PRINTER'S NO. 3254
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
717
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY STAATS, MURT, RYAN, SONNEY, GREINER, METCALFE,
PYLE, BURNS, KNOWLES, JAMES, COX, KAUFFMAN, BROWN, SCHMITT,
ROTHMAN, BARRAR, MACKENZIE, MENTZER, DUSH, MILLARD, PEIFER,
MOUL, ZIMMERMAN, SCHLEGEL CULVER AND OWLETT, FEBRUARY 3, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 3, 2020
A RESOLUTION
Honoring the life of former President of the United States,
Ronald Wilson Reagan.
WHEREAS, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911,
in northern Illinois to Nelle and John Reagan; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Reagan attended Eureka College, where he earned
a degree in economics in 1932, was elected student body
president and led a student revolt against the college president
after the college president tried to cut back the number of
faculty members; and
WHEREAS, While working as an announcer for the Chicago Cubs
Mr. Reagan took a screen test that landed him a seven-year
contract with Warner Brothers; and
WHEREAS, On May 25, 1937, Mr. Reagan enlisted in the United
States Army Reserve and was commissioned a second lieutenant in
the Officers Reserve Corps of the cavalry; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Reagan was ordered to active duty in April 1942,
however he was not permitted to go overseas due to poor
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eyesight, so he served in several capacities until he separated
from active duty on December 9, 1945; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Reagan was nominated president of the Screen
Actors Guild (SAG) in a special election in 1947 and was chosen
to serve seven additional one-year terms from 1947-1952 and in
1959; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Reagan led SAG through labor-management
disputes, the Taft-Hartley Act, the House Un-American Activities
Committee hearings and the Hollywood Blacklist era; and
WHEREAS, On March 4, 1952, Mr. Reagan married Nancy Davis
with whom he had two children; and
WHEREAS, In 1962, Mr. Reagan, a lifelong Democrat, became a
Republican and emerged as a leading conservative spokesman in
the Goldwater campaign of 1964; and
WHEREAS, In 1966, Mr. Reagan was elected Governor of
California where, in his first term, he froze government hiring
and approved tax hikes to balance the budget; and
WHEREAS, Despite an effort to recall Mr. Reagan in 1968, he
was reelected Governor in 1970; and
WHEREAS, In 1968 and 1976, Mr. Reagan unsuccessfully ran for
the Republican nomination for President of the United States;
and
WHEREAS, In 1980, Mr. Reagan ran against incumbent Jimmy
Carter and became the oldest person to be elected to the office
of President of the United States, a record he held until Donald
Trump was elected in November 2016; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Reagan served as President from 1981 to 1989;
and
WHEREAS, During his first term, Mr. Reagan survived an
assassination attempt, spurred the war on drugs and fought
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public sector labor; and
WHEREAS, When Mr. Reagan won his second term, he won 49 of 50
states and a record 525 electoral votes, the most of any
candidate in United States history; and
WHEREAS, The only state Mr. Reagan lost was Minnesota; and
WHEREAS, When Mr. Reagan left office after two terms, he held
an approval rating of 68%; and
WHEREAS, In 1994, Mr. Reagan announced that he was suffering
from Alzheimer's disease; and
WHEREAS, Ronald Wilson Reagan passed away on June 5, 2004;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life of
former President Ronald Wilson Reagan.
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