Reagan Skips Lunch After 1st ‘Mashed Potato’ Talk

Former President Ronald Reagan made his first corporate speech as a private citizen to international executives of the McDonald’s Corp. and Coca-Cola Co. in Laguna Niguel on Wednesday. He met afterward with Soviet Ambassador Yuri V. Dubinin, who also addressed the group.

Both corporations negotiated major consumer contracts with the Soviet Union during the Reagan Administration.

Reagan spokesman Mark Weinberg confirmed that Reagan and Dubinin met at the event, held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, but declined to discuss Reagan’s fee. Sources familiar with bookings for such events say his fee is $50,000.

U.S.-Soviet Meeting

Reagan delivered his first public post-presidential address for free to USC students on Monday.

Weinberg said Dubinin had previously addressed the corporate event and arranged his schedule so he could meet with Reagan.

“He (Dubinin) commended him (Reagan) on the role he played in bringing our two countries closer together and making the world a safer place,� Weinberg said.

Weinberg said Reagan extended anew an invitation to the ambassador to visit him at his Santa Barbara ranch, and that Dubinin also reiterated a standing invitation to Reagan to visit the Soviet Union.

“We’ve been asked specifically not to reveal anything about the meeting,� said Henry Schielein, vice president and general manager of the hotel. “It is a private meeting and we respect their privacy.�

He said Reagan flew to the meeting by helicopter, and did not stay for lunch.

While the popular ex-President has long said he plans to be active on the “mashed potato circuit,� the first executive group to hear Reagan speak as a private citizen was more concerned with burgers, fries and Coke.

Both international companies are in the process of trying to market their brand names to the Soviet public amid warming relations between the two countries.

McDonald’s announced in April, 1988--five months after Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the bilateral treaty on intermediate-range nuclear weapons--that it planned to open as many as 20 outlets in the Soviet Union.