About

Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States, serving from 1981 to 1989. He transformed American politics with his laissez-faire economic program, popularly known as “Reaganomics,” and played a major role on the world stage in leading the U.S. through the fall of the Soviet Union. Reagan’s first career was an unconventional start to his political legacy. Born into a working-class family in Illinois in 1911, Reagan became a Hollywood star and appeared in over fifteen films before serving in WWII. He was eventually elected President of the Screen Actors Guild, where he met and married his wife, Nancy Reagan. A former Democrat, Reagan’s charisma and outspoken opposition to welfare and anti-war activism led him to successfully run for Governor of California as a Republican in 1966. As governor, Reagan strengthened his conservative values and built a national profile before launching his candidacy for president in 1980. Reagan won the election in a landslide and became a stalwart for socially conservative values. He was the nation’s foremost advocate for state’s rights and deregulation. Conservatives lauded his tough foreign policy stances against the Soviet Union during the Cold War, which established his reputation for “preserving peace through strength.” Reagan easily won his second term in 1984 and became actively engaged in forming a number of demilitarization and peace agreements with Soviet Union Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev that deescalated Cold War tensions. His historic speech at the Berlin Wall in 1987 calling for Gorbachev to “tear down [the] wall” became a landmark in American foreign policy, and cemented Reagan’s place in history. After his Presidency, Reagan and his wife returned to California, where they opened the Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs. He is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and is often listed in the top ten of U.S. presidents. Reagan passed away in 2004 at the age of 93 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for almost a decade.