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U.S Presidents — Ronald Reagan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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OVERVIEW
Name: Ronald Reagan
President: # 40 Term Number(s): 49, 50 Term Length: 8 Took Office: January 20, 1981 Left Office: January 20, 1989 Age when Elected: 69 Party: Republican Also Known As: "Dutch, The Gipper, The Great Communicator" BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Education: Eureka College
Occupation: Actor Other Governmental Position: 33rd Governor of California. Military Service: Captain, United States Army Religion: Baptized Disciples of Christ, later attended Presbyterian churches Spouse(s): Jane Wyman (January 2, 1940), Nancy Davis Reagan (March 4, 1952) Children: Maureen Elizabeth Reagan, Christine Reagan, Michael Edward Reagan (adopted), Patti (Reagan) Davis, Ronald Prescott Reagan
Birthdate: February 6, 1911
Birthplace: Tampico, Illinois Deathdate: June 5, 2004 Deathplace: Bel Air, Los Angeles, California Age at Death: 93 Cause of Death: pneumonia Place of Internment: Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California  Signature FIRST ELECTION
Election Year: 1980
Main Opponent: Jimmy Carter Voter Participation: 52.60%
SECOND ELECTION
Election Year: 1984
Main Opponent: Walter Mondale Voter Participation: 53.10%
CABINET AND COURT APPOINTMENTS
Vice President: George H.W. Bush
Secretary of State: Alexander M. Haig, Jr. (1981–1982), George P. Shultz (1982–1989) Secretary of the Treasury: Donald T. Regan (1981–1985), James A. Baker III (1985–1988), Nicholas F. Brady (1988–1989) Secretary of Defense: Caspar Weinberger (1981–1987), Frank C. Carlucci (1987–1989) Secretary of the Interior: James G. Watt (1981–1983), William P. Clark Jr. (1983–1985), Donald P. Hodel (1985–1989) Secretary of Agriculture: John R. Block (1981–1986), Richard E. Lyng (1986–1989) Secretary of Commerce: Malcolm Baldrige Jr. (1981–1987), C. William Verity Jr. (1987–1989) Secretary of Labor: Raymond J. Donovan (1981–1985), William E. Brock (1985–1987), Ann Dore McLaughlin (1987–1989) Secretary of Health & Human Services: Richard S. Schweiker (1981–1983), Margaret M. Heckler (1983–1985), Otis R. Bowen (1985–1989) Secretary of Housing & Urban Development: Samuel R. Pierce Jr. (1981–1989) Secretary of Transportation: Andrew L. Lewis, Jr. (1981–1983), Elizabeth H. Dole (1983–1987), James H. Burnley IV (1988–1989) Attorney General: William French Smith (1981–1985), Edwin Meese III (1985–1988), Richard L. Thornburgh (1988–1989) Supreme Court Assignments: Sandra Day O'Connor (1981), Antonin Scalia (1986), Anthony Kennedy (1987) PRESIDENT'S BIOGRAPHY On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. He attended high school in nearby Dixon and then worked his way through Eureka College. There, he studied economics and sociology, played on the football team, and acted in school plays. Upon graduation, he became a radio sports announcer. A screen test in 1937 won him a contract in Hollywood. During the next two decades he appeared in 53 films. From his first marriage to actress Jane Wyman, he had two children, Maureen and Michael. Maureen passed away in 2001. In 1952 Reagan married Nancy Davis, who was also an actress, and they had two children, Patricia Ann and Ronald Prescott. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan became embroiled in disputes over the issue of communism in the film industry; his political views shifted from liberal to conservative. He toured the country as a television host, becoming a spokesman for conservatism. In 1966 he was elected governor of California by a margin of a million votes; he was re-elected in 1970. Ronald Reagan won the Republican presidential nomination in 1980 and chose as his running mate former Texas Congressman and United Nations Ambassador George Bush. Voters troubled by inflation and by the year-long confinement of Americans in Iran swept the Republican ticket into office. Reagan won 489 electoral votes to 49 for President Jimmy Carter.  Dealing skillfully with Congress, Reagan obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment, and strengthen national defense. He embarked upon a course of cutting taxes and government expenditures, refusing to deviate from it when the strengthening of defense forces led to a large deficit. A renewal of national self-confidence by 1984 helped Reagan and Bush win a second term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes. Their victory turned away Democratic challengers Walter F. Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro. In 1986 Reagan obtained an overhaul of the income tax code, which eliminated many deductions and exempted millions of people with low incomes. At the end of his administration, the nation was enjoying its longest recorded period of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression. In foreign policy, Reagan sought to achieve "peace through strength." During his two terms he increased defense spending 35 percent, but sought to improve relations with the Soviet Union. In dramatic meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Reagan negotiated a treaty that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles. Reagan declared war against international terrorism, sending American bombers against Libya after evidence came out that Libya was involved in an attack on American soldiers in a West Berlin nightclub. By ordering naval escorts in the Persian Gulf, he maintained the free flow of oil during the Iran-Iraq war. In keeping with the Reagan Doctrine, he gave support to anti-Communist insurgencies in Central America, Asia, and Africa. Overall, the Reagan years saw a restoration of prosperity, and the goal of peace through strength seemed to be within grasp. In 1994, former president was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. On June 5, 2004, Reagan died at his home in Bel Air, California. FIRST LADY'S BIOGRAPHY Nancy Davis Reagan When the future First Lady was six, her mother, Edith—a stage actress—married Dr. Loyal Davis, a neurosurgeon. Dr. Davis adopted Nancy, and she grew up in Chicago. It was a happy time: summer camp, tennis, swimming, and dancing. Nancy received her formal education at Girls' Latin School and at Smith College in Massachusetts, where she majored in theater. Soon after graduation, Nancy became a professional actress. She toured with a road company, then landed a role on Broadway in the hit musical Lute Song. More parts followed. One performance drew an offer from Hollywood. Billed as Nancy Davis, she performed in 11 films from 1949 to 1956. Her first screen role was in Shadow on the Wall. Other releases included The Next Voice You Hear and East Side, West Side. In her last movie, Hellcats of the Navy, she played opposite her husband. Nancy met Ronald Reagan in 1951, when he was president of the Screen Actors Guild. The following year they were married in a simple ceremony in Los Angeles in the Little Brown Church in the Valley. Mrs. Reagan soon retired from making movies so she "could be the wife I wanted to be... A woman's real happiness and real fulfillment come from within the home with her husband and children," she says. President and Mrs. Reagan have a daughter, Patricia Ann, and a son, Ronald Prescott. While her husband was governor of California from 1967 to 1975, Mrs. Reagan worked with numerous charitable groups. She spent many hours visiting veterans, the elderly, and the emotionally and physically handicapped. These populations continued to interest her as first lady. She gave her support to the Foster Grandparent Program, the subject of her 1982 book, To Love A Child. Increasingly, Mrs. Reagan concentrated on the fight against drug and alcohol abuse among young people. She visited prevention and rehabilitation centers, and in 1985 she held a conference at the White House for first ladies of 17 countries to focus international attention on this problem. Mrs. Reagan shared her lifelong interest in the arts with the nation by using the executive mansion as a showcase for talented young performers in the PBS television series "In Performance at the White House." In her first year in the mansion she directed a major renovation of the second- and third-floor quarters. Now living in retirement in California, Mrs. Reagan continues to work on her campaign to teach children to "just say no" to drugs. In her book My Turn, published in 1989, she gives her own account of her life in the White House. Through the joys and sorrows of those days, including the assassination attempt on her husband, Nancy Reagan held fast to her belief in love, honesty, and selflessness. She states, "The ideals have endured because they are right and are no less right today than yesterday." MAJOR EVENTS
1981: President Reagan is shot in assassination attempt.
1981: Sandra Day O'Connor is named first woman Supreme Court justice.
1983: Invasion of Grenada. U.S. invades the small Caribbean country to remove a revolutionary government after a military coup.
1985–1989: Iran-Contra Affair. Scandal involving the sale of arms to Iran in order to fund the Contras in Nicaragua.
1985–1991: Glasnost with the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev institutes a policy to make activities the Soviet government transparent.
TRIVIA
1. Ronald Reagan was the first movie actor to be elected president. He acted in 53 films before becoming president.
2. Reagan was twice named TIME magazine's "Man of the Year".
3. At age 69, Reagan became the oldest person ever elected U.S. president so far.
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