Photo captures Reagans as newlyweds appearing with Truman
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Nancy Reagan was overshadowed by the president during her first visit to Springfield.
Not by her husband — Ronald Reagan was still firmly in the movie star stage of his life, and he wasn't the center of attention that weekend either.
It was June 1952, and president and Missouri native Harry Truman was in the Queen City for an unusual couple of days that mixed commander-in-chief and Hollywood glamour. Even before any of the dignitaries arrived, the local newspaper in a headline called it "Springfield's biggest week ever."
The visit resulted in a well-known — at least locally — photo of Ronald and Nancy Reagan sitting atop the back of a convertible as it navigated a parade route. It also seemed to foreshadow the rest of the couple's lives.
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The weekend was a blend of movie stars and politicians, a mix Ronald Reagan himself would later come to embody.
Reagan even made a comment to the press during his visit about Hollywood's involvement with politics, although those who heard it likely never guessed he was destined for the presidency.
And in the photo captured by a Springfield Leader and Press photographer, Nancy and Ronald's smiles are wide, a hint of the devotion to each other that would come to define the couple's relationship. The Reagans were newlyweds at the time, having married in early March; she was still known, perhaps due to her own celebrity, as Nancy Davis.
Ronald Reagan died in February 2004. Nancy Reagan died Sunday.
That June weekend in 1952 was a reunion for members of the 35th Infantry Division, which Truman led during World War I. The president was scheduled to arrive at the Springfield airport at 3 p.m. that Friday, and, after a brief ceremony there, "be rushed into the city for the world premiere of 'The Winning Team' at the Fox and Gillioz theatres."
The premiere was the weekend's other attraction. The Winning Team was a fictionalized biography of major league pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs between 1911 and 1930 (IMDB.com gives the movie a rating of 6.5 out of 10).
Ronald Reagan, who starred as Alexander, brought his wife with him to Springfield, although she wasn't actually in the movie. Actors Gene Nelson and Virginia Gibson, as well as Alexander's widow, also arrived in town for the festivities.
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But Hollywood celebrity only went so far. The newspaper front pages belonged to Truman that weekend.
"President on His Way to Join Springfield Celebration of 35th Division's Reunion," read the main headline of the June 6 Springfield Leader and Press, an evening newspaper.
"Playing with Fire, Truman Warns," read the main headline a day later, referencing the president's comments regarding defense spending cuts.
"Mr. Truman Gets A Fancy Dessert," read the headline of a front page brief about the flag-inspired ice cream concoction the president was served at the Colonial Hotel.
The parade was held June 7. It began at Benton Avenue and Commercial Street in north Springfield and proceeded south to Park Central Square, before taking South Avenue to Walnut Street, and Walnut to Kimbrough Avenue.
Truman had been expected to ride in a vehicle for much of the route, but instead opted to walk the entire way, according to the newspaper, as a reported 225,000 observers looked on. The population of Springfield at the time was about 66,000.
Truman then took to the review stand on the southeast corner of Kimbrough and St. Louis Street. That stand, and the president, are in the background of the image of Nancy and Ronald Reagan — which appeared, like most information about the movie stars, on the newspaper's inside pages.
Under the headlines "Movie Folk Begin Busy Schedule" and "City Has Big 'Howdy' For Visiting Stars," the newspaper reported "a jam-packed welcome for the four stars, who invaded the Ozarks to provide a glamorous Hollywood atmosphere." Some 750 people had turned out for their arrival by train.
"Amid their busy schedule, the autograph seekers, the cries of 'Oh, there goes Ronnie' continued in full force today," the newspaper reported in one story.
The pair were driven in the parade by Ed Rice, then a 21-year-old college student and now the 85-year-old chairman and CEO of Ozarks Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
Rice told the News-Leader Monday that he lived across the street from George Thompson, who owned the Cadillac dealership that supplied vehicles for the parade. The dealership's sign can be seen in the background of the photo of the Reagans.
Thompson invited him to be a driver, Rice said.
"He said, 'Would you drive a couple around?,' and I said, 'Golly, never thought I'd drive a Cadillac,'" Rice recalled.
Rice didn't just drive the couple in the parade; he was essentially on call for their entire stay in Springfield, taking Ronald Reagan to his numerous appearances, and Nancy Reagan out to go shopping.
"I just remember what lovely people they were," Rice said. "They were totally charming, and were not in any way self-involved."
Ronald Reagan, then president of the Screen Actors Guild, also spoke to the press while in Springfield about what the newspaper called "Hollywood's participation in politics" — which today would likely be phrased as celebrity endorsements.
"I think it would be a dangerous thing if certain groups such as ours were told not to take part in politics," Reagan was quoted saying. "We should be entitled to back any one we want. And there are no movie executives who impose on their employees to back their candidates. I definitely am against anyone in our business being talked into reading someone else's ideas."
It was the first visit to Springfield by Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
They would return to the city as he moved into politics. But it's the image from 1952 that still stands out.
"It's really something," Rice said. "You see a future president who was a movie actor, and then Harry Truman in the background of the picture."
Follow Thomas Gounley on Twitter: @tgounleyNL
