THC: Expectations, perceptions?

EM: At first I belittled him because I was looking for uniqueness and complexity and hoping for self-revelatory remarks. I got none of these things. What I got was a distressing ordinariness when I was alone with him. He seemed to have no culture, no originality, no curiosity. And my perception of him changed only very, very slowly over a period of the full 14 years working on this project. And I realized more and more that he was a man who could only be understood in terms of his public performance. What he did was what he was. There is a perfect example of that in a line from F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Action is character." And in retrospect, now looking back on him, I realize that he was indeed a great President.

THC: Was Jane Wyman right? She said she got tired of his talking all the time. Is that an accurate portrayal of him?

EM: That was certainly what a non-political person would think. Since I'm a non-political person too, I was just bored to stupefaction by his endless political monologues.

THC: Was the title of Official or Authorized Biographer a blessing or a burden? And did it in any way change the way you wrote the book?

EM: It was a burden, particularly when the word "Official" was used. Because people instantly thought that I was doing something that Reagan and Nancy Reagan would have to approve, which was never the case. If they'd ever tried to get any control and look at what I wrote, I'd have walked away from the project.

THC: Have you heard from Nancy?

EM: No. Nancy is preserving a shocked silence...I can recognize her voice in some of the things George Will has been saying--he is her current PR representative. Some one told me the other day that when you go to George Wills' house he has a whole corridor of pictures of Nancy Reagan.

THC: That's so bizarre!

EM: That's an awful lot of them.