TLS as president signed “Dutch,” one page, 7 x 10.5, White House letterhead, June 27, 1984. Letter to his longtime friend Lydia ‘Hup’ MacArthur. In full: “Thank heaven other papers printed that story about my family tree. I’m so used to not believing anything I read in the ‘Enquirer,’ I would have worried. But I have to confess the story is true. You know, I never knew anything about my father’s family because he was an orphan by the time he was six years old. Now that I have this job, the Burke’s Peerage people went to work and dug all this up. Don’t worry, it all goes back several hundred years or more and as the story said, the more recent Reagans were nice, hardworking poor people.
Hup, I probably won’t be anywhere near Washington around Labor Day—it will be campaign time. If Dotty should have the time and want to tour the White House, have her get in touch with Kathy Osborne in my office. Well, I’ll get back to work. Now that I know you are a government bondholder, I’ll have to take care of things and keep the country solvent.” In fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope. Lydia Hupfer ‘Hup’ MacArthur was the widow of Pete MacArthur, program director of the radio station WOC in Davenport, Iowa; in 1932, he had given the 21-year-old Reagan his first job as a sports announcer.
Reagan’s ‘mysterious’ ancestry drew worldwide interest during his campaign—his rumored Irish roots led newspapers to discover a Ronald Reagan ‘look-alike’ from Cork named Myles Oregan, but as election day neared a spokesman from the US embassy denied the claims, saying, ‘As far as we can find out, he has no Irish connection.’ The topic drew more attention upon his election to the presidency, and the following month Debrett's Peerage announced that they had traced his lineage back to 11th-century Irish warrior king Brian Boru. It was also found that his great-grandfather was named Michael Regan, and emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1857. Renewed interest in Reagan’s heritage came in 1984 with his trip to Ireland in early June, during which he visited his great-grandfather’s small village of Ballyporeen and was able to view his original 1829 baptismal records. A fascinating letter featuring desirable genealogical content. Pre-certified PSA/DNA.
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$75.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
We use cookies on this site to improve your experience. By using this site, you accept our use of cookies. To learn more, please see our Privacy Policy.
