What does Michael Reagan do except be Ronald Reagan's son?

Does that guy have a real life? I always find it disturbing when grown men spend their lives clinging to their parent's accomplishments, and not accomplishing anything on their own.

Other than that, he has no major accomplishment that I know of.

He has a daily column in our newspaper and it sounds like Jerry Falwell wrote it.He is such a moron I cant stand to read a word of it

A known fact.

...at Ronnie's funeral, when Michael sidled up to the casket for a photo-op hug and she looked up at him as if she were thinking "What the HELL are you doing here?"

I actually felt really bad for him at that moment.

I don't care for him, but that level of rejection has to be painful.

I wonder what happened for that to happen. To be rejected by one's on family, especially your mother, must be really sad. :( I couldn't imagining that happening to me since my family is all I have.

falling out and the daughter wrote a tell-all book about Nancy. I think they have made up now, though.

Maureen Reagan, Ron Sr's daughter by Jane what's-her-name movie star, learned the lesson of kissing Nancy's ass so that she, Maureen could remain close to her father. Nancy seemed to have eventually trusted Maureen who died of a stroke or something.

two stepchildren rejected US despite everything we tried to do for them. I am in a 32 year marriage with their father. These two women have continuously denied us access to their children. Result is: We have five grandchildren ages 8 to 20 who have been poisoned against their father and me and who don't know us at all.

Being the second wife and living in a "blended" (ha-ha) family is extremely difficult. I can't imagine the complications if a child is adopted (which Michael was) and then having so little contact with your politician father that you have to introduce yourself to him at a public function. This is something that Michael Reagan relates in his book.

I despise his politics, but feel bad for him anyway. Maureen seemed better accepted -- she was President Reagan's biological child I think and former wife Jane Wyman who is still alive -- tells little or nothing to the press anymore. I think Ron Reagan (his other son by Nancy) turned out politically progressive. He is entertaining, upbeat and a good speaker. I enjoyed his work on "Coast-to-Coast" but hear that cable show has been cancelled.

:( I do feel bad and so sad about your situtation. :hug: And yes I saw Ron on MSNBC once and he proudly proclaimed he was a liberal. He spoke last year at the convention on stem cell research. Even though his show is canceled I believe he still pundints on various shows.

he was adopted by Ronnie and his first wife Jane Wyman. Ronnie and Nancy had two of their own Ron Jr. and Patty. Ron Jr and Patty didn't even know Michael existed till one day he showed up to stay at their house in Pacific Palisades. Nancy gave him some teeny tiny room and kept him isolated from her two children.

So Ron is the golden boy? And here all these conservatives don't like Ron.

Hollywood. It might not have been his idea. Not a lot is known about that marriage, Wyman never talked about it--she limited her remarks to "NO COMMENT" and could not be budged, ever.

The happy family made good copy for the movie magazines, and the actress did not have to "ruin her figure" by having a child.

And of course, we all know Nancy was "up the pole" as they quaintly termed it, when she married Ronnie...!

They pretty much ignored Michael and Maureen (Ronnie & Jane Wyman's 2 kids). Michael was adopted and Maureen was Ronnie & Jane's biological child.

It was really cruel the way Michael and Maureen were shut out by Ronnie and Nancy.

I think Maureen has written about it, and at Ronnie funeral Ron Jr. went out of his way to try to make Michael & Maureen feel included.

Nancy still gave them the cold-shoulder at the funeral, from what I observed.

She died over four years ago, of cancer, at the age of 60.

Michael wrote a book, with the famous story where Ronald came to speak at his school, and did not even recognize him.

Nancy can barely walk, and has serious glaucoma--she is quite frail at this stage in her life. I think she was just doing the best she could to get through all of the ceremonies. I thought it was rather shitty the way Dick Cheney abandoned her in the rotunda--she looked like she was afraid of slipping on the marble floor. He should have stayed nearby to give her his arm.

I wonder how the conservatives would feel if they knew that since Reagan is their golden president. That's so sad that Reagan didn't even recognize him! :( Poor dude.

Well, he did a better job than Dick Cheney did when he came to the rotunda. I felt so bad. Cheney brought my mother up to the casket, so she could pay her respects. She is in her 80's, and she has glaucoma and has trouble seeing. There were steps, and he left her there. He just stood there, letting her flounder. I don't think he's a mindful human being. That's probably the nicest way I can put it.

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/007074.html more at link

:( But how sweet of Ron. I have such the crush on him. ;) How old is he? Does anybody know?

What do you mean "clinging..."? Is there something in the news about him/them?

on which he gushes about his Father. Then he goes on other RW radio and TV shows, and gushes about his Father. I would call that clinging to the fact that he was once one of Ronald Reagan's cum drops, and nothing more.

and has no blood relation to Ronald Reagan. This must really bug him since he spends his entire life on the altar of his dad. Sad, given his dad was not the right wing wacko he is.

He's trying so hard to make Daddy love him.

Even Ronnie would be appalled by the fascist hack Michael is.

If you are not I give you 10-p20 moree posts until you are TOMB STONED.

By those who are unable to think in shades of grey or 'outside the box'.

I feel sorry for those people - but they are still 'THE PROBLEM'.

They are indeed the problem.

editing to say - pls see post #6.

Be embarrassed. OR _ GROW UP and think for yourself.

You were an (intelligent) poster caught in the cross hairs. BTW - you seem cool, and WELCOME to DU.

...I hadn't heard anything about him before.

how he does that when, from what I've read on this thread, that Reagan hardly paid attention to him. You'd think there would be some resentment there. :shrug: I'll never understand conservatives like that.

People want to talk to him. He knew his father FAR better than any of us. He saw his fathers dementia FAR MORE CLEARLY than anyone but his wife. He knew his father was being 'played', and had little to no ability to do anything about it.


He is attempting to make up for it now.

Michael is the guy who was advertising Newsmax one time. He's pretty bad. If you were referring to him, then my mistake.

and Jane Wyman.

See Post #17 for details.

but it sounds like the poster is defending Michael Reagan which is understandable if there was a mistake.I know who Michael Reagan is. He's pretty douchebaggy

Michael was against Nancy's stem cell initiatives, as well: http://www.fightpp.org/show.cfm?page=press&action=display&ID=74

And though Ron Jr. and Patty were at the bedside when he died, Michael was not, per reports: http://slick.org/deathwatch/mailarchive/msg01371.html

I like Ron JR. a lot--he has a very sharp wit, and he is quick on his feet. They have cancelled the MSNBC show he does with that RW former Nixon typist, Monica Crowley. I hope they find him another venue soon.

him along the road of success since he has the cache of being a Reagan, whether treated right or not.

There are always Karl Rove-types out there who are looking for the new, up-and-coming politicians and perhaps Michael thinks that someone will find him attractive in that way.

I kinda feel bad for him. I mean he's still a jerk but that's sad. I'm such a goddamn bleeding heart

HONESTLY (I know it is uncomortable).... but WHY???? Are you insecure about his sexuality (XYZ)....

OR, are you uncomfortable w/ his words? Do they make you feel icky inside.... hmmmm. I could recommend you find a good therapist.

I'm talking about Michael Reagan and I don't know what the fuck you're talking about

He seems to make many agitated and uncomfortable.

Deal with it.

how is he asexual?

I'm going to go to bed now...............

and say whatever he wants. When RR was in the WH, he was investigated and exonerated for stock fraud. Then he came under fire for using his father's name to hawk aerospace equipment. But the event that nearly ruptured the relationship with his parents came when the Secret Service accused him of stealing knickknacks from the White House - a charge Michael denied.

Ron and Nancy never even laid eyes on Michael's kids till they were several years old. While in his twenties Michael racked up staggering debt, had a failed marriage, and was dogged by a failure to hold down a steady job. Michael was never a large part of RR's life.

Read his autobiography, "On the Outside Looking In," written when he was still semi-estranged from RR and Nancy and still bitter.

From a NYT book review of a newer (1997) Michael Reagan book:
(snip)

…As for Michael Reagan, the President's son from his first marriage, to Jane Wyman, perhaps the most interesting part of his book is the description of how little contact he had with his absentee father. Sadly, he tells how he and his sister, Maureen, who traveled across the country to see their father at the hospital after he was shot, were initially turned away by Secret Service agents. ''Even then,'' he writes, ''we were being treated like stepchildren.''

http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/11/23/reviews/971123.23berket.html

:( So sad. A parent shouldn't ever favor their kids or treat one horribley over the other like that. :( And wow sounds like he's had a really bad timing in life.

how one day as a child his father referred to him as "Schmuck," and he felt so proud to have been given a nickname by his father. He told someone at school and found out what it really meant.

That's horrible. God, a real product of a awful parenting

ronnie didn't think much of him FWIW

what a waste of skin

he gave an elogy (or is it a eulogy?), where he spoke of how great a father Reagan was, and how he was so happy that he had been adopted by them. The weird thing was the freaky way he referred to his being adopted: "I was the chosen one."

It was also pretty disgusting, since he was basically saying that Ron and Nancy had to just live with whatever kid happened to pop out, whereas they went out of their way to get specifically him. Not to mention the strange religious-sounding nature of the statement.

I think his being adopted is a key to his being a complete RW douche now: he probably grew up feeling like he wasn't one of the "real" kids, but when Ron, Jr., started showing that he was going to be more opposed politically to Ron, Sr., Michael saw his chance to be seen as "the inheriter of Ronald Reagan's conservative legacy." Which also helps to explain the strange quote I have above. It's like he got up there and said in a whiny voice, "Goddamit, I'm special!"

And now that Reagan is gone he can pretend like he was the favorite and the golden boy when it appears to be the opposite which is sad. Sounds like someone is reaching out.

About fifty years ago a woman was trying to have kids unsuccessfully (none of today's fertility aids were available.)

So she adopted a little boy and everything went on just fine and this adoption obviously cleared up her troubled spots for conception and she finally bore at least one biological child.

The adopted boy went on to the Art Linkletter tv show and Art told the child to tell the audience who he was.

The little boy announced, "I am my mother's CHOSEN boy!" Thus began the chosen child syndrom to make adopted children feel that they too have an important place in the family.

As far as the biological children are concerned, let's face it...we are stuck with our brothers and sisters and our biological children and some of them are not necessarily the kind of people that we would "choose" to be around. I love my family, but I have seen families where the members just do not mesh....where the sons cause the mothers heartache, where incest reigns. So yes, when you are a biological parent, you have to accept "whatever pops out."