A woman in Washington, DC, read his novel "The Hunt for Red October"
when it was first published by the Naval Press Institute in the 1980s,
and loved it so much that she gave a copy to all her friends. One of
those friends was President
Ronald Reagan, who stepped off Marine One with
the book tucked under his arm. A reporter saw the book and asked
Reagan, "What are you reading?" Reagan then held up the book so
everybody could see the cover and replied, "It's a really a good yarn."
After Reagan's compliment, Tom Clancy's first novel became a best
seller.
