Donald (Thomas) Regan - Early life, Reagan administration, Retirement

US Republican politician, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He studied English and economics at Harvard, served as a marine in World War 2, then joined Merrill Lynch, rising to become its president in 1968, and building the company into America's largest securities brokerage corporation. Appointed Treasury secretary in 1981, he became White House chief-of-staff in 1985, but was forced to resign two years later as a result of criticism of his role in the ‘Irangate Affair’ (1985–6).

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.

Early life

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts of Irish Catholic extraction, Don Regan earned his bachelor's degree in English from Harvard University in 1940 and Harvard Law School then dropping out to join the United States Marine Corps at the outset of World War II reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Reagan administration

President Ronald Reagan selected Regan in 1981 to serve as Treasury secretary, marking him as a spokesman for supply-side economics (also called Reaganomics). Regan was seen as the fall guy for the affair, and the tongue-in-cheek saying "Reagan had Regan" echoed throughout Washington (the two are not related). As Chief of Staff, Regan was very involved in the day to day management of White House policy, which led Howard Baker, Regan's replacement as Chief of Staff, 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 0-15-163966-3), exposes his disagreements with First Lady Nancy Reagan including claims that Nancy's personal astrologer, Joan Quigley, helped steer the President's speaking decisions.

Retirement

Regan retired quietly in Virginia with Ann Buchanan Regan, his wife of over sixty years.