Ronald Wilson Reagan (as known as "Teflon President") was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois, USA, to John Edward "Jack" Reagan and Nellie Wilson Reagan. The family moved frequently from city to city and finally settled in Dixon, Illinois in 1920, where Jack Reagan opened a shoe store. In 1928, Ronald graduated from the Dixon High School, during his studies in which he was actively involved in sports, was the president elected by students and played in school plays. During the summer holidays, the boy worked as a bodyguard.

Having won an athletic scholarship, Ronald enters Eureka College and focuses his efforts on studying economics and sociology. After graduating in 1932, Reagan took a job as a radio sportscaster in Iowa.


In 1937, Reagan signed a seven-year contract with the Warner Brothers film studio. Over the next thirty years, he will appear in more than 50 films.

In 1940, Reagan married actress Jane Wyman, with whom he had a daughter, Maureen. The couple also adopt a boy, Michael. In 1948 the family breaks up. During World War II, Reagan is exempt from military service due to poor eyesight, and therefore he spends this time making training films for the army.

From 1947 to 1952, Reagan headed the Screen Actors Guild. During the same period, he met actress Nancy Davis. The couple is married in 1952. Married to Nancy, Reagan has two children, Patricia and Ronald.

Reagan's film career declined, and in 1954 he became the host of the weekly television drama series General Electrics Theatre. It was at this time that his liberal political views changed to conservative: he holds discussions about the interests of the business community, opposes excessive control over the government and wasteful spending - raises topics that will later become the main tasks of his political activity.


Reagan appeared on the national political stage in 1964, after delivering a successful speech in support of US Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Two years later, in his first run for public office, Reagan defeats Democratic protege Edmund "Pat" Brown Jr. to become Governor of California.

Twice, in 1968 and 1976, unsuccessfully nominating his candidacy for the presidency, in 1980, Reagan finally receives the approval of the party. Reagan, 69, becomes the oldest president of the United States.


On January 20, 1981, during his inaugural address, Reagan remarks that "government is not the solution to problems, government is the problem." He proclaims an era of national revival and expresses his intention to make America "a beacon of light for those who lack freedom."

On March 30, 1981, as Reagan leaves the Washington Hilton with several advisers, a gunshot rings out, but the Secret Service agents quickly react to push the president into a limousine. Already in the car it turns out that he was still injured. According to the medical report, the bullet pierced the lung, narrowly missing the heart. A few weeks later, the president returns to work.


In the domestic affairs of the country, Reagan promotes a policy of cutting social programs and encouraging business. To stimulate the development of the economy, tax cuts are applied. He is also a supporter of increased military spending and deregulation of private business. By 1983, the US economy begins a period of recovery.


The most important foreign policy issue of the period Ronald Reagan's presidency is the Cold War.

Having dubbed the Soviet Union the "Evil Empire", Reagan launched programs to increase the production of weapons and strengthen the country's military forces. He introduces the "Reagan Doctrine", under which the United States provides assistance to Africa, Asia and Latin America in support of anti-communist movements.

In addition to this, the presidential administration has to deal with the complication of an already difficult relationship with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi.

In his second term as president, Reagan forges a relationship with reformist Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1987, the heads of the US and the USSR sign a historic agreement on the elimination of medium-range nuclear weapons.


In November 1984, after defeating Democratic candidate Walter Mondale, Reagan won the election again.
However, the second term of the presidency is overshadowed by the flaring up scandal "Iran-Contra" - a complex scheme for the supply of weapons to US adversaries in Iran, the money from which was directed to support anti-communist rebels in Central America.


After leaving the White House in 1989, Ronald and Nancy Reagan return to their home in Los Angeles, California.

In November 1994, Reagan released a handwritten letter announcing his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

Almost ten years later, on June 5, 2004, Reagan died in his own home at the age of 93. Reagan was buried at the Presidential Library in California