John and Nellie Reagan with their sons, Neil and Ronald.
During his WHO radio career, Reagan “announced” Chicago Cubs baseball games in the Des Moines studio by reading a pitch-by-pitch account off the wire as if he were actually at
the game. He was so skillful that some listeners believed he actually was at the game!
As the 40th president of the United States, the former movie star,
Ronald Reagan was called the “Great Communicator” for his
ability to get through to ordinary Americans and give them hope
and optimism for their own future and that of their country.
Despite his lifelong opposition to “big” government, Reagan
was credited with restoring faith in the U.S. government and
the presidency after a long era of disillusionment in the wake
of Nixon, Vietnam and economic hardship under Carter.
Before his years of Hollywood stardom, and long before
Washington, Ronald Reagan was born in a small town in
northwestern Illinois.
Reagan made the sobering announcement that he had
Alzheimer’s disease, which would end his public career.
He died on June 5, 2004, at the age of 93.
