Although Reagan did not formally become a Republican until 1962, he never endorsed a Democrat after 1950 and voted for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. He also actively campaigned for Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election.

Is portrayed by James Brolin in The Reagans (2003) (TV).

40th president of the United States (1981-1989).

Elected governor of California in 1966 and re-elected in 1970.

President of Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) 1947-1952.

Turned down a guest appearance on "Simpsons, The" (1989)_.

In the film American Beauty (1999), the Fitts family (Chris Cooper, Allison Janney and Wes Bentley) can be seen watching an old army film with Reagan in it.

Of Irish decent, his grandfather Micheal Regan immigrated to the United States from Ballyporeen, Ireland in the 1860`s. Ballyporeen, a tiny rural farming town in County Tipperary is located in the south-central part of the country and it`s inhabitants are frequently referred to as "Midlanders". The Regan`s were one of three primary families or "clans" that populated St. Mary`s Parish in the village of Ballyporeen. The Ronald Reagan Visitors Centre was built down the street from St. Mary`s Church following his visit to his ancestral home in the mid-1980`s. Ironically, the spelling of the family name Regan was changed to Reagan after immigrating to the United States.

As Captain in the U.S. Army, Reagan signed Major Clark Gable`s discharge papers in June 1944.

Emceed the first PATSY Awards show (1951) where Francis the Talking Mule was the very first winner. PATSY is an acronym for: Picture Animal Top Star of the Year.

The oldest man to serve as US President, being 69 when he was elected in 1980 and 77 when he left office in 1989.

Continued to play golf with several friends including Bob Hope and Kevin Costner until 1996.

Although Reagan did not formally become a Republican until 1962, he never endorsed a Democrat after Helen Gahagan 1950 and voted for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. He also actively campaigned for Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election.

The only US President to get a divorce.

Underwent hip replacement surgery in January 2001.

Reagan was the first "true blue" conservative to win the Republican nomination and be elected President since Calvin Coolidge in 1924.

His closest friend in Hollywood was Robert Taylor.

Reagan and his wife Nancy were close friends of Rock Hudson, whose death in 1985 spurred the President to provide funds for AIDS research.

Spent World War II making Army training films for Hal Roach Studios.

His state funeral service took place on the 25th anniversary of the death of his close friend and ally John Wayne.

His famous nickname "The Great Communicator", was not earned but was requested. Reagan asked for it during his farewell address in 1989.

While as an actor he is thought of mostly as a Western/Action-Adventure star, his two best-remembered lines were from straight dramatic roles and delivered while he was flat on his back in bed, his character either dying or horribly crippled: "Win just one more for the Gipper!" in Knute Rockne All American (1940) and "Where`s the rest of me?" in Kings Row (1942).

After his presidency he and Nancy Davis moved to 666 St. Cloud Road in Bel Air, California which Ronald lived in until his death. Nancy had the address changed from 666 to 668 due to the fact 666 is known as the devil`s number. The house is down the street from 805 St. Cloud Road, the house used in the TV show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990).

During the 1980 Presidential campaign, incumbent President Jimmy Carter publicly criticized Reagan for launching his campaign with a speech on states` rights in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the site of the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers immortalized in the film Mississippi Burning (1988). Carter, a former governor of the Deep South state of Georgia who had run as a racial moderate in 1970, claimed that the phrase `states` rights` was a `code word` for segregation, as Southerners opposed to federally mandated segregation claimed that federal intervention into the local laws and mores of their states by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were unconstitutional abrogations of the rights of their states to police themselves. Reagan, who had used his opposition to state equal housing laws to defeat Governor Edmund G. Brown in 1965, disavowed any racist intent and the issue was ignored by most voters and pundits. When Carter persisted in trying to portray the affable Reagan as a racist, the strategy boomeranged against the incumbent President and made him seem petty and petulant.

knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, received an honorary British knighthood, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. This entitled him to the use of the post-nominal letters GCB, but did not entitle him to be known as "Sir Ronald Reagan". [15 June 1989]

Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS).

His last public appearance was at Richard Nixon`s funeral in April 1994.

Member of the Eureka College cheerleading squad.

He was the only United States President (as of 2005) to have been a member of a union (the Screen Actors Guild).

Was considered to be the most conservative United States President since Herbert Hoover, though George W. Bush arguably is more conservative.

Received more electoral votes than any other president in history, winning by 525 (out of 538) in his 1984 re-election campaign when he racked up 49 of 50 states in beating Jimmy Carter`s vice president Walter Mondale.

His first bid for the Presidency was actually in 1968, when he finished 3rd in the balloting at the GOP national convention behind Richard Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller. As the Constitution, in practical terms, forbids the president and vice president from being from the same state (a rule that binds the electoral college), Reagan was not considered for the vice presidency when Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973. Besides, though Reagan supported his fellow Californian Nixon for president, the two were never close. In 1976, he challenged incumbent Gerald Ford (the man whom Nixon appointed Vice President to replace Agnew) for the Republican nomination, won several primaries, but narrowly lost the nomination at the convention. Though Ford confided in people he was considering a run for the presidency in 1980 to forestall Reagan`s ascendancy, he never did and Reagan won the nomination and the presidency.

Rumoured studio publicity claimed he was scheduled to play Rick Blaine in Casablanca (1942); however, this was never the case.

He was the first former American president to die in the 21st Century.

Pictured on a USA 37¢ commemorative postage stamp issued 9 February 2005. When the first-class letter rate was raised to 39¢ in January 2006, the US Postal Service received an unprecedented number of requests to reissue the stamp at the higher value. The 39¢ postage stamp was issued on 14 June 2006, using the same design as the earlier stamp.

Only United States President to have appeared in a shirt advertisement.

The former President was buried at his presidential library in Simi Valley, California.

The first President since Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve two full terms in office.

Pictured on a 60¢ memorial postage stamp issued by the Republic of the Marshall Islands 4 July, 2004, the first memorial to be issued in his honor.

A month after his death, items from the 40th president`s funeral, burial and week-long public viewing were selling fast on the online auction site eBay. The company has sold 780 pieces of Reagan funeral memorabilia since June 11, 2004 for a total of $66,000. The items range from programs (sold for up to $1,525 each) from the interment at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley to gratitude cards given to mourners who visited his casket.

Played Chicago Cubs hurler Grover Cleveland Alexander in the film The Winning Team (1952). He also served a brief stint as a broadcaster for WGN Radio, which broadcasts Cubs baseball games.

In the film American Beauty (1999), the Fitts family (Chris Cooper, Allison Janney and Wes Bentley) can be seen watching one of Reagan`s wartime films, This Is the Army (1943).

Turned down a guest appearance on "Simpsons, The" (1989).

He never actually broadcast Cubs games, he re-created them from telegraph reports while working for Des Moines radio station WHO in the 1930s. He demonstrated the technique of making it sound like he was actually at the games to Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray when he made a guest appearance during part of a Cubs telecast in the 1980s.

In 1978, after having served as governor of California but before running for President, Reagan came out against The Briggs Initiative, a ballot initiative introduced by a right-wing Republican state senator named John Briggs, which would have made it illegal for homosexuals to be employed as teachers in the California school system. Reagan strongly and vocally opposed the measure, saying that it infringed upon basic human rights and bordered on being unconstitutional. He is largely credited for turning public opinion against the measure and it was defeated in the election.

Had a photographic memory.

Became the first president to have a state funeral in Washington, D.C. since Lyndon Johnson in 1973.

Amidst the panic at the hospital after Reagan`s assassination attempt, a Secret Service agent was asked information for Reagan`s admission forms. The intern asked for Reagan`s last name. The agent, who was quite surprised at the question, responded "Reagan". The intern then asked for Reagan`s first name. The agent, again surprised, responded "Ronald". The intern didn`t look up, instead he unassumingly asked for Reagan`s address. The agent paused for a few moments in great surprise before saying "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue". That got the intern`s attention.

At the time of his death, he was the longest-living President of the United States, at age 93 years, 120 days. This record was surpassed by President Gerald Ford on 12 November 2006.

Originally was a very liberal member of the Democratic Party, but eventually converted to the Republican Party in 1962, when he was fifty-one. He gave a highly acclaimed speech in support of Barry Goldwater during the 1964 Presidential election.

He was the first president to beat the "zero factor." Before him, every president elected in a year ending in zero (beginning with 1840) had died in office.

Influenced by the Martin Scorsese film Taxi Driver (1976), John Hinckley - the son of a prominent Republican family from Colorado - tried to assassinate Reagan in 1981 in order to impress actress Jodie Foster. Foster had won her first Oscar nomination for the film, in which Robert De Niro`s eponymous character, `Travis Bickle`, tried to assassinate a liberal Democratic presidential candidate to impress Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), the woman he is obsessed with. Hinckley was acquitted by a jury on reasons of insanity and remains incarcerated in a psychiatric facility 25 years after committing the crime.

On Tuesday, March 14, 1972, during his second term as governor of the Golden State, expunged the criminal record of Merle Haggard, granting him a full pardon.

Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1989.

For two weeks in 1954, Reagan opened as a stand-up comic at the Ramona Room of the Hotel Last Frontier in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Although he was 30 when the United States entered World War II, he volunteered for military service. He was turned down for combat duty due to his poor eyesight.

Was the first guest of honor on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, in 1973.

Because of his battle with Alzheimer`s disease, he was unaware that his daughter Maureen had died. Wife Nancy understandably chose not to tell him.

When Reagan`s long-time friend and first Hollywood agent, studio mogul Lew Wasserman, died on 3 June 2002, AP reported that their friendship was the subject of a controversial book called "Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA and the Mob" (1988). The book reviewed the federal investgation into the Reagan- Wasserman relationship and charges that alleged payoffs were made in the 1950s by Wasserman`s mammoth MCA agency to Reagan and some of his fellow officers of the Screen Actors Guild. Ultimately, Reagan was cleared in the inquiry.

Awarded the United States Congressional Gold Medal for ending the "Cold War" against Russia, along with his wife Nancy Davis, for fighting substance abuse among American youths. [May 16th 2002]

While President of the USA, his Secret Service codename was "Rawhide".

Became the oldest ex-president in U. S. history, surpassing the previous record-holder, John Adams. [October 11, 2001]

When he was a young man, he had a part-time job as a lifeguard. He once had to retrieve an old man`s dentures at the bottom of the pool and did so without hesitating.

Brother of Neil Reagan (1908-1996).

Daughter, with first wife - actress Jane Wyman - Maureen Reagan dies of malignant melanoma (skin cancer) at her Sacramento-area home. [8 August 2001]

Father of Maureen Reagan and Michael Reagan with Jane Wyman.

Was portrayed on "Saturday Night Live" (1975) by seven different actors: Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Charles Rocket, Harry Shearer, Robin Williams, Joe Piscopo, and Phil Hartman.

Was presented with George Gipp`s letterman`s sweater by the University of Notre Dame football team on January 18, 1989, two days before leaving the White House.

Member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

Was a sports announcer in Des Moines, Iowa, before becoming an actor in 1937.

Son of John Edward Reagan and Nelle Clyde Wilson Reagan.

Graduate of Eureka College (1932).

President of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952 and 1959-1960.

Governor of California. Term of service: 2 January 1967 - 6 January 1975.

40th president of the United States (20 January 1981 - 20 January 1989).

William Holden was the best man at his wedding to Nancy Davis in 1952.

Father of Ron Reagan and Patti Davis with Nancy Davis.

Captain, US Army Air Corps. Because of a severe hearing loss, he was not allowed any flying duties. However, he appeared in training films. Prior to the war, he was a cavalry officer in the Nebraska National Guard.