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TL;DR:

  • Nancy Reagan was really upset when her son listened to The Beatles’ “Happiness Is a Warm Gun.”
  • Ronald Reagan Jr. said The Beatles were part of the excessive side of the 1960s.
  • George Harrison and John Lennon both made public statements about Ronald Reagan.
Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan with a black background
Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan | Bettmann / Contributor

Nancy Reagan was upset when her son listened to The Beatles‘ “Happiness Is a Warm Gun.” On the other hand, George Harrison wasn’t a big fan of Ronald Reagan. John Lennon made a more general statement about the president.

Ronald Reagan Jr. listening to The Beatles’ ‘Happiness Is a Warm Gun’ ‘really bothered’ Nancy Reagan ‘a lot’

According to the 2014 book The Beatles: Paperback Writer, Ronald Reagan Jr. discussed his experience with “Happiness Is a Warm Gun.” “I remember once, when I was about thirteen, I borrowed The White Album from [my sister] Patti [Davis], and my mother got upset when she heard me listening to ‘Happiness Is a Warm Gun,'” he recalled. “It really bothered her a lot.” 

Subsequently, Ronald Jr. discussed the 1960s in general. “I don’t think you can separate The Beatles from what was going on in the ’60s,” he said. “That whole period changed a lot of people and brought on some new attitudes — and I’m not saying it was all good. There certainly were excesses.”

1 of The Beatles criticized Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher

While Ronald Jr. took issue with The Beatles, two of The Beatles had something to say about Ronald Sr. The book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters features an interview from 1989. In it, the “My Sweet Lord” singer discussed the destruction of the environment.

“And this madness that like Reagan and Thatcher together created, where they say, ‘Everybody is much better off now,'” he said. “Everybody’s more in debt, everybody’s got two cars, there’s more concrete. 

“You know, we’re having to sacrifice the planet for the motorcar,” he added. “Madness. That’s why I can’t practice the guitar anymore. I’m so crazy with what they’ve done to our planet.” In addition, George lamented that modern food was full of “poison” because of the British government.

Related

What John Lennon Thought of President John F. Kennedy

What John Lennon had to say about Ronald Reagan, himself, and Jesus Christ

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono includes an interview from December 1980. For context, the interview came out between the election of 1980 and President Reagan’s inauguration in January 1981.

In the interview, John said “You make what you dream.” He said that aphorism encapsulated The Beatles’ story. He said it was up to his fans to improve their lives. John didn’t want people to look to leaders like President Carter and incoming president Reagan or stars like himself and Bob Dylan to accomplish things. The former Beatle also warned people against faith in Jesus Christ, saying they should look to the power within. 

The Reagans might not have been the biggest Beatles fans and The Beatles might not have been the biggest fans of President Reagan.

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