Reagan Producer Shares Story of Ronald Reagan Giving Away Son’s Football Scholarship [WATCH]

Producer Mark Joseph says one of the most memorable stories he uncovered while researching Ronald Reagan involved the future president voluntarily giving up his own son’s college football scholarship because he believed another student needed the opportunity more, as reported by Fox News.

Joseph shared the story during a recent interview with Fox News Digital while discussing the upcoming documentary Making Reagan, which chronicles the production of the 2024 biographical film Reagan.

The documentary will be available on Fox Nation and features interviews with actor Dennis Quaid, actress Penelope Ann Miller, Jon Voight, and others involved in bringing the former president’s life to the screen.

According to Joseph, Reagan’s generosity frequently affected those closest to him.

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“Mike Reagan, his son, he got a scholarship to play football, I think, at a college in Arizona,” Joseph said.

“And Reagan calls up the school and says, ‘You know what, fellas, my son has all the advantages in life. He doesn’t need your scholarship, but thank you very much.’

And Mike calls his dad, and he goes, ‘Dad, you just lost me in my chance to play football.'”

Joseph said Reagan never wanted to receive special treatment because of his status and believed the scholarship should go to someone who needed it more.

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He explained that Reagan never wanted to “put on airs” and instead “wanted that slot to be given to someone that needed it,” even though his son ultimately “paid the price for it.”

Joseph said Reagan displayed that same generosity throughout his public life, particularly when he heard from Americans who were struggling.

“He was also just a soft touch for a hard luck story,” Joseph said.

“If he would get a letter from somebody that his policies were affecting negatively, he would often write them a check and sometimes they wouldn’t cash the check and sometimes he had to call the people and say ‘Hey listen I’ll send you another check cash the one that I sent you and keep the one that I’m gonna send you next,'” he said.

“So there’s a kind of a combination of generosity, but also his policies were tough, and there were effects of that.”

Joseph discussed those experiences while promoting Making Reagan, which provides an inside look at the making of the feature film Reagan.

The documentary includes behind-the-scenes footage and photographs from production and explores how the filmmakers completed the project during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2024 movie earned $26 million at the domestic box office.

One of the biggest production challenges involved repeated COVID shutdowns that temporarily halted filming.

“I think we talk a lot in the documentary about COVID. And Jon Voight does such a great job in the piece and ends the piece basically in tears. But he just talks about some of the things we encountered where, if one person gets COVID, the entire set shuts down, which is just completely insane and illogical,” Joseph said.

“Literally, the entire set would shut down for 10 days. And that happened to us twice. And I think your viewers will also see that when Ron kisses Nancy in the hospital after the assassination attempt, in real life, that is the moment of COVID transmission from Dennis Quaid to Penelope Ann Miller. We’re not sure who gave it to who, but they both got it.”

To prepare for the project, Joseph said he interviewed more than 50 former Reagan aides while also reviewing both KGB and FBI files concerning the former president.

“The KGB files said he was very conservative and a hardliner,” Joseph said. “But they also said that he was vain, which is understandable. He’s a Hollywood actor. And he was prestigious. From their perspective, that means religious. And so vain and superstitious were the KGB’s analysis of Ronald Reagan.”

Joseph said the FBI files also offered unique insight into how Reagan was viewed by those around him.

“The FBI files were also very interesting because they would interview his neighbors because as governor of California, he had, there were nuclear weapons on California soil. And so they had to interview his neighbor. And the neighbor interviews were fascinating because neighbors and friends would often say he is a crazy, insane right-winger, but also a very nice guy. There’s always this combination of politics or crazy, but very nice guys.”

Joseph said Dennis Quaid had always been his first choice to portray Reagan and praised the actor for fully committing to the role.

He also said one lesson he learned from researching Reagan was the president’s ability to answer critics without unnecessary confrontation.

“One of his aides told me that one time they were landing in a South American country and they had learned that upon landing, Reagan was going to be attacked by the leader of that country,” Joseph explained.

“And so Reagan’s aide said, ‘This is great, Mr. President, let me write a speech attacking him right back.’ And Reagan said, ‘No, we’re gonna do just the opposite. When I land, I’m gonna praise that leader, and he’ll be so ashamed he won’t give the speech attacking me.’ And that’s what happened. And so there’s a certain deft touch that Reagan had, that he was no slouch, but he would get you back, but your dignity would be intact as he defeated you.”

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