In addition to VIPs with global stature, a surprising number of everyday Americans were also able to fulfill their dream of having a private meeting with President Reagan in the years after he left office.

Of course, we screened requests rigorously, but people who wrote inspiring letters that made a good case for meeting with him often were granted an appointment.

Some of those letters were so well written, they made it very hard for us to turn down the request.

Besides, nothing brought the President greater joy than to meet with those who had given him the opportunity to serve as their President.

One such request came from a Pacific Northwest family

whose son had Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, who was fixated on Ronald Reagan. The six-year-old

boy had read dozens of books about the president, memorizing every fact and detail of his life.

The letter from his family described how he talked about little else

apart from when he was going to get the chance to meet his hero. This family's request got an

immediate and unanimous yes. I think the president was as excited to meet the boy as the boy was to

meet the president. When I went to the lobby to greet the family, I could see the anticipation on the

little boy's face and the excitement in his jumpy movements. He started talking as soon as he

entered the office, only pausing for a moment when the president bent down to shake his hand.

He was talking about the president, not necessarily to him. Every now and then he would look at his hero,

as if to quiz him on his own life story. Did you know that you played football in high school?

Why, yes, I did. I played right guard and tackle. Did you know that you were a lifeguard and

saved 77 lives? Well, yes, I was, and yes I did, the president replied with a grin. On and on,

the little boy went, and the president loved it. Sometimes the president was surprised that he got the

answer wrong. Did you ride horses at the White House when you were president? While I was president,

yes, but at the White House, no, President Reagan said.

I rode horses at Camp David and at my ranch in California, but not at the White House itself.

No, that's not right, the boy said, correcting the president on his reply.

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