1. Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States of America. He served two terms as President from 1980 until 1988.

2. Childhood Born in Tampico, Illinois February 6, 1911 Nicknamed “Dutch”
Worked as a lifeguard in Dixon, IL
Athlete and Student Body President
1928: Dixon High School
Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois. He was the son of Nelle Clyde Wilson and John “Jack” Reagan. Reagan had one older brother named Neil. As a child, he was given the nickname “Dutch” by his father because of his “fat little Dutchman” appearance and his “Dutchboy” haircut.
In 1920, the Reagan’s moved to Dixon, IL where he attended Dixon High School. It was during this time that Reagan developed an interest in acting, sports and storytelling. He also started his first job as a lifeguard at the Rock River. Over 6 years, he reportedly made 77 rescues. While in high school, he was an athlete in multiple sports, performed in school plays and was elected as the student body president. He graduated from Dixon High School in 1928.

3. Education Eureka College on an athletic scholarship
Majored in Economics and Sociology
Sports:
Football
Track
Swim Team (captain)
Student Council President
Actor
Graduated in 1932
Following high school graduating, Ronald Reagan enrolled at Eureka College in Illinois on an athletic scholarship. While at Eureka, Reagan studied Economics and Sociology. He quickly became known as a “jack of all trades” because of his involvement in campus politics, sports and theater. Reagan played football, ran track, was the captain of the swim team and was, once again, elected as the student body president. As president, Reagan led a student revolt against the college president after he tried to cut back the faculty. This wouldn’t be the last time he face opposition in his lifetime.

4. Hollywood 1937: signed contract with Warner Brothers
30 years in Hollywood
Appeared in more than 50 movies
Most famous movie: Knute Rockne, All American
After graduating college, Ronald Reagan worked as a radio sports announcer in Iowa. In 1937, he signed a 7-year contract with the Warner Brothers movie studio. Reagan worked in Hollywood for 30 years and appeared in more than 50 films. One of his most famous roles was as Notre Dame football star George Gipp in the 1940 biopic Knute Rockne, All American.

5. Military Service Disqualified from combat duty Poor eyesight
Made Army training videos
Rank of Captain
Ronald Reagan enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve on April 29, as a private. He was ordered to active duty for the first time on April 18, 1942 but, due to poor eyesight, he was classified for limited service only. This classification excluded him from serving overseas. He left the army with the rank of captain

6. Hollywood 1947-1952: President Screen Actors Guild
“Hollywood Blacklist”
FBI Informant
Political views begin to shift
After WWII, Reagan went back to Hollywood. He was elected President of the Screen Actors Guild from His time as president was eventful. He led the guild through labor-management disputes, the Taft-Hartley Act, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings and the Hollywood Blacklist era. HUAC and the Hollywood Blacklist era were centered around trying to find Communist sympathizers in Hollywood.

7. Marriages 1940: married Jane Wyman Two children: Maureen and Michael
Divorced in 1948
1952: married Nancy Davis
Two children: Patricia and Ronald
Ronald Reagan met Jane Wyman in 1938 while filming Brother Rat. They were married on January 26, They had two biological children: Maureen and Christine, and adopted a third child, Michael. Christine died one day after she was born. In 1948, Wyman filed for divorce citing a distraction due to her husband’s Screen Actors Guild union obligations.
Reagan met Nancy Davis in 1949 after she contacted him regarding her name appearing on the Communist Blacklist in Hollywood. The were married on March 4, 1952 and were married until his death in They also had two children together: Patricia and Ronald.

8. Political Service 1966: won California governorship
Defeated Democratic incumbent
Re-elected in 1970
Unsuccessful presidential runs: 1968 and 1976
Reagan stepped into the national political spotlight in 1964, when he gave a well-received televised speech for Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, a prominent conservative. Two years later, in his first race for public office, Reagan defeated Democratic incumbent Edmund "Pat" Brown Sr. by almost 1 million votes, winning the California governorship. He was re-elected to a second term in 1970.
After making unsuccessful bids for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 and 1976, Reagan finally received his party's nod in In that year's general election, he defeated Democrat incumbent President Jimmy Carter, winning the Electoral College (489 to 49) and capturing almost 51 percent of the popular vote. At age 69, Reagan was the oldest person elected to the U.S. presidency.

9. 1980 Election Defeated Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter
Won in a landslide
Oldest person elected to presidency
Inherited a poor economy
Inherited Iran Hostage Crisis
In that year's general election, he defeated Democrat incumbent President Jimmy Carter, winning the Electoral College (489 to 49) and capturing almost 51 percent of the popular vote. At age 69, Reagan was the oldest person elected to the U.S. presidency. After President Carter left office, newly elected President Reagan inherited one of the worst economic crises in American History and the Iran Hostage Crisis.

10. Running Mate George H.W. Bush WWII veteran Congressman
Ambassador to the United Nations
Chairman of the RNC
Envoy to China
Director of the CIA
George H. W. Bush was selected as Reagan’s running mate after he lost the Republican Presidential nomination in George Bush’s political resume was a huge help for Reagan, especially his experience with Foreign Affairs. Bush was a WWII veteran and a Congressman from Texas. He was appointed Ambassador to the United Nations in 1971 by President Nixon and became the Chairman of the RNC in After his time as chairman, he was appointed as the United States Envoy to China by President Ford. Following his year in China, President Ford appointed Bush as the Director of the CIA because of his friendships with many other nations.

11. First Term Nov. 4, 1979 – Jan. 20, 1981: Iran Hostage Crisis
52 American diplomats and citizens
Held hostage for 444 days
March 30, 1981
Assassination attempt
John Hinckley, Jr.
President Reagan’s first term in office started off with a win. On January 20, 1981, 52 American diplomats and citizens were released from Iranian captivity after being held for 444 days.
Two months later, President Reagan was shot in an attempted assassination. The shooter was John Hinckley, Jr. The president was shot under his left arm and the bullet lodged in his lung, narrowly missing his heart. President Reagan was rushed into surgery to find the bullet. He was quoted as saying, “Honey, I forgot to duck” to his wife after he woke up from surgery.

12. First Term Cold War “Evil Empire” Strategic Defense Initiative
First woman to the Supreme Court
Reagan-omics
The biggest issued during President Reagan’s first term was the Cold War. This was a standoff with the Soviet Union. He dubbed the Soviet Union as the Evil Empire. In 1983, he announced the Strategic Defense Initiative, a plan aiming to develop space-based weapons to protect America from attacks by Soviet nuclear missiles.
President Reagan was tasked with filling a vacant seat on the Supreme Court during his first term. He took a political risk and appoint the first woman to sit on the bench, Sandra Day O’Connor.
On the domestic front, President Reagan advanced policies that reduced social programs and restrictions on business. Tax cuts were implemented to stimulate the United States' economy. He also advocated for increases in military spending, reductions in certain social programs and measures to deregulate business. By 1983, the nation's economy had begun to recover and, according to many economists, entered a seven-year period of prosperity. This became known as Reagan-omics.

13. 1984 Election Defeated Democrat Walter Mondale
Won the most Electoral Votes ever
97.5% Electoral Vote
Won more than half Popular Vote
58.7% Popular Vote
Won 49 states
In November 1984, Ronald Reagan was re-elected in a landslide, defeating Democratic challenger Walter Mondale. Reagan carried 49 of the 50 U.S. states in the election, and received 525 of 538 electoral votes—the largest number ever won by an American presidential candidate.

14. Second Term Iran-Contra “Arms for hostages” Reykjavik Summit
October 11-12, 1986
Fell apart before the end
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
His second term was tarnished by the Iran-Contra affair, a convoluted "arms-for-hostages" deal with Iran to funnel money toward anti-communist insurgencies in Central America. Though he initially denied knowing about it, Reagan later announced that it was a mistake.
The Reykjavík Summit was a summit meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Partyof the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, held in Höfði in Reykjavík, the capital city of Iceland, on 11–12 October 1986.[1] The talks collapsed at the last minute, but the progress that had been achieved eventually resulted in the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union.
"Tear down this wall!" was the challenge issued by United States President Ronald Reagan to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall, in a speech at the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin.[1][2] Reagan challenged Gorbachev, who was then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear it down as an emblem of Gorbachev's desire to increase freedom in the Eastern Bloc through glasnost ("transparency") andperestroika ("restructuring").

15. Life After the Presidency
Lived in Los Angeles, CA
1991: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Spoke at the 1992 RNC
1994: diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
After leaving the White House in January 1989, Reagan and wife Nancy returned to their home in Los Angeles, California. In 1991, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum opened in Simi Valley, California.
In November 1994, Reagan revealed in a handwritten letter to the American people that he had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. 

16. Death June 5, 2004 93 years old Longest-lived president at the time
State funeral in DC and
Buried at Presidential Library
Nearly a decade later, on June 5, 2004, he died at his Los Angeles home at age 93, making him the nation's longest-lived president at that time. (In 2006, Gerald Ford surpassed him for this title.) A state funeral was held in Washington, D.C., and Reagan was later buried on the grounds of his presidential library in California.