Reagan, Ronald (1911—)
America's fortieth president from 1981-1989, known variously as "Dutch," the "Teflon President," "The Great Communicator," and the father of an economic system named after him ("Reaganomics"), Ronald Wilson Reagan is one of the most controversial political figures of the twentieth century. In fact, an entire system of thought, appropriately titled "Reaganism," was coined to describe the effects of, depending on who you ask, his destructive social legacy or his repositioning of American optimism and strength at the forefront of world politics. In either case, one cannot underestimate the importance of Reagan's influence during the social and political upheavals of the 1980s and beyond.
On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. Although Reagan recalls his younger years as idyllic, his family moved often, living on the fly in five different places in Dixon, four in Tampico, and two in Galesburg, Illinois. His family was involved in the religious revivals hitting Tampico at the time but, though his mother was a leader of church lifein her area, his father displayed a destructive reliance upon alcohol. Ronald's acting skills and religious views were formed together in these early years: he acted in his mother's skits, dated his pastor's daughter for eight years, led the Easter sunrise service, and cleaned and worked at the church.
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