Ronald Reagan was a person.
Ronald Reagan . Before his presidency , he was the 33rd Governor of California , from 1967 to 1975 , after a career as a Hollywood actor and union leader . He twice ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency in 1968 and 1976 ; four years later , he easily won the nomination outright , becoming the oldest elected U.S. president up to that time , defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980 . He was the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve two full terms , after a succession of five prior presidents failed to do so . An icon among Republicans , he is viewed favorably in historian rankings of U.S. presidents , and his tenure constituted a realignment toward conservative policies in the U.S.