Elizabeth Wolf - Who Was Ronald Reagan?

To Rose and MikeE.W.

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Text copyright 2005 by Joyce Milton. Illustrations copyright 2005 by Elizabeth Wolf. Cover illustration copyright 2005 by Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Published by Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. PENGUIN and PENGUIN WORKSHOP are trademarks of Penguin Books Ltd. WHO HQ & Design is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC. Printed in the USA.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2004020535

Ebook ISBN 9781101639979

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It was already dark, and the beach at Lowell Park was closed for the day. Dutch Reagan, the seventeen-year-old lifeguard, was helping the park manager, Mr. Graybill, close up the changing rooms when they heard muffled cries and splashing. A swimmer had sneaked into the park for an after-hours swim. Now he was in trouble, caught in the fast-flowing waters of the Rock River.

Dutch peeled off his glasses and dived into the dark water. He followed the sounds. A desperate man was struggling to keep his head above water. The swimmer was so panicky that he tried to fight off his rescuer.

Dutch was afraid the man would drown them both. At last, the swimmer was too exhausted to fight anymore. Dutch held the mans head out of the water and swam one-armed back to shore.

PULLED FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH screamed the headline in the Dixon, Illinois, Evening Telegraph. The paper called Dutch a hero, adding that he had saved twenty-five lives so far.

Dutch Reagan worked as a lifeguard for six summers. For the most part, the job was not glamorous. Early every morning, Dutch had to stock the snack bar. There was no refrigerator, just three big ice chests. So he would stop at the icehouse for a 300-pound slab of ice. After chopping the ice into three big chunks, he carried them, one by one, to the beach.

No matter how hot it got, Dutch didnt take a swim. The rule was that the lifeguard never got his suit wet unless he was in the water to save a life. The Rock River was famous for dangerous currents. In the past, people had been swept downstream. They had gotten trapped in the sluice gate of the dam. It had been up to the lifeguard to dive around the dam and get the body.

Dutch was proud of his work. Every time he pulled a swimmer from the river, he would carve a notch into an old log near his station.

After six summers, the log had seventy-seven notches cut into it. Patrolling the beach was hard work, twelve hours every day of the week, but Dutch enjoyed being responsible for the safety of the swimmers at Lowell Park.

Many years later, when he was known as Ronald Reagan, he became the fortieth president of the United States. But Dutch always looked back on his days as a lifeguard as one of the best times of his life.

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois, on February 6, 1911. It was a snowy day, and his father left the general store where he worked and made his way home through the snowdrifts. Jack Reagan ran up the stairs to his familys apartment, a one-room flat on the second floor over a bakery. When he saw his new son, he laughed. Why, he looks like a fat little Dutchman!

The nickname stuck. The baby was known as Dutch all through his childhood.

Jack Reagan was a tall, handsome man who loved to tell stories and talk about politics. He was a good salesman. But every so often, he would go out and get drunk.

When Jack started to drink, he often ended up losing his job. Usually that meant that the family would have to start over in a new town. The Reagans moved a lot.

Although this often made things hard on Dutch, when he was older, Ronald Reagan remembered how much he appreciated growing up in a small town.

He said, You get to know people as individuals The dreams of people may differ, but everybody wants their dreams to come true And America, above all places, gives us the freedom to do that.

Dutch and his older brother, Neil, were always the new boys in school. This didnt seem to bother Neil. He would find a group of boys to hang around with.

Dutch was more of a loner. He liked to hike along the banks of the Rock River, pretending to be a fur trapper of long ago. In one house the Reagans rented, Dutch found an old collection of butterflies and birds eggs in the attic. He spent a lot of time studying them.

Dutchs mother was Nelle Wilson Reagan. Nelle Reagan was a very cheerful person. She always said that God had a plan for her life, so there was no reason to worry or feel sad.