Ronald Reagan Biography

Ronald Reagan	Ronald Wilson Reagan Born: 1911-02-06 Birthplace: Tampico, IL Died: 2004-06-05 Location of Death: Los Angeles, CA Cause of Death: Pneumonia Race: White Religion: Protestant Political Party: Republican Field: President, Actor Famous for: 40th US President, 1981-89
Top 100 Influencial People #16 Field: President

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th (1981-1989) President of the United States. Reagan was also a noted film actor before entering politics. He is the longest-lived person to have served as President, as well as the oldest elected President (69 years and 349 days).

Child of an alcoholic father, Reagan developed an early gift for storytelling and acting. He was a first-rate radio announcer of Chicago Cubs games, getting only the bare outlines of the game from a ticker and relying on his imagination and storytelling gifts to flesh out the game. Once in 1934, during the ninth inning of a Cubs - St. Louis Cardinals game, the wire went dead. Reagan smoothly improvised a fictional play-by-play until the wire was restored.

Reagan had a successful career in Hollywood as a second-rank leading man, as his face and body were as handsome as his voice. In 1940 he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne All American, from which he acquired the nickname the Gipper, which he retained the rest of his life. Reagan himself considered that his best acting work was in Kings Row (1942). Other notable Reagan films include Hellcats of the Navy and the campy Bedtime for Bonzo.

Ronald Reagan began his political life as a supporter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his New Deal. He gradually became a staunch anti-communist. His political career started through the presidency of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). He gained political stature through radio broadcasts and speaking tours sponsored by the General Electric company. By the 1964 election he was a staunch supporter of conservative Republican Barry Goldwater.

In 1966, he was elected Governor of California. Reagan tried to gain the Republican presidential nomination in 1968, and again in 1976 over the incumbent Gerald Ford but was defeated at the Republican Convention. He succeeded in gaining the Republican nomination in 1980 and went on to be elected President in 1980 and 1984. During his presidency, Reagan survived an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr.. Like most successful politicians, he had great stage presence, and great instincts for how to come across to people and make them like him. Some historians believe that all of those traits would have been meaningless without his perceived enthusiasm for America and strong personal belief in the individual. On January 5, 1987 Reagan underwent prostate surgery which caused worries about his health.

Reagan was in many ways the founder of the modern Republican Party. His redefinition of fiscal conservatism as being focused on tax cuts without regard to a balanced budget ("Reaganomics"), his opposition to progressive taxation, his hostility to environmental protection and abortion, the importance of the Moral Majority and its supporters in his governing coalition, and even his fascination with missile defense have all become trademarks of subsequent Republican leaders, including George W. Bush. Reagan's predecessors such as Richard Nixon and Dwight Eisenhower would not have recognized any of these as part of the Republican platform.

He was the first divorced person to be elected President.

During his administration, there was a major scandal and investigation of his administration's covert support of wars in Iran and Nicaragua in what came to be known as the Iran-Contra Affair. His quick call for the appointment of an Independent Counsel to investigate, and cooperation with counsel, kept the scandals from affecting his presidency.

Reagan currently suffers from Alzheimer's disease.