Reagan appointees remember the Gipper

Former Ambassador Gilbert A. Robinson definitely has a favorite president: Ronald Reagan.

And he’s not alone. Robinson gathered stories from 81 close friends and co-workers of former President Reagan for his new book, Reagan Remembered, a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the White House.

Robinson invited many of those former aides to the National Press Club on Tuesday for a discussion about their old boss.

{mosads}Robinson, appointed by Reagan as deputy director of the U.S. Information Agency in 1981, told The Hill the idea for the book began at a dinner party.

“I was sitting next to a presidential scholar, and we were talking about Democratic, Republican presidents, and the people with them who wrote books. And I said to him, you know, has anybody ever written a book about 20, 30 people who he appointed all in one book? And he said, ‘oh, never,’ ” Robinson recalled.

” ‘If they did that, it would be history.’ I thought about it. … I thought if I got 15 people — I got 81.”

Robinson said he focused on the president’s character when writing the book, calling Reagan a “very decent human being.”

“He could tell you you were wrong, but you would like it. He was that kind of a person,” he said.

Edwin Meese III, former U.S. attorney general and adviser to Reagan, also joined the talk.

“I think all the investigation and writing about him has only consolidated and confirmed what he did, what he looked like, and how he appeared,” Meese said. “Particularly, I think, the qualities of optimism, cheerfulness, integrity, as you read more and more about him.

“He very much today is the same person I remember working for for 30 years.”

Ambassador Robinson may be partial to Reagan, but he’s not shy about voicing his opinion on 2016’s presidential election. His favorite candidate so far is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R).

“You gotta do something about immigration. You don’t have enough money to build boats to take 11 million people back. That’s ridiculous. And he [Jeb] is the only one that makes any sense on immigration,” Robinson said.

Then again, he’s not totally unbiased, he admits.

“Of course, I worked with his father, and his father was a good man,” he added.