Ronald Reagan

New figures from Gallup place President Obama's reelection bid in a precarious gray zone between the one-term exit of presidents like George H.W. Bush, and successful second-term victories like those of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Combining Obama's job approval rating with several evaluations of public sentiment on the economy, Gallup's indicators show that the president is performing better than he was just a year ago, but his numbers are nonetheless lackluster compared with those of his predecessors.

In the spring of 1980, the race for the Republican presidential nomination got nasty. The front-runner, Ronald Reagan, said his main challenger, George H.W. Bush, wasn't a real conservative. Bush went on the attack, accusing Reagan of peddling "voodoo economics" and "a list of phony promises. " Four months later, Bush was Reagan's choice to run as vice president. He denied using the words "voodoo economics" -- or at least he did until NBC News found a videotape of the speech. Nevertheless, Bush served for eight years at Reagan's side and won his boss' endorsement when he ran in his own right in 1988.

Presidents Day -- or Washington's Birthday, if you prefer -- is a time to celebrate all of America's past commanders in chief. Among the nation's most recent leaders, two are celebrated far more than others: Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton . That's the finding of Gallup, at least, which recently asked Americans to judge how the last eight presidents will go down in history. Sixty-nine percent said Reagan would go down as "outstanding" or "above average," compared to just 10% who said "below average" or "poor.

FAIRFIELD, Calif. — Republican leaders and voters, frustrated by their party's prolonged presidential contest, are increasingly coalescing behind front-runner Mitt Romney. Yet Rick Santorum on Thursday urged conservatives not to forsake their principles under pressure. He did so by conjuring the memory of Ronald Reagan, still the conservative icon, at an oddly symbolic place: the jelly bean factory that created the former president's favorite treats. "Let them know, conservatives all across this country have not given up the fight, we're not going to concede to the moderate establishment who wants to convince everybody that it's over, it's time to go away," Santorum told about 200 supporters at the Jelly Belly factory in a town halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento.

What Oscar-winning actor was Ronald Reagan's best man when he married Nancy Davis in 1952? William Holden

President Reagan received regular briefings about the sale of U.S. weapons to Iran and frequently discussed the matter with Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, who later resigned as national security adviser, a newspaper said it has learned from official sources. The New York Times in its editions today said the Tower Commission, investigating the Iran arms sales, has concluded that Reagan, "far from being remote from the Administration's Iran arms dealings," was briefed regularly.

How the rich get richer Re "Fat-cat politics," Opinion, Dec. 12 John Adams feared an "aristocratic despotism. " That is exactly what we are experiencing in America today. Andrew Trees points out that over a 25-year period ending in 2004, the richest 1% of Americans enjoyed a 176% increase in their income compared with 6% by those in the bottom fifth. In Congress, Trees notes, 261 of the 535 members are millionaires. How can millionaires relate to normal families getting by on $50,000 a year?

Reagan, Meese and company still haven't got it straight. The Nobel Prize isn't for building the largest war machine. LEE WHITMAN, South Pasadena

The evil empire is back on the national stage. Nearly 30 years after President Reagan first spoke about the Soviet Union as an "evil empire," Rick Santorum brought it up Wednesday -- in apparent reference to a flurry of attention being given remarks he made four years ago about the devil. First, some background. In 2008, speaking to students at a Catholic school, Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla., Santorum spoke of a satanic assault on the United States. “The Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country -- the United States of America,” he said, according to a tape of the remarks on the university website.

Presidents Day -- or Washington's Birthday, if you prefer -- is a time to celebrate all of America's past commanders in chief. Among the nation's most recent leaders, two are celebrated far more than others: Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton . That's the finding of Gallup, at least, which recently asked Americans to judge how the last eight presidents will go down in history. Sixty-nine percent said Reagan would go down as "outstanding" or "above average," compared to just 10% who said "below average" or "poor.

Day after day, Mitt Romney sketches a bleak portrait of America under President Obama and vows to dismantle his programs. Romney would undo Obama's healthcare overhaul, scrap Obama's plan to scale back the military and lift Obama's restraints on banks and Wall Street investment firms — to name a few. But apart from casting himself as an all-around anti-Obama, Romney has offered scant evidence of a distinct positive message to capture his vision...

The way things are going in the GOP presidential primary, there's now an outside chance that California's 169 delegate votes — the most of any state in the nation — could come into play. Who knew? It seemed, way back when, that Mitt Romney was a safe bet to make it to the dance with President Obama in November. Then Newt Gingrich came on like the bull terrier he is, followed by a surprising surge from Rick Santorum. If the seesaw ride continues, it could even make California's June 5 primary relevant for once.

What Oscar-winning actor was Ronald Reagan's best man when he married Nancy Davis in 1952? William Holden

Kicking off a five-city dash around Florida a day before the state holds a critical primary, Newt Gingrich said on Monday that he was the only GOP candidate who could beat President Obama and slammed rival Mitt Romney as liberal and unable to draw a clean contrast with the Democrat. “Let me be very clear. Every time we nominate a moderate, we lose. In 1996, we nominate  a moderate, Bill Clinton wins reelection by a big margin. In 2008, we nominate a moderate, Barack Obama wins,” he told fewer than 100 supporters gathered in a hotel conference room.

Jean Webb Vaughan Smith, a member of the Reagans' inner circle who championed volunteerism as national president of the Assn. of Junior Leagues, died Wednesday in Los Angeles of natural causes, her family said. She was 93. Smith joined the Junior League in the 1950s, rising to president of the Los Angeles chapter in 1954 and western regional director in 1956. She served as national president from 1958 to 1960. Her decades of public service also included government appointments and civic roles, including serving on the boards of the Blue Ribbon, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the United Way, the American Red Cross, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the California Arts Commission.

Mitt Romney said at the Republican presidential debate in Jacksonville, Fla., on Thursday night that he was not “terribly politically involved” until he ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002. That statement, of course, omits his failed run for theU.S. Senateagainst Ted Kennedy in 1994. Romney was answering a question from debate moderator Wolf Blitzer of CNN about the Romney's campaign suggestion that Newt Gingrich wasn't as close to Republican icon Ronald Reagan as Gingrich ceaselessly contends.