Donald Regan
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Donald Thomas Regan (December 21, 1918–June 10, 2003) was the 66th United States Secretary of the Treasury, from 1981 to 1985, and Chief of Staff from 1985 to 1987 in the Reagan administration, where he advocated supply-side economics and tax cuts to create jobs and stimulate production. Regan was criticized for his prime-ministerial style of service and for his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Regan earned his bachelor's degree in English from Harvard University in 1940 and then joined the United States Marine Corps at the outset of World War II reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served in the Pacific theater and was involved in five major campaigns including Guadalcanal and Okinawa. After the War, he joined Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. in 1946, as an account executive trainee, working up through the ranks, eventually taking over as Merrill Lynch's chairman and CEO in 1971, the year the company went public. He held those positions until 1980.
Regan was one of the original directors of the Securities Investment Protection Corporation and was vice chairman of the New York Stock Exchange from 1973 to 1975.
President Ronald Reagan selected Regan in 1981 to serve as Treasury secretary, marking him as a spokesman for supply-side economics (also called Reaganomics). He helped engineer tax reform, reduce income tax rates and ease tax burdens on corporations. Regan unexpectedly switched jobs with then White House Chief of Staff James Baker in 1985, a position he kept until 1987, when he was pressured to resign for his involvement with the Iran-Contra affair. As Chief of Staff, Regan was very involved in the day to day management of White House policy, which led Baker to give a stinging rebuke that Regan was becoming a "Prime Minister" inside an increasingly complex Imperial Presidency.
Regan's book, For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington (ISBN 0151639663), exposes his disagreements with First Lady Nancy Reagan including claims that Nancy's personal astrologer, Joan Quigley, helped steer the President's speaking decisions.
Regan retired quietly in Virginia with Ann Buchanan Regan, his wife of over sixty years. Late in life, he spent nearly ten hours a day in his art studio painting landscapes, some of which sold for thousands of dollars and still hang in museums. Regan had four children and nine grandchildren.
Regan died of cancer at the age of 84 in a hospital near his home in Williamsburg, Virginia.
| Preceded by: G. William Miller | United States Secretary of the Treasury 1981–1985 | Succeeded by: James Baker |
| Preceded by: James Baker | White House Chief of Staff 1985–1987 | Succeeded by: Howard Baker External links
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