Young Chelsea urged Reagan against Bitburg visit

‘Dear Mr. President, I have seen the Sound of Music: the Nazis don’t look like very nice people,’ she wrote at age 5, ahead of Reagan’s German tour

There has been speculation for more than two years now on when Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former president Bill and current Democratic candidate and former secretary of state Hillary, may enter political life. But political activism, it seems, has been in Chelsea’s blood for years.

In a book she publishes this week, the young Clinton reproduces a photocopy of a letter she sent to Republican president Ronald Reagan in 1985, when she was only five years old. In the letter, Chelsea pleads with Reagan not to visit a German cemetery where some Nazis were buried.

“Dear Mr. President, I have seen the Sound of Music: the Nazis don’t look like very nice people.

“Please don’t go to their cemetary [sic]. Sincerely, Chelsea Clinton,” reads the short letter, written in shaky letters typical of a child who just learned to draw the alphabet.

A letter written by then five year old Chelsea Clinton. In the letter, she pleads with then president Reagan not to visit the Bitburg cemetery, where Nazi soldiers are buried. (Courtesy Chelsea Clinton)

The book, “It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going!” will hit shelves on Tuesday, September 15.

The cover of Chelsea Clinton's new book. (Screen capture) — The cover of Chelsea Clinton’s new book. (Screen capture)

Father Bill photocopied the letter and it was thus saved for posterity. What he did not photocopy, the daughter told People magazine, is some personal property she sent the president in an effort to convince him to listen to her advice.

“I had sent my favorite heart and rainbow stickers along with my letter, as a gesture of goodwill to President Reagan so that, hopefully, he would take me seriously.”

Reagan was scheduled to visit the Bitburg cemetery, and the visit caused great controversy in the American Jewish community. The visit was considered one of the greatest faux pas in American diplomacy and even reverberated in pop culture, with Frank Zappa writing an instrumental piece titled “Reagan At Bitburg” and the Ramones writing the song “Bonzo Goes To Bitburg.”

FILE: A group of demonstrators stand outside the US Embassy on May 5, 1985 in Tel Aviv to protest President Ronald Reagan’s visit to the Bitburg Military cemetery where some 50 SS soldiers are buried. (Max Nash/AP)

“I didn’t think an American president should honor a group of soldiers that included Nazis. President Reagan still went, but at least I had tried in my own small way,” Clinton told People.

Former US president Ronald Reagan gives the thumbs up gesture during his acceptance speech at the final session of the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas. (file photo; photo credit: AP)

The book, aimed at middle-schoolers, seeks to educates young people on issues like poverty, healthcare and wildlife conservation, and Clinton hopes it will inspire them to have a positive impact on the world.

When Clinton’s reading skills improved, she told People, one of the books she remembers most from her childhood was “50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth.”

“It helped me understand climate change and what was happening in the world. But also, it was so empowering to me because it said that I could do something about it,” Clinton told the magazine, adding that she still closely follows that book’s advice on recycling, reusing printer paper and cutting up the plastic soda bottle rings that can choke dolphins.

“I hope that my book,” she told People, “has a similar impact on even one kid in the way that ’50 Simple Things’ had on me.”