Michael Reagan, a son of former President Ronald Reagan who carried on his conservative legacy, died on Sunday after a battle with cancer, according to statements issued by organizations affiliated with his father. He was 80.
“We lost an American hero, a faithful son and a devoted father and grandfather this week,” Andrew Coffin, vice president and director of the Reagan Ranch, wrote in a statement posted on the website for Young America’s Foundation. Mr. Reagan often worked with the organization, which is geared toward young conservatives, Mr. Coffin said.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute also announced Mr. Reagan’s death on X.
“Michael Reagan lived a life shaped by conviction, purpose, and an abiding devotion to President Reagan’s ideals,” the institute wrote in the social media post.
As the chairman and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation, he supported causes and topics his father heralded in working to preserve the former president’s legacy, according to the foundation’s website.
In a letter on the foundation’s site, Mr. Reagan said he was most proud of his father’s “steadfast dedication to individual liberty and global democracy and the positive impact these values had upon our nation and our world.”
He often worked as a radio host, sometimes filling in on the talk radio host Michael Jackson’s show and had his own program, “The Michael Reagan Show.” In addition, he wrote many columns for various outlets, including Newsmax, the right-wing cable channel and site.
Douglas Elmets, a communications consultant in Sacramento who worked in the Reagan White House, described Michael Reagan as an “affable and engaging” figure who both celebrated his father and pushed to assert his own identity.
“He had his own family and mission, and unlike many relatives of presidents, he didn’t try to latch on or take advantage,” Mr. Elmets said. “But he would take phone calls and respond to emails from people I don’t think he knew well just because he was the president’s son, to carry on that legacy.”
In 2015, Mr. Elmets said, Michael Reagan was instrumental in helping raise money to install a now-iconic statue of President Reagan in the State Capitol in Sacramento — a tribute to the president’s tenure as a former governor. Politically as well as physically, the eight-foot-tall, 800-pound bronze statue was a heavy lift for Republicans in liberal California. “But Michael Reagan was very supportive and used his platform and his radio show to talk about it,” Mr. Elmets said. The statue, funded entirely by private donations, remains a popular attraction for visitors to the Capitol building. “At his core, he was both a member of that family, but also someone whose own name carried weight.”
Mr. Reagan was adopted at birth by the former president and his first wife, the Oscar-winning actress Jane Wyman.
At times Michael Reagan and his father’s second wife, Nancy Reagan, were at odds with each other. In 1984, Michael Reagan asked Mrs. Reagan to apologize after she claimed he was estranged from his father, causing his Thanksgiving with his wife’s family to be upended, according to an interview with The New York Times.
Michael Edward Reagan was born on March 18, 1945, in Los Angeles. He wrote a book about his life, “Twice Adopted,” in which he said he had two mothers — his birth mother, Irene Flaugher, and Ms. Wyman.
He also wrote an autobiography, “Michael Reagan: On the Outside Looking In.”
Mr. Reagan’s survivors include his wife, Colleen, and two children, according to the Reagan Legacy Foundation.
Shawn Hubler and Jesus Jiménez contributed reporting.
Rylee Kirk reports on breaking news, trending topics and major developing stories for The Times.
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