Ronald Reagan: Letter to the American People about Alzheimer’s Disease

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Reagan's last public statement was surely his most poignant and perhaps his most eloquent. On November 5, 1994, Reagan released a handwritten letter in which he told the American people that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In this letter he explains that he and his wife, Nancy, had decided to share this news with their fellow citizens, as they had done with information about their previous illnesses, in the hope of promoting greater awareness of the disease and its effects on those who suffer from it and their families.

Reagan uses what could have been a sad and somber occasion to give thanks for the joy he has experienced throughout his life. He looks forward in his last years to the simple pleasures that have provided so much satisfaction. As usual, he expresses his “eternal optimism,” seeing “a bright dawn ahead” for America even as he contemplates “the sunset” of his life. On this final, public occasion, Reagan says goodbye in the same way he had spoken for so many years to the American people—with conviction, directness, simplicity, and hope.