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Donald Regan

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Not to be confused with Ronald Reagan.

Donald Regan
Regan in 1987
11th White House Chief of Staff
In office
February 4, 1985 – February 27, 1987
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byJames Baker
Succeeded byHoward Baker
66th United States Secretary of the Treasury
In office
January 22, 1981 – February 1, 1985
PresidentRonald Reagan
DeputyR. T. McNamar
Preceded byG. William Miller
Succeeded byJames Baker
Personal details
Born
Donald Thomas Regan

(1918-12-21)December 21, 1918
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJune 10, 2003(2003-06-10) (aged 84)
Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Ann George Buchanan
(m. 1942)
Children4
EducationHarvard University (BA) Harvard Law School
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Marine Corps
RankLieutenant colonel
Battles/warsWorld War II

Donald Thomas Regan[a] (December 21, 1918 – June 10, 2003) was an American government official and business executive who was the 66th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1981 to 1985 and the White House Chief of Staff from 1985 to 1987 under Ronald Reagan.

Regan studied at Harvard University before he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1946, he began to work for Merrill Lynch, serving as its chairman and CEO from 1971 to 1980.

In the Reagan administration, Regan advocated "Reaganomics" and tax cuts as a means to create jobs and to stimulate production.

Early life and education

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Donald Regan was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Kathleen (née Ahearn) and William Francis Regan. He was of Irish Catholic origins. Regan earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from Harvard College in 1940 and attended Harvard Law School before dropping out to join the Marine Corps at the outset of World War II. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel while he was serving in the Pacific Theater. He was involved in five major campaigns, including Guadalcanal and Okinawa.

In 1942, Regan married the former Ann George Buchanan, with whom he had four children: Donna Regan Lefeve, Donald T. Regan Jr., Richard William Regan, and Diane Regan Doniger.

Merrill Lynch

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1981 portrait of Regan as Merrill Lynch's CEO

After the war, Regan joined Merrill Lynch in 1946 as an account executive trainee. He worked up through the ranks, eventually taking over as the firm's chairman and CEO in 1971; he held those positions until 1980.

Regan was one of the original directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation and was vice chairman of the New York Stock Exchange from 1973 to 1975. He was a major proponent of brokerage firms going public, which he viewed as an important step in the modernization of Wall Street. Under his supervision, Merrill Lynch had its initial public offering on June 23, 1971, becoming the second Wall Street firm to go public after Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

During his tenure in these two positions, Regan pushed hard for an end to minimum fixed commissions for brokers, which were fees that brokerage companies had to charge clients for every transaction they made on the clients' behalf. Regan saw them as a cartel-like restriction. His lobbying played a large part of fixed commissions being abolished in 1975.

Reagan administration

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President Ronald Reagan selected Donald Regan in 1981 to serve as treasury secretary, marking him as a spokesman for his economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics". He helped engineer changes in the tax code, reduce income tax rates, and decrease taxes for corporations. Regan unexpectedly swapped jobs with then White House chief of staff James Baker in 1985.

As chief of staff, Regan was closely involved in the day-to-day management of White House policy, which led Howard Baker, Regan's successor as chief of staff, to give a rebuke that Regan was becoming a "prime minister" inside an increasingly-complex imperial presidency. During his four years as Secretary of the Treasury, Regan did not have a single one-to-one meeting with the president. Regan was forced to resign for repeatedly disagreeing with the First Lady and for his role in the Iran–Contra affair.[1] The Tower Commission, established by President Reagan to investigate the scandal, concluded that Regan was responsible for the "chaos" that took hold of the White House. "More than almost any Chief of Staff in recent memory, he asserted control over the White House staff and sought to extend this control to the National Security Adviser. He was personally active in national security affairs, and attended almost all the relevant meetings regarding the Iran initiative. He, as much as anyone, should have insisted that an orderly process be observed."[2]

Regan's 1988 memoir, For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington, exposes his disagreements with first lady Nancy Reagan, revealing publicly that she had a personal astrologer who was later revealed to be Joan Quigley with whom she consulted and who helped steer the president's decisions. Regan wrote:

Virtually every major move and decision the Reagans made during my time as White House Chief of Staff was cleared in advance with a woman in San Francisco [Quigley] who drew up horoscopes to make certain that the planets were in a favorable alignment for the enterprise.[3][4]

Ronald and Nancy Reagan denied that astrology influenced any policies or decisions.[5]

Regan is portrayed by Frank Moore in the 2003 TV film The Reagans.

Retirement

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Regan retired quietly in Virginia with Ann Regan, his wife of over 60 years. In later life, he spent nearly 10 hours a day in his art studio painting landscapes. He had four children and nine grandchildren.[6]

Death

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Regan died of cancer on June 10, 2003, at the age of 84, in a hospital near his home in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was served by Nelsen Funeral Home.[6] His remains were interred at Arlington National Cemetery.[7]

Sayings

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"And the horse you rode in on" was a favorite saying of Regan. He learned it from a poker buddy in Texas who said, "fuck you and the horse you rode in on". Regan adopted the latter part of the phrase.[citation needed] In the portrait of Regan that hangs on the third floor of the treasury, the title of a book in the background reads And the Horse You Rode In On.[8]

"You've got to give loyalty down if you want loyalty up."[9][10]

Notes

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  1. ^ Pronounced /ˈriːɡən/ REE-gən

References

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  1. ^ Fred I. Greenstein, "Ronald Reagan—Another Hidden-Hand Ike?." PS: Political Science & Politics 23.1 (1990): 7-13.
  2. ^ Jane Mayer and Doyle McManus. Landslide: The Unmaking of the President 19840-1988, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988),ISBN 978-0006374374
  3. ^ Donald Regan. For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington, (San Diego: Harcourt Trade Publishers, 1988), ISBN 0151639663
  4. ^ "The President's Astrologers", People (May 23, 1988)
  5. ^ "Reagan astrologer, Joan Quigley, dies at 87". AP News. October 24, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Donald Regan, 84, Financier and Top Reagan Aide, Dies". The New York Times. June 11, 2003. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  7. ^ "Burial detail: Regan, Donald T". ANC Explorer. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  8. ^ Birnbaum, Jeffery H.; Murray, Alan S. (1987). Showdown at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists, and the Unlikely Triumph of Tax Reform. New York: Random House. p. 68. ISBN 0394560248.
  9. ^ Hopkins, Tom (2010). Selling in Tough Times: Secrets to Selling When No One Is Buying. New York: Hachette Book Group. ISBN 9780446558501.
  10. ^ Adamchik, Wally (2011). Construction Leadership from A to Z: 26 Words to Lead By. Austin, Texas: Live Oak Book Company. ISBN 9781936909179.

Further reading

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  • Regan, Donald T. For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington (1988)
  • Johns, Andrew L. ed. A Companion to Ronald Reagan (2015)
  • Whipple, Chris (2017). The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency. New York: Crown. ISBN 9780804138260.
  • Zaleznik, Abraham. "A Disengaged President: Ronald Reagan and His Lieutenants." Hedgehogs and Foxes (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2008) pp. 23–43.
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Political offices
Preceded by United States Secretary of the Treasury
1981–1985 		Succeeded by
Preceded by White House Chief of Staff
1985–1987 		Succeeded by
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