Quotes:
"I will feel equality has arrived when we can elect to office women who are as unqualified as some of the men who are already there."
"We're an ideal political family, as accessible as Disneyland."
| Maureen Reagan | |
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Maureen Reagan (center) with Robert Urich and Jack Hogan in a publicity photo for the television show Vector, 1974 |
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| Born | Maureen Elizabeth Reagan January 4, 1941 Los Angeles, California |
| Died | August 8, 2001 (aged 60) Granite Bay, California |
| Spouse |
John Filippone (m. 1961–1962) |
| Parents | Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) Jane Wyman (1917-2007) |
Maureen Elizabeth Reagan (January 4, 1941 – August 8, 2001) was the first child of former President Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman.[1] Her siblings were Michael Reagan; a sister, Christine, who died shortly after birth, and—from her father's second marriage to Nancy Davis—Patti Davis and Ron Reagan.
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Reagan pursued a career in acting in her youth, appearing in films such as Kissin' Cousins (1964) with Elvis Presley.[2]
She was married three times:
Reagan was involved with the Republican Party and worked as a political activist, radio talk show host, commentator and health care advocate. Her most active political years were in the 1980s, during her father's presidency, when she was a member of the California World Trade Commission, chairwoman of the United States delegation to the United Nations' Decade for Women Conference in Kenya, in 1985; co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, and chairwoman of the Republican Women's Political Action League.
She was the first daughter of a president to run for political office, [9] but both of her attempts at election to a public office ended in defeat. She ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate from California in 1982, and in 1992 for California's 36th congressional district.[10]
Although they maintained a united front, Maureen Reagan differed from her father on several key issues. Although reared Roman Catholic following her mother's conversion, she was pro-choice on abortion.[11] She also believed that Oliver North should have been court-martialed.[12]
After her father announced his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in 1994, Maureen Reagan became a member of the Alzheimer's Association board of directors and served as the group’s spokeswoman. During her hospitalization for melanoma cancer, Maureen was only floors away from her father, who had suffered a severe fall.[13]
Reagan served on the Board of Trustees of her father's alma mater, Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois from March 2000 until her death. On May 9, 2000, she was the speaker at the dedication of the Ronald Reagan Peace Garden on campus. The Reagan Peace Garden recognized her father's contribution to the end of the Cold War. It had been raining all day during several other speeches, but when she stepped to the lectern the sun broke through. She opened her remarks to the crowd of more than 1,000 by saying, "the sun always shines on Ronald Reagan."
Maureen Reagan died in Granite Bay, California, on August 8, 2001, aged 60, from melanoma.
Reagan volunteered with actor David Hyde Pierce, of TV's Frasier, at the Alzheimer’s Association. At Maureen's funeral on August 19, 2001, Pierce spoke to the gathering at Cathedral of Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, California and recalled his friend's tireless devotion to fighting the mind-robbing illness. "When she was given lemons, she did not make lemonade. She took the lemons, threw them back and said, 'Oh, no you don't.'"[14]
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