People connected with Ronald Reagan, because he was in the public eye for decades. He was first an actor, TV personality, and then the President. They felt comfortable with him; they felt they knew him. He was a blatant earlobe stroker.
Reagan was fond of the squirrels at the White House. The president would collect acorns at Camp David and bring them back to feed to the squirrels that lived on the White House grounds. When artist Jamie Wyeth visited the executive mansion to talk with the first lady about a design for the Reagans' 1984 Christmas card, he found out why the president kept a bag of acorns in his office.
President George H.W. Bush included a story about the squirrels in his eulogy at Reagan's funeral. On his final day as president in 1989, knowing that the Bush's dog, Millie, was about to arrive, Reagan put a little sign for the squirrels in the yard outside the Oval Office door. "He loved to feed those squirrels. And he left this sign that said, 'Beware of the dog,'" Bush recalled with a smile.