Reagan liked to 'chillax' too! US president clocked off at 6.30 sharp and sat down to watch TV with Nancy

Reagan’s habits when he was US president revealed in newly-released files

Diplomats voiced thoughts on Reagans ahead of 1982 European visit



Files show he was perhaps one of the most laid-back heads of state ever

It is a routine that many overstretched workers can only dream of.

A 9am start, clocking off at 6.30pm sharp... then an evening in the armchair watching a film with friends.

But it’s not the timetable of some time-serving office worker winding down to retirement. It was a typical day in the life of the man who led the free world.

Ronald Reagan’s habits when he was US president are revealed in newly-released files which show he was perhaps one of the most laid-back heads of state ever.

Ronald Reagan's habits when he was US president are revealed in newly-released files which show he was perhaps one of the most laid-back heads of state ever

His efforts to maintain a work-life balance transcend those of David Cameron, who was famously once described as someone who could win a gold medal for ‘chillaxing’.

The files show that British diplomats voiced their thoughts on Mr Reagan and his wife Nancy ahead of the couple’s 1982 visit to Europe.



They revealed concerns that the president, who died in 2004 aged 93, would be seen as a ‘bumbler’ and a ‘bozo’.

Others noted how Mr Reagan was not ‘deeply interested’ in international affairs and had ‘no taste for detail’, often being outed by journalists for making mistakes.

‘His present pattern of work is as follows,’ the diplomats wrote in the National Archives files.

‘The day starts at 0730 with a wake-up call from the White House switchboard. The President joins Mrs Reagan for breakfast of fresh orange juice, fruit and cereal, sometimes a boiled egg, and decaffeinated coffee.

‘After reading the newspaper, Mr Reagan walks to the Oval Office at 0900.

Mr Reagan’s day normally ends at 1830 when he returns to the White House living quarters, changes his clothes and goes to an exercise room for twenty minutes of callisthenics and weight lifting.

‘At 7pm the Reagans normally watch the evening television news.’

The files show that British diplomats voiced their thoughts on Mr Reagan and his wife Nancy ahead of the couple¿s 1982 visit to Europe

Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher talks with US President Reagan in 1982

The diplomats added that the couple liked to entertain friends and listed Mr Reagan’s favourite films as Chariots of Fire, The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Reds.



They said the former actor liked to ‘escape to his ranch at the weekend... where Mr Reagan spends his days riding, chopping wood, clearing brush and in other outdoor pursuits’.

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His love of weekend getaways is reminiscent of a 2012 biography of Mr Cameron by journalists Francis Elliott and James Hanning, which said he ‘chillaxed’ at his official country residence, Chequers.



This involved singing karaoke, playing games on his iPad and drinking several glasses of wine at Sunday lunch. He also apparently called his tennis machine the Clegger after once beating the Deputy Prime Minister.

In Mr Reagan’s case, however, serious doubts were also raised about his basic ability to do the job.

Another newly-released note reveals that there were articles in the US press casting doubt on his competence almost every day.

Written by diplomat Stephen Wall to David Barrie in the North American Department of the Foreign Office, it says: ‘Since the press across the country have highlighted the President’s mistakes of fact in recent press conferences as well as his unease in answering questions, some of the criticism is bound to rub off.

‘The White House are certainly concerned that the President could acquire a national image as a bumbler which...could not be eradicated once firmly established in the public mind.’

Mr Barrie wrote on the document: ‘My guess is that it’ll take some time before Reagan gets labelled as a bozo by Middle America – and even if he is, it won’t matter too much if the economy shows signs of recovery.’

A note by Oliver Wright to then foreign minister Francis Pym put Mr Reagan’s faults bluntly. ‘We have self-evidently a President – how shall I put it? – whom it is difficult to engage in a serious discussion on any subject of contemporary politics.’