The headline above paraphrases a story appearing in a local newspaper in November 1980, shortly after Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter to become the nation’s 40th President.
Mr. Reagan finished his second four-year term as California governor in 1975 and began testing voter interest in him as a primary challenger to President Gerald Ford — some called an “accidental president.” Before the Republican convention in 1976, Sun City Republicans invited Mr. Reagan to speak at the Sun Bowl, and a large crowd turned out to lend cheers to his effort. After his address that afternoon, the former governor was given a certificate proclaiming him an “Honorary Resident of Sun City, Arizona.”
Fast forward four years, Mr. Reagan didn’t win his party’s nomination in 1976 but did in 1980 and went on to defeat President Jimmy Carter in the November election that year. The headline above followed that success.
Now jump ahead to May 1983. President Reagan’s advance team and the Secret Service came to the Valley to prep for the president’s address to the National Rifle Association at its annual convention in Phoenix May 6, 1983. Additionally, President Reagan’s staff had a proclamation ready for his signature noting the beginning of “The Month of Volunteerism.” Arrangements were made to have the signing in front of a group of volunteers who were nationally famous — the Sun City Posse.
What a day it was for the Sun Cities. After his major address in Phoenix on the topic of protecting the Second Amendment, President Reagan was helicoptered out to Sun City and landed in a church parking lot, and then was convoyed to the Posse Headquarters, which was packed with members of both the Sun City and Sun City West posses. The proclamation was signed. Some nice compliments specifically were given to the local posse teams, and the president received the customary gifts of hats and shirts from Posse leaders. A team of volunteers from the two posse squads entertained the president with a short demonstration of proper handcuffing technique.
The Secret Service spent an entire day in Sun City thoroughly checking for possible hiding spots where an ill-willed foe of the president might hide, including the ventilation shafts in the Posse headquarters. Additionally, emergency evacuation routes were planned, just in case.
The entire event took 20 minutes, and President Reagan was on his way to the waiting copter for a flight to Sky Harbor where Air Force One was refueled and ready for the return to Washington, D.C. Posse members had “their 20 minutes of fame” and Sun City’s most famous “resident” was soon airborne and winging his way east to tend to the world’s affairs.