10 little known facts about Ronald Reagan
You have likely heard of Ronald Reagan, the US president who was once a Hollywood star. But you might not be aware of some interesting facts about his life.
Image: Ronald Reagan makes a statement to the press regarding the air traffic controllers strike in 1981 | Public Domain
Ronald Reagan was president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He stands out among US presidents because of his past as a Hollywood movie star, and he is remembered for the impact of his economic policies, known as ‘Reaganomics’.
What else should you know about this unique national leader? Here are 10 facts about Ronald Reagan, ranging from the well-publicised to the little-known.
1. He was a leading man in films, but he also had leadership roles before his presidency
Reagan featured in 53 movies during his time in Hollywood. Many critics believe his best performance came in 1942 when he portrayed Drake McHugh in Kings Row, a film about five childhood friends who grew up in a small town.
He also served as president of the Screen Actors’ Guild for five years and was later the Governor of California from 1967 to 1975.
2. He was the first US President to have been divorced
From 1940 to 1949, Reagan was married to Jane Wyman, a film actress. In fact, Wyman won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1948, while she was married to Reagan.
In 1952, Reagan married again, this time to Nancy Davis, who was also an actress. The pair remained married until Reagan’s death in 2004.
3. He joined the Armed Forces in World War II but was unable to serve in combat
Due to his poor eyesight, Reagan was only able to work in administrative, training and PR roles during his time in the US Army and Air Force in World War II. He was involved in making around 400 films used for training in the Air Force.
4. He is credited with saving 77 lives in his youth
Reagan was a lifeguard on the Rock River in Illinois during his teenage years. In his seven years of lifeguarding, he is said to have saved 77 people.
5. He had several nicknames
As a baby, Reagan was nicknamed ‘Dutch’ by his father, partly because his hair was cut in the ‘Dutch boy’ style.
In 1940, Reagan played the football player George Gipp in the biopic Knute Rockne, All American. His character asked his teammates to ‘Win one for the Gipper’, and Reagan repeated this line when he was seeking the presidency, thus borrowing Gipp’s nickname. In fact, Reagan was known for sometimes blurring the line between himself and the roles he had played, occasionally recollecting events that happened to his characters as having happened to himself.
Reagan also was dubbed ‘The Great Communicator’ for his strong public speaking skills. In fact, Reagan’s ‘A Time for Choosing’ speech in 1964 brought him fame that helped pave the way for his election.
6. He survived an assassination attempt just two months into his presidency
In March 1981, John Hinkley Jr. shot Reagan in the chest. Fortunately for Reagan, the bullet entered his lung and not his heart.
Despite being 70 years old at the time, Reagan was able to walk into the hospital for treatment and return to the White House just 12 days later. His cheerful demeanour after the attack and his administration’s efforts to prove his health provided a great boost to his image. Hinkley was later declared to be not guilty by reason of insanity.
7. He endured a major scandal in his second term
The Iran-Contra affair in 1985 involved the US National Security Council’s decision to secretly sell arms to Iran in the hope that this would help free American hostages in Lebanon. Profits from the sale were used to fund the right-wing rebel Contra group in Nicaragua. As these dealings were all illegal and unconstitutional, they created an immense scandal when they were revealed.
Reagan stated that he was unaware of these activities. Although his popularity dropped for a time, he ultimately retained a fairly high approval rating. Reagan’s resilience to reputational harm gave him another nickname – ‘the Teflon President’.
8. He had a tendency to joke around – which at times caused him problems
Reagan made several jokes just after he was shot, and these helped cement his image as a jovial, friendly figure.
However, sometimes Reagan’s jokes went too far. In 1984, Reagan was preparing to give an address on the radio about changes to school lunch programs. But while he was preparing to speak, he pretended to give an address in which he announced that he had ‘signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever’, going on to say, ‘We begin bombing in five minutes’.
The audio of this quip was later leaked, and Reagan’s casual attitude toward the idea of starting a war was widely criticised as inappropriate.
9. A defining moment of his presidency happened in Germany
Perhaps Reagan’s most famously quoted words as President are, ‘Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’
In 1987, Reagan gave a speech in Berlin next to the Berlin Wall urging Mikhail Gorbachev, then General Secretary of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party, to break down the barrier between East and West Germany. The wall was eventually brought down two years later, in 1989.
10. Although he was a Republican president, he had been a Democrat in earlier life
Reagan identified as a Democrat as late as 1950, when he supported Helen Douglas during her run for senator in California. But Reagan’s beliefs were already changing, becoming more closely matched to those of his wife Nancy, an ardent conservative. In 1962, Reagan officially became a Republican.
