- Michael Reagan
-
For other people named Michael Reagan, see Michael Reagan (disambiguation).
Michael Reagan 
Born Michael Edward Reagan
March 18, 1945
Los Angeles, California, U.S.Occupation Radio talk show host Spouse Pamela Gail Putnam (m. 1970–1971)
Colleen Sterns (m. 1975–present)Children Cameron and Ashley Reagan Michael Edward Reagan (born March 18, 1945) is a former American radio host and Republican strategist. His nationally syndicated radio show, The Michael Reagan Talk Show, aired on stations throughout the United States on the Premiere Radio Networks before being dropped, after which it moved to Radio America. After Radio America dropped the show it was picked up by American Family Radio for about one year. The show is no longer on the air. Reagan is said to be considering a challenge to Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2012.[1]
Contents
Early life
He was born in Los Angeles, California to Irene Flaugher (born 1916[2]- died December 26, 1985[3]), an unwed woman from Kentucky[4] who became pregnant through an affair with an army corporal named John Bourgholtzer[5] (died 1993). He was adopted by Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman shortly after his birth.
Michael grew up with the Reagan family in Beverly Hills, California, and later nearby Pacific Palisades. One childhood story he has told that introduced him to politics was how at the age of eight, he asked his father for a raise in his allowance. At the time, around 1953, his allowance was $1.00 a week. Ronald Reagan said that since he was paying 90 percent of his earnings to the federal government as income tax, he was not able to increase Michael's allowance. Mr. Reagan further said that when the President would give him a tax cut, then he could give his son an increase in his allowance. This, according to Michael, was how he was introduced to the subject of tax cuts and how that affected people.[6]
In 1964 he graduated from the Judson School, a boarding school outside of Scottsdale, Arizona.[7] At his high school graduation, Ronald Reagan introduced himself to his son by saying, "My name is Ronald Reagan. What's yours?". He replied, "I'm your son, Mike." "Oh," says Ronald Reagan. "I didn't recognize you."[7] He briefly attended Arizona State University.[8]
According to Nancy Reagan in her memoirs published in 1989, Reagan disclosed to his parents in 1987 a very painful incident in his boyhood which he had kept secret for many years. "At the age of eight, he had been sexually molested by a camp counselor, who had also taken nude pictures of him... Poor Mike had spent his whole life racked with guilt and in constant fear that these pictures would someday surface in a way that might embarrass him and, especially, his adoptive father."[9] Speaking at the opening of the Michael Reagan Center in Spring, Texas, October 7, 2005, Michael said, "At 8 years old, I thought I was going to hell." Michael said the experience drastically changed him: "I cussed God and his Son. I wanted to do anything I could to earn my way into hell." Michael said he was horrified that the pictures would be made public and ruin the lives of his family.[10]
Marriages and family
Sometime prior to September 1970, Reagan was working as a salesman for the clothing company Hart, Schaffner & Marx. He then became a director of special events catering at Michaelson Food Service Company in Los Angeles. It was while in this last job that he announced his engagement to Pamela Gail Putnam (born 1952), an aspiring dental assistant.[11] Pamela was the daughter of Duane Putnam, who was then the Atlanta Falcons football line coach. The couple married later that year, but were divorced a year later in 1971.
He married Colleen Sterns, an interior decorator, in 1975.[8] Together, they have two children, son Cameron and daughter Ashley. Reagan and his wife live in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles.[12]
Media career
As a young man, Reagan raced boats and later also sold them at a Sea Ray boat dealership in Van Nuys, California. He set world records in power boat racing,[13] and raised more than $1.5 million for charities like the United States Olympic Team, Cystic Fibrosis and Juvenile Diabetes Foundations and the Statue of Liberty Restoration Fund through his race team. His efforts were recognized when he became a recipient of the Victor Award for outstanding sports and humanitarian achievement.
Michael Reagan addresses sailors of the USS Ronald Reagan, 2002
His first entertainment broadcast job was as a game show host, in charge of the original syndicated version of Lingo, which was taped in Canada but broadcast in the United States. The show lasted only for the 1987–1988 season, and Michael left the show before its demise in the wake of financial problems with the show's producers.
In the mid-1970s Reagan began his radio career with "On Energy". His big break in talk radio started in the Southern California local market as a guest host for Michael Jackson's[14] talk radio show slot on KABC in Los Angeles. After this beginning, he landed a talk show spot on KSDO radio in San Diego, California. Reagan's rating success in the San Diego market gave him the opportunity to take his talk show nationwide in 1992 with the Premiere Radio Networks, later being dropped from the network. Reagan also does public speaking to groups. He also delivers conservative commentary from time to time on cable television news programs such as the Fox News Channel as well as on the Internet for websites such as NewsMax.[12][15] He also wrote a book titled Twice Adopted in 2004.
In 1988, he authored with Joe Hyams an autobiographical book Michael Reagan: On The Outside Looking In.
After his show was dropped from the Premiere Radio Networks, it was picked up by the Radio America Network. In January 2009, Reagan's show was removed from the Radio America lineup and replaced by Roger Hedgecock.[16] Reagan said that he wished Hedgecock well and that he will continue syndication through American Family Radio.[17] As of May 2010, AFR has dropped Reagan's show, and his site no longer makes any mention of a radio show. The Michael Reagan Talk Show has not been picked up by any other network at this time.
Controversial remarks
Reagan had interjected his broadcasts with provocative and, at times, controversial statements. Reacting to the Mark Foley scandal in 2006, Reagan said, "Any member of Congress who was aware of the sexual emails and protected the congressman should also resign effective immediately."[18]
In June 2008, Christian conservative activist Mark Dice launched a campaign urging people to send letters and DVDs to troops stationed in Iraq which support the theory that the 9/11 attacks were an "inside job". "Operation Inform the Soldiers," as Dice has called it, prompted Reagan to comment that Dice should be killed for treason. Reagan said on June 10, 2008: "How about you take Mark Dice out and put him in the middle of a firing range. Tie him to a post, don't blindfold him, let it rip and have some fun with Mark Dice." Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a liberal/progressive media criticism organization, asked Radio America at the time to explain whether it permits "its hosts to call for murder on the air".
Post-media career
In 2010 Reagan began selling email addresses with the suffix @Reagan.com for an annual price of $39.95 per year. Reagan claims that the service is meant to combat competitors such as Apple, Hotmail, AOL and Gmail which invest money into liberal causes.[19]
On the February 10, 2011 episode of EWTN's The World Over with Raymond Arroyo, Reagan discussed his reversion back to the Catholic faith.[20]
2008 Presidential election
Reagan supported Mitt Romney until he dropped out of the race on February 7, 2008. Eight days later Reagan announced his support for Senator John McCain of Arizona, comparing the nomination battle between Romney and McCain to the 1976 battle between Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. Based on Reagan's actions after losing to Ford in 1976, Michael Reagan said that his father would have supported McCain.[21]
Reagan later expressed his support for McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, comparing her favorably to his father.[22]
After the McCain-Palin ticket was defeated by Democrats Barack Obama and Joseph Biden, Reagan opined that the loss was the fault of "the big-government, big-spending Republicans", and that the Republican Party's path to success would be to appeal to "values voters".[23]
See also
References
- ^ Feinstein weak in poll, but no GOP challenger yet, Accessed 9/16/2011.
- ^ Genealogy of Campbell Rice (includes Irene Flaugher) Accessed 7/4/2009.
- ^ People Magazine archives Dougherty, Margot and Lois Armstrong. "Binding Up the Wounds." People Magazine, 29, 11 (March 21, 1988). Accessed 7/4/2009.
- ^ http://kydgi.ky.gov:2005/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/ORP&CISOPTR=614&REC=2
- ^ Bourgholtzer is a surname of German origin. See Jones (2006), p. 102
- ^ Reagan, Michael; Hyams, Joe. Michael Reagan: On the Outside Looking In. Kensington Publishing Corporation, 1988.
- ^ a b Lavin, Cheryl (April 17, 1988). "Family Outcast: A Reagan Son Sadly Remembers Years Of Neglect". Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-04-17/features/8803090826_1_michael-reagan-four-reagan-children-maureen. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
- ^ a b Barrett, Laurence I.; Wallis, Claudia (January 5, 1981). "Four Reagans Used to Going Their Own Ways". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922301-2,00.html. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
- ^ Nancy Reagan, My Turn. The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan (with William Novak), Random House, New York, 1989, p. 185
- ^ "Arrow Project dedicates Michael Reagan Center", by Melecio C. Franco, Kingwood Observer, Houston Community Newspapers, 19 October 2005, Page 1D
- ^ "Michael Reagan, Governor's Son, to Marry Miss Pamela Putnam", The New York Times, September 22, 1970
- ^ a b "Motivational Speakers/Michael Reagan". Premier Speakers Bureau. 2010. http://premierspeakers.com/2551/index.cfm?source+overture&OVRAW=%22michael%20reagan%22&OVKEY=michael%20reagan&OVMTC=standard. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ^ "Biography of columnist Michael Reagan". TownHall.com. 2011. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelReagan. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ^ Not to be confused with the recording artist of the same name.
- ^ NewsMax Pundits. NewsMax.com.
- ^ Press release
- ^ http://www.reagan.com/
- ^ "Conservatives also seek Hastert's resignation". February 15, 2007. http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Conservatives_also_seek_Hastert_resignation_1002.html.
- ^ "Ronald Reagan's Son Launches @Reagan Email Alternative to Lefty Gmail, AOL, Hotmail". Fast Company. 2010-08-02. http://www.fastcompany.com/1676888/ronald-reagans-son-launches-gmail-and-yahoo-competitor?partner=rss. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
- ^ "Raymond Arroyo with Michael Reagan". EWTN. 2011-02-10. http://en.gloria.tv/?media=130598.
- ^ Ronald Reagan Would Back McCain http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25026
- ^ "Welcome Back, Dad" Human Events, September 4, 2008
- ^ Reagan, Michael (November 13, 2008). "The Republican Party is a Grass-Roots Party". WHK. http://whkradio.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelReagan/2008/11/13/the_republican_party_is_a_grass-roots_party?page=full&comments=true. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
Bibliography
- Jones, George F., German-American names, Genealogical Pub. Co., 2006, ISBN 0806317647
External links
- Michael Reagan's website
- Tough Love, Reminisces of his childhood and his adoptive mother
- The Reagan Legacy Foundation, a non-profit, charitable organization founded by Michael Reagan, adopted son of former President Ronald Reagan.
- Michael Reagan Center for Advocacy & Research, a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to research and advocacy in the area of public policies that benefit the safety, stability and well-being of children and families.
Template:Father Ronald Reagan
Categories:- American adoptees
- American talk radio hosts
- American game show hosts
- American journalists
- American evangelicals
- Writers from California
- Children of Presidents of the United States
- Conservatism in the United States
- American Roman Catholics
- Reagan family
- Radio programs on XM Radio
- People from Los Angeles, California
- California Republicans
- 1945 births
- Living people
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
