Ronald Reagan | |
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40th President of the United States | |
In office January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 |
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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 – January 6, 1975 |
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Lieutenant | |
Preceded by | Pat Brown |
Succeeded by | Jerry Brown |
President of the Screen Actors Guild | |
In office November 16, 1959 – June 12, 1960 |
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Preceded by | Howard Keel |
Succeeded by | George Chandler |
In office November 17, 1947 – November 9, 1952 |
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Preceded by | Robert Montgomery |
Succeeded by | Walter Pidgeon |
Personal details | |
Born |
Ronald Wilson Reagan February 6, 1911 Tampico, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | June 5, 2004 Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
(aged 93)
Cause of death | Pneumonia complicated by Alzheimer's disease |
Resting place |
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center 34°15′32″N 118°49′14″W / 34.25899°N 118.82043°W |
Political party | Republican |
Other political affiliations |
Democratic (before 1962) |
Spouse(s) |
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Relations | Neil Reagan (brother) |
Children | 5, see below |
Parents | |
Alma mater | Eureka College |
Profession |
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Awards | |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/branch | U.S. Army Air Forces |
Years of service | 1937–1945 |
Rank | Captain |
Unit | 18th AAF Base Unit |
Speech to the National Press Club | |
Reagan's speech on June 16, 1966 (starts at 06:16; finishes at 39:04) |
Ronald Wilson Reagan (/ˈrɒnəld ˈwɪlsən ˈreɪɡən/; 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. Before his presidency, he was the 33rd Governor of California, from 1967 to 1975, after a career as a Hollywood actor and union leader.
Raised in a poor family in small towns of northern Illinois, Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and worked as a sports announcer on several regional radio stations. After moving to Hollywood in 1937, he became an actor and starred in a few major productions. Reagan was twice elected President of the Screen Actors Guild—the labor union for actors—where he worked to root out Communist influence. In the 1950s, he moved into television and was a motivational speaker at General Electric factories. Reagan was a lifelong Democrat who changed his views. He became a conservative and switched to the Republican Party in 1962. In 1964, Reagan's speech, "A Time for Choosing", supported Barry Goldwater's foundering presidential campaign and earned him national attention as a new conservative spokesman. Building a network of supporters, he was elected Governor of California in 1966. As governor, Reagan raised taxes, turned a state budget deficit to a surplus, challenged the protesters at the University of California, ordered National Guard troops in during a period of protest movements in 1969, and was re-elected in 1970. He twice ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency in 1968 and 1976; four years later, he easily won the nomination outright, becoming the oldest elected U.S. president up to that time, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980.