Jack Reagan

John Edward Reagan was born on July 13, 1883, and died on May 18, 1941. He was an American salesman and the father of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States.

Reagan’s paternal grandfather was Michael O'Regan, who was born in Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, Ireland, and baptized in 1829. Michael O'Regan worked as a tenant farmer in Ireland before emigrating to London by 1851. In London, he married Catherine Mulcahey, an Irish refugee and daughter of Patrick Mulcahey and his wife. Before emigrating to the United States, Michael O'Regan anglicized his surname to "Reagan." He and Catherine moved to Carroll County, Illinois, in 1857.

John Michael Reagan, their son born in 1855, was involved in farming as a grain elevator operator. He married Jennie Cusick in 1878. Jennie Cusick was born in 1857 in what is now Canada; her parents, Patrick Cusick and Sarah Higgins, had Irish origins. The family eventually settled in Illinois, and their son John Edward Reagan was born five years later, in 1883.

In his early life, Jack Reagan worked at a store in Tampico, Illinois, by 1911, when his second son, Ronald Reagan, was born. Reagan later became a traveling salesman during Ronald's childhood. His political orientation was aligned with populist Democratic ideals, supporting policies such as assistance for the working poor, trust-busting, child labor laws, a minimum wage, and progressive taxation. He inherited an Irish heritage that influenced his attitudes, including a noted disdain for the British Empire.

Reagan was a supporter of the United States’ involvement in World War I and attempted to enlist in the military. He was opposed to the Ku Klux Klan, citing his Catholic background and opposition to the organization's antisemitism and racism. Reagan was a member of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men's organization, as reported by Ronald Reagan during a speech to the group in 1986. It has also been reported that Reagan served as the local director of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) office in Dixon, Illinois.

He died on May 18, 1941, at the age of 57, following a series of heart attacks. Reports suggest that his death might have been influenced by delays in emergency response, as a nearby ambulance was not permitted to cross into their service territory. This incident was possibly a motivating factor for Ronald Reagan’s later efforts as governor of California, where he signed into law the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act of 1970, establishing the first paramedic program in the United States.