Reagan son: Alzheimer's began in office

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Ronald Reagan's son thinks his father's Alzheimer's disease began while he was president, he writes in a new memoir.

In "My Father at 100," which is being released Tuesday, Ron Reagan says he saw evidence that his father was losing his mental edge in his first term, Politico reports.

"Today, we are aware that the physiological and neurological changes associated with Alzheimer's can be in evidence years, even decades, before identifiable symptoms arise," the younger Reagan wrote. "The question ... of whether my father suffered from the beginning stages of Alzheimer's while in office more or less answers itself."

The 100th anniversary of Reagan's birth is Feb. 6. He died in 2004 at 93.

"I've seen no evidence that my father (or anyone else) was aware of his medical condition while he was in office," Reagan writes. "Had the diagnosis been made in, say, 1987, would he have stepped down? I believe he would have."

The former president wasn't formally diagnosed until 1994.

During a presidential debate with Walter Mondale in 1984, Reagan said, "My heart sank as he floundered his way through his responses, fumbling with his notes, uncharacteristically lost for words. He looked tired and bewildered."