Tom Latham: “former President Reagan's influence on the world was tremendous. He was bigger than life. Whether it was on the silver…”

“former President Reagan's influence on the world was tremendous. He was bigger than life. Whether it was on the silver screen or before thousands of cheering Americans--he was, in so many ways, the American dream. His messages of hope and possibility touched so many people around the world. Many Iowans have a special place in their heart for Ronald Reagan or ``Dutch'' as he was known to those who used to listen to him on the radio during the 1930s. In 1932, after graduating from college, Reagan began working as a temporary staff announcer for radio station WOC in Davenport, IA. In 1933, WOC merged with radio station WHO in Des Moines, and Reagan was hired as chief sports announcer for the new station. Here, Reagan announced Chicago Cubs baseball games--reading them from teletype reports. I remember him recounting how he was forced to improvise games for as long as 15 minutes when the teletype machine would unexpectedly stop. At the time, radio personalities were treated as big stars and what a great place to start a career in entertainment--in Iowa. As we all know, Mr. Reagan went on to a career in movies but many Iowans remembered listening to his sportscasts and helped him in pursuit of higher office in the 1970s and 80s. I can remember ``Dutch's Dollies''--a group of ladies who were longtime fans cheering wildly at his campaign events. They were loyal supporters with very long memories of their man Dutch.”