When Michael Reagan’s wife, Colleen, shared the heartbreaking news this week of her husband’s passing, my first feeling was a deep sadness mixed with regret.
I was thinking that I hadn’t spoken to Mike as often as I should have.
We had talked just about a month ago, and in his familiar half-joking, half-serious way, he admonished me: “You don’t call me enough. You need to call me!”
That was Mike—direct, honest, and rooted in relationships. He valued loyalty and friendship. And he gave both freely.
Michael Reagan was far more than the son of a president — even a president as famous and celebrated as Ronald Reagan.
Mike was a true believer, a warrior for conservative principles, and a man of deep faith.
He could have easily spent his life trading on his family name. Many would have. But Mike never did.
Like his father, he was never about money. He was about country, family, and faith.
I first met Mike in the early 1990s. I was in my twenties some 35 years ago.
That is a long time to know someone, to watch them evolve, struggle, and ultimately grow into the fullest version of themselves.
Back then, I was traveling frequently to Los Angeles, trying to draw attention to my reporting on the Clinton scandals — Whitewater, Vince Foster, and the story the mainstream media largely ignored.
Mike didn’t ignore it. He was all over it.
At the time, Mike was a major radio host. The Michael Reagan Show aired on hundreds of stations and was syndicated by the same company that carried Rush Limbaugh.
Before the internet, talk radio was everything for conservatives.
Back then Mike, after Rush, was the second-most listened-to radio host in the country. He was right there in that world — respected, influential, and fearless.
Mike didn’t just invite me on his show. Almost every time I came to Los Angeles, we would meet in person at his favorite Italian restaurant in Sherman Oaks, just steps from his headquarters.
Over long lunches, he would regale me with stories — about his father, about Nancy Reagan, about Colleen, and about his children.
Those conversations were very personal, reflective, and revealing.
They showed me who Mike truly was beyond the microphone.
When I started Newsmax in 1998, Mike became one of our earliest and strongest champions.
He promoted us relentlessly on his show when we needed it most.
Later, he became a Newsmax columnist and one of the very first analysts to join our cable channel.
Whenever we needed Mike, he was there — no questions asked, no hesitation, no flinching.
Truth be told, Mike carried a degree of unresolved angst toward his father. The divorce from his mother, the late Jane Wyman, and the complexities of growing up in the shadow of two famous parents left real scars.
His mother was a celebrated actress who won an Academy Award for "Johnny Belinda."
His father was once a lesser “B” actor who went on to become governor of California and then president.
Mike used to say he lived two lives. In the first part, everyone wanted to only talk about his actress mother.
In the second, it was all about his political father.
Being the child of iconic figures is never easy. Many people cannot handle it. Why are they interested in my parents and not me?
Mike endured his own traumas and turbulence, but he was saved — truly saved — by his wife Colleen and by his faith in Christ.
Unlike many children of the famous who flee from or resent their lineage, Mike embraced his father.
He came to deeply understand Ronald Reagan’s vision for America and the world. He shared with me a story from shortly after Reagan won the presidency in 1980.
Mike asked his father about his plan to defeat the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan replied simply, “It’s simple, Mike. They lose. We win.”
That was Reagan’s genius — clarity, moral confidence, and the determination to win.
Mike also recalled asking his father whether it was difficult to send American troops into harm’s way, such as during the 1983 Grenada rescue mission.
Reagan answered, “Mike, it wasn’t difficult at all. I just asked myself what John Wayne would do.”
That blend of moral certainty defined Ronald Reagan — and Mike understood it better than almost anyone.
Mike himself had a keen political instinct, one that was often underrated.
He endorsed Donald Trump in each of his races and correctly predicted Trump’s surprise victory in 2016.
While he didn’t always agree with Trump, Mike viewed politics through the lens of his father’s legacy, making it hard — understandably — to completely embrace a different version of American greatness.
Faith, however, was the constant in Mike’s life. He was devoutly Christian, first embracing evangelical Christianity and later Catholicism.
Mike and his wife joined with me in Rome for the 2014 canonization of John Paul II, next to his father, his other great hero.
Christ was always central. Nearly all of his books emphasized faith in the public square.
I encouraged him to write "Lessons My Father Taught Me," a book detailing the values and example his dad shared with him as a child.
No surprise, it became a bestseller. Mike told me it was the most important work of his life.
Why?
Perhaps because he believed — like his father — that Americans are part of a living chain stretching back to the Sons of Liberty.
Each generation inherits the responsibility to defend freedom, share our values, and serve as a beacon of hope to the world.
The torch is passed, and it must never be dropped.
As it turned out, Ronald Reagan’s greatest torchbearer was his eldest and adopted son.
Now Michael Reagan has gone on to join his mom and dad in heaven — and that torch has been passed once more — to all of us.
Editor’s Note: Get your copy of Michael Reagan’s classic ‘Lessons My Father Taught Me’ with Free Offer – See More
Christopher Ruddy is CEO of Newsmax Media, Inc., a leading news company that operates Newsmax TV and Newsmax.com. Read more Christopher Ruddy Insider articles — Click Here Now.
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