He spent much of his life fiercely defending his father’s legacy — despite a childhood that was far from painless.
In his autobiography, he revealed painful truths that he kept hidden all along.
Now Michael Reagan, the eldest son of former President Ronald Reagan, has died after a battle with cancer.
Michael Reagan, the oldest son of former President Ronald Reagan and a well-known conservative voice, has died at the age of 80.
The news was confirmed Tuesday by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, which honored him as “a steadfast guardian of his father’s legacy.”
“Michael was called home to be with the Lord on Sunday, January 4th, surrounded by his entire family,” his wife, Colleen Reagan, and two children, Cameron Reagan and Ashley Reagan Dunster, wrote in a statement. “Our hearts are deeply broken as we grieve the loss of a man who meant so much to all who knew and loved him.”
Reagan was a familiar figure in conservative media circles, serving as a contributor to Newsmax and hosting the long-running talk radio program The Michael Reagan Show, where he frequently defended his father’s policies and criticized modern political trends.
Born in 1945, Michael Reagan was the son of Irene Flaugher and, just hours later, adopted by Ronald Reagan and his then-wife, actress Jane Wyman.
In his 1988 autobiography, Michael Reagan opened up about what it was really like growing up as the adopted son of one of the most famous men in the world.
After learning from his sister Maureen that he had been adopted, Michael later reflected that much of his childhood felt like a long and often painful struggle to feel truly accepted within his adoptive family. Despite his father’s public success and stature, Michael described feeling emotionally distant and overlooked at key moments in his life.
One incident that deeply affected him occurred in 1975, when he married. On his wedding day, his father — then serving as governor of California — and his stepmother, Nancy Reagan, chose to attend Tricia Nixon’s wedding instead of his. For Michael, the decision reinforced long-standing feelings of being secondary and unseen.
Secret trauma
Those feelings of inadequacy were further intensified by a traumatic experience from his childhood. Michael revealed that he had been sexually abused by a male camp counselor. Confused, ashamed, and unable to understand that he was a victim rather than at fault, he never told anyone what had happened at the time.
As a result, Michael wrote that he carried a deep sense of stigma from a young age — first tied to being adopted, and later compounded by the secret trauma he endured in silence.
These experiences, he explained, shaped much of his inner life and struggles growing up, even as he lived in the shadow of extraordinary public prominence.
It was many years before Nancy Reagan told Michael that he was the biological son of an Army sergeant and a young woman who had placed him for adoption. Michael later connected with his biological family; although his birth mother had passed away, he was able to establish a relationship with his half-brother, Barry.
As an adult, he carved out his own public career, studying at Arizona State University and Los Angeles Valley College. Michael had a brief acting career, starring in television shows including Falcon Crest, and held a conservative radio talk show for nearly two decades.
Michael Reagan wrote two autobiographical books, On the Outside Looking In and Twice Adopted, writing about his difficult childhood and journey of faith. In the 2016 book Lessons My Father Taught Me, Michael detailed how it was growing up as the son of Ronald Reagan.
Best lesson from his father
”I really learned about America, and the military, when I would ride out to the ranch on any given Saturday morning with my father and he would regale me with songs of the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard. And he would just tell me about America,” Reagan told American Essence.
”One of the best lessons I learned from my father is that leadership isn’t about control — it’s about empowering others. He believed in surrounding himself with people who were smarter than him in specific areas and trusting them to do their jobs. He also allowed them to take the credit. In addition, he taught me that having strong convictions is crucial, but so is being able to listen to others with different viewpoints,” Michael once said about his dad.
When asked what he had learned most from his father, known for his powerful rhetoric, Michael said: “Forgiveness. I learned from my father that forgiveness is essential in order to heal. He was able to forgive his would-be assassin, John Hinckley Jr., and Pope John Paul II was able to forgive his would-be assassin.”
Following Ronald Reagan’s death in 2004 after battling Alzheimer’s, Michael became a leading force behind preserving and promoting his father’s legacy, including serving as chair of the Reagan Legacy Foundation.
Throughout his life, Reagan also spent much of his time raising money for charities. He organized fundraisers for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the Statue of Liberty Restoration Fund.
He was also on the advisory board for the Mixed Roots Foundation, which focuses on foster care and adoption in the US and abroad.
Rest in peace, Michael Reagan. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
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