When
Gene Tunney defeated
Jack Dempsey for the
heavyweight championship in
1926, Dempsey quipped to his wife, "Honey, I forgot to duck."
In
1981,
Ronald Reagan was hospitalized after being shot by
John Hinckley. After surgery, reportedly the first thing he said to
Nancy Reagan was Dempsey’s line. It was very characteristic of Reagan to borrow lines from movies or popular culture. Many of us wondered if Reagan knew he was quoting or actually thought he was in the movie sometimes…