Ronald Reagan and Rancho del Cielo
“Rancho del Cielo can make you feel as if you are on a cloud.”
Presidents need to get “out of the fishbowl” and away from the turmoil in
Washington, D.C. Every August during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, he would
escape to Santa Barbara with his beloved sidekick, Nancy, in order to spend time at
Rancho del Cielo. What was their daily routine? Were visitors allowed? What kind
of saddle did he ride?
By the time the Reagans purchased Rancho del Cielo in November 1974,
they were old ranch hands. Going back to the early 50’s, citizen Reagan loved
horses and purchased his first property in Northridge, 8 acres with a few horses and
a rustic setting close to home.
By 1951, he acquired 290 acres known as “Yearling Row” on Cornell Corners by Malibu Lake. His
girlfriend, Nancy Davis, who became Mrs. Reagan in March 1952, didn’t just watch the wildflowers bloom; she
pitched in, working on fences and helping to clean up the property. “I’m crazy about the girl who goes to the
ranch with me,” wrote Ronald Reagan, “If we’re tidying up the woods she’s a peewee power house at pushing
over dead trees. She’s a wonderful person to sit by the fire with ….” Thoroughbreds and two mares named
Torch Carrier and Bracing were raised on his property which was sold in December 1966 before his
inauguration in Sacramento.
“There’s nothing as good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse.”
The year? 1974. Then Governor Reagan was preparing for life beyond
politics. Searching for a suitable escape, his friend Bill Wilson (who would later
become Ambassador to the Vatican) and fellow rancher, suggested to his friends
Ronnie and Nancy, that a visit to Tip Top Ranch in Santa Barbara would be a start.
“Where are you taking us?” asked Mrs. Reagan as they plodded around the
primitive turns of a long ranch road. Even the Governor was losing his patience.
“Bill,” he pleaded, “is this going to end at some point???”
1 Eventually, the adventurers found their way to a very primitive, yet visually inspiring landscape, which
seemed to float above the California Oaks. “I love it,” Ronald Reagan announced as he walked through the
mountain trails, through thick clusters of oaks, around sandstone rocks, and embraced 680 acres of…heaven.
The majestic property was renamed, Rancho del Cielo or Ranch in the Sky.
But there was nothing on the ranch except a very basic, very simple adobe house, more like a hut, over
100 years in age, sporting a roof with aluminum sheets. There was no Lake Lucky and no fences. Pretty basic
all around. And he got to work.
"I look to the hills from whence cometh my strength."
He needed his strength, alright. Reworking the ranch, Governor and Mrs.
Reagan began the process. With his own hands, the retired Governor (who was also
getting ready for a bid at the White House in 1976) began to install a sandstone
patio in front of the house. He had an old red jeep that he loved, which he’d run into
the hills and load up with large sandstone rocks. Then the actual installation process
began with a concrete pour and a specific placement of the rocks, all executed by
the guy who wrote love letters and ate macaroni and cheese. Actor, husband,
Governor, rancher, and now patio constructor – Ronald Reagan.
The tiny adobe house was slightly expanded and improved by swapping out the aluminum for a
traditional tile roof. Neither air conditioning nor heating were ever installed. Instead, the warmth for cold winter
nights was created by two large fireplaces fed by cords of wood - chopped, gathered and stacked by the former
governor of California. Largely by his own blood, sweat and tears, the fence was installed using a two-handed
post-hold digger. And the Lake? It was recast from a little pond that dried up every year to a full-sized lake,
lined with vinyl, 12-13 feet deep, finished with a handsome dock which Ronald Reagan considered one of his
greatest accomplishments on the Ranch.
“I tell you, it's just unbelievable. It really is.”
President-elect Reagan in 1980 required Secret Service protection. That meant
when riding his horse, he needed to be accompanied by someone who could do the
same. Ride. Not just hang on for dear life, but stay in the saddle and take a few jumps.
Other presidents, like Nixon and Eisenhower who golfed, or George H.W. Bush who
travelled to Kennebunkport in Maine, or Bill Clinton who vacationed in Martha’s
Vineyard, never required such specialized protection. And until Agent John Barletta
was recommended to accompany Reagan, the President-elect had to help a few errant
agents out of cactus bushes and back into the saddle. It should have been the other
way around.
An intensive 3-week training program was designed for prospective equestrian-oriented, daring agents
who needed to be an asset to the new president, not a liability. The Secret Service didn’t even own horses
initially, but finally purchased several from a local rancher. The full court press to protect President Reagan at
Rancho del Cielo was on. Three buildings or Quonset huts were constructed on the property overnight. There
could be as many as 175 people at any time – agents, special officers, secret service uniformed division dog
teams, countersniper teams – on the property along with 29 Secret Service vehicles, Marine One, and a secret
airplane.
2 The Secret Service Command Center was one of a trio of structures located on a hill, away from the
house. Beside the Command Center, there was a building for medical supplies and military aides, and the last
building served as a staff office where the President would ultimately deliver his Saturday radio broadcasts. In
addition, every aspect of the presidency always goes with the President – in the form of a special military unit
called the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) which ran a mobile operation out of Chevy
Suburbans.
All the Quonset huts were built by the Navy Seabees. But one of the biggest problems was getting to the
ranch…
The twisted, challenging path to the ranch gave headaches to Secret Service Agents and tested the
maneuverability of every four-wheeled vehicle directed to the presidential retreat. Hairpin turns made it
impossible for a full-sized presidential limousine to traverse the twists and turns; Marine One became essential
to transport the President and Mrs. Reagan but the rest of the staff resorted to Chevy Suburbans, Jeeps, and
ultimately Hummers to navigate the rocky, rustic, rugged roads meant for horses not vehicles.
“Presidents don't get vacations; they just get a change of scenery."
For the President and Mrs. Reagan, Rancho del Cielo was an escape, a
place to work, a place to reflect, a compound that made it possible to simply be
company for one another. And once he became President, he let Mike Deaver
know that when working his schedule, there had to be a place for a visit to the
West Coast. “Mike,” the President asked, “the schedule looks fine, but I don’t see
any ranch time in here? I don’t see a ranch trip in the schedule.”
Only 7 ½ months into the presidency, Ronald Reagan chose Rancho del
Cielo as the location for an historic moment – signing the 1981 Economic
Recovery Tax Act while sitting in a chair on the patio built by his own design
and labor.
When signing the bill, journalist Sam Donaldson asked, “Mr. President, are you thinking about selling
this ranch anytime soon?
The President replied, “You can’t sell heaven….if the ranch isn’t heaven, it probably has the same zip
code.”
Occasionally, his visits would be interrupted by world events. For example, in September 1983, Judge
Bill Clark, National Security Advisor, urgently contacted the Secret Service to let the agents know he must
speak with the president, who was riding. A military aide alerted Agent Barletta and they rode back to the
White House Communications Agency, located in a Chevy Suburban with “lots of antennas protruding from the
roof.” In a difficult conversation, he was told by his advisor, Bill Clark, that the Russians had just shot down
KAL 007, a civilian 747 airliner, killing all the passengers aboard. “Those were innocent people, those damned
Russians,” Reagan said, “They knew that was a civilian aircraft.” President and Mrs. Reagan immediately left
the ranch for Washington, D.C.
3 “Rancho del Cielo cast a spell over us.
No place before or since has ever given Nancy and me the joy and serenity it
does.”
What was a typical day? Let’s start with the primary subject, the horse.
President Reagan preferred riding thoroughbreds, athletic horses, tall and lean
with long legs and long necks. His favorite horse, a gray Anglo Arab, a gift from
President Lopez Portillo of Mexico in 1980, was named El Alamein who was
spirited, strong, difficult, and adored by President Reagan. Because the horse’s
health was critical in order to ensure the President’s safety, El Alamein was
closely monitored by a veterinarian who actually tested the animal on a treadmill.
Stunned by the horse’s spirit, the vet was surprised the president was allowed to
ride this “dingbat.”
Still, the athletic 40th President who rode English saddle and loved to jump his horse over logs, rode El
Alamein for 10 years.
His attire? English riding pants, once mistakenly starched with creases down the middle by the stewards
who were caring for his clothes. The saddle? It was a simple, elegantly constructed Parianni forward seat
jumping saddle produced in Italy, purchased 30 years before the presidency. With no decoration and minimal
padding, it represented what Ronald Reagan loved best – riding horses. He wrote:
“To my mind nothing compares with the kinship between man and animal you find on the back of a
horse. I’m not sure what it is but there you are in charge of an animal with more muscle in its neck
than you have in your whole body. From the minute the horse takes its first step, every muscle in
your own body responds to it. How much of this experience is physical, and how much is mental, I
don’t know; but there’s no better place for me to think than on the top of a horse. As you rock along
a trail to the sound of the hoofs and the squeak of leather, with the sun on your head and the smell of
the horse and the saddle and the trees around you, things somehow just straighten themselves out. It
just seems easier for me to sort out a problem when I’m on a horse.”
When he’d arrive at the Ranch, he’d get to work on the saddle, dusting it off and cleaning the billets by
hand. And it was especially important to saddle the horse himself, first brushing the animal, then easing the
saddle and the cinch to his own specifications. With the other Secret Service agents, he’d review the plan for the
day’s ride at a map of the property displayed in the tack room. By 9 a.m., he would also prepare Mrs. Reagan’s
horse, No Strings, and ring the bell to let everyone know, it was time to ride.
An entourage of agents would gather for the morning’s ride. First, the President and Agent Barletta led
the pack, followed by Mrs. Reagan and the agent assigned to her. Next in line? Two more agents and a military
aide who carried the “football.” Still more Secret Service agents followed behind in a Hummer – accompanied
by the President’s physician. Finally, holding up the rear, was the White House Communication Agency vehicle
with White House Communications staff inside.
4 “I always took some work with me, but at Rancho del Cielo, Nancy
and I could put on our boots and old clothes, recharge our batteries,
and be reminded of where we had come from.”
After leaving the White House, the Ranch continued to be an
escape for President and Mrs. Reagan, one they visited almost every
month. While it was their private respite, they did invite some very
special guests to the Ranch.
"I have long hoped to show Mikhail the true American West," President Reagan said in a prepared
statement. "He has heard of me speak of its beauty for many years. I look forward to taking him to the ranch." So
in May, 1992, President and Mrs. Reagan welcomed former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife,
Raisa, to their favorite corner of the world. Before a tour in the President's trusty jeep, he gave the leader a gift a Stetson silver belly cowboy hat - which General Secretary Gorbachev placed on his head...backwards. No one
said a word to him. But the photograph is memorable.
The following year, 1993, Lady Margaret Thatcher with
her husband, Denis, made a visit to Rancho del Cielo on a very
foggy February day. "I love the fog," she reminded the Reagans
as they apologized for the dismal weather conditions. But what
she recognized above all at the Ranch, was President Reagan’s
humility, his idealism, his diligence and his hard work – the
fundamental elements of the American experience.
From 1974 through 1998, President Reagan referred to
Rancho del Cielo as his "open cathedral in the sky." One cannot
underestimate the impact of its rugged beauty on our President.
Beyond everything, it's comforting to know that our 40th
president had a chance to learn what heaven was like, here on
earth.
“Now, there are a lot of people--kind of thinking
they're disparaging in doing it-call me, today, a cowboy. You
know, I've never understood what's so bad about being a
cowboy. I'm proud of my spurs. I've often said there's nothing
better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.”
5