Paraphrased from the Speech about the Challenger disaster, January 28, 1986…We will never forget him, nor the last time we saw him -- as he prepared for his journey, and waved good-bye, and he "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God." 

May God Bless You Ronald Reagan, As He Blessed Us Under Your Leadership.

Key dates in life of Ronald Reagan:

Feb. 6, 1911: Born in Tampico, Ill., younger of two sons of Nelle and John Reagan.

1932: Graduates from Eureka College, Eureka, Ill.

1932-1937: Works as radio announcer at WOC, Davenport, Iowa, and then WHO, Des Moines.

1937: Makes film debut with "Love Is on the Air."

Jan. 26, 1940: Marries Jane Wyman, actress. Children: Maureen, born 1941, Michael, born 1945, and Christine, born four months premature in 1947 and died the next day. Marriage ends in divorce in 1949.

1942-45: Serves war effort by making air force training films.

March 4, 1952. Marries Nancy Davis, actress. Children: Patti, born 1952, and Ronald, born 1958.

1952, 1956, 1960: Though a Democrat, campaigns for Republicans Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon. Formally switches to Republican Party in 1962.

Nov. 8, 1966: Elected California governor over incumbent Democrat Edmund G. "Pat" Brown.

Nov. 3, 1970: Elected to second term as governor.

Nov. 4, 1980: Elected president over incumbent Jimmy Carter, garnering 51.6 percent of the popular vote to 41.7 percent for Carter and 6.7 percent for independent John Anderson.

Jan. 20, 1981: Sworn in as 40th president of the United States. Iranian hostages released.

March 30, 1981: Wounded by one of six shots fired as he left a Washington hotel after giving a speech.

July 7, 1981: Announces he is nominating Arizona judge Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nov. 6, 1984: Re-elected, besting former Vice President Walter Mondale with nearly 60 percent of the popular vote. He took 49 out of 50 states for an Electoral College vote of 525-13, the most lopsided since Franklin Roosevelt defeated Alf Landon in 1936.

November 1990: Publishes his memoir, "An American Life."

Nov. 4, 1991: Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., dedicated; with President Bush and former Presidents Reagan, Carter, Ford and Nixon in attendance.

Oct. 11, 2001: Becomes the longest-lived president ever, having lived 33,120 days. The nation's second chief executive, John Adams, lived 33,119 days, from 1735 to 1826.

July 12, 2003: U.S. Navy commissions its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, the first carrier to be named for a living president.