Ronald Reagan was arguably the last truly great and transformative American President. His story starts in a small town in Illinois and ends with the fall of Communism. At the time, he was the oldest man to be President, showing Americans that advanced age didn't mean diminished energy – he united a nation like few have before and none have since.

Ronald Reagan: The Early Years

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in 1911 in Tampico, Illinois to Jack and Nelle Reagan. His father was a salesman and sometimes raconteur. The family moved around before settling down in Dixon, Illinois. Two things remained with Reagan from his childhood: First, an appreciation for hard working, ordinary Americans. Second, a deep moral conviction against injustice in the world.

His father gave him the nickname "Dutch" as a child, one of many that would follow Reagan throughout his life. He was so named because he resembled a stereotypical Dutch boy.

Two values were strong in the Reagan household: First, the family held a deep religious faith. For Reagan's father, it was Catholicism. For his mother (and later Reagan) it would be the Disciples of Christ. Second, the family was outraged by injustice in the world. Reagan's father opposed the Klan, not least of all because of their anti-Catholicism. His mother was a member of the Social Gospel movement and believed in a special role for America in eliminating injustice in the world.

One incident from Reagan's youth was particularly impactful: When his college football team played nearby, two black teammates were not allowed to stay at the hotel. Reagan's mother let the pair stay overnight and prepared them breakfast in the morning. Reagan himself was later an active and vocal backer of the Civil Rights Movement.

Reagan was an unremarkable student both at Dixon High School and Eureka College, but he was very active in campus extra-curriculars. He excelled at football and swimming. He also acquired a taste for acting, as well as his father's passion for storytelling – something that would serve him immensely throughout his political career. He also got his first taste of politics at Eureka.

After college, Reagan got a job as the voice of the Chicago Cubs for Des Moines, Iowa. Here he earned a reputation for excellence in transforming bare bones cables about the game into vivid descriptions of action. While out on the West Coast with the Cubs, he conducted a screen test for Warner Bros. that sparked his film career.

Reagan's film career was not an instant success. Reagan worked on B movies, quipping that the producers "didn't want it good, they wanted it Thursday." His performance as George Gipp in Knute Rockne, All Americanis perhaps his most fondly remembered role, one which led to his nickname, "The Gipper." Another, less flattering nickname, "Bonzo," came from Bedtime for Bonzo, a romantic comedy about a pair of psychologists who adopt a chimp as a pet.

Perhaps his most accomplished film role was his final one: Jack Browning in the 1964 remake of The Killers. Here Reagan broke type by playing a villain, starring alongside Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Clu Gulager, and John Cassavettes.

During the Second World War, Ronald Reagan served in the United States Army Air Service. Poor eyesight prohibited Reagan from overseas deployment during the war, but he served with distinction, nonetheless, producing over 400 training films for the military and earning the rank of captain.

After his film career cooled down, Reagan achieved his greatest fame as the host of General Electric Theaterand Death Valley Days, two anthology series of the kind that were popular during the Golden Age of Television. However, Reagan was beginning to get a taste of the political arena.

Continue reading Ronald Reagan: The Small-Town Boy Who Changed the World at Ammo.com.

While I was not a great fan of Reagan, he raised taxes and had a realist approach to our economy. Today the wealthy manage the parties through dark money and campaign contributions.

https://shadowproof.com/2009/02/01/newsflash-ronald-reagan-raised-taxes-you-idiots/

Personal note: for a while those at the bottom of the food chain got a benefit that he made sure was taxed. Bugged me at the time but we eventually made it far up that chain.

Quote from: midcan5 on October 03, 2022, 01:09:39 PMWhile I was not a great fan of Reagan, he raised taxes and had a realist approach to our economy. Today the wealthy manage the parties through dark money and campaign contributions.

https://shadowproof.com/2009/02/01/newsflash-ronald-reagan-raised-taxes-you-idiots/

Personal note: for a while those at the bottom of the food chain got a benefit that he made sure was taxed. Bugged me at the time but we eventually made it far up that chain.

With the DNC holding Congress hostage, he had no choice but to bend or he wouldn't have been able to get any Legislation passed that he was promoting.
Know your facts!

More debunked news from discredited sources.

In reality, just like trump, reagan never raised taxes.
The dems however usually do raise taxes and notice how the economy almost always does badly during the lefts tenure.

Reagan actually lowered taxes which had the effect of lifting many of the poor out of poverty.
History, its a thing.

Reagan raised taxes, nothing wrong with that. I'm not sure why taxes are such a taboo area as taxes build the nation. Reagan's tax cut was temporary and soon taxes went back up. See links.


https://www.majorityleader.gov/content/fact-checking-gop-largest-tax-increase-modern-history-was-under-president-reagan-not-preside


https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/sep/25/stephen-colbert/stephen-colbert-brings-ronald-reagans-tax-raising-/