Who Was Ronald Reagan? Educational Resources K12 Learning, United States, United States, History Lesson Plans, Activities, Experiments, Homeschool Help

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Ronald Reagan was the first president to have been an actor in Hollywood before taking office as commander-in-chief. He starred in over 50 films and hosted a popular television show.

President Reagan was one-of-a-kind and changed America with his positive, anti-government spending policies and jelly-bean-loving nature. Continue on to learn more about the 40^th president of the United States!

President Ronald Reagan was a very interesting character (literally as an actor!) with many fun and entertaining personal facts and trivia.

He had quite the love affair with a certain candy.

Can you guess what it was?

That's right: jelly beans! Check out these fun facts about President Reagan's love for the candy made by Jelly Belly.

Ronald Reagan liked jelly beans so much that the company, Jelly Belly, invented a blue jelly bean (blueberry) so he could have red, white, and blue jelly beans in a glass jar on his desk.

Jelly Belly beans were the first jelly beans in outer space when President Reagan sent them on the 1983 flight of the space shuttle Challenger.

During his presidency, Jelly Belly beans were served in the Oval Office and on Air Force One. A holder was designed for the plane so the jar of Jelly Belly beans would not spill during turbulence.

A portrait of President Ronald Reagan made from 10,000 Jelly Belly beans hangs in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

That is quite a love for jelly beans! Other presidents had strange food interests as well.

Choose one strange presidential food fact from 7 Food Facts About Past Presidents That Seem Too Strange to Be True.

Then, write a paragraph as though you are that president and explain why you had that relationship with that food.

For example, if you choose the fact that President Bush once choked on a pretzel, you could write a funny paragraph about how pretzels are hazardous to your health because they are too dry to not become a choking hazard.

Be creative and share your writing with someone.

In all seriousness, President Reagan was a most-beloved president, who served in the role for eight years, and is known as one of the top ten most-loved presidents of all time (as of 2016).

As you discover more about the 40^th president of the United States, make a list of the facts you learn and be prepared to identify them in a crossword puzzle in the next section.

Read 10 fascinating facts on President Ronald Reagan’s birthday.

Then, watch the video below.