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Ronald Reagan EssayRonald Reagan came from humble beginnings. He was innate(p) on February 6, 1911 in the town of Tampico, Illinois. His parents were Jack and Nelle. Jack Reagan was an un prospered salesman who was also k in a flashn as an alcoholic. His m some other, Nelle Wilson Reagon was a devout farmwoman who raised Ronald and his older brother, Neil, in the Disciples of Christ Church despite their fathers Catholicism. The family moved frequently, some clocks in response to bare-assed job opportunities, some convictions after Jack had been fired because of his drinking. In 1920 they settled in Dixon, Illinois, where Jack became the proprietor and part owner of a shoe store (Reeves 2). Ronald Reagan was an outgoing, optimistic, popular, and apparently happy juvenility despite the problems of his family. He was interested in sports from an wee age and particularly resemblingd football and swimming. Ronald was also nearsighted, which was later diagnosed, made baseball dif ficult for him. He was a hardworking and modestly successful learner, with a talent for memorization (Miller Center). He was active early in school dramatics.As a teenager, he worked during summers as a lifeguard at the swimming area of the local river and put aside lots of what he earned for his education (Reeves 6). Reagans youth was in many ways oddly similar to that of other provincial Americans who rose to policy-making prominence a boyhood in a small town, a family fight precariously on the edges of the middle class, education in small, undistinguished schools. Huey P. Long, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and many others had grown up in compar fitting circumstances.But unlike most other small-town boys who rose to political greatness, Reagan showed little early interest in politics (Brinkley). Jack Reagan, like most American Catholics of his era, was a staunch populist and Ronald inherited his fathers unreflective enthusiasm for the party even though, throughout the 1920s, it enjoyed little national success. He became a fervent admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, an attachment that grew stronger when the New Deal agencies began providing jobs to unemployed men (among them his father) in depression-ravaged underlying Illinois (Miller Center).But he never became actively involved in Democratic politics in the state. He found himself drawn nonchalantly into campus politics at Eureka and in his senior year win election as class chairwoman. But when he graduated in 1932, with a B. A. in political economy and sociology, politics and public life remained far from his thoughts. He was, he later wrote, drawn to some anatomy of show business, an interest born in part of his experiences in the Eureka drama society (Brinkley). next graduation, at a time when a quarter of Americans were unemployed, Reagan found work as a piano tuner announcer, first in Davenport, Iowa, then later Des Moines.Reagan struggled at first but in time b ecame one of the best- turn inn sports announcers in the Midwest (Reeves 9). He also became a popular speaker earlier Des Moines service groups and enlisted as a reserve officer in the U. S. Cavalry so he could ride sawhorses regularly. But he dreamed of bigger things. In 1937, Reagan went to atomic take 20 with the Chicago Cubs baseball group on spring training and arranged through a friend for a screen show at Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers offered Reagan a rationalize for $200 a week that launched his film career (Brinkley).His growing success also won him a series of deferments from military service (at the request of Warner Brothers) once the join States entered ground War II, and then after he was called up and commissioned an officer in the cavalry, an assignment with an army film unit. He spent the war in California making army training movies at a military base in Los Angeles, with time off to make feature films at Warner Brothers (among them the successful 1943 tribute to the military, This Is the Army ) (DSouza 10). Much of the time, he lived at home with his family.Despite his later claims to the contrary, he never left the country and never adage combat. But he cooperated with studio public relations efforts to impersonate him as a soldier, who, like other soldiers, left his family to go off to war. Feature stories described Wyman bravely carrying on, raising the children and maintaining the household while her man was away. Newsreels and magazine photos depicted Reagan coming home for leaves and visits. Reagan later sometimes seemed actually to throw away believed the ruse.Even decades later, he liked to talk about coming back from the war, like other veterans, eager to take up family life again (a life that in his case had just now been interrupted) (DSouza 11). Reagans postwar acting career never regained the aftermathum it had enjoyed in the early 1940s. He had some occasional successes (among them The Hasty Heart in 1949), b ut he found himself working more often now in minor roles or minor films. Jane Wymans career, in the meantime, was flourishing, and her absorption with it contributed to what were already growing tensions within the man and wife.The duo divorced in 1948 (Reagan 4). As his career and his espousals languished, Reagan had begun to be occur active in politics. His first vehicle was the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the film actors union. Reagan had been active in SAG since his first months in Hollywood, and his involvement grew with his marriage to Wyman, who was also an important figure in the organization. In 1946, he chaired a union strike perpetration and demonstrated an energy and a toughness that his SAG colleagues had not previously seen.In 1947, he became president of the union, a position he held for six age. Reagan still considered himself a self-aggrandising Democrat, and he used his new political distinction to campaign for Harry Truman in 1948. There was occasional talk of Reagan himself running for relation as a Democrat, but party leaders apparently opposed the idea because they considered him too liberal (Barlietta 15-17). In reality, Reagans political views were changing more rapidly than his public activities suggested.During the war, he had harshly criticized the waste and subversive activity he saw in the awarding of military contracts, and his suspicion of government bureaucracies only grew in the pursuance years. He was also now complaining frequently about taxes. He had signed a million-dollar contract with Warner Brothers in 1944, but the very high wartime tax rates (up to 90 percent in the upper berth brackets) greatly reduced his income. In 1950, after initially endorsing the actress Helen Gahagan Douglas for the United States Senate, he switched his book to Richard Nixon in mid-campaign.And as president of SAG, he became active in efforts to distance the union from Communist influence (driven to do so, no doubt, by the savagely a nti-Communist political climate, but also by his own deep and growing aversion to Communists) (DSouza 12). By the late 1940s, he was cooperating with the FBI and testifying before the dramatic art Committee on Un-American Activities against Communism in the union (although he was not asked to discern any individual Communists). Subsequently, he cooperated with the studios as they quietly administered the disreputable blacklist of allegedCommunists who were to be barred from employment in the movie industry. Reagan later claimed that the effort by Hollywood Communists to take over the motion picture business, and the un resultingness of many liberals to confront them, was responsible for his political turn to the right (Brinkley). At least as responsible, however, was his marriage in 1952 to Nancy Davis, a young and mostly unknown actress whom he had met at a dinner party in 1949. Davis was the daughter of a once-successful defend actress, Edith Luckett.Her natural parents sepa rated when she was an infant, and she spent most of her childhood in the home of her mothers second husband, Loyal Davis, whose name Nancy took and whose right-wing political views she uncritically absorbed. Her familys conservatism reinforced Reagans own accelerating drift to the right (Brinkley). Reagans second marriage was a happy one. The couple lived in a comfortable home in Pacific Palisades and began to make it time at a ranch Reagan had bought near Santa Barbara.They had two children, Patricia, born in 1952, and Ronald, born in 1958. But Reagans film career was now in serious decline. Warner Brothers had not renewed his contract, and he was having hassle finding steady work elsewhere. He was now in his mid-forties, and major stardom was coming to seem beyond his reach (Reeves 13). Over the next few years FBI agents working with the House of Un-American Activities Committee and the Hollywood Motion Picture Producers, got 320 citizenry blacklisted from the entertainment ind ustry.As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan refused to assist those actors such as Larry Parks, Joseph Bromberg, Charlie Chaplin, John Garfield, Howard Da Silva, Gale Sondergaard, Jeff Corey, John Randolph, Canada Lee, and Paul Robeson who were on this list. Reagans support of McCarthyism enabled him to continue working in Hollywood but his films proceed to appear in mediocre films such as Bedtime for Bonzo (1951), The Last Outpost (1951), The benignant Team (1952), Law and Order (1953), Cattle Queen of Montana (1954), Tennessees Partner (1955) and Hellcats in the Navy (1957). among 1954 and 1962 Reagan also worked for General Electric as host of the companys weekly half-hour dramas for television. (Miller Center) In the 1930s and 40s Reagan had been a loyal supporter of the Democratic Party. However, he switched to the Republican Party after the war and supported Dwight Eisenhower (1952 and 1956) and Richard Nixon (1960). In 1964 that Reagan became a national political figure. (Barlietta 67) This was as a result of a televised speech in support of Barry Goldwater.It did not help Goldwater win the election (he was seen by most people in America as a dangerous, right-wing extremist). However, it did convince members of the Californian business community that here was a man with the grab to sell right-wing extremism. Reagan was approached about becoming the Republican Party candidate as Governor of California with the help of a smear campaign against Pat Brown and promises of tax cuts he won an light-colored victory. (Miller Center)? As governor Reagan quickly established himself as one of the countrys leading conservative political figures.This include dramatic budget cuts and a hiring freeze for state agencies. He also put up student fees and when they complained he sent state troopers to deal with their protest meetings. (DSouza 45) Re-elected with 52 per cent of the vote in 1970, Reagan introduced a series of welfare reforms during his second term in office. This included tightening eligibility requirements for welfare aid and requiring the able to seek work rather than receiving benefits. However, the tax cuts never came, in fact, he presided over the largest tax affix any state had ever demanded in American history.Ronald Reagan won the Republican chairpersonial nomination in 1980 and chose as his running mate former Texas Congressman and United Nations Ambassador George Bush. Voters troubled by inflation and by the year-long confinement of Americans in Iran swept the Republican ticket into office. Reagan won 489 electoral votes to 49 for prexy Jimmy Carter. (Miller Center) On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be assassin, but quickly recovered and returned to duty.His grace and wit during the dangerous incident caused his popularity to soar. (Brinkley) Dealing skillfully with Congress, Reagan obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase e mployment, and strengthen national defense. He embarked upon a runway of cutting taxes and Government expenditures, refusing to deviate from it when the strengthening of defense forces led to a large deficit. (Brinkley) A transposition of national self-confidence by 1984 helped Reagan and Bush win a second term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes.Their victory turned away Democratic challengers Walter F. Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro. In 1986 Reagan obtained an overhaul of the income tax code, which eliminated many deductions and exempted millions of people with low incomes. At the end of his administration, the Nation was enjoying its longest recorded period of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression. (Brinkley) In foreign policy, Reagan sought to achieve peace through strength. During his two terms he change magnitude defense spending 35 percent, but sought to improve relations with the Soviet Union.In dramatic meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorba chev, he negotiated a treaty that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles. (Brinkley) Reagan declared war against dry land-wide terrorism, sending American bombers against Libya after evidence came out that Libya was involved in an attack on American soldiers in a West Berlin nightclub. By ordering naval escorts in the Persian Gulf, he retained the free flow of oil during the Iran-Iraq war. In keeping with the Reagan Doctrine, he gave support to anti-Communist insurgencies in Central America, Asia, and Africa. DSouza 74) after leaving office in 1989, the Reagans purchased a home in Bel Air, Los Angeles in summing up to the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara.They regularly attended Bel Air Presbyterian Church and occasionally made appearances on behalf of the Republican Party Reagan delivered a well-received speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention. Previously on November 4, 1991, the Ronald Reagan presidential Library was dedicated and opened to the public. (DSou za 111) At the dedication ceremonies, five presidents were in attendance, as well as six first ladies, marking the first time five presidents were gathered in the same location.Reagan continued publicly to speak in favor of a line-item veto the Brady Bill a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget and the repeal of the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits anyone from serving more than two terms as president. In 1992 Reagan established the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award with the newly formed Ronald Reagan death chairial Foundation. His final public speech was on February 3, 1994 during a tribute to him in capital of the United States, D. C. , and his last major public appearance was at the funeral of Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994. Brinkley) In August 1994, at the age of 83, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, an incurable neurological disorder which destroys brain cells and ultimately causes death. In November he informed the nation through a handwritten letter, writ ing in part I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimers Disease At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have evermore done I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you. (Miller Center) After his diagnosis, letters of support from well-wishers poured into his California home, but there was also speculation over how long Reagan had demonstrated symptoms of mental degeneration. In her memoirs, former CBS White House correspondent Lesley Stahl recounts her final meeting with the president, in 1986 Reagan didnt seem to know who I was. Oh, my, hes gonzo, I thought. I have to go out on the lawn tonight and tell my countrymen that the president of the United States is a doddering space cadet.But then, at the e nd, he regained his alertness. As she described it, I had come that close to reporting that Reagan was senile. (Miller Center) However, Dr. Lawrence K. Altman, a physician employed as a reporter for the New York Times, famed that the line between mere forgetfulness and the beginning of Alzheimers can be fuzzyand all four of Reagans White House doctors verbalise that they saw no evidence of Alzheimers while he was president. Dr. John E. Hutton, Reagans primary physician from 1984 to 1989, said the president absolutely did not show any signs of dementia or Alzheimers. (Miller Center) Reagan did experience occasional stock lapses, though, especially with names. Once, while meeting with Japanese Prime subgenus Pastor Yasuhiro Nakasone, he repeatedly referred to Vice President Bush as Prime Minister Bush. Reagans doctors, however, note that he only began exhibiting overt symptoms of the illness in late 1992or 1993, several years after he had left office. His former Chief of Staff pil e Baker considered ludicrous the idea of Reagan sleeping during cabinet meetings. Other staff members, former aides, and friends said they saw no indication of Alzheimers while he was President. Barlietta 197) Complicating the picture, Reagan suffered an episode of head trauma in July 1989, five years prior to his diagnosis. After being thrown from a horse in Mexico, a subdural hematoma was found and surgically treated later in the year.Nancy Reagan asserts that her husbands 1989 fall hastened the onset of Alzheimers disease, citing what doctors told her, although acute brain speck has not been conclusively proven to accelerate Alzheimers or dementia. Reagans one-time physician Dr. Daniel Ruge has said it is possible, but not certain, that the horse ccident affected the course of Reagans memory. (Barlietta 209) Reagan died of pneumonia at his home in Bel Air, California on the afternoon of June 5, 2004. A short time after his death, Nancy Reagan released a statement saying My famil y and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has died after 10 years of Alzheimers Disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyones prayers. (Brinkley) President George W. Bush declared June 11 a National Day of Mourning, and international tributes came in from around the world.Reagans frame was taken to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California later in the day, where well-wishers paid tribute by laying flowers and American flags in the grass. On June 7, his body was removed and taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where a draft family funeral was held conducted by Pastor Michael Wenning. His body lay in repose in the Library lobby until June 9 over 100,000 people viewed the coffin. (Miller Center) On June 9, Reagans body was flown to Washington, D. C. where he became the tenth United States president to lie in state in thirty-four hours, 104,684 people filed past the coffin.On June 11, a state funeral was conducted in th e Washington National Cathedral, and presided over by President George W. Bush. Eulogies were given by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and both Presidents Bush. Also in attendance were Mikhail Gorbachev, and many world leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and interim presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq. Brinkley) After the funeral, the Reagan entourage was flown back to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, where another service was held, and President Reagan was interred. (Brinkley) At the time of his death, Reagan was the longest-lived president in U. S. history, having lived 93 years and 120 days (2 years, 8 months, and 23 days durable than John Adams, whose record he surpassed). He is now the second longest-lived president, just 45 days few than Gerald Ford.He was the first United States president to die in the 21st century, and his was the first state funeral in the United States since that of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973. (Miller Center) His burial site is inscribed with the words he delivered at the interruption of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life.