Michael Reagan, son of former President Ronald Reagan, has died, his family says
Michael Reagan, son of former President Ronald Reagan, has died, his family announced Tuesday.
He died Sunday in Los Angeles surrounded by his family, according to a statement from the Reagan family. He was 80 years old.
“Michael was and always will be a beloved husband, father and grandfather,” the family said. “Our hearts are deeply broken as we mourn the loss of a man who meant so much to all who knew and loved him.”
Republican strategist Michael Reagan speaks at a get-out-the-vote rally for Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle with Senator John McCain on October 29, 2010, in Las Vegas.
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Michael Reagan, one of the former president’s five children, was a nationally syndicated, conservative political commentator. radio talk show host.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute remembered him as a “steadfast guardian of his father’s legacy.”
“Michael Reagan lived a life marked by conviction, purpose and a steadfast devotion to President Reagan’s ideals,” Fred Ryan, chairman of the foundation’s board of directors, said in a statement. “A best-selling author, nationally syndicated radio talk show host, and sought-after public speaker, Michael used his voice to defend freedom, personal responsibility, and the principles that defined his father’s presidency.”
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, president of the conservative student organization Young America’s Foundation, said he was a “wonderful inspiration to many of us.”
“He did much more than share stories about his father,” Walker said in a statement. “He challenged the next generation to share the values he championed throughout his public life. He called them to be happy warriors in the battle to defend the founding principles of our republic.”
Michael Reagan died after a battle with cancer, according to Andrew Coffin, vice president of the Young America’s Foundation and director of the Reagan Ranch.
He He was adopted by Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman, hours after his birth on March 18, 1945, according to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.
The couple also had two daughters: Maureen Reagan, a political activist who died in 2001 at the age of 60, and Christine Reagan, who died at birth or shortly after, according to the presidential library.
Ronald Reagan also had two children with his second wife, former first lady Nancy Reagan: actress and author Patti Davis and Ron Reagan, a political commentator.
Michael Reagan is survived by his wife, Colleen, his two children, Ashley and Cameron, and their families.
