John Neil Reagan (September 16, 1908 – December 11, 1996) was an American radio station manager, CBS senior producer, and senior vice president of

McCann Erickson McCann, formerly McCann Erickson, is an American global advertising agency network, with offices in over 120 countries. McCann is part of McCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including direct digital marketing agency MRM//McC ...

. He was the older brother of the Hollywood star and

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

Life and career

Neil Reagan was born in

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fif ...

on September 16, 1908.Yager (2006), p. 63 He was baptized as a Catholic, the faith of his father. As an infant, he attended his mother's church, but later became affiliated with his father's religion. His younger brother was baptized and raised in their mother's

Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

church. Neil was described as a boisterous and gregarious personality in his youth.Yager (2006), p. 64 His family and friends called him "Moon", which came from the ''

Moon Mullins ''Moon Mullins'' is an American comic strip which had a run as both a daily and Sunday feature from June 19, 1923, to June 2, 1991. Syndicated by the Tribune Media Services, Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate, the strip depicts the lives of ...

'' comic strip. In 1933, Neil graduated from Eureka College with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. He followed his brother to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and established a career as a television producer and advertising executive. From the 1930s through the 1950s, Neil Reagan directed the radio series '' Dr. Christian'', starring Jean Hersholt. In between he launched a brief Hollywood career as a supporting actor in films such as '' Tugboat Annie Sails Again'' (1940) and '' Doughboys in Ireland'' (1943). Neil Reagan directed his brother in the television series ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...

''. He served as president of both the Hollywood and Los Angeles advertising clubs, and also served on numerous community and professional boards including: the Crippled Children's Society of Los Angeles, the Kennedy Child Study Center in Santa Monica, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. He was an alternate delegate to the 1972 Republican National Convention from California, and a delegate to the 1980 Republican National Convention. The Reagan Physical Education Center on the Eureka College campus was dedicated in 1970 in honor of both Ronald and Neil Reagan. Twelve years later, Ronald Reagan would return to the Reagan Center to make one of his most important foreign policy speeches of his first term known as the START speech, or Eureka speech. Reagan died from heart failure at a hospital in San Diego on December 11, 1996, at age 88. He is buried in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, at Highland Memorial Gardens Cemetery.

Family

His wife, Ruth Elizabeth "Bess" Reagan (née Hoffman; 1908–2010), whom he wed in 1935, died in 2010 at the age of 102. The couple had no children.

Selected filmography

* '' Doughboys in Ireland'' (1943)

References

Bibliography

* Harmer, John, ''Reagan: Man of Principle'', Cedar Fort, 2002, * Watson, Robert W., ''White House Studies Compendium, Volume 1'', Nova Publishers, 2007, * Yager, Edward M., ''Ronald Reagan's Journey: Democrat to Republican'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2006, {{DEFAULTSORT:Reagan, Neil 1908 births 1996 deaths California Republicans Eureka College alumni People from Lee County, Illinois People from Tampico, Illinois People from Greater Los Angeles Reagan family Works Progress Administration workers