Ronald Reagan

Born in Tampico, Illinois, Ronald Reagan was a sports announcer before moving to Hollywood, where he worked his way up to considerable success during the 1930s and 1940s.  He then served as president of the actors union for five terms and worked as a TV host and industry spokesman.

Reagan campaigned for Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 and for Richard Nixon in 1960.  Buoyed by his superb televised address in 1964, known as “A Time for Choosing,” Reagan was elected Governor of California in 1966 and re-elected in 1970.  After vying for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 and 1976, he won the nomination in 1980 and was then twice elected President of the United States.

Our country has to decide, said Reagan, “whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether to abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives better than we can plan them ourselves.”

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