Ronald Reagan Biography

Fast Facts

• Served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild for seven separate, one-year terms in the 1940s and 1950s, a period which was notable due to coinciding with the Hollywood blacklist , the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) and the Taft-Hartley Act
• He initially joined the Army as part of the Enlisted Reserve Corps, but following the events of Pearl Harbor he put his career on hold to go into active duty with the Army Air Force, reaching the rank of captain in 1943
• Attended Eureka College, where before earning his bachelor of arts degree in economics and sociology, he was heavily involved as a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, the captain of the swim team and student body president
• Following his graduation from Eureka College, he pursued employment amid the Great Depression as a radio sports announcer for five years
• His first job was as a lifeguard for six summers, during which time he was reputed to have saved more than 70 persons from drowning
• Was born on the second floor of a two-story building in the commercial district of Tampico, Ill․, which has since been restored and added to the U․S․ National Register of Historic Places
• While covering spring training for the Chicaco Cubs in California, he performed a screen test that was so successful he was offered a seven-year contract with Warner Bros
• Quote: "A people free to choose will always choose peace․"
• Quote: "Well, one of the worst mistakes anybody can make is to bet against Americans․"
• At 69 years and 349 days, he was the oldest president to assume the office
• Throughout his childhood and young adulthood, he had the nickname "Dutch," an affectionate moniker given to him by his father partly due to the then-popular "Dutch boy" haircut he had as a toddler
• A list of favorite leisure activities included golf, horseback riding, swimming and target shooting