page_title: Ronald Reagan
section_title: Marriages and children
hierarchical_section_title: Ronald Reagan / Marriages and children
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Actors Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan arriving at the premiere for the American anthology film Tales of Manhattan (1942) in Los Angeles, Calif., 1942. Publication: Los Angeles Times Publication date: August 5, 1942 Source: Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library Note about non-renewal of serial copyrights: Note
context_page_description: Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and became a highly influential voice of modern conservatism. Prior to his presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and union leader before serving as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975.
  Reagan was raised in a low-income family in small towns of northern Illinois. He graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and worked as a radio sports commentator. After moving to California in 1937, he found work as an actor and starred in a few major productions. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan worked to root out communist influence. In the 1950s, he moved into television and was a motivational speaker at General Electric factories. In 1964, his speech "A Time for Choosing" earned him national attention as a new conservative spokesman. Building a network of supporters, Reagan was elected governor of California in 1966. As governor, he raised taxes, turned a state budget deficit to a surplus, challenged the protesters at UC Berkeley, and ordered in National Guard troops during a period of protest movements.
context_section_description: In 1938, Reagan co-starred in the film Brother Rat with actress Jane Wyman (1917–2007). They announced their engagement at the Chicago Theatre and married on January 26, 1940, at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather church in Glendale, California. Together they had two biological children, Maureen (1941–2001) and Christine (b. in 1947 but lived only one day), and adopted a third, Michael (b. 1945). After the couple had arguments about Reagan's political ambitions, Wyman filed for divorce in 1948, citing a distraction due to her husband's Screen Actors Guild union duties; the divorce was finalized in 1949. Wyman, who was a registered Republican, also stated that their break-up was due to a difference in politics (Reagan was still a Democrat at the time).
  When Reagan became president 32 years later, he became the first divorced person to assume the nation's highest office; Donald Trump (2 divorces) would be the second, 36 years later. Reagan and Wyman continued to be friends until his death, with Wyman voting for Reagan in both his runs and, upon his death, saying "America has lost a great president and a great, kind, and gentle man."
  Reagan met actress Nancy Davis (1921–2016) in 1949 after she contacted him in his capacity as president of the Screen Actors Guild. He helped her with issues regarding her name appearing on a Communist blacklist in Hollywood. She had been mistaken for another Nancy Davis. She described their meeting by saying, "I don't know if it was exactly love at first sight, but it was pretty close." They were engaged at Chasen's restaurant in Los Angeles and were married on March 4, 1952, at the Little Brown Church in the Valley (North Hollywood, now Studio City) San Fernando Valley. Actor William Holden served as best man at the ceremony. They had two children: Patti (b. 1952) and Ronald "Ron" (b. 1958).
  The couple's relationship was close, authentic and intimate. During his presidency, they often displayed affection for one another; one press secretary said, "They never took each other for granted. They never stopped courting." He often called her "Mommy", and she called him "Ronnie." He once wrote to her, "Whatever I treasure and enjoy ... all would be without meaning if I didn't have you." In 1998, while he was stricken by Alzheimer's, Nancy told Vanity Fair, "Our relationship is very special. We were very much in love and still are. When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it's true. It did. I can't imagine life without him." Nancy Reagan died on March 6, 2016, at the age of 94.
caption: Reagan and his first wife Jane Wyman, 1942
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