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##The life of Ronald Reagan was one of amazing success. It was one that most certainly defied all odds.
Reagan was born in a small town in Illinois. He was born the son of poor parents. In the 1930’s, during the Depression, he graduated from college.
Despite where he came from, Ronald Wilson Reagan became quite successful as an actor in both television and motion pictures. When things began to fall apart for him in the acting arena, Regan turned to politics. In 1966 he ran for the governor of California on the Republican ticket. He did, of course, win.
Then in 1968 and again in 1976, Reagan went for the presidency. Both of those times, he lost. Things did not look good. He was now 65 and it looked unlikely that he would win his parties nomination again. But, Ronald worked hard and once again went after the nomination in 1980.
Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois.
His parents were John and Nelle Regan. Ronald had one brother, Neil.
The Reagans spent much of their time moving around the state in search of a better paying job. When he was nine years old, the Reagans moved to Dixon, Illinois. This would be where he spent most of his school years. He really was not that good of a student, but his interests in acting, sports, and politics began early.
Reagan began playing football at age ten. He would play in all of the neighborhood games. In high school he played the guard or the end positions at his local high school.
After his high school graduation in 1928, Ronald attended Eureka College. He majored in economics and joined the swimming, football, and tract teams.
Ronald Reagan earned his B.A. from Eureka College in 1932. After college he set out to find a job as a radio announcer. He tried out for a job announcing football games in Davenport. Iowa. The talented Reagan was quick to land the job. This then led him to work at WHO in Des Moines. By the time he was 25, Regan was one of the top sports announcers in the mid-west.
It was in 1937, during a trip to Los Angeles with the Cubs that Reagan got his firs chance at a screen test. It was with Warner Brothers, and he was offered his first acting contract. This was the beginning of a twenty-year acting career. His most successful films were: Knute Rockne-----All American (1940) Kings Row (1941)
In 1942 Reagan went into the army as a second lieutenant. He was unable to serve in combat because of poor eyesight, so spent the next four years making combat training films. After that, he returned to acting.
Reagan had spent most of his time to this point as a Democrat. He supported their liberal causes. It was not until after his time in the army that he switched to the Republican Party and a more conservative way.
Reagan’s life in politics began and was given a boost in 1964 because of a television speech that he gave. It was this appearance that had the Republican Party urging him to run for governor of California. So, he threw his hat into the ring for the 1966 elections. At that time he ran against Edmund Brown, and won. Four years later, Reagan once again ran and once again won. Ronald Reagan remained the governor of California until 1975.
Reagan made his first run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1965. He, of course, lost that nomination to Richard Nixon. In 1976, Reagan again made a run at the presidential nomination. This time he would lose out to Gerald Ford. At the end of this loss, he was quick to begin the work on the 1980 campaign.
Many people thought that Reagan was too old and that the Presidency of the United States was out of reach. Despite it all, in 1981 Ronald Wilson Reagan was sworn in as the 40th President. In 1984 President Regan and Vice President Bush were re-nominated at the Republican convention in Dallas.
Their opponents were former Vice President Walter Mondale and Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. Reagan won by a landslide. He received 525 electoral vote, leaving only 13 for Mondale. He also took about 59% if the popular vote.
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