Maureen Elizabeth Reagan

(January 4, 1941 – August 8, 2001)

Daughter of Ronald W. Reagan (Class of 1932); Eureka College Trustee (1999-2001)

Sometimes one word alone says it all. During her father’s presidency, the Secret Service code name that was used to identify Maureen Reagan was “Radiant” and it was an appropriate choice. Maureen always had a smile and a zest for life, but unfortunately, hers was a lifetime that was much too short.

Maureen learned of Eureka College long before she became a Trustee. Her father used to sing her to sleep as a child by singing the Eureka College Alma Mater to her. Nearly six decades later, she remembered the tune and the words.

As the only surviving offspring of Ronald W. Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman, Maureen was always the “favorite child” of President Reagan, and she had a level of access to him that only rivaled that of Nancy Davis Reagan, the president’s second wife. Reagan and Wyman had adopted a son (Michael Edward), but Reagan was estranged from Michael for more than two decades. Two other children born to Reagan and Davis (Patti and Ron) kept a trans-generational distance from their parents during the upheaval of the 1960s and the political phase of Ronald Reagan’s career. It was Maureen who always had her father’s ear, and she was able to influence his policy on several occasions and steer him away from more strident voices within the Republican Party of the 1980s. Her advice and counsel was influential with respect to certain hiring and firing that took place within the Reagan administration.

Like her father, Maureen tried her hand at both acting and politics—she was, after all, daddy’s little girl. She appeared as a supporting character in a few films and television shows of the 1970s, but she did not have the same enthusiasm for acting as her father. She sought public office on two occasions: in 1982 she ran for a U.S. Senate seat for California and in 1992 she ran for a California congressional seat. Both of her political forays were unsuccessful. In the late-1980s, she co-chaired the Republican National Committee. Maureen’s political views were in line with what was termed liberal Republican a generation or so ago. She was in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment, pro-choice on the issue of abortion, and she was a passionate health care advocate.

She was a noted political activist and commentator. During the early-1990s she briefly served as a radio talk show host.

Maureen married three times. In 1961 she married John Filippone, she married David Sills in 1964, and she married Dennis Revell in 1981. She and Revell adopted a daughter from Uganda—Rita Mirembe Revell—who received permanent residency status in 2001 when President George W. Bush signed a special bill—S. 560 [107th]—designed specifically to protect Rita from possible deportation after her mother’s death.

When her father left the White House, Maureen published a memoir titled First Father, First Daughter: A Memoir (1989). She was a passionate supporter and crusader for the rights of women in American society. Part of her advice to the women of America was: “When you get to the top, stay there and make sure other women join you.”

When President Reagan announced his battle with Alzheimer’s disease in 1994, Maureen took on the role of being an advocate for health care. She became a member of the Board of Directors of the Alzheimer’s Association and served as the group’s spokesperson for several years. During this time she also became a Trustee at Eureka College. She spoke at the dedication of the Reagan Peace Garden in May 2000.

Maureen suffered from recurrent bouts of malignant melanoma and she lost her battle with the disease in August 2001.