Meet the Woman Who Disappeared Ronald Reagan’s Orange Sweater.
Independent Women’s Forum is pleased to announce that Peggy Grande, once the gatekeeper of Ronald Reagan’s post-presidency office and now a commentator and global consultant, is the latest entry in our popular series of Champion Women profiles.
When Peggy was growing up in Brea, a medium-sized town in Orange County, California, her father had an oft-repeated adage about job hunting: “Somebody’s got to have the job you want,” he repeatedly told his children, “and it might as well be you.”
A senior at Pepperdine University, Grande was acting on her father’s optimism when she “took a chance” and wrote a letter to the office of retired President Ronald Reagan. She wanted an opportunity to volunteer during her final semester. She was thrilled when she managed to get an interview.
Grande was hired as permanent staff member after her internship ended and quickly was promoted to the position of Ronald Reagan’s executive secretary. She worked for the former president for ten years, ultimately writing an affectionate memoir, The President Will See You Now: My Stories and Lessons from Ronald Reagan’s Final Years. It is a sensitive and often extremely funny portrait of Ronald and Nancy Reagan away from the spotlight.
It is also a portrait of an executive secretary of the sort CEOs of Fortune 500 companies can only dream of employing. There was that time she had to extract Mikhail Gorbachev’s hat size from people on the phone who may or may not have known the answer but definitely did not speak English. No detail was too small for Peggy, and, as a result of her dedication, she has moved onto a hugely successful career.
We know you’ll enjoy meeting Peggy and learning about the years with Ronald Reagan and Peggy’s subsequent achievements.
It's a great story for any young woman starting out.
