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When former President [Ronald] Reagan disclosed in November 1994 that he had Alzheimer's disease, many people could not help suspecting that the illness had begun to rob him of memory while he was in the White House. Throughout his years in Washington, Reagan had been portrayed by many pundits and political opponents as absent-minded, inattentive, incurious, even lazy. And his presidency was marked by a succession of very public mental stumbles - most notably his dismal performance in the first debate of the 1984 campaign, and his confused and forgetful accounting of his role in the Iran-Contra affair. But even with the hindsight of Reagan's diagnosis, his four main White House doctors say they never detected any evidence that his forgetfulness was more than just that

At one point in the visit, Reagan had left the room briefly with a nurse. When they came back, Mrs. Reagan went on, 'he said to the nurse: `Who is that man sitting with Nancy on the couch? I know him. He is a very famous man.' ' Reagan 'absolutely' did not 'show any signs of dementia or Alzheimer's,' said Dr. John Hutton, who cared for him from 1984 until the end of his presidency and remains a close family friend. Extensive mental-status tests did not indicate evidence of Alzheimer's until 1993, more than four years after Reagan left office, Hutton said. Dr. Lawrence C. Mohr, one of the White House doctors in Reagan's second term, was seeing him for the first time in six months, and afterward, the doctor and the former president talked. As usual, Reagan asked about Mohr's family. But Reagan 'was distant,' he said, and seemed 'preoccupied, which was unusual, because Ronald Reagan is a person who was engaged when he would talk to you.'

It has been almost three years since Reagan disclosed that he had the memory-destroying neurological illness known as Alzheimer's disease. And if, at the age of 86, the old movie actor still looks the image of vigorous good health, the truth is that the man behind the firm handshake and barely gray hair is steadily, surely ebbing away. Just when the Alzheimer's began can never be known. But while the line between mere forgetfulness and the beginning of Alzheimer's can be fuzzy, a matter of gradation, Reagan's four main White House doctors say they saw no evidence that he had crossed it as president. They saw and spoke with him daily in the White House, they said, and beyond the natural failings of age, never found his memory, reasoning or judgment to be significantly impaired. Reagan 'absolutely' did not 'show any signs of dementia or Alzheimer's,' said physician John Hutton, who cared for him from 1984 until the end of his presidency and remains a close family friend. Extensive mental status tests did not indicate evidence of Alzheimer's until 1993, more than four years after Reagan left office, Hutton said

At the same time, they cast new light on persistent questions about Mr. Reagan's mental state as President, questions rekindled by the disclosure, in November 1994, that he had Alzheimer's. Nearly 70 when he took office in 1981, Mr. Reagan became the oldest President, and throughout his two terms, a series of well-publicized memory lapses and a casual executive style had provoked uncertainty -- even ridicule -- about his mental competence. Mr. Reagan ''absolutely'' did not ''show any signs of dementia or Alzheimer's,'' said Dr. John E. Hutton Jr., who cared for him from 1984 until the end of his Presidency and remains a close family friend. Extensive mental-status tests did not indicate evidence of Alzheimer's until 1993, more than four years after Mr. Reagan left office, Dr. Hutton said. Dr. Lawrence C. Mohr, one of the White House doctors in Mr. Reagan's second term, was seeing him for the first time in six months, and afterward, the doctor and the former President talked. As usual, Mr. Reagan asked about Dr. Mohr's family. But Mr. Reagan ''was distant,'' he said, and seemed ''preoccupied, which was unusual, because Ronald Reagan is a person who was engaged when he would talk to you.''

But even with the hindsight of Mr. (Ronald) Reagan's diagnosis, his four main White House doctors say they never detected any evidence that his forgetfulness was more than just that. His mental competence in office, they said in a series of recent interviews, was never in doubt. Indeed, they pointed out, tests of his mental status did not begin to show evidence of the disease until the summer of 1993, more than four years after he left the White House. Mr. Reagan's diagnosis raised questions not only about his mental competence in office but about how well his White House doctors had monitored it. Dr. John E. Hutton Jr., the chief White House physician during Mr. Reagan's last two years in office and a close family friend, said he was speaking out with the permission of the former President's wife, Nancy, chiefly to rebut published statements questioning Mr. Reagan's mental status in office. While the doctors said they were familiar with Alzheimer's, none is an expert in it. But an Alzheimer's specialist -- after reviewing videotapes of news conferences and major events late in Mr. Reagan's Presidency, as well as the doctors' descriptions -- said he, too, saw no evidence that Mr. Reagan had the disease as President

In February 1996, George Shultz went to visit his old boss, Ronald Reagan, at the former president's home in Los Angeles. He drank tea with Reagan and his wife, Nancy, and talked a little politics. He stayed perhaps an hour. At one point in the visit, Reagan had left the room briefly with a nurse. When they came back, she went on, 'he said to the nurse: `Who is that man sitting with Nancy [Reagan] on the couch? I know him. He is a very famous man.' ' It has been almost three years since Reagan disclosed that he had Alzheimer's disease, the memory-destroying neurological illness. And if, at age 86, the old movie actor still looks the image of vigorous good health, the truth is that the man behind the firm handshake and barely gray hair is steadily, surely ebbing away

At one point in the visit, Reagan had left the room briefly with a nurse. When they came back, Mrs. Reagan went on, 'he said to the nurse: `Who is that man sitting with Nancy [Reagan] on the couch? I know him. He is a very famous man.' ' It has been almost three years since Reagan disclosed that he had the memory-destroying neurological illness known as Alzheimer's disease. And if, at age 86, the old movie actor still looks the image of vigorous good health, the truth is that the man behind the firm handshake and barely gray hair is steadily, surely ebbing away. Reagan 'absolutely' did not 'show any signs of dementia or Alzheimer's,' said Dr. John Hutton, who cared for him from 1984 until the end of his presidency and remains a close family friend. Extensive mental-status tests did not indicate evidence of Alzheimer's until 1993, more than four years after Reagan left office, Hutton said

When former President Ronald Reagan disclosed in November 1994 that he had Alzheimer's disease, many people could not help suspecting that the illness had begun to rob him of memory while he was in the White House. Throughout his years in Washington, Reagan had been portrayed by many pundits and political opponents as absent-minded, inattentive, incurious even lazy. And his presidency was marked by a succession of very public mental stumbles -- most notably his dismal performance in the first debate of the 1984 campaign, and his confused and forgetful accounting of his role in the Iran-Contra affair. His mental competence in office, they said in a series of recent interviews, was never in doubt. Indeed, they pointed out, tests of his mental status did not begin to show evidence of the disease until the summer of 1993, more than four years after he left the White House. 'There was never anything that would raise a question about his ability to function as president,' said Dr. Lawrence C. Mohr, one of Reagan's physicians in his second term. 'Ronald Reagan's cognitive function, belief structure, judgment, ability to choose between options, behavior and ability to communicate were totally and completely intact.' Reagan's diagnosis raised questions not only about his mental competence in office but about how well his White House doctors had monitored it. Dr. John Hutton, the chief White House physician during Reagan's last two years in office and a close family friend, said he was speaking out with the permission of the former president's wife, Nancy, chiefly to rebut published statements questioning Reagan's mental status in office. The doctors said they had taken the unusual step of discussing their former patient's medical history publicly because neither they nor Reagan had covered up any illness, and because they did not want history to see them as having done so

In February 1996, George Shultz went to visit his old boss, Ronald Reagan, at the former president's home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. He drank tea with Reagan and his wife, Nancy, and talked a little politics. In all, he stayed perhaps an hour. At one point in the visit, Reagan had left the room briefly with a nurse. When they came back, Mrs. Reagan went on, 'he said to the nurse: `Who is that man sitting with Nancy on the couch? I know him. He is a very famous man.' ' Reagan 'absolutely' did not 'show any signs of dementia or Alzheimer's,' said Dr. John Hutton, who cared for him from 1984 until the end of his presidency and remains a close family friend. Extensive mental status tests did not indicate evidence of Alzheimer's until 1993, more than four years after Reagan left office, Hutton said. Even in hindsight, Reagan's friends and former aides said that they, too, had seen no hint of the deterioration to come. And while they acknowledged that he had occasional memory lapses as president, especially when it came to names, many said he had had these problems for years, certainly since he was governor of California, from 1967 to 1975. Reagan is believed to be the first president or former president to have Alzheimer's. But the disease -- a form of dementia, or senility, that strikes with increasing frequency as people advance beyond their 60s -- is a growing public health problem in an aging society

IN FEBRUARY 1996, George Shultz went to visit his old boss, Ronald Reagan, at the former president's home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. That night Shultz, the former secretary of state, received a call from Mrs. Reagan, who told him that 'something poignant happened today that you would like to know about.' At one point in the visit, Reagan had left the room briefly with a nurse. When they came back, Mrs. Reagan went on, 'he said to the nurse: `Who is that man sitting with Nancy on the couch? I know him. He is a very famous man.' '