In this autobiography Ronald Reagan, the former president, describes his life from his early years until the ending of his second presidential term. This book explores Ronald Reagan’s personal and private life, and takes us from Dixon, Illinois to the White House. Throughout the book he shares important events from his childhood and adulthood and how his political views became what they were. Over the course of the book, Ronald Reagan shows off his famous wit, sense of humor, one liners, charisma and hope throughout his journey to becoming one of the most well liked and respected presidents in the history of the United States.
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois on February 6, 1911. His parents are Nelle and Jack Reagan, and he has an older brother, Neil. Ronald Reagan received the nickname “Dutch” because his father believed he looked like a “fat little dutchman”. Due to the Reagans being poor, the family moved around the midwest searching for jobs. The Reagan family finally settled down in Dixon, Illinois and stayed there from when Ronald Reagan was 11 years old, until he graduated from High School where he would graduate with extracurricular and academic honors. After concluding his high school career, Reagan went onto attend Eureka College. Here Reagan began to plant the seeds of his future political career. Reagan's grades weren't anything special but he graduated from Eureka in 1932 with degrees in economics and sociology. After he left school he tried to come by work but since the depression had hit, the job market was terrible. Despite the depression and many failures in finding a job, Reagan kept his chin up and always had a positive outlook for the future. During his job search he eventually found a job as a WOC radio announcer. Using his charisma and cordial voice, Reagan, eventually switched to Des Moines broadcasting station called WHO. He was a sportscaster and would narrate college football games and sometimes so sportscasting for the Chicago Cubs. Reagan grew in popularity due to the success of this well paying job. In 1937 Reagan moved from Des Moines to Los Angeles in the hopes of becoming a Hollywood movie star. After auditioning with Warner Brothers Studios he was hired by them to make “B” rated films. Eventually Warner Brothers offered Reagan a chance to work in an “A” level film. He would accept their offer and appeared in his first big film, Love is in the Air. Within his first two years in Hollywood, Reagan made 15 movies and had grown considerably in popularity. He goes into specifcs with one film he starred in called All American, where he plays George Gipp, a very famous and well respected football player. When World War II started Reagan was drafted to serve in the military. Reagan was perfectly healthy but when he went to get his eyes checked, he had such horrible vision that he was not fit for …show more content…
Reaganomics focuses on tax reductions and promotes the usage of a free market. Reagan got this idea from Arthur Laffer, an economist who created the supply-side theories. George H.W. Bush during his 1980 Republican Primary said Reaganomics policies would never actually work in the real world.
Reagan increased spending on the United States defence. He built up the military by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on nuclear and conventional weapons and researching new military technologies. Reagan wanted to create an SDI project which would help protect the United States from nuclear attacks from the Soviets. This plan never went into effect due to it having a projected price tag of a trillion dollars.
U.S. and Soviet Union relations got better across Reagan's second term, as he negotiated treaties with the Soviet Union leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, declaring that both countries would tone down the amount of nuclear weapons being produced. President Reagan and President Gorbachev may have lead two very different forms of government but the two had great respect for one another. The U.S. and USSR relations may have gotten better, that did not stop Reagan from continuing his campaign against Communists around the
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois on February 6, 1911. His parents are Nelle and Jack Reagan, and he has an older brother, Neil. Ronald Reagan received the nickname “Dutch” because his father believed he looked like a “fat little dutchman”. Due to the Reagans being poor, the family moved around the midwest searching for jobs. The Reagan family finally settled down in Dixon, Illinois and stayed there from when Ronald Reagan was 11 years old, until he graduated from High School where he would graduate with extracurricular and academic honors. After concluding his high school career, Reagan went onto attend Eureka College. Here Reagan began to plant the seeds of his future political career. Reagan's grades weren't anything special but he graduated from Eureka in 1932 with degrees in economics and sociology. After he left school he tried to come by work but since the depression had hit, the job market was terrible. Despite the depression and many failures in finding a job, Reagan kept his chin up and always had a positive outlook for the future. During his job search he eventually found a job as a WOC radio announcer. Using his charisma and cordial voice, Reagan, eventually switched to Des Moines broadcasting station called WHO. He was a sportscaster and would narrate college football games and sometimes so sportscasting for the Chicago Cubs. Reagan grew in popularity due to the success of this well paying job. In 1937 Reagan moved from Des Moines to Los Angeles in the hopes of becoming a Hollywood movie star. After auditioning with Warner Brothers Studios he was hired by them to make “B” rated films. Eventually Warner Brothers offered Reagan a chance to work in an “A” level film. He would accept their offer and appeared in his first big film, Love is in the Air. Within his first two years in Hollywood, Reagan made 15 movies and had grown considerably in popularity. He goes into specifcs with one film he starred in called All American, where he plays George Gipp, a very famous and well respected football player. When World War II started Reagan was drafted to serve in the military. Reagan was perfectly healthy but when he went to get his eyes checked, he had such horrible vision that he was not fit for …show more content…
Reaganomics focuses on tax reductions and promotes the usage of a free market. Reagan got this idea from Arthur Laffer, an economist who created the supply-side theories. George H.W. Bush during his 1980 Republican Primary said Reaganomics policies would never actually work in the real world.
Reagan increased spending on the United States defence. He built up the military by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on nuclear and conventional weapons and researching new military technologies. Reagan wanted to create an SDI project which would help protect the United States from nuclear attacks from the Soviets. This plan never went into effect due to it having a projected price tag of a trillion dollars.
U.S. and Soviet Union relations got better across Reagan's second term, as he negotiated treaties with the Soviet Union leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, declaring that both countries would tone down the amount of nuclear weapons being produced. President Reagan and President Gorbachev may have lead two very different forms of government but the two had great respect for one another. The U.S. and USSR relations may have gotten better, that did not stop Reagan from continuing his campaign against Communists around the