Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911–2004), 40th president of the U.S. (1981–89)

Ronald Reagan was born Feb. 6, 1911, in Tampico, IL. He was born into a poor family. He grew up during the hard economic times of the Great Depression of the 1930's.

He was not an outstanding student. He had interests in drama, sports, and politics in his early years. At Eureka College, he majored in economics. He joined the college football, track, and swimming teams; and acted in school plays. He washed dishes at his fraternity house and saved money from summer jobs to help earn a living. He also served for one year as president of the student body. Once he took part in a student strike that resulted in the resignation of the college president. Reagan made the main speech at a rally that won support for the strike from nearly all the students. In 1932 he graduated from college. He had high hopes for having a Hollywood career. He worked in radio as a sports announcer. By the time he was 25, he was one of the top sports broadcasters in the Middle West.

In 1937, Reagan traveled with the Chicago Cubs to their spring training camp near Los Angeles, California. While there, he did a screen test for Warner Brothers, and he was offered an acting contract. His movie career spanned more than 20 years and over 50 movies.

Early Political Activity

In 1942, during World War II, Reagan entered the army as a second lieutenant. He was disqualified for combat duty because of poor eyesight, and he spent the next four years making military training films. As his acting career slow down in the post–World War II years, he became more and more interested in politics. Reagan married Jane Wyman, an actress, in 1940. They had a daughter, Maureen, and an adopted son, Michael. The marriage ended in 1948. In 1947 he began serving as president of the Screen Actor's Guild until 1952. Also in 1952, Reagan married another actress, Nancy Davis. They had two children, Patricia and Ronald.

Governor of California

In 1966 Reagan entered the California Governor’s race and won. After two years he learned to listen and to compromise. He also learned how to use television to win support. He served as governor until 1975.

Reagan as President

In 1968 Reagan lost the presidential nomination to Richard Nixon. In 1976 he lost to Gerald Ford. In 1980, he made it to the race and won the election victory. In the election campaign, Reagan preferred reducing total government spending while increasing the amount spent on defense. He also supported large tax cuts and state or local control of programs such as welfare. And he felt that the United States should take firmer stands against Communism. At the age of 69, he was the oldest person ever to become president of the United States.

Reagan's presidency began in 1981. Minutes after he was sworn in, Iran released 52 Americans who had been held hostage for more than 14 months while Carter was president. Then, in March, he was shot in Washington, D.C., by John W. Hinckley, Jr., but recovered from the incident.

Congress passed Reagan's requests for cuts in taxes and in some government programs. He also won increased funds for defense. By 1982, however, the country was in an economic decline. The economy improved in 1983. But the increased defense spending and tax cut had led to a record budget deficit. Democrats attacked Reagan for cutting social welfare programs and called for reduced defense spending and a tax increase in order to lower the deficit.

In 1983, Reagan sent U.S. Marines to Lebanon to keep peace. The marines were recalled in 1984, after about 240 had been killed in a terrorist attack. He also sent U.S. troops to Grenada in 1983, to prevent a Cuban attempt to take over the Caribbean island nation. The president denounced the left-wing Sandinista government of Nicaragua as a threat to peace in Central America, and he repeatedly tried to get military aid for the anti-Sandinista guerrillas, known as contras.

After Reagan’s successful surgery for cancer in 1985, he held his first summit meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva. They met again in December 1987 in D.C., where they signed an agreement eliminating their two nations’ medium-range missiles, and in late May 1988 in Moscow, where they signed ratification documents of a treaty on intermediate- and shorter-range missiles.

His call for serious changes in the federal income tax laws helped bring about the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Congress also passed a major immigration bill that year. Questions were raised questions about the nation's economic health when the stock market crashed in 1987. So, a new bill to balance the federal budget became law in 1987, but the huge deficit continued to trouble the government. In 1988, Congress approved a new cabinet post and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Senate approved a free-trade pact with Canada.

Reagan ordered the bombing of military targets in Libya in 1986 because the country took part in international terrorism. He flew U.S. flags on Kuwaiti oil tankers along with a U.S. naval escort in the Persian Gulf. This led to problems with Iran in 1987.

The Iran-Contra Affair was embarrassing to Reagan’s administration. It brought forth charges that stated that his administration had secretly sold arms to Iran and used the profits from the sale to help a rebellion in Nicaragua. This controversy was the worst U.S. political scandal since Watergate. He left the White House in January 1989 and was succeeded by his former vice president, George Bush.

Later Years

In retirement, Reagan published a memoir, An American Life (1990). The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA was dedicated in 1991. Reagan revealed in 1994 that he was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. He died on June 5, 2004, at the age of 93.