ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. -- Eight-year-old Peter Sweeney slept as his get well letter was read aloud on national television by President Reagan. It brought down the House.
'Dear Mr. President, I hope you get well quick -- or you might have to make a speech in your pajamas,' he wrote in the letter read by Reagan to a joint session of Congress Tuesday.
It brought thunderous laughter and applause.
But back at the second grader's home, no one knew what happened until telephones began ringing Tuesday night.
Peter Sweeney Sr., a policeman, told United Press International that the whole family missed the reading. Sweeney was reading a book to his son Edward, 3. And it was well past Peter's bedtime.
When asked this morning how he is handling his new fame, Peter said, 'I just want to get this over, so I can stop receiving telephone calls.'
'I didn't believe the president got my letter and read it,' he said.
Peter, in an interview aired on NBC's 'Today' show, was asked how he thought up the idea of Reagan making a speech in his pajamas. He replied that he thought the president 'might get embarrassed and if he got embarrassed, maybe he would get better.'
Peter added that he thought Reagan had a good sense of humor and when asked about his own sense of humor, said, 'I tell jokes regularly when I can figure one out.'
The letter, signed 'Sincerely, Peter,' was written the day after Reagan was shot in an assassination attempt in Washington March 30.
Reagan read it before starting his economic recovery speech to Congress.
The president noted that Peter added a cautionary postscript in his hand-written letter.
'P.S. If you have to make a speech in your pajamas, I warned you!'
'We're thrilled, naturally,' said the elder Sweeney.
Sweeney said Peter and all the members of his class at Riverside School had written get-well letters to Reagan. He said his son was 'very upset when the president was shot.'
The family was not warned Reagan would single out Peter in his speech -- in fact, Sweeney said, the White House had not previously acknowledged the letter.
