Ronald Reagan Day in California and Ohio

Above all, we remember the man: his irresistible optimism, faith, and good humor.

Ronald Wilson Reagan born February 6, 1911 (d. June 5, 2004) was an American politician (40th President of the United States) and actor (the future president’s last movie role was in the 1964 release, The Killers).

Reagan’s nickname of “Dutch” was given to him at an early age by his family. Reagan’s ancestry is Irish on his father’s side and Scots-English on his mother’s side. The future president lost partial hearing in one ear when he was hurt on a movie set in the late 1930s, after a gun was fired next to his ear. Young Ronald Reagan was successful as an actor and football player at Eureka College. But his most important role was a lifeguard at a local park in Illinois. The future president saved an estimated 77 lives in his summers as a lifeguard. Ronald Reagan started out in life as a Democrat and supported the New Deal efforts of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Reagan officially became a Republican in 1962, but he had grown more conservative during the 1950s as he toured as a General Electric spokesman.

Reagan started eating jelly beans in 1967 as he was trying to quit a pipe-smoking habit. He really did enjoy jelly beans. According to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, his favorite flavor was licorice. One food that Reagan didn’t like was brussels sprouts. He served as the Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and as President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He nominated the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor, who served from 1986 to 2001.

The sixth day of February in Ohio is designated as "Ronald Reagan Day," in honor of the birthday of the fortieth president of the United States. (ORC: 5.2242 Ronald Reagan day. Effective Date: 2008 SB243 04-07-2009)

He liked to feed the squirrels outside of the Oval Office. In George H.W. Bush’s eulogy for Reagan, he said that on the 40th president’s last day in the White House, he left a sign on the Oval Office door addressed to the squirrels that said “Beware of the dog” because “our dog Millie came in and beat the heck out of the squirrels.”

Source: ca.gov | ohio.gov | wikipedia.org