Reagan Administrations - Family Life

Family Life

Reagan married Jane Wyman, a Hollywood actress, in 1940, at a time when he was also a rising movie star. Their daughter Maureen was born the following year, and in 1945 they adopted a son, Michael. Jane Wyman continued to work in films through much of the 1940s and was more successful than he, winning an Oscar in 1948 for her role as a deaf-mute in Johnny Belinda. Her successful career and the infant death of a third child in 1947 contributed to the deterioration of their marriage, which ended with a divorce in 1948.

In 1952 Reagan married another actress, Nancy Davis, who abandoned her own career for the sake of her husband's. They had two children, a daughter Patricia born in 1952 and a son Ronald in 1958. Fiercely protective of Reagan, and as ambitious as he, she contributed to his political career and enjoyed the limelight, first as governor's wife in California in the late 1960s, later as first lady in...

[The entire page is 398 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the: