Noshing With Ken Khachigian – October 3, 2024

This week, Ira spoke with speechwriter, confidant and strategist Ken Khachigian, author of "Behind Closed Doors: In the Room with Reagan & Nixon." In this inside episode of “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ken talks about why he decided to write the book (including information nobody else had); how he kept diaries and meticulous records; how Nixon and Reagan jointly ended the Cold War; how he had the discipline to write notes on his meetings with the two presidents despite his grueling schedule; how he gained the trust of two dissimilar presidents; why they both felt comfortable with him; why he took Reagan at his word; how he felt he was part of history with both Nixon and Reagan; how there was internal disloyalty in the Reagan administration; why power is a terrible addiction; what he regrets; the technology at the time; how he unearthed a “very significant piece of information in the Reagan archives that on one else saw; how he avoided becoming jaded working in that high-level environment; and the big historical takeaway from the book. (Also Watch Full Podcast Video)