Michael Reagan, one of the strongest and most compassionate voices for American conservatism and Christianity, went to meet his Savior, Jesus Christ, on January 4, 2026. Michael Reagan was most famously known as the adopted son of Ronald Reagan from Reagan's first marriage, but the manner in which he lived his life shows that it is not familial blood that causes us to be family, but the adopted blood of Jesus.
Ronald Reagan had a biological son, who is still alive and at least partially named after the former president; Ron Reagan. The younger Ron Reagan is an avowed leftist, atheist, and fierce critic of his father's administration, even arguing against countless associates, doctors, and other family members that President Reagan had Alzheimer's Disease while in office.
One of those family members who publicly called out the younger Ron Reagan was Michael Reagan. Michael was closer to the legacy of President Reagan than perhaps any of his living children, though it is worth noting that Ronald Reagan's liberal daughter, Patti, has appreciably moved closer to respecting her father's faith and morality while still mostly disagreeing with his politics. (Maureen Reagan, Reagan's first daughter, who was a Republican, sadly passed away in 2001.)
Michael Reagan's path initially did not suggest that he would be tied to the Reagan legacy. His biological parents were not married, and, when he was adopted by Ronald Reagan and his first wife, that marriage split, showing Michael the trauma of divorce. Despite Ronald Reagan remarrying to Nancy Davis, Michael Reagan rebelled. It was not until Michael's own second marriage and becoming a born-again Christian, as annotated in his book "Twice Adopted," that Reagan began to embrace his identity as a child of Reagan and, more so, a child of Jesus.
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Michael became an outspoken defender of his father's legacy and was perhaps the most "Reagan" of all of his children in that regard, championing the things his father did to include traditional, Biblical values, a strong national defense, and respect for the unborn. Michael Reagan was not the blood of Reagan, but in reality, he truly was and spoke for his father's legacy with a moral clarity that no one else could approach. In later years, when his father was sick with Alzheimer's, Michael was remembered by his dad as the guy who always gave the elder Reagan a hug at the door. In his final years, Ronald Reagan did not know Michael was his son, but even memory does not make family; kindness does. Reagan knew that this now unknown man loved him.
Michael could have spent his life feeling like some sort of outcast or believing the lie that it is human blood that makes forever family, but chose to embrace the truth. Michael Reagan understood that the blood of Jesus shed for our sins not only heals families but gives us family through Him when we cannot count on our own families. Jesus chose us, loved us, and even died for us in love while we rejected Him. Nothing can compare to that, and any feelings of rejection we have are irrelevant compared to Christ, who will never leave us nor forsake us. He had no bloodline, and that was on purpose, so none of us could earthly claim Him. He claimed us through His shed blood on the Cross, saving us from our sin.
Today, Michael Reagan's book "Twice Adopted" sits on my son's bookshelf, as he was adopted by my wife and me, but most of all by Jesus. Michael Reagan's legacy is a forever reminder in our home of this wonderful man whom we shall miss, but look forward to meeting through Jesus. He made his earthly father, Ronald Reagan, and Heavenly Father quite proud. Well done, Son.
Views expressed in this article are those of the author and not any government agency.
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