Criticised by his detractors as a glib and uninformed person with nothing more than a winning smile, America's first movie star president, Ronald Reagan, was loved by Americans and has been described as the most successful conservative of modern times.

Both his domestic and foreign policies were full of contradictions, but the two-term president left a legacy that his fellow countrymen would find difficult to forget.

His presidency saw several missteps, but that did not affect his reputation and he left the White House as one of the most popular presidents.

He came to power vowing to cut taxes and reduce government spending, but when he left nothing much had changed.

He came to office calling Soviet communism "the focus of evil in the modern world", but held four summits with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In fact, they almost reached a deal for elimination of all nuclear weapons at their Iceland summit in 1986, but it failed when Gorbachev insisted that the US stop its missile defence system programme, popularly known as 'Star Wars'.

In 1987, they signed a far-reaching deal to eliminate 2,600 nuclear warheads.

The aim of 'Star Wars' was to deflect incoming missiles, but the programme was deemed too expensive and risky and was put on hold till President George W Bush recently resurrected it.

In fact, analysts say the current president's policies are more inspired by Reagan than his own father.

Soon after he became president, Reagan almost died when a deranged drifter shot him as he left a hotel in Washington after delivering a speech.

The bullet lodged with a few inches of heart. "Honey, I forgot to duck," he remarked to his wife Nancy when he came out of surgery. It was a line made famous by boxer Jack Dempsey when he lost the heavyweight title in 1926. As he entered the surgery, Reagan told surgeons: 'Please tell me you are tell me you're Republicans.'

His detractors criticised Nancy, contending that she influenced his political decisions, but that did not affect the relationship between two or between Reagan and the people.

Reagan started his career as a broadcaster in 1932 and began acting in movies in 1937. When World War II happened, he did not go the war theatre because of problems with eyesight and made training films for the air force.

His speech touting strong conservative values in 1964 in support of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, which was seen on national television, launched his political career two years later. He became governor of California, decisively defeating incumbent Pat Brown by more than one million votes. He won another term four years later.

In 1976, he failed to win Republican presidential nomination against Gerald Ford but four years later, he defeated president Jimmy Carter to wrest the White House.

Reagan's success story inspired the poor and that was perhaps why people liked him so much.

He was born on Feb 6, 1911 in Tampico in Illinois State. His father was a shoe salesman, alcoholic and a Democrat.

Early in his career, Reagan too was a Democrat, but over the years, he changed his affiliation.

He married actress Jane Wyman in 1940, had a daughter, Maureen Elizabeth and adopted a son, Michael Edward, before going in for a divorce in 1948 when his film career was going downhill.

In 1952, he married another actress, Nancy Davis and had two children.

Nancy went on to become first lady and earn kudos from the Americans for looking after her husband in his sunset year after he got Alzheimer's disease, a neurological disorder that has no known cure.

Nancy described it as a "long goodbye" and allowed visitors only on the days he was in good shape.

When he announced that he was suffering from Alzheimer in 1994, Reagan said, "When the Lords calls me home, whenever that day may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America, there will always be a bright dawn ahead."