Ron Reagan - Careers

Careers

Reagan became more politically active after his father left the White House in 1989. In contrast to the late president, the younger Reagan's views were decidedly liberal. In a 2009 Vanity Fair interview, Reagan said that he did not speak out politically during his father's term because the press "never cared about my opinions as such, only as they related to him ", adding that he did not want to create the impression that he and his father were on bad terms because of political differences.

In 1991 Reagan was the host of The Ron Reagan Show, a syndicated late-night talk show addressing political issues of the day. However, it was canceled after a brief run, unable to compete with the higher ratings of The Arsenio Hall Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Nightline.

Reagan has worked in recent years as a magazine journalist, and has hosted talk shows on cable TV networks such as the Animal Planet network. In Britain, he is best known for having co-presented Record Breakers (based on The Guinness Book of Records) for the BBC. Reagan presented a report from the United States each week.

He has served on the board of the Creative Coalition, an organization founded in 1989 by a group that included Susan Sarandon and Christopher Reeve, to politically mobilize entertainers and artists, generally for First Amendment rights, and causes such as arts advocacy and public education. From February to December 2005, Reagan co-hosted the talk show Connected: Coast to Coast with Monica Crowley on MSNBC.

During the 2007 holiday season, Reagan hosted the Neiman Marcus/Children's Hospital of Dallas's Christmas Parade.

Air America Media, until its demise in 2010, aired The Ron Reagan Show from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST. The program made its debut on September 8, 2008.

In 2011 he published My Father at 100: A Memoir. In interviews promoting the book, Ron Reagan stated that during his father's presidency he (Ron) had noticed the president having certain mental lapses that, in hindsight, caused the younger Reagan to later surmise the elder Reagan may have been in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease with which the president was ultimately diagnosed. This assertion was heavily criticized by many political and media supporters of the president, as well as by Michael Reagan, and Ron Reagan subsequently stated that he does not feel that these alleged lapses were "dementia".

Reagan is a regular contributor to Hardball with Chris Matthews and has presented the program on several occasions.