Last updated on May 10th, 2021
Presidency
42. Reagan developed issues with hearing when early in his acting career (in the 1930s) a .38-caliber was fired right next to his right ear. Since the early days of his presidency, he began using custom-made hearing aids (initially, in his right ear and then in the left as well): and this helped de-stigmatize the use of the aid and significantly boosted the sales of the device as well.
43. Reagan chose George Bush as his vice president. Bush, who was a successful businessman and an astute politician, would hold the office of vice president during Reagan’s two successive terms as president.
44. Son of Prescott Sheldon Bush, a U.S. Senator from Connecticut and an investment banker, George Bush would go on to become the 41st president of the nation at the end of Reagan’s two terms at the office in 1989.
45. Reagan was the oldest person to assume the U.S. presidency, a distinction he held until 2017, when Donald Trump was inaugurated at age 70 years, 220 days.
46. Barely two months into the office, an assassination attempt was made on Reagan by the mentally imbalanced would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. The president, however, survived the assault.
47. Today, Reagan is primarily remembered for the highly radical economic reforms he initiated in his bid to bring down inflation rates and to create more jobs.
48. Reagan’s partiality for supply-side economics resulted in policies that are now termed as ‘Reaganomics’—characterized by large-scale tax cuts, reduction in domestic discretionary spending and adaptation of free-market fiscal policy.
49. In September 1981, Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
50. Although in his first two years as the president, some of these policies backfired, they eventually proved fruitful at the end of his first term as president.
51. This reflected in the presidential election of 1984 where he crushed Democrat nominee Walter Mondale by winning 525 electoral votes (of the total 538).
52. During his second term at the office, Reagan continued with his previous economic policies but now he was also paying more attention to foreign policy.
53. He strengthened U.S. defenses by increasing military funding. He was also staunch in his anti-communist stance.
54. ‘Peace through Strength’ was his motto when it came to foreign policy and international relations. He was ruthless when it came to fighting international terrorism as was apparent from the fact of his sending American bombers to Libya.
55. He was also successful in improving relations with Soviet Union and in shrinking the nuclear arsenals of both countries through the famous INF Treaty.
56. Overall, Reagan’s terms at the office helped stabilize American economy. When he left office, the average inflation came down to 4.4% from the 12.5% in 1980. The unemployment rate also came down to 5.4%.
57. When Reagan left the White House, he did so with the highest approval rating of any president since FDR.
58. Reagan was known to be fond of writing letters and during his time as president, he devoted time every day to reading and answering letters. He once sent a response to a letter from a seventh-grade kid pleading federal assistance as his bedroom was declared a disaster area by his mother!
Post-Presidency
59. The Reagans retired to Bel Air, Los Angeles after Ronald’s leaving office in 1989.
60. Although the now former president had plans to lead an active life after presidency, his health was getting progressively worse and eventually in 1994, it was found that Ronald was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
61. Ronald Regan delivered his final public speech on February 3, 1994.
62. After a 10-year struggle with the disease, Reagan finally breathed his last at his home in Bel Air on June 5, 2004. He was 93 at the time of his death.
63. During his days as the president, Reagan was in the habit of keeping a journal where he diligently noted down all the important daily occurrences. In 2007, these journals were published by Harper Collins with the title The Reagan Diaries. The book acquired the status of an instant bestseller.
64. Apart from this, already back in 1965, Reagan had published an autobiography titled Where’s the Rest of Me? The phrase famously came from the 1942 film Kings Row where it was uttered by the playboy character Drake McHugh, played by Reagan. The phrase was the first response from a bewildered and anguished Drake after he awakened from an operation to find that both his legs were amputated. The line evidently clung to Reagan for the rest of his career.
65. He was the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve two full terms after the five prior presidents did not.
Ronald Reagan quotes
1. “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
2. “While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.”
3. “There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.”
4. “A people free to choose will always choose peace.”
5. “The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.”
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