RONALD Reagan, the recently deceased 40th President of the United States, never visited Bermuda, but Bermuda, at least in the persons of then-Premier Sir John Swan and his Cabinet Secretary, Kenneth Richardson, certainly visited him.

Sir John and Mr. Richardson visited Washington many times throughout the 1980s to seek the help of the Reagan Administration, and in particular its State and Treasury Departments, in implementing the US/Bermuda Tax Treaty.

Their visits helped cement the close relationship which had always existed between the peoples of Bermuda and the United States, and heralded a new, closer relationship with many of the political figures Sir John met in the five years before the Tax Treaty was finally signed in the Treaty Room of the State Department.

"Fortunately for us, we had contacts in the White House. A lot of preliminary work had been done, and (the then) US Consul Max Friedersdorf had been a legislative counsel for Reagan. Friends I had made through the YPO (Young President's Organisation) were in the White House.

"It was much easier to go to the President and lay out a plan as to what we needed to do to put Bermuda on an equal footing with Barbados."

Sir John recalled that he had been warned in 1982 that US political friends of Barbados had helped steer a tax treaty through the US Senate, and he knew that Bermuda would need to take immediate action to nullify the positive off-shore business advantage which that treaty conferred on Barbados.

"President Reagan's comment to me when I told him what we hoped to do, was that if we wanted to do this, we would have to get personally involved, especially with people on the Hill (the US Congress). He suggested that I talk to Mrs. (Margaret) Thatcher, who told me, when I saw her in London, that, because of my special relationship with many of the people in Washington, it made more sense for me to deal with the issue rather than the UK ambassador in Washington, who would see the matter as just another project for another colony."

Sir John pointed out that the US bases were important then, that Bermuda charged nothing for their use, and had always maintained good relations with the commanding officers.

"Our whole relationship with the US proved the importance of that very sensible advice: 'Make friends before you need them.' In fact, Barbados had been greatly helped by a Californian lady who was a strong supporter of President Reagan, and he appointed that lady as US ambassador to Barbados.

"It was she who persuaded Reagan to provide this treaty for Barbados. He was new in office then, and Republicans controlled the Senate, so it was easy for him to get the Barbados treaty through the Senate."

Sir John recalled that not every Bermudian affected by international business was supportive of his effort to undo the Barbadian advantage.

"I got some resistance from some people who said I should not be interfering. They said that I should leave it to the private sector. However, we finally got a committee together from Government and business, and I began shuttling up to Washington.

"It was 1984 by then, and Reagan had lost the Senate, and the Democrats also controlled the House (of Representatives). The head of the House Ways and Means committee was (Illinois Democrat Dan) Rostenkowski, who was very powerful, and he objected to the proposed Bermuda Treaty because of the perceived financial implications for the US Treasury."

After a series of discussions and meetings and some considerable political manoeuvring, and recalled Sir John, with the great support of some prominent Senators, "including Senator Robert Byrd of Virginia, who quoted Shakespeare to us", and with the assistance of the American International Group's tax expert Mike Murphy, the Bermuda treaty was eventually passed.

"It was not easy because we didn't have 100 per cent support from the Reagan administration. Some of the Reagan cabinet were not supportive, and we had to constantly intervene in the drafting of the treaty.

"We had to immerse ourselves in its financial effects, and also ensure that the legal terms did not allow for 'fishing expeditions' into Bermuda-based companies, and that only senior officials could authorise any investigations where appropriate."

SIR John believes that the Reagan administration furnished its most crucial assistance by allowing him to make personal approaches to congressmen and senators.

"They turned a collective 'blind eye', and allowed me to walk on the 'Hill', and talk to the people we needed to talk to. Heads of Government are not meant to do that, but I discovered that lobbyists could not make representations the way that I could.

"Over the course of two years, I would travel almost weekly to Washington. Given the cynicism from the press, and opposition from some of my own Cabinet, I did not want anyone to know what I was doing.

"Cabinet meetings were on Tuesdays, and I would leave on the early morning Wednesday flight to New York, shuttle to Washington, work on the 'Hill', and come back to Bermuda on the same night, so that I could be in caucus on Thursday mornings. It was an arduous task, and played havoc with my health."

Sir John recollected the specific support of Vice President George H.W. Bush, Secretary of State George Schultz, and Lt. General Colin Powell, the then-National Security Adviser.

"I remember discussing the last initiatives in California with Schultz and Colin Powell, and near the end of the effort, when I happened to be in China, I discovered how long the tentacles of the US government can be. I had just arrived in a town, and changed hotels, but a waiter came over to tell me that I had a phone call, and it was the State Department.

"It got done at the end because we had made our friends early, and it was a result of George Schultz and Colin Powell committing themselves to helping me with the last initiatives. Powell even got a call at home at 2.40 in the morning of the last day of that particular Congress, and he had to make a deal with Senator Metzenbaum to get the treaty ratified in the last hours of the session.

"Had that not happened, the course of Bermuda's financial history might have been very different. Had we missed that vote, the whole thing would have unravelled, and we would have had to deal with a new Congress, with President Reagan gone."

Ken Richardson, now working with Sir John at Challenger Banks Ltd., had a clear recollection of President Reagan's much-lauded personal touch.

"He had a very relaxed and gracious manner. He showed great humility and because of that, you settled down in the Oval Office very easily and comfortably. He was very much a gentleman, and his career put the lie to the notion that gentlemen don't make good politicians. He could take complex problems, and express them very persuasively and lucidly in quite simple language. That's what I remember most from our discussions."

Many of President Reagan's detractors complained that America's oldest President, 69 when he took office, was uninformed and out of touch, but Mr. Richardson did not get that impression.

"Actually, he was well briefed about Bermuda, and what our visit entailed. He turned out to be a real friend to Bermuda."