Ronald Wilson Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911- June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of
the United States of America; he served from 1981 until 1989. Reagan's
Vice-President was George H. W. Bush. Both Reagan and Bush were Republicans.
Reagan served two terms as President.
Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois. He spent many summers working as a
lifeguard and saved 77 people from drowning. After graduating from Eureka College
(in Illinois), where he played college football, Reagan became a radio sports
announcer (in 1932). In 1937, he acted in his first movie. Altogether, Reagan was in
53 movies; his final movie was filmed in 1964. In 1940, Reagan and the actress Jane
Wyman were married; they had two children, Maureen and Michael. They were
divorced in 1948.
In 1947, Reagan became president of the Screen Actors Guild (the union for movie
actors). Although he had been a liberal in his youth, Reagan became a conservative
during this time. Reagan and the actress Nancy Davis were married in 1952; they
had two children, Patricia Ann and Ronald Prescott.
Reagan was elected governor of California in 1966; he was re-elected governor in
1970.
During Reagan's presidency, the American hostages in Iran were freed, communism
in the Soviet Union was defeated without a shot being fired (symbolized by the
eventual fall of the Berlin Wall separating communist East Berlin and democratic
West Berlin), and US taxes were lowered. Reagan was shot in a 1981 assassination
attempt in Washington, D.C.; he recovered fully.
Reagan died at home in California at the age of 93; he had Alzheimer's disease.
Part 1. Questions:
1. When did Ronald Reagan become President of the US?
_____________________
2. What was the name of Reagan's Vice-President?
____________________________________
3. How many terms did Reagan serve as US President? ________________
4. Before he was President, Reagan was governor of which state?
__________________________
5. In what year was Ronald Reagan born? ____________________
6. On the map above, color Illinois green and California yellow. If you are in the
continental US, mark where you are with an X.
Part 2. Create a Timeline using the dates/ years given in the article.
Part 3. Fill in the blanks with the correct information.
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States, serving between
1981 and 1989. He was born in 1911 in Illinois. He _______________________
school and studied economics and sociology. After graduating, he became a
_______________________. A screen test in 1937 won him a contract in
Hollywood. Over the next two _______________________ in 53 films. He was also
president of the Screen Actors Guild.
In 1966, Reagan was elected Governor of California by a margin of a million votes;
he was re-elected in 1970. _______________________ message of sending "the
welfare bums back to work" and spoke out _______________________ the welfare
state. He was also in favor of less government regulation and lower taxes. He lost
the 1976 election to become Republican _______________________ President
Gerald Ford.
Ronald Reagan won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1980. Just 69 days
later he was shot by _______________________, but quickly recovered and
returned to duty. He passed legislation to _______________________, curb
inflation, increase employment, and strengthen national defense. A renewal of
_______________________ by 1984 helped Reagan and Vice President George H.
Bush win a second term.
Reagan’s conservative _______________________ known as ‘Reaganomics’. At
the end of his administration, America was enjoying its _______________________
of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression. In foreign policy, Reagan
sought to achieve "_______________________ " with the Soviet Union and
declared war against international terrorism. He died in 2004 aged 93.
