The Life and Times of Ronald Reagan The life of Ronald Wilson Reagan is a story of unlikely successes. Born into a poor family, he came of age during the hard economics times of the Great Depression of the 1930's. Yet he was able to achieve great successes in two quite different fields-as an actor and in politics. Ronald Reagan is one of America's most interesting Presidents because of his varied background. "Neil Reagan had been expecting a baby sister when Ronald was born on February 6, 1911, in the front bedroom of a five - room flat above the general store where his father worked."1