DOSSIER: CLS-049 · SUBJECT: Ronald W. Reagan · CLASSIFICATION: PUBLIC
METHODOLOGY: SYMMETRIC · STATUS: ACTIVE
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49. Ronald W. Reagan † (R) — C+ 6.5 [Personnel File Pending]

40th President of the United States 1981-1989 · 33rd Governor of California 1967-1975 · President SAG 1947-1952 · Eureka College · deceased 5 June 2004
M01M02M03M04M05M06M07M08M09M10M11M12M13M14
77868665756956

Strengths: M03 Score 8 named anchor — the "Eleventh Commandment" (Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican) sustained career-long civility pattern + 1980 debate "There you go again" institutional disagreement-without-contempt anchor; M12 sustained institutional decorum (Reagan-O'Neill working relationship as anchor for cross-aisle relationship); M01 + M05 negotiated INF Treaty + "Tear down this wall" rhetorical leadership without dehumanization; M02 cross-aisle tax + immigration deals. Drag: M08 Score 5 — Iran-Contra affair 1985-1986 (National Security Council bypass of Congress arms-for-hostages then Contras funding; Tower Commission found Reagan "not fully informed"; sub-Severe individual culpability finding); M04 sub-Severe — PATCO 1981 air-traffic-controllers union firing; AIDS-era sustained silence; M13 sustained record-keeping concerns + "I don't recall" Iran-Contra testimony. No Severity flag — Iran-Contra pardon decisions made under successor H.W. Bush, not Reagan.

Full Personnel File

Civic Leader Bio — Ronald Wilson Reagan

40th President of the United States January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 · 33rd Governor of California 1967–1975 · Screen Actors Guild President 1947–1952 + 1959–1960 · Hollywood actor 1937–1965 · 1987 Brandenburg Gate "tear down this wall" Cold War institutional anchor
Bio version 1.0 · Released 2026-05-28 · File #49 · ~890 body words
Composite: C+ 6.5
↑ View the per-measure (M01-M14) anchored scorecard  |  Master Summary Table  |  Top of Document
Four Pillars: 28/40 (Solid)
File #49
Severity Flags: 0

Verifiable Quotes — In His Own Words

Six documented statements from Reagan spanning his 1981 first inaugural through 1989 farewell — direct quotes with primary-source citations.

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.
January 20, 1981 · First Inaugural Address · Source: Reagan Presidential Library archived; Public Papers of the Presidents Reagan 1981 volume; Yale Avalon Project · Foundational Doctrine
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
June 12, 1987 · Address at the Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin · Source: National Archives "Tear Down This Wall" archive; Reagan Presidential Library archived; Gilder Lehrman Institute archive · Cold War Institutional Anchor
We have not become a great nation through directives and central planning. The American spirit, the American genius, the American achievements have come from the genius of the American people.
January 11, 1989 · Farewell Address to the Nation · Source: Reagan Presidential Library archived; Public Papers of the Presidents Reagan 1989 volume · Constitutional Doctrine
A few days ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.
March 4, 1987 · Address to the Nation on Iran-Contra investigation following Tower Commission report February 26, 1987 · Source: Reagan Presidential Library archived; Public Papers of the Presidents Reagan 1987 volume · M02 Anchor — Public Acknowledgment
Honey, I forgot to duck.
March 30, 1981 · Statement to wife Nancy Reagan after John Hinckley Jr. assassination attempt at Washington Hilton · Reagan was shot in the chest; quote echoed Jack Dempsey's after 1926 loss to Tunney · Source: Reagan Presidential Library archived; Edmund Morris Dutch (Random House, 1999) · Personal Resilience
There you go again.
October 28, 1980 · 1980 presidential debate with President Carter; Reagan's response to Carter's criticism of Medicare opposition · The phrase became sustained Reagan rhetorical signature · Source: Commission on Presidential Debates archive October 28, 1980 · Campaign Rhetoric

Reading note. Reagan's record is anchored by sustained 1981-1989 institutional Cold War leadership + 1987 Brandenburg Gate moment + sustained sub-Severe Iran-Contra concern + sustained 1981-1989 sustained economic-policy architecture.

1.Identity ~100 words

Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004, Bel Air, California). 40th President of the United States January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989. 33rd Governor of California January 2, 1967 – January 6, 1975. Screen Actors Guild President 1947-1952 + 1959-1960. Eureka College B.A. 1932. Hollywood actor 1937-1965 (53+ films). Originally Democrat; converted Republican 1962. Married Jane Wyman 1940-1948 (divorced); Nancy Davis 1952 (4 children combined). Survived March 30, 1981 John Hinckley Jr. assassination attempt at Washington Hilton (shot in chest). 1994 announced Alzheimer's diagnosis. Died at age 93 on June 5, 2004.

2.Senate + Presidential Profile ~155 words

Reagan's substantive record spans Hollywood + 8-year California Governor + 8-year presidential institutional architecture. 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act: sustained tax-reduction legislative architecture. 1983 Social Security Amendments: bipartisan compromise extending program solvency. 1986 Tax Reform Act: foundational bipartisan tax-simplification architecture; sustained Reagan + Tip O'Neill engagement. 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act: sustained immigration-reform legislative architecture (granted legal status to ~2.7M previously-undocumented immigrants). 1981-1989 Cold War institutional architecture: sustained sustained military-buildup + sustained diplomatic engagement with Gorbachev 1985-1989 + sustained 1986 Reykjavik Summit + sustained 1987 INF Treaty (eliminated entire class of intermediate-range nuclear missiles). 1987 Brandenburg Gate "tear down this wall" speech June 12, 1987. 1988 Moscow Summit + 1988 sustained INF ratification. 1985-1987 Iran-Contra affair: documented sustained executive-policy controversy; sustained 1986-1987 Tower Commission investigation + sustained congressional hearings.

3.Constitutional Conduct Moments ~140 words

Three sustained moments anchor Reagan's record. June 12, 1987 Brandenburg Gate "tear down this wall": documented Cold War M07 + M14 institutional anchor; widely credited with subsequent November 9, 1989 Berlin Wall fall (post-Reagan). March 4, 1987 Iran-Contra public acknowledgment: M02 anchor for sustained public acknowledgment ("the facts and the evidence tell me it is not"); sustained subsequent Tower Commission engagement + sustained 1987 Congressional Hearings cooperation. 1986 Reykjavik Summit + 1987 INF Treaty: sustained nuclear-arms-control institutional engagement at sustained political cost from sustained Republican-aligned defense-industry criticism. The 1987 INF Treaty subsequently widely cited as foundational nuclear-arms-control architecture; sustained subsequent ratification November 9, 1987 with 93-5 Senate vote.

4.Rhetoric & Discourse Profile ~100 words

M03 Score 7 + M05 Score 7 reflect sustained substantive rhetorical-engagement + sustained sub-Severe documented partisan-engagement style. Strengths: documented sustained "Great Communicator" delivery style + sustained 1981-1989 sustained weekly radio addresses + sustained substantive institutional-engagement rhetoric. Documented limitations: 1981 inaugural "government is the problem" framing subsequently widely cited as sustained anti-institutional government rhetoric; sustained 1980 campaign "welfare queen" framing subsequently subject of sustained academic + journalistic commentary regarding sustained racially-coded rhetoric. Sub-Severe documented partisan-rhetorical style without sustained anti-belonging at fellow citizens directly.

5.Fiduciary Profile ~95 words

M11 Score 6 reflects pre-political Hollywood-acting career + sustained presidential salary + post-presidential 1989 $2M Japan speaking-fee engagement. Net worth at death ~$50M (2004 dollars) reflecting sustained Hollywood pre-political wealth foundation + sustained post-presidential commercial flow. Documented sustained 1989 $2M Fujisankei Communications Japan speaking engagement subsequently subject of sustained commentary regarding post-presidential commercial flow norm-setting. Sub-Severe M11 documented but pre-political wealth foundation distinguishes from sustained office-based-enrichment pattern.

6.Severity-Class Conduct ~90 words

No documented criterion-class flag during federal tenure. Sub-Severe Iran-Contra Affair 1985-1987: documented sustained executive-policy controversy involving arms sales to Iran + sustained subsequent diversion of proceeds to Nicaraguan Contras in violation of 1982-1984 Boland Amendments. Sustained subsequent Tower Commission investigation (February 1987) + sustained Iran-Contra Independent Counsel investigation 1986-1993; sustained subsequent 11 administration officials convicted (subsequently 6 pardoned by HW Bush December 24, 1992). Reagan's sustained March 4, 1987 public acknowledgment ("the facts and the evidence tell me it is not") documented M02 partial-credit institutional engagement.

7.What The Framework Says ~145 words

Composite C+ 6.5 · Four Pillars 28/40 — Solid. Reagan places at the Solid tier, anchored by sustained 1981-1989 Cold War institutional leadership + 1987 Brandenburg Gate moment + 1987 INF Treaty + sustained 1986 Tax Reform Act + 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act bipartisan legislative architecture.

The composite stops at C+ 6.5 rather than higher because of sustained 1985-1987 Iran-Contra Affair (sub-Severe M01 + M07 institutional concern partially mitigated by sustained 1987 public acknowledgment) + sustained 1981-1989 sustained partisan-rhetorical style + sustained documented "government is the problem" framing.

The methodology weights Reagan's sustained Cold War institutional architecture + 1987 INF Treaty + sustained 1986 bipartisan legislative architecture as substantial counterweight to Iran-Contra sub-Severe drag. Symmetric application: same standard as modern presidents weighted against documented sub-Severe drags.

8.Sources & Where To Look Deeper ~85 words

Tier 1 primary sources: Reagan Presidential Library; Public Papers of the Presidents Reagan Volumes 1-15 (1981-1989); National Archives Tower Commission Report February 1987 archived; Iran-Contra Independent Counsel Final Report 1993.

Tier 2 verified scholarship: Edmund Morris Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (Random House, 1999); H.W. Brands Reagan: The Life (Doubleday, 2015); Lou Cannon President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (Simon & Schuster, 1991); Ronald Reagan An American Life (Simon & Schuster, 1990).

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