- Wikipedia

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\"Reagan\" redirects here. For other uses, see Ronald Reagan (disambiguation) and Reagan (disambiguation).

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Ronald Reagan
$\"White$ Official portrait, 1981

40th President of the United States
In office January 20, 1981 \u2013 January 20, 1989
Vice President	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Jimmy Carter
Succeeded by	George H. W. Bush
33rd Governor of California
In office January 2, 1967 \u2013 January 6, 1975^[1]
Lieutenant	\n Robert Finch (1967\u20131969)^[2] \n Edwin Reinecke (1969\u20131974)^[3] \n John L. Harmer (1974\u20131975)^[4] \n
Preceded by	Pat Brown
Succeeded by	Jerry Brown
President of the Screen Actors Guild
In office November 16, 1959 \u2013 June 7, 1960
Preceded by	Howard Keel
Succeeded by	George Chandler
In office March 10, 1947 \u2013 November 10, 1952
Preceded by	Robert Montgomery
Succeeded by	Walter Pidgeon
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Personal details
Born	Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-02-06)February 6, 1911 Tampico, Illinois, U.S.
Died	June 5, 2004(2004-06-05) (aged 93) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Political party	Republican (from 1962)
Other political affiliations	Democratic (until 1962)
Spouses	\n \n Jane Wyman \n (m. 1940; div. 1949) \n \n Nancy Davis (m. 1952) \n
Children	5, including Maureen, Michael, Patti, and Ron
Parents	\n Jack Reagan \n Nelle Wilson \n
Relatives	Neil Reagan (brother)
Education	Eureka College (BA)
Occupation	\n Actor \n politician \n sports broadcaster \n union leader \n
Awards	Full list
Signature	$\"Cursive$
Military service
Service	\n United States Army\n Reserve \n Air Forces \n
Years of service	\n 1937\u20131942 (reserve) \n 1942\u20131945 (regular) \n
Rank	Captain
Unit	\n 322nd Cavalry Regiment \n 323rd Cavalry Regiment \n 18th AAF Base Unit \n
Wars	World War II
\n \n \n Ronald Reagan's voice \n \n Reagan on civil rights Recorded June 15, 1985 \n
\n Other offices \n 1968^[5]\u20131969:^[6] Chair of the Republican Governors Association\n \n

Ronald Wilson Reagan^[a] (February 6, 1911 \u2013 June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party and became an important figure in the American conservative movement. His presidency is known as the Reagan era.\n

Born in Illinois, Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and was hired the next year as a sports broadcaster in Iowa. In 1937, he moved to California where he became a well-known film actor. During his acting career, Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild twice, from 1947 to 1952 and from 1959 to 1960. In the 1950s, he hosted General Electric Theater and worked as a motivational speaker for General Electric. Reagan's \"A Time for Choosing\" speech during the 1964 presidential election launched his rise as a leading conservative figure. After being elected governor of California in 1966, he raised state taxes, turned the state budget deficit into a surplus and implemented harsh crackdowns on university protests. Following his loss to Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Reagan won the Republican Party's nomination and then a landslide victory over President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election.\n

In his first term as president, Reagan began implementing \"Reaganomics\", which involved economic deregulation and cuts in both taxes and government spending during a period of stagflation. On the world stage, he escalated the arms race, increased military spending, transitioned Cold War policy away from the policies of d\u00e9tente with the Soviet Union, and ordered the 1983 invasion of Grenada. He also survived an assassination attempt, fought public-sector labor unions, expanded the war on drugs, and was slow to respond to the AIDS epidemic. In the 1984 presidential election, he defeated former vice president Walter Mondale in another landslide victory. Foreign affairs dominated Reagan's second term, including the 1986 bombing of Libya, the secret and illegal sale of arms to Iran to fund the Contras, and engaging in negotiations with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, which culminated in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.\n

Reagan left the presidency in 1989 with the American economy having seen a significant reduction of inflation, the unemployment rate having fallen, and the U.S. having entered its then-longest peacetime expansion. At the same time, the national debt had nearly tripled since 1981 as a result of his cuts in taxes and increased military spending, despite cuts to domestic discretionary spending. Reagan's foreign policies also contributed to the end of the Cold War.^[8] Though he planned an active post-presidency, it was hindered, after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, and his physical and mental capacities gradually deteriorated, leading to his death in 2004. His tenure constituted a realignment toward conservative policies in the United States, and he is often considered an icon of American conservatism. Historical rankings of U.S. presidents have typically placed Reagan in the upper tier, and his post-presidential approval ratings by the general public are usually high.^[9]\n

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v t e Ronald Reagan
\n 40th President of the United States (1981\u20131989) \n 33rd Governor of California (1967\u20131975) \n
Life and politics	\n Birthplace \n Pitney Store \n Boyhood home \n General Electric Showcase House \n Rancho del Cielo \n 668 St. Cloud Road \n Filmography \n Political positions \n Governorship of California \n Presidential Library and Museum \n Reagan Era \n 1989 trip to Japan \n Death and state funeral\n Riderless horse \n	$\"\"$
Presidency	\n Transition \n First inauguration \n Second inauguration \n Domestic policy \n Economic policy \n Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 \n Tax Reform Act of 1986 \n Assassination attempt \n Strategic Defense Initiative \n Foreign policy \n Reagan Doctrine \n Cold War\n 1st term \n 2nd term \n Soviet Union summits\n Geneva \n Reykjav\u00edk \n Washington\n INF Treaty \n Moscow \n Governors Island \n Constructive engagement \n Invasion of Grenada \n Iran\u2013Contra affair \n Libya bombing \n Cannabis policy \n International trips \n The Grace Commission \n Cabinet \n Judicial appointments\n Supreme Court \n controversies \n Administration scandals \n \"We begin bombing in five minutes\" \n Impeachment efforts \n Executive orders \n Presidential proclamations \n Bush transition \n
Speeches	\n Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine (1961) \n \"A Time for Choosing\" (1964) \n Neshoba County Fair \"states' rights\" speech (1980) \n First inaugural address (1981) \n Joint session of Congress (1981) \n \"Ash heap of history\" (1982) \n \"Evil empire\" (1983) \n Second inaugural address (1985) \n \"Tear down this wall!\" (1987) \n State of the Union\n 1982 \n 1983 \n 1984 \n 1985 \n 1986 \n 1987 \n 1988 \n
Books	\n An American Life \n The Reagan Diaries \n
Elections	\n 1966 California gubernatorial election\n 11th commandment \n 1970 California gubernatorial election \n Republican presidential primaries (1968 \n 1976 \n 1980 \n 1984) \n Republican National Convention (1968 \n 1976 \n 1980 \n 1984) \n 1976 presidential campaign \n 1980 presidential campaign\n \"There you go again\" \n \"Let's make America great again\" \n 1984 presidential campaign\n \"Morning in America\" \n \"Bear in the woods\" \n United States presidential election (1976 \n 1980 \n 1984) \n
Cultural depictions	\n Bibliography \n In music\n Let Them Eat Jellybeans! (1981) \n U.S. Postage stamps \n Rap Master Ronnie \n Ed the Happy Clown (1983 comic series) \n Spitting Image (TV series) (1984) \n A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985 game) \n The Dark Knight Returns (1986)\n film adaptation \n Pizza Man (1991 film) \n The Day Reagan Was Shot (2001 film) \n Reagan's War (2002 book) \n The Reagans (2003 film) \n Reagan (2011 documentary) \n The Butler (2013 film) \n Killing Reagan (2015 book) \n Killing Reagan (2016 film) \n Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020 game) \n The Reagans (2020 miniseries) \n Reagan (2024 film) \n \"What would Reagan do?\" \n Reykjavik (TBA) \n
Memorials	\n U.S. Capitol statue \n USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) \n Namesakes and memorials \n Ronald Reagan Day \n Reagan Day Dinner \n
Family	\n Jane Wyman (first wife) \n Nancy Reagan (second wife) \n Maureen Reagan (daughter) \n Michael Reagan (adopted son) \n Patti Davis (daughter) \n Ron Reagan (son) \n Jack Reagan (father) \n Nelle Wilson Reagan (mother) \n Neil Reagan (brother) \n Rex (dog) \n
\n ← Jimmy Carter \n George H. W. Bush → \n $\"\"$ Category \n

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Early life

Entertainment career

Radio and film

Military service

Screen Actors Guild presidency

Marriages and children

Television

Early political activities

1966 California gubernatorial election

California governorship (1967\u20131975)

Seeking the presidency (1975\u20131981)

1976 Republican primaries

1980 election

Presidency (1981\u20131989)

First inauguration

\"Reaganomics\" and the economy

Taxation

Inflation and unemployment

Government spending

Deregulation

Deficits

Assassination attempt

Supreme Court appointments

Public sector labor union fights

Civil rights

War on drugs

Escalation of the Cold War

Invasion of Grenada

1984 election

Response to the AIDS epidemic

Addressing apartheid

Libya bombing

Iran\u2013Contra affair

The USS Stark incident

Soviet decline and thaw in relations

Post-presidency (1989\u20132004)

Support for Brady Bill

Alzheimer's disease

Death and funeral

Legacy

Approval ratings

Historical reputation

Political influence

Notes

References

Citations

Works cited

Books

Chapters

Journal articles

External links

Official sites

Media

News coverage

Other

Ronald Reagan

Media collections