Biography of Ronald Reagan

Matthew Simko
CLAS 1120U
6/30/19
Early Life Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on
February 6th, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois
to parents Nell Clyde and Jack Reagan.
Ronald’s mother and her strong sense
of faith influenced him to be Protestant
Christian and during the time Ronald
grew up, the Reagan family was very
much against racial discrimination.
Ronald Reagan as a
young man After attending DIxon High School,
Ronald attended Eureka College and
majored in economics and sociology.

Ronald Reagan as a
boy
Hollywood and War After graduating from Eureka College, Reagan
became a sports announcer in Iowa and soon
after was a play by play announcer for the
Chicago Cubs. After a stint in sport commentary,
Reagan explored the film industry signing a
contract with Warner Brothers Studio in 1937.
Reagan appeared in many films with his most
famous being King’s Row that came out in 1942.
Reagan’s film career was cut short, however, when
he was ordered to serve in the military in 1942.
Due to his poor eyesight, Reagan served at various
bases in the United States. At the conclusion of
World War II, Ronald Reagan served as the
president of the Screen Actors Guild. His
presidency of the Guild saw the movement
against pro communist actors and actresses
during the early part of the Cold War.
Ronald Reagan during his acting
career
Marriage Ronald Reagan met Jane Wyman who was his
co star in the film film Brother Rat in 1938 and
and eventually married in 1940. The couple had
Family two children and adopted a third, although one
of the two children born, Christine, died a few
days after birth. Reagan and Wyman had
differences regarding Reagan and his future as
president of the Guild and the two were
divorced in 1949. In 1949, Ronald Reagan met
Nancy Davis through work as the president of
the Screen Actors Guild and the two were later
married in March, 1952.

Ronald Reagan pictured with

Nancy Reagan
Political Ronald Reagan began his political career as a

Beginnings Hollywood Democrat supporting Democrat

Presidential nominee Harry S. Truman in 1948. In the
early 1950s, Reagan’s ideologies saw a shift towards
the far right to become in line with his wife Nancy
Reagan’s beliefs. Reagan supported the candices of
Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. Reagan was
Ronald opposed to legislations introduced such as Medicare,
Reagan food stamps, and an increased minimum wage. In
as
Governor California, GOP supporters were impressed with
of Reagan and in 1966 Ronald Reagan was elected the
California Governor of California. During his two terms as
Governor, Reagan combated protests at the University
of California Berkeley, supported capital punishment,
and spoke out against the “welfare state”.
Ronald Reagan and Ronald Reagan first tried for the Republican
nomination in 1976 where he was eventually
Ascension to defeated by incumbent President Gerald Ford who

Presidency then lost the general election to Jimmy Carter.

Four years later, Ronald Reagan won the
Republican nomination and went on to defeat
Jimmy Carter in a decisive victory in the 1980
presidential election with George H.W Bush as his
Vice President. Ronald Reagan’s first term was
marked by the economic policy coined
“Reaganomics”, which was proposed shortly after
his recovery from an attempted assassination.
Defined by tax cuts at every level, Reagan’s policy
eventually seemed to be fruitful with inflation
reducing about 8% and GDP growth increasing by
the end of his presidency.
Reagan’s Second After a decisive victory in the 1984 election,
Ronald Reagan continued to take action with the
Term war on drugs and policy targeting immigration. In
1986 the Iran-Contra Affair became an issue for
the president and his administration but the
commission investigating the incident ultimately
found Reagan innocent claiming he had no prior
knowledge in the scandal. In June of 1987 at the
Berlin Wall, Reagan urged Mikhail Gorbachev of
the Soviet Union to “tear down this wall” and
engage in peace talks. Soon after, Gorbachev and
Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear
Forces Treaty and thus begun a period that saw
the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of
the Cold War.

Video of Ronald Reagan’s speech at the

Berlin wall in 1987
Retirement and After leaving office, Ronald Reagan moved
to Bel-air, California. He gave speeches
Late Life from time to time at events like the
Republican National Convention. However,
in 1994 Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease. There was controversy
over how early signs of the disease may
have been noticed with some saying signs
of dementia could be seen as early as 1984.
Ronald Reagan lived out his life near his
home in Bel-air until he died on June 4th,
2004 at the age of 93.

Ronald Reagan’s funeral

Sources “Ronald Reagan.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television,
17 Apr. 2019, www.biography.com/us-president/ronald-
reagan#&gid=ci01a8bfd616fc860b&pid=ronald-reagan-
9453198-3-raw.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Ronald Reagan.”

Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 June
2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Ronald-Reagan.

“Ronald Reagan.” Miller Center, 15 Sept. 2018,

millercenter.org/president/reagan.

“Ronald Reagan.” The White House, The United States

Government, www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-
house/presidents/ronald-reagan/.

“Ronald Reagan - It Can Be Done, 16X24 Litho, Signed.”

McNaughton Fine Art, jonmcnaughton.com/ronald-reagan-it-
can-be-done-16x24-litho-signed/.