A Look Back To When Ronald Reagan Came To Tuscaloosa

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Few celebrity visits to Tuscaloosa have captured the public's imagination and are still talked about today like the time in 1984 when President Ronald Reagan came to town to campaign for re-election.

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On this Presidents Day, we decided to take a look back at the extensive media coverage of his campaign stop, which included the president delivering a speech at Coleman Coliseum and enjoying a Big Mac at a McDonald's in Northport.

It marked the first time a sitting U.S. president visited the City of Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama.

The Gipper in T-Town

Air Force One touched down at the Tuscaloosa Municipal Airport at 12:25 p.m. on Oct. 15, 1984, where it was greeted by throngs of onlookers and security personnel. Roughly seven miles away, however, many waited in the rain and elements for hours outside the coliseum on the University of Alabama ahead of the visit.

Winfield resident and Reagan supporter Catherine Parker did not have a ticket to the event, but told Doris Flora of the Tuscaloosa News that she drove the 65 miles anyways, just in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the president.

"I knew I would have to have a ticket to get in, but I thought at least I could stand on the steps and see him arrive," she said. "My daddy was a Democrat and he'd turn over in his grave if he knew I was standing here waiting to see a Republican."

Back at the airport, Reagan descended the stairs from Air Force One and was reportedly in a jovial mood, even speaking briefly with reporters. On the campaign trail himself, Reagan was joined by Republican senatorial candidate Albert Lee Smith — an Alabama congressman who ultimate lost the bid for the U.S. Senate in 1984 to against incumbent Democrat Howell Heflin.

"I just wanted to come over here because I would like for you to meet our candidate, Albert Lee Smith," he told the press pool. "We need to elect him to help us do the things we are trying to do in Washington."

The late Tommy Stevenson, who was the associate news editor for the Tuscaloosa News at the time, documented the motorcade as it left the airport, saying it followed U.S. Highway 82 east to the Woolsey Finnell Bridge over the Black Warrior River, which "had been closed to water traffic and was guarded by Coast Guard boats."

Stevenson went on to write that the motorcade proceeded west on University Boulevard through the University of Alabama campus, before turning south on Hackberry Lane to circle behind Memorial Coliseum — four years before it was renamed to Coleman Coliseum to honor UA alumnus Jefferson Jackson Coleman.

Reagan, who would be dubbed "The Great Communicator" for his ability to connect with voters of all background, delivered remarks specifically tailored to the 9,000 in attendance at the coliseum, many of whom sported the crimson and white colors of the university.

As Tuscaloosa News reporter Jack Wheat penned, Reagan told the crowd that his administration's philosophy of economic growth is "Roll Tide, roll."

"America is at peace and the economy is in one piece," he said.

In another mention of local history, Reagan later cited the then-recent discovery of the foundation of the University of Alabama's Rotunda that was burned during the Civil War.

"I got to thinking about how, after all this time, the foundation is still there and standing strong," he said, before going on to compare the foundation of his approach to governing.

Students were allowed to ask Reagan questions following his speech, with most being obvious supporters of the conservative firebrand. However, at one point in his speech, a bespectacled woman in a blue dress and wearing a long string of pearls stood up near the back of the chairs on the floor of the coliseum and began to shout at the president without a microphone.

While even Reagan could not make out what the woman was saying, her tone was sharp and critical as she pointed at the president. However, her screams were drowned out by thousands inside Memorial Coliseum chanting "Four more years, four more years!"

Indeed, Reagan would go on to win the 1984 presidential election by a landslide over Democrat Walter Mondale, grabbing 28,075 votes in Tuscaloosa County or 62.75% of the ballots cast.

At the conclusion of the question-and-answer portion of his stop on campus, the Million Dollar Band struck up "Yea, Alabama!" and Reagan was presented with a Crimson Alabama windbreaker by UA SGA President Ray Pate and Tide mascot Big Al.

The jacket featured the No. 1 on the back and "THE GIPPER" spelled out across the shoulders — a nod to his role as George Gipp in the 1940 classic "Knute Rockne - All-American."

Stevenson wrote: "Following his speech, Reagan left the podium to thunderous applause and paused to shake hands with several well-wishers in the front rows behind the rope that delineated the podium area. He exited the coliseum under a large banner proclaiming 'Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Reagan' literally in the arms of the Secret Service, which hugged him as agents tried frantically to keep the crowd back."

The longtime Tuscaloosa News scribe then mentioned that the presidential motorcade made its way back to the Tuscaloosa Municipal Airport along the same route it had embarked on.

Along the way, Reagan no doubt made note of several signs displayed on businesses to commemorate his visit, with Open Door Baptist Church in Northport's message of "Righteousness Exalts A Nation, Welcome President Reagan."

At Estes Health Care Center, a sign read "Be Good to Our Old Folks."

As throngs of people lined the streets and stood outside hoping to get a look at the motorcade, the president made a brief stop that, as chance would have it, would end up more fondly remembered at present than his speech at Memorial Coliseum.

Rod Hughley, the manager of Northport's lone McDonald's restaurant in 1984, was one of only two men who knew of the president's unannounced stop at the eatery on Highway 82 in front of what was once a Kroger supermarket.

Not even the McDonald's staff on duty that day knew of the visit.

"It was hard to keep it a secret," Hughley told the Tuscaloosa News, also explaining that Secret Service and the president's advance staff insisted on not preparing anything special for Reagan's visit. "I was pretty excited."

McDonald's waitress Cordelia Gray took the president's order of a Big Mac, large fries and a sweet tea, before the commander-in-chief handed her a $20 bill to cover the total, which came out to $2.46.

Reagan then sat down, with a young man on either side of him, to enjoy his burger and fries for about 10 minutes, Stevenson reported — 23-year-old UA student Charles Patterson and Greg Pearson, a 32-year-old attorney.

"It's not every day you get to sit and have lunch with the president of the United States," Patterson said.

After finishing his Big Mac, Reagan — carrying his french fries in his left hand— made his way out of the restaurant, but paused one last time when he spotted 11-year-old Joey Williamson, a 6th grader at Crestmont.

The Tuscaloosa News reported that Williamson — the son of "Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Williamson" — broke his wrist two weeks before playing football and was wearing a brand new cast.

"The president came up to me and asked me if he could sign my cast," Williamson said. "I said sure and he shook my hand and told me he hopes my arm gets better."

Before getting into the presidential limousine, Reagan was greeted once again by a large crowded gathered around the restaurant shouting "Four more years, four more years!"

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