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DK Biography
Ronald Reagan
DK Biography: Ronald Reagan tells the story of the 40th president of the United States, including his boyhood in Illinois, his successful career as a Hollywood actor, his tenure as governor of California, and his two terms in the Oval Office. Along the way, it examines his vision, his strengths and weaknesses, and his enduring legacy as an American icon. Featuring detailed sidebars, handy vocabulary boxes, and a visual timeline, DK's Biography series is perfect for book reports or anytime reading.
Supports the Common Core State Standards.
Supports the Common Core State Standards.
128 pages, Paperback
First published December 20, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 16, 2023
Nice concise version of his career. Sometimes I need a dumbed down version to understand the stuff that happened. My dad loved Reagan …. He was a democrat but saw the good that he did as President. I tend to agree with my dad. He loved America and knew what was wrong and fought against ideologies that harmed our democratic republic. We would do well to bring back his ideas.
December 8, 2019
Pretty dry and technical for a children's biography.
September 16, 2021
reagan raises a chimp? nice.
March 10, 2014
Ronald Reagan's biography was very insightful. I personally liked reading this book, because I liked Ronald Reagan as a president. While reading this biography, I learned about his tactics while he was president, and when he acted in movies and TV shows as a young adult. I recommend this book if you want to learn a lot about Ronald Reagan, because this biography has plenty of information about his life.
February 23, 2011
Very good a must read 4 Reagan fans!
August 10, 2016
A wonderful introduction to biographies. The photographs are amazing and the text is easy to read and informative. A great way to introduce young readers to nonfiction.
October 24, 2012
Very informative.
May 12, 2013
Interesting but not very deep
December 6, 2014
Pretty awesome.
April 3, 2017
Oh! I understand the Iran-Contra thing now. Considering politics usually is so complicated, this book did a great job highlighting/summarizing issues dealt with during Reagan's presidency. The book didn't take sides and presented the information.
April 24, 2017
April
Ronald Reagan; A photographic story of a life
Michael Burgan
Ronald Reagan was probably one of the greatest politicians that the United States has ever seen. In fact, even today, the Republican party admires him so much that the current president Donald Trump even copied his campaign slogan Make America Great Again. Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 16, 1966 to his parents, Nelle and Jack Reagan, in Tampico Illinois. The Reagans did not have a lot of money, so they moved around the Midwest, searching for work, until they settled down in Dixon, Illinois when Ronald was twelve years old. He finished school there and graduated highschool with both athletic and extracurricular honors. After high school, Reagan went to Eureka college. Although his grades were not that great, while he was there Ronald established himself as a student leader. This helped him be able to graduate college with an undergraduate degree in both sociology and economics. After college it was difficult to find work due to the Great Depression, however, Ronald finally managed to find a job as a radio announcer for the WOC radio station after being turned down multiple times by other radio stations. After being very successful as a radio announcer, Ronald decided to move to Los Angeles to start an acting career. After getting a lot of rejections from other studios, he was hired by Warner Bros to act in some of their low budget B list movies. As he became more popular he began to make better movies, some of which include, Knute Rockne, All American and King’s Row, which he almost won an academy award for. Towards the late 1940s and early 1950s, Ronald Reagan began his political career by speaking out against Communists. His anti-communist feelings, and a desire for a smaller government caused for him to switch his political party from Democrat to Republican. Reagan married actress Nancy Davis and had two kids with her. He then ran for governor of California in 1966 and won. As governor he tried to cut government spending and taxes. He also cut many social welfare programs that he believed that states shouldn’t provide. In 1976 Ronald Reagan decided to run for the presidency of the United States. He ran against the sitting president, Gerald Ford in the Republican Primaries and lost. However, instead of giving up, he ran again in 1980 against George Bush in the Republican Primaries. He won and took Bush as his vice president, together they beat Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan became president of the United States. His presidency started off shockingly when he was shot by John Hinckley, he survived however, and continued his duties as the president. As president, Reagan based his domestic policy on reducing the size and role of the federal government and something called Reaganomics. Reaganomics called for widespread tax cuts, decreased social spending, increased military spending, and deregulation of the domestic market. Ronald Reagan also used a principle called trickle down economics which is the belief that if you lower taxes on the rich and businesses, the middle and lower classes will reap the benefits to when they receive more and higher paying jobs. Overall his economic plans totally worked and helped to make the country a better place by improving the economy by about 40% and creating over 16 million jobs. Along with how successfully Ronald Reagan improved the American economy, he also won the Cold War. Presidents before Ronald Reagan tried to reduce Cold War tensions and achieve peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan believed that wasn’t the right approach and understood that communism could not compete with the free market system of America. So he started a large increase in the quantity and quality of America’s weaponry and dared the Soviets to match it. Reagan anticipated that the Soviets would become prideful and angry so they would try to match America’s growth. We also supported anti-soviet uprisings by people in various places around the world. The final outcome of this was the collapse of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe which brought freedom to this region. Ronald Reagan was one of the greatest American presidents whose impact on this great land will be felt for many years to come.
Ronald Reagan was a great actor, governor, and most importantly a great president. So as you would expect his life has many profound themes. However, the theme that I feel best describes his life is leadership. There are many times in his life when Ronald has shown extraordinary leadership. For example, when he was a freshman in college, Ronald represented the freshmen in a strike against the school president because he wanted to fire professors and make other changes to save money. As a result of this, the school president resigned. Then as an actor, Reagan helped to lead the screen actors guild. As governor, he took charge and worked with Democrats to fix the state welfare system. Most importantly, as President of the United States, Reagan took the initiative that 3 presidents before him didn’t and changed the strategy for the Cold War. This resulted in the U.S. winning the Cold War before tensions could have risen and nuclear war could have begun. Throughout his life Ronald Reagan has shown exceptional leadership and that leadership has changed America for the better.
Ronald Reagan; A photographic story of a life
Michael Burgan
Ronald Reagan was probably one of the greatest politicians that the United States has ever seen. In fact, even today, the Republican party admires him so much that the current president Donald Trump even copied his campaign slogan Make America Great Again. Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 16, 1966 to his parents, Nelle and Jack Reagan, in Tampico Illinois. The Reagans did not have a lot of money, so they moved around the Midwest, searching for work, until they settled down in Dixon, Illinois when Ronald was twelve years old. He finished school there and graduated highschool with both athletic and extracurricular honors. After high school, Reagan went to Eureka college. Although his grades were not that great, while he was there Ronald established himself as a student leader. This helped him be able to graduate college with an undergraduate degree in both sociology and economics. After college it was difficult to find work due to the Great Depression, however, Ronald finally managed to find a job as a radio announcer for the WOC radio station after being turned down multiple times by other radio stations. After being very successful as a radio announcer, Ronald decided to move to Los Angeles to start an acting career. After getting a lot of rejections from other studios, he was hired by Warner Bros to act in some of their low budget B list movies. As he became more popular he began to make better movies, some of which include, Knute Rockne, All American and King’s Row, which he almost won an academy award for. Towards the late 1940s and early 1950s, Ronald Reagan began his political career by speaking out against Communists. His anti-communist feelings, and a desire for a smaller government caused for him to switch his political party from Democrat to Republican. Reagan married actress Nancy Davis and had two kids with her. He then ran for governor of California in 1966 and won. As governor he tried to cut government spending and taxes. He also cut many social welfare programs that he believed that states shouldn’t provide. In 1976 Ronald Reagan decided to run for the presidency of the United States. He ran against the sitting president, Gerald Ford in the Republican Primaries and lost. However, instead of giving up, he ran again in 1980 against George Bush in the Republican Primaries. He won and took Bush as his vice president, together they beat Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan became president of the United States. His presidency started off shockingly when he was shot by John Hinckley, he survived however, and continued his duties as the president. As president, Reagan based his domestic policy on reducing the size and role of the federal government and something called Reaganomics. Reaganomics called for widespread tax cuts, decreased social spending, increased military spending, and deregulation of the domestic market. Ronald Reagan also used a principle called trickle down economics which is the belief that if you lower taxes on the rich and businesses, the middle and lower classes will reap the benefits to when they receive more and higher paying jobs. Overall his economic plans totally worked and helped to make the country a better place by improving the economy by about 40% and creating over 16 million jobs. Along with how successfully Ronald Reagan improved the American economy, he also won the Cold War. Presidents before Ronald Reagan tried to reduce Cold War tensions and achieve peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan believed that wasn’t the right approach and understood that communism could not compete with the free market system of America. So he started a large increase in the quantity and quality of America’s weaponry and dared the Soviets to match it. Reagan anticipated that the Soviets would become prideful and angry so they would try to match America’s growth. We also supported anti-soviet uprisings by people in various places around the world. The final outcome of this was the collapse of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe which brought freedom to this region. Ronald Reagan was one of the greatest American presidents whose impact on this great land will be felt for many years to come.
Ronald Reagan was a great actor, governor, and most importantly a great president. So as you would expect his life has many profound themes. However, the theme that I feel best describes his life is leadership. There are many times in his life when Ronald has shown extraordinary leadership. For example, when he was a freshman in college, Ronald represented the freshmen in a strike against the school president because he wanted to fire professors and make other changes to save money. As a result of this, the school president resigned. Then as an actor, Reagan helped to lead the screen actors guild. As governor, he took charge and worked with Democrats to fix the state welfare system. Most importantly, as President of the United States, Reagan took the initiative that 3 presidents before him didn’t and changed the strategy for the Cold War. This resulted in the U.S. winning the Cold War before tensions could have risen and nuclear war could have begun. Throughout his life Ronald Reagan has shown exceptional leadership and that leadership has changed America for the better.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews