Ronald Reagan

Reading audio



2004-6-12

Jack Reagan worked at a general store. The family was poor. Yet,
in a book about his life, Ronald Reagan wrote that he never felt
poor. He was good at sports, especially football. During the
summers, he was a lifeguard at a local swimming pool. He reportedly
rescued many people from drowning. Ronald Reagan said there was a
feeling of security throughout his childhood. But it was not
perfect. His father was dependent on alcohol.

VOICE TWO:

Ronald Reagan studied at Eureka College in Illinois. After seeing
a play at college, he said, "More than anything in the world, I
wanted to speak the actor's words."

But Ronald Reagan did not have enough money to go to New York or
Hollywood to become an actor. So, after college he found a job as a
sports broadcaster for a radio station in Iowa. Later he moved to a
bigger radio station in Chicago, Illinois. He announced the action
of baseball games. This work took him on a trip to California. He
took a screen test to become an actor. Warner Brothers Studios
offered him a job.

Ronald Reagan moved to Hollywood and became a movie star. He
appeared in many movies. "Knute Rockne – All American," is probably
his most famous. It is where he got the nickname "The Gipper."

Mister Reagan played George Gipp, one of the greatest college
football players ever. In the movie, he speaks of the school's
football team as he is dying.

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"...ask them to go in there with all they got, win just one for
the Gipper."

VOICE ONE:

Those words, "win one for the Gipper," later became a political
battle cry for Ronald Reagan. In nineteen-forty, he married actress
Jane Wyman. They had two children, Maureen and Michael. But the
marriage ended in nineteen-forty-nine.

Ronald Reagan became president of the main labor group for movie
actors in nineteen-forty-eight. He served six terms. He met actress
Nancy Davis through the union. They married in nineteen-fifty-two.
They later had two children, Patti and Ron.

At this time, Ronald Reagan was a member of the Democratic party
who described himself as a liberal. But, he became increasingly
conservative as his worries about communism grew. He opposed anyone
in the movie industry who supported communism.

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VOICE TWO:

In the early nineteen-fifties, Ronald Reagan began to appear on
television. He presented dramatic shows produced by the General
Electric company. He became a spokesman for the company. Mister
Reagan learned a lot about public speaking. He began to campaign for
Republican party political candidates a few years later. Reagan
developed the ability to reach people through his speeches. He later
became known as "The Great Communicator."

Nancy Reagan supported her
husband's political interests. Political experts say she was always
his most important advisor.

In nineteen-sixty-six, Ronald Reagan announced his own candidacy
for governor of California. Democrats in the state did not think he
was a serious candidate. However, Mister Reagan was elected governor
by almost one-million votes.

Ronald Reagan received mixed public opinion as governor of the
nation's most populated state. He was praised for lowering
California's debt, yet criticized for raising taxes. Voters
re-elected him as governor in nineteen-seventy.

VOICE ONE:

Ronald Reagan was unsuccessful in his first two attempts to win
the Republican nomination for president. Then, in nineteen-eighty,
he became the Republican Party's presidential candidate. His
opponent was President Jimmy Carter.

The two men debated on national television. Ronald Reagan spoke
directly and simply to the American people and asked them some
questions:

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"Are you better off than you were four years ago? Is it easier
for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years
ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there
was four years ago?"

VOICE TWO:

Ronald Reagan won the United
States presidential election by a huge majority. He and his
vice-president, George Herbert Walker Bush, were sworn into office
in January, nineteen-eighty-one. Many people called the change in
political power "The Reagan Revolution."

President Reagan immediately began to work to honor a major
campaign promise. He called on Congress to lower taxes. But only two
months later, tragedy struck. A mentally sick man shot the president
and three other people outside a hotel in Washington. President
Reagan and his press secretary, James Brady, were severely wounded.

Mister Reagan had a bullet in his left lung, close to his heart.
But, he showed his sense of humor at the hospital. As the president
was taken into the operating room he said he hoped all the doctors
were Republicans. Ronald Reagan recovered from the shooting and
returned to work within two weeks.

VOICE ONE:

The President now began work on his main goal to reduce the size
of the federal government. He had campaigned on the idea that the
government was too costly and interfered too much in the lives of
Americans.

Mister Reagan and Congress reduced taxes and cut spending for
social programs. The administration argued that these actions would
create economic growth.

Extremely high inflation rates did begin to fall. But, the United
States' debt rose sharply. This was partly from big increases in
military spending.

The Reagan economic policy became known as "Reaganomics." It had,
and still has, supporters and opponents. Some people argued that the
cuts in social programs greatly hurt poor people. Others said the
policy improved the economy.

President Reagan sought re-election in nineteen-eighty-four. His
Democratic opponent was former Vice-President Walter Mondale. Again
Mister Reagan won the election by a large amount.

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VOICE TWO:

President Reagan dealt with many serious foreign issues while in
office. He sent American Marines to Lebanon to stop the fighting
among several opposing groups. But more than two-hundred Marines
were killed in an extremist bomb attack.

The so-called "Reagan Doctrine" was the administration's most
famous foreign policy. That policy was to support anti-communist
forces anywhere in the world. Under the policy, American forces
invaded the Caribbean island nation of Grenada. The policy also led
to secret United States support for rebels in Nicaragua.

President Reagan met with Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev several
times in an effort to reduce nuclear weapons. He gave a famous
speech at the Berlin Wall that divided Soviet-controlled East
Germany from West Germany on June twelfth, nineteen-eighty-seven.

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"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek
prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek
liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mister Gorbachev, open this
gate! Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

VOICE ONE:

Some historians say Ronald Reagan helped cause the fall of the
Soviet Union. They say his military spending forced the Soviets to
spend more, too. They say this led to the Communist nation's
economic failure.

President Reagan enjoyed very high public approval ratings
throughout his presidency. Many Americans considered him a friendly
leader, a "man of the people," filled with hope for America.

VOICE TWO:

Ronald and Nancy Reagan returned to California after his second
term ended in nineteen-eighty-nine. In nineteen-ninety-four, Mister
Reagan wrote an open letter to the American people. He informed them
that he had the brain disease Alzheimer's. The former president
expressed his love for the country and thanked Americans for letting
him serve. And, he wrote, "I know that for America there will always
be a bright dawn ahead." Ronald Reagan died at his home in
California on June fifth. He was ninety-three.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Caty Weaver. Mario Ritter was the
producer. I'm Gwen Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Listen again next week for another People in
America in VOA Special English.