5 things to know about the late Michael Reagan: 'I was a chosen one'
5. Devoted to preserving his father's legacy: 'I was the lucky one'
Michael served as both chairman and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation, which he founded in the early 2000s to memorialize his father's accomplishments as president and champion his ideals, such as individual liberty, democracy and support for veterans and military families.
He also worked closely with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute, speaking frequently at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
Michael maintained that his relationship with his father grew stronger and more meaningful in his later years, especially as his health declined while suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
During an interview with podcaster Dave Rubin in 2019, Michael recounted how even when his father's condition deteriorated to the point where he forgot his name, he still remembered him as the young man who always hugged him goodbye.
"When he got Alzheimer's, and he got to a point he could no longer say my name, he remembered I was the young man who hugged him hello, hugged him goodbye," Michael said. "And so when he saw me, he would open up his arms, not able to say my name, and I'd fall into his arms and he'd give me that little hug and I'd hug him."
Michael remembered one day he forgot to hug his father goodbye, and looked back to see him standing at the front door of the house with his arms outstretched.
"Nancy had helped him with little baby steps all the way to the front door. He was standing at the front door [with his arms out]," he said. "I had forgotten to hug him goodbye. I said, 'Oh, my God,' and ran. I tear up thinking about it."
"I hugged him and he hugged me back, and he turned [and took] baby steps back into the house."
During his eulogy for his father in 2004, Michael expressed gratitude for his adoption.
"Ronald Reagan adopted me into his family 1945," he said. "I was a chosen one. I was the lucky one."
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
