Ronald Wilson Reagan[a] (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, he became an important figure in the American conservative movement, and his presidency is known as the Reagan era.
Born and raised in northern Illinois, Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and worked as a sports broadcaster for several regional radio stations. In 1937, he moved to California and became a well-known film actor. During his acting career, Reagan twice served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952 and from 1959 to 1960. In the 1950s, he began working on television and became a spokesman for General Electric. Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" speech during the 1964 presidential campaign launched his rise as a prominent conservative figure. After being elected governor of California in 1966, he raised 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 1980 Republican nomination and then proceeded to a landslide victory over President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 U.S. presidential election.
During his presidency, Reagan implemented "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 and transitioned Cold War policy away from the policies of détente with the Soviet Union. In 1983, Reagan ordered the U.S. invasion of Grenada which led to the overthrow of the communist regime that had recently taken power. Reagan's first term was also marked by an attempted assassination, confrontations with public-sector labor unions, a significant expansion of the war on drugs, and a slow government response to the growing U.S. AIDS epidemic. In the 1984 presidential election, he defeated Carter's 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 a more conciliatory approach in talks with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that culminated in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
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 policies also contributed to the end of the Cold War and the end of Soviet communism.[8] Alzheimer's disease hindered Reagan post-presidency, and his physical and mental capacities gradually deteriorated, ultimately leading to his death in 2004. Historians and scholars have typically ranked him among the upper tier among American presidents, and his post-presidential approval ratings by the general public are usually high.[9]
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911, in a commercial building in Tampico, Illinois, as the younger son of Nelle Clyde Wilson and Jack Reagan.[10] Nelle was committed to the Disciples of Christ,[11] which believed in the Social Gospel.[12] She led prayer meetings and ran mid-week prayers at her church when the pastor was out of town.[11] Reagan credited her spiritual influence[13] and he became a Christian.[14] According to American political figure Stephen Vaughn, Reagan's values came from his pastor, and the First Christian Church's religious, economic and social positions "coincided with the words, if not the beliefs of the latter-day Reagan".[15] Jack focused on making money to take care of the family,[10] but this was complicated by his alcoholism.[16] Reagan had an older brother, Neil.[17] The family lived in Chicago, Galesburg, and Monmouth before returning to Tampico. In 1920, they settled in Dixon, Illinois,[18] living in a house near the H. C. Pitney Variety Store Building.[19]
Reagan attended Dixon High School, where he developed interests in drama and football.[20] His first job involved working as a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park.[21] In 1928, Reagan began attending Eureka College[22] at Nelle's approval on religious grounds.[23] He was a mediocre student[24] who participated in sports, drama, and campus politics. He became student body president and joined a student strike that resulted in the college president's resignation.[25] Reagan was initiated as a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity and served as president of the local chapter.[26] Reagan played at the guard position for the 1930 and 1931 Eureka Red Devils football teams and recalled a time when two black football teammates were refused service at a segregated hotel; he invited them to his parents' home nearby in Dixon and his parents welcomed them. At the time, his parents' stance on racial questions was unusually progressive in Dixon.[27] Reagan himself had grown up with very few black Americans there and was oblivious to racial discrimination.[28]
After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology from Eureka College in 1932,[29][30] Reagan took a job in Davenport, Iowa, as a sports broadcaster for four football games in the Big Ten Conference.[31] He then worked for WHO radio in Des Moines as a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. His specialty was creating play-by-play accounts of games using only basic descriptions that the station received by wire as the games were in progress.[32] Simultaneously, he often expressed his opposition to racism.[33] In 1936, while traveling with the Cubs to their spring training in California, Reagan took a screen test that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Bros.[34]
Reagan arrived at Hollywood in 1937, debuting in Love Is on the Air (1937).[35] Using a simple and direct approach to acting and following his directors' instructions,[36] Reagan made thirty films, mostly B films, before beginning military service in April 1942.[37] He broke out of these types of films by portraying George Gipp in Knute Rockne, All American (1940), which would be rejuvenated when reporters called Reagan "the Gipper" while he campaigned for president of the United States.[38] Afterward, Reagan starred in Kings Row (1942) as a leg amputee, asking, "Where's the rest of me?"[39] His performance was considered his best by many critics.[40] Reagan became a star,[41] with Gallup polls placing him "in the top 100 stars" from 1941 to 1942.[40]
World War II interrupted the movie stardom that Reagan would never be able to achieve again[41] as Warner Bros. became uncertain about his ability to generate ticket sales. Reagan, who had a limited acting range, was dissatisfied with the roles he received. As a result, Lew Wasserman renegotiated his contract with his studio, allowing him to also make films with Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and RKO Pictures as a freelancer. With this, Reagan appeared in multiple western films, something that had been denied to him while working at Warner Bros.[42] In 1952, he ended his relationship with Warner Bros.,[43] but went on to appear in a total of 53 films,[37] his last being The Killers (1964).[44]
In April 1937, Reagan enlisted in the United States Army Reserve. He was assigned as a private in Des Moines' 322nd Cavalry Regiment and reassigned to second lieutenant in