Ronald Wilson Reagan

President Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911, in Tampico, Illinois; graduated from Eureka College in 1932; and became a radio sports announcer. In 1937 he began a 29-year acting career that included more than 60 films and dozens of television programs.

• In the Army during World War II, his nearsightedness kept him from combat duty, so he worked in the training-film unit for three years.
• After the war he returned to Hollywood, and from 1947–1952 and 1959–1960 he served as president of the Screen Actors Guild. In 1952 he wed actress Nancy Davis.
• Running as a Republican, Reagan was elected governor of California in 1966 and re-elected in 1970.
• In 1980, he was elected president of the United States; he was re-elected in 1984.
• In 1994, five years after leaving office, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
• On June 5, 2004, he passed away at the age of 93. His body lay in repose at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, and then lay in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. After a state funeral at Washington National Cathedral on June 11, his body was interred at the Reagan Library.