverage montage - NBC News (01:05:10)

24. President Ronald Reagan addresses the Bergen Beslan World War Concentration Camp on May 5, 1985 = Speech was written by Ken Khachigian (01:08:45)

25. Host Randal Wallace talks about how much he learned reading this book (01:17:22)

26. Live Conversation with Reagan Speechwriter Ken Khachigian - Staffing and regrets - Ronald Reagan Foundation Event (01:18:24)

27. Host Randal Wallace talks about after reading the book he may have done a disservice in an earlier episode series to a person written about in the book, Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz, of the Nixon and Ford Administrations (01:22:58)

28. King Corn - Earl Butz - segment on Agriculture policy he had a role in creating (01:23:58)

29. Host Randal Wallace highly recommends the book "Behind Closed Doors" by Ken Khachigian and introduces our final segments (01:25:07)

30. Inside the Nixon and Reagan White House - Ken Khachigian "Not a Ghost Writer" - Ronald Reagan Foundation Event (01:26:45)

31. Segment from 1981 Inaugural Address of President Ronald Reagan, written by Ken Khachigian (01:29:09)

32. Closing music (01:33:02)