Michael Reagan | |
|---|---|
 Reagan in 2017 | |
| Born | John Charles Flaugher (1945-03-18)March 18, 1945 Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 2026(2026-01-04) (aged 80) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Radio talk show host, writer |
| Employer | Newsmax[1] |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2[2][3] |
| Relatives |
|
Michael Edward Reagan (bornJohn Charles Flaugher; March 18, 1945 – January 4, 2026) was an American conservative political commentator,Republican Party strategist[4] and radio talk show host. He was the adopted son of former U.S. presidentRonald Reagan and his first wife, actressJane Wyman. He worked as a columnist forNewsmax.[1]
Michael Edward Reagan was born John Charles Flaugher atHollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, on March 18, 1945,[5] to Essie Irene Flaugher[6][7] (October 18, 1916[8] – December 26, 1985),[9] an unmarried woman fromKentucky[10] who became pregnant through a relationship with John Bourgholtzer (1918–1993), aU.S. Army corporal. He was adopted byRonald Reagan andJane Wyman shortly after his birth.[11]
Reagan was expelled fromLoyola High School after a short period at the school,[11] and in 1964 he graduated from theJudson School, a boarding school outside ofScottsdale, Arizona.[12] He attendedArizona State University for less than one semester andLos Angeles Valley College[13][14] but never graduated.
In 1965, the FBI warned Ronald Reagan that in the course of an organized crime investigation it had discovered that Michael was associated with the son of crime bossJoseph Bonanno, which would have become a campaign issue had it been publicly known. Reagan thanked the FBI and said he would tell his son to discreetly discontinue the association.[15]
Sometime before September 1970, Reagan was working as a salesman for the clothing companyHart, Schaffner, & Marx. He then became a director of special events catering at Michaelson Food Service Company in Los Angeles.[13] In 1981, Reagan was hired as a salesman for Industrial Circuits, a circuit board company owned byRobert Herring Sr.[1]
Reagan had small roles in movies and television shows beginning in 1985, includingFalcon Crest, which starred his mother, Jane Wyman.[16][better source needed]
In 1987, Reagan served as the host for the first season of the televisiongame showLingo.[17]
His work intalk radio started in theSouthern California local market as a guest host for radio commentatorMichael Jackson's talk radio show slot onKABC in Los Angeles.[18] After this beginning, he landed a talk show spot onKSDO radio in San Diego.[19]
Reagan also hostedThe Michael Reagan Show nationwide for most of the 2000s. The show was variously syndicated onPremiere Networks[18] andRadio America.[20] After that, he focused on public speaking about his father.[21]
In 1988, he wrote, withJoe Hyams, an autobiography,Michael Reagan: On the Outside Looking In.[22] He also wrote that he was sexually abused at the age of seven by a camp counselor.[23][24]
In 2005, he wroteTwice Adopted about his feelings of rejection being adopted, parents divorcing and becoming a born-again Christian.[11]
In April 2013, in a syndicated column, Reagan accused American churches of not fighting hard enough to blocksame-sex marriage. He wrote that, in regard to arguments supporting gay marriage, similar arguments could be used to supportpolygamy,bestiality, and murder. As he wrote: "There is also a veryslippery slope leading to other alternative relationships and the unconstitutionality of any law based on morality. Think about polygamy, bestiality, and perhaps even murder."[25]
In June 2008,Mark Dice launched a campaign urging people to send letters and DVDs to US troops stationed in Iraq which support the theory that theSeptember 11 attacks were an "inside job". "Operation Inform the Soldiers", as Dice has called it, prompted Reagan to comment that Dice should be executed fortreason.[26]Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a liberal/progressive media criticism organization, askedRadio America at the time to explain whether it permits "its hosts to call for murder on the air".[27][28]
Reagan spoke out in support of profiling in October 2014. In a piece calledProfile or Die, he wrote that it would be left to citizens to defend themselves if there were an attack against them by terrorists such as theIslamic State.[29]
In2016, Reagan said he would not vote for Trump and endorsedTed Cruz in the primary. Later he said viaX (formerly Twitter) that he voted Trump in2020 and2024 elections. In 2025, he defended theTrump tariffs.[30]
On September 1, 2025, Minnesota governorTim Walz made comments suggesting that he was hoping for the death of President Trump.[31]Three days later, Reagan's response appeared in a Cagle column, which began, "Maybe we do need a Civil War 2.0 – with guns. Our politics has become so partisan and so nasty, using guns to settle our national political differences may soon end up being the only solution."[32]
In 1981, Reagan was accused of felony violations of California securities laws in court documents. TheLos Angeles County District Attorney alleged that Reagan had baited investors into unlawful stock arrangements, and selling stocks despite the fact that he was not legally permitted to do so.[33] The D.A.'s office investigated allegations that Reagan improperly spent money invested by others in a company, Agricultural Energy Resources, he operated out of his house in a venture to develop the potential of gasohol, a combination of alcohol and gasoline. Investigators said they were also checking whether he had spent up to $17,500 of investors' money for his living expenses.[33] The district attorney's office cleared Reagan of both charges later that year.[34]
On September 20, 2012, Reagan, Tim Kelly and Jay Hoffman were sued by a fellow partner for allegedly withholding the partner's interest in an e-mail business built around the Reagan.comdomain name.[35][36][37] In 2015, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Reagan liable forconversion andbreach of fiduciary duty. Reagan and his business partners were ordered to pay $662,500 each in damages.[38]
In June 1971, Reagan married Pamela Gail Putnam (born 1952), daughter ofDuane Putnam, formerAtlanta Falcons football line coach.[13] The couple divorced in 1972.
Reagan married Colleen Sterns, an interior decorator, in 1975 atThe Church on the Way.[14] They had two children, Cameron and Ashley. Reagan and his wife lived in theToluca Lake area of Los Angeles.[39]
In January 2011, he called his adoptive brotherRon Reagan, the biological son of Ronald Reagan and his second wife,Nancy Reagan, "an embarrassment" for speculating in a memoir that their father suffered fromAlzheimer's disease while president.[40]
Michael and his sisterMaureen, unlike their more liberal siblingsPatti and Ron, agreed more with their father's conservative political views.[41][42]
Despite his history of having a strained relationship with his adopted father, his relationship with his stepmother, Nancy Reagan, would be even more tense and strained, with Reagan, who did give a eulogy at his father'sfuneral in 2004,[43] not attending Nancy's funeral in 2016.[44][45][46][47]
Reagan died of cancer in Los Angeles, on January 4, 2026, at the age of 80.[48] His funeral was held at St. Mel Parish inWoodland Hills, California, with his reception and interment being private.[49]
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