Presidential Luncheon

March 3, 1983

_{Bob Hope, Don Miller, President Reagan, Don Crivellone}

AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE

_{By Donald P. Crivellone}

In 1979, Los Angeles won the bid to host the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. It occurred to me that my bank, United California Bank, one of only two major banks headquartered in Los Angeles, should become the official bank of the games. My chairman agreed that we should seek to be one of the sponsors, with one caveat: Don't spend too much money.

A team of very dedicated bank employees prepared an outstanding bid presentation that, in May of 1980, won the bid to become the official bank of the 1984 Olympic Games.

Subsequent to that event, I personally received a phone call from the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs. They asked if I would accept the position of Southern California Chairman of the United States Olympic Committee - one of 50 Area Chairman across America. After some soul-searching, I agreed. Among other duties, fundraising was a primary responsibility, and I was given a goal to raise $650,000 from 1980 to 1984.

At a meeting at the United States Olympic Committee's headquarters in Colorado Springs, it was suggested to the Area Chairpersons that in the process of raising funds, we should go for the gold and hold major events. After the meeting, I asked the USOC President and former Secretary of the Treasury, Bill Simon, if they had any fundraising events planned with President Reagan. He looked at Don Miller, the USOC Executive Director, who shook his head, "no." So my quest was on: hold an event with President Reagan to raise funds for the US Olympic Team.

Little did I know at the time how long it would take - eighteen months from the time I actually started to make that event happen.

The first task was: how does one make it through the maze of requests that the President must receive for appearances, particularly non-political appearances?

I discussed my plan with Peter Ueberroth, recently appointed President of the LA Olympic Games. Much to my surprise, Peter attended San Jose State with Michael Deaver, one of Reagan's most trusted advisors. A call from Peter to Deaver put me on the map. The proposal was handed off to Morgan Mason, a special assistant to the President and, coincidentally, the son of actors James and Pamela Mason. I met with Morgan at the White House on two occasions and the project, a luncheon, was moving along very smoothly. Then…

While I was on a business trip to Florida, I heard on the radio that Morgan Mason had left the White House to pursue an opportunity with a public relations firm in Los Angeles. I was crushed. However, when I phoned him, he assured me that he had passed my project on to John Sadler, who was the appointments secretary for the President. It was going well for a while; we had a date set for March 3, 1983, but the President had not yet committed. Then the wheels started to fall off the event. Michael Deaver was against the President attending, as the President and Nancy were hosting a dinner for Queen Elizabeth in San Francisco that same evening.

I had worked too hard on this event to give up now.

In conversation with Janet Hansen, an officer on my staff, I was bemoaning the recent turn of fortune. Janet reminded me that her husband Jack was on Reagan's staff when he was Governor of California and knew most everyone at the White House. I solicited her help. Meanwhile, the same day, I had contacted Morgan Mason, who was very close to Nancy Reagan, and related the situation to him. I was not sure who did what; all I know is that the very next day, Sadler gave me a call and told me that the confirmation letter for the March 3, 1983 luncheon was in the typewriter, and that when it was mailed, nothing short of war would cancel the commitment. I did later learn that it was Nancy Reagan who "closed" the deal. Wow, I was the proud owner of a luncheon date with the President. Now all we had to do was plan the event in detail and sell 600 tickets at $500.00 a head at the Biltmore Hotel. At that point, I was wondering who had volunteered me for this event. I concluded that I had, and I'd better get to work!

The first and foremost task was to sell tickets. My chairman, Norm Barker, agreed to host a breakfast in our executive dining room on the 60th floor of our bank. He invited the cream of corporate Los Angeles. At the conclusion of the breakfast we, or he, had commitments for dozens of tables of ten. A fantastic start and a start that made the sale of the remaining tables feasible. We sold tables of ten with the understanding that at each table we would place an Olympian and an aspiring young athlete.

Judy, my coordinator for the USOC fundraising, and others did an enormous amount of work putting the event details together. We had great support from several of the sports federations, suppliers and the Southern California Olympians.

As the event drew near, I received a call from the White House and the manager of the advance team to schedule a trip to Los Angeles and "check out" the logistics of the event. We agreed on a date. The day before the team was scheduled to arrive, the manager of the team called and asked if I was really to pick up the team. I said, "Yes." She asked what kind of a vehicle I was going to pick them up in. I said, "My car, it will hold 6 passengers." She suggested that I might want a larger vehicle, since the team was made up of 30 individuals. We quickly arranged for a bus. I never gave much thought to what comprised an advance team, and it was an interesting mix - manager, staff, communications, secret service, cooks, medical team, military attachés, staging (blue background for TV) and a person that handles the Presidential flags. I anticipated a demanding crew. However, I must say they were all very courteous and professional during the visit. I was told that the Secret Service personnel were difficult in the sense of not compromising, but they made several adjustments to accommodate my needs. Maybe it was the donuts.

Jan Sarnoff, my committee member and liaison with celebrities, whose husband was Bob Sarnoff, President of NBC, was well-connected in the Hollywood community. She had arranged for Johnny Carson to be our celebrity speaker. Jan called me one day at work, about two weeks before the luncheon, and told me that Johnny Carson was unable to speak at the luncheon. I must have gasped as my heart dropped to the floor.
Jan said, "Don, don't worry, we can get someone else."
"Who, when, how?" was my reply.
She said, "How about Bob Hope?"
I said, "Sure, Jan, how do we do that?"
With that, she asked me to stay on the line while she dialed Bob Hope's phone. His secretary answered, Jan asked if Bob was in, and the secretary responded, "Yes, hold on a second." When Bob got on the phone, Jan told him that I was on the line, explained who I was, and related the details of the Presidential luncheon and that Johnny Carson was unable to speak. She asked him if he was free to be our speaker. He checked his calendar and said he was free and happy to do it. I never questioned her "clout" after that.

In our plans, we had hoped that we could arrange for a military band to entertain the luncheon guests with music and play "Hail to the Chief" when the President entered the room. A Navy captain friend of mine told me that the best band on the West Coast was the Marine band at El Toro Marine base. I called the base and talked to a major, who gave me the impression that he did not believe me that the President was attending our luncheon. I asked him to call the Navy Attaché in the White House. Within a very short period of time, I received a phone call from the Major. This time I had the feeling he was standing at attention. He related that the base commander was pleased to provide the band for our luncheon and he, the Major, personally would coordinate the details. I thanked him and offered an invitation to the General.

March 3rd finally arrived. The entire staff that worked on this luncheon had done everything they possibly could do and we all crossed our fingers that all would go well.

Don Miller and I, who would be flanking the President at the head table, were rationalizing how does one engage the President in idle chit-chat? No conclusion was reached, as our experiences lacked previous Presidential encounters.

Prior to lunch, the local gymnastics, fencing and rhythmic gymnastics teams entertained the guests, while high-profile Olympians circulated.

The President arrived on time from his ranch near Santa Barbara. As we were seated, Patty McCormick, multiple gold medallist in diving, stood up and took a picture of the President. It was at that moment that I realized my extensive planning had failed to include assigning someone to take photos. Oh well, I thought, I can always ask Patty for a copy of her photo.

Don Miller and I quickly realized that we were relieved of carrying on a conversation. The President was very talkative. He related that one of his favorite games was trying to distract the Marines assigned to the White House. He said they just don't react. A Marine Sergeant, a member of the band, was directly in front of us facing the luncheon guests. The President leaned over and asked the Marine to turn around. "Sergeant, this is your commander-in-chief." The Sergeant didn't budge a muscle. The President again tried to get the Marine to turn around; no response. The President was delighted that the Marine stood fast.

The President related that he used to host a sports program on the radio from this very room, the Biltmore Bowl, at the Biltmore Hotel.

Seated at my left was Pete Wilson, Senator from California. I had met Pete on a number of occasions when he was Mayor of San Diego. I asked him if he would be offended if I sort of ignored him in light of the opportunity to talk to the President; he completely understood.

The President asked my opinion regarding the California economy. It was booming in all segments, so the answer was simple.

During a very brief lull in the conversation, I asked him how he liked his job. He said he loved it, but it was strange at first. He then went on to tell me a story, which I will relate to you in my words. Prior to his Inauguration, he had scheduled a luncheon with a close friend in Virginia the Saturday after the Inauguration. Let's call him Bob. A few days prior to the luncheon, he called Bob and asked if everything was set for the luncheon. Bob responded with, "I can't wait until the lunch is over." "Why, what's wrong?" the President responded. Bob told him that his house was a mess, that secret service personnel, military and communications folks and others were all over the house.

Despite all this, Saturday arrived. During lunch, the President - having been told he could communicate instantly anywhere in the world - asked Bob Junior's fiancée if she would like to talk to Bob Junior. Bob Junior was in the Navy and on a destroyer in the Pacific. The President motioned to a Secret Service officer that he wanted to talk to Bob Junior. Very quickly, Bob Junior was on the phone with the President. Bob Junior had an opportunity to talk to his fiancée as well as his mother and father.

Several weeks later, the President received a letter from Bob Junior thanking him for the opportunity to talk to his family and his fiancée. He told the President that the last 100 miles of the conversation was open communications and the entire fleet could share the conversations. Since the phone call, he had received many visits from captains and admirals, who just stopped by to say "Hello."

I was always a Reagan fan, but after this story and his one-way interaction with the Marine Sergeant, I was a disciple. This experience showed me a side of him that was so humanistic.

The President leaned over to me at one point and told me that he was going to mention that the press should, for one week, recognize volunteerism and the work volunteers do for their communities, such as I was doing. He then said that instead of mentioning that on the evening news, they will "blast" him for criticizing the press. That night, the lead story on all three networks was: President criticizes the press. It was not until deeper in the story did they mention that he was hosting a luncheon that was held to raise money for the US Olympic Team.

The head table consisted of the President - Pete Wilson, US Senator from California - Mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley - Peter Ueberroth, President of the LA Games - Bob Hope - Don Miller, Executive Director of the United States Olympic Committee - John Nabor, Multiple Gold Medalist, 1976 Summer Games - and myself. All had an opportunity to speak to the glory of the games and the need to support our Olympic hopefuls. John Nabor, who was our master of ceremonies, gave the President a framed set of Olympic pins. All gifts given to the President are taken away and become property of the United States. I was told that as he boarded Marine One, he asked for his Olympic pin set, which he promptly put under his arm and continued to board the helicopter.

The President stayed for the entire lunch, 2½ hours, which I was told was not always the case, but I know he really was enjoying himself at this non-political event in his hometown. Later, Morgan Mason told me that the President told Nancy that night that he really enjoyed the event.

I never did get a copy of Patty McCormick's photo. About a week after the event, I received a package from the White House. The White House photographer had taken dozens of photos of the event, and I was in 25 of them and the President signed several. These photos were from the manager of the advance party. Talk about fun surprises.

The financial and publicity success of this event helped my committee eventually raise $3.7 million dollars for the US Olympic Committee.

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