Reagan, Maureen

▪ 2002

      American political activist (b. Jan. 4, 1941, Los Angeles, Calif.—d. Aug. 8, 2001, Granite Bay, Calif.), was the daughter of former president Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman; a lifelong Republican, she was nevertheless an outspoken advocate of feminism and abortion rights—positions that clashed with her father's conservative views. After a brief career in film, television, and radio, Reagan devoted herself to political causes. Between 1985 and 1992 she directed a political action committee that supported more than 100 women candidates across the country. She twice ran unsuccessfully for office herself, losing bids for the U.S. Senate in 1982 and for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992. She served (1987–89) as cochair of the Republican National Committee. After her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer disease in 1994, Reagan became a spokeswoman for the Alzheimer's Association. She published a best-selling memoir, First Father, First Daughter, in 1989.

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