Ronald Reagan Biography Essay

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Ronald Reagan once said, “Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not ruin their lives” (“Remarks at the National Conference of the Building and Construction Trades, AFL-CIO”). From 1981 until 1989, Reagan demonstrated this as the 40th president of the United States. Raised under poor conditions, he became a Hollywood actor and did not get into politics until the 1960s. However, he soon became one of the most celebrated presidents, as he redefined government by cutting taxes, improving the safety of America, and bringing a quicker end to the Cold War. As president of the United States, Reagan is famous for improving domestic affairs in the United States and the foreign policy outside of it, despite his poor background. On paper, …show more content…

He was born on February 6, 1911, to a poor family in Tampico, Illinois in an apartment that lacked indoor plumbing and running water. His father was a shoe salesman, and during his childhood years, Reagan lived with his parents and older brother in many different Illinois towns as his father switched sales jobs (“Ronald Reagan”). In 1920, they finally settled in Dixon, Illinois, where his father opened a shoe store. Reagan graduated from Dixon High School in 1928 and enrolled at Eureka College in Illinois on an athletic scholarship, where he studied economics and sociology. He also played football, ran track, served as the captain of the swim team and student council president, and acted in school productions. Upon his graduation in 1932, Reagan found a job as a radio sports announcer in Iowa (“Ronald Reagan Biography”). In 1937, Reagan did a screen test for the Warner Brothers movie studio, which won him a contract in Hollywood, where he acted in 53 films over the next two decades (Freidel and Hugh). During World War II, Reagan did not participate in combat duty to do bad eyesight, but that did not stop him from making training videos for the Army and leaving the military ranked as captain. (“Ronald Reagan Biography”). Then,

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