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Ronald
Reagan was born on February 6, 1911, to Jack and Nelle Reagan. He was the younger of two
boys, and had an older brother named Neil. As a boy, Ronald was nicknamed "Dutch" by
his father, because of his round cheeks and "Dutch-boy" haircut.
He attended Dixon High School in Illinois where he became interested in sports and acting.
He also became a lifeguard in his area and kept a record of the 77 lives he saved while
on duty.
After he graduated from high school, he attended Eureka College, and became very involved in
politics, acting, and sports.
Reagan went on, after college, to radio. He worked as an announcer for baseball and a
radio announcer. He then began to star in "b-films" for the Warner Bros.
In 1964, Reagan—as the governor of California—endorsed the political campaign of the Republican presidential
candidate, Barry Goldwater. In a speech delivered in Goldwater's favor, Reagan expressed, "The
Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And
they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve
its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing."
This speech became known as the "Time for Choosing" speech.
According to the Department of Defense's website: "During the period 14 October to 1 November
1983, the United States planned and conducted Operation URGENT FURY to protect and evacuate
US citizens and foreign nationals from Grenada. Our actions were taken in concert with members
of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)."
Grenada is a small island in the Caribbean that had strong bonds with the Soviet Union
and Cuba. Because both of these countries were strongly Communist, President Reagan,
acting for the US Government, helped to plan an operation to evacuate the US citizens living
there for their own safety's sake.
Throughout the entire operation, President Reagan was updated constantly on the action.
He was completely behind the military and their actions, staying close to the operation
similar to the way President Lincoln was close to the Civil War action.
The USSR and the US had been at odds for a very long time. After WWII, both sides had
weapons technology capable of destroying an entire country, and both sides were afraid
of what would happen if they used it, and afraid of what would happen if the other side
used it.
However, President Reagan changed that. He built up the US forces in Europe, saying that
he was unafraid of the Soviets and could and would attack them if necessary. Finally, their
president Gorbachev and President Reagan were able to come to an agreement, and the two
countries were at peace once more.
When Reagan signed the Immigration Control and Reform Act into law in 1986, it made it
illegal to do, as Susan Bibler Coutin outlines on page 179 of her book, Nations of Emigrants:
required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status,
made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit unauthorized immigrants,
legalized certain seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants,
and legalized illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and
had resided there continuously with the penalty of a fine, back taxes due, and admission of
guilt. About three million undocumented immigrants
were
granted legal status.
The Reagans worked together to fix the drug problem the United States was going through,
with programs like "Just Say No," and a bill that enforced a minimum penalty for those
who were caught with drugs.
Nancy did so much to help the problem that MSNBC called her, "The 'just say no' first
lady."