America is remembering Michael Reagan, the first son of President Reagan. His death at 80 from cancer is a political loss. His success in being “a steadfast guardian of his father’s legacy,” as the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute calls him on X, survives his death on Tuesday.

“Michael Reagan was such a wonderful inspiration to so many of us,” Governor Scott Walker, who led Wisconsin for two terms, posted on X. “That was particularly true of the students who heard him at Young America’s Foundation’s programs at the Reagan Ranch.” Similar praise appeared from across partisan lines.

Upon Reagan’s passing, this columnist’s phone lit up with recollections. One producer for a liberal host who “spent a lot of time just hanging out in the control room” with the president’s son described him as “such a warm person.” Another recalled laughter and conversation over drinks at Washington D.C.’s Willard Hotel.

The younger Reagan called himself “a chosen one” and “the lucky one” in a 2004 eulogy for his father. The elder Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman, adopted Michael hours after his birth in 1945. But the president “never mentioned that I was adopted,” he said, “either behind my back or in front of me.” 

The elder Reagan gave Michael “a lot of gifts as a child,” including a horse and a car. A legacy that commanded respect was “a gift he gave me that I think is wonderful for every father to give every son.” He “was so proud,” he said, “to have the Reagan name and to be Ronald Reagan’s son. What a great honor.” 

Reagan dropped out of two colleges as he searched for his place in the world. He tried following his parents into acting, appearing alongside Wyman on “Falcon Crest.” Finding a talent for writing, he published several books and hundreds of columns. He also worked for various charities, chairing the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation.

In his 2004 memoir, “Twice Adopted,” Reagan wrote about finding acceptance, first with his adoptive parents and again through his Christian faith. The book was a coda to “On the Outside Looking In,” his 1988 book describing his relationship with Reagan and Wyman.

Many adoptees wrestle with feelings of rejection, but presidential children carry an additional burden. Of them all, only President George W. Bush can be said to have risen higher than his father, President George H. W. Bush. The elder Bush, Reagan’s vice president, was defeated for reelection; his son earned two terms.

President Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice Longworth, lamented how her “poor” half-brother, General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., was always in his namesake’s shadow, too. “Every time he crosses the street,” she said, someone complained “he doesn’t do it as his father would. And if he navigates nicely, they say it was just as T.R. would have done.”

Faced with that no-win scenario, many presidential offspring avoid the spotlight or wither under its glare. After serving as secretary of war and minister to the U.K., Robert Lincoln declined appointments and calls to run for the White House. “They didn’t want me,” he explained. “They wanted Lincoln’s son.”

Americans made the same demands on the Reagan children that they did on the others. Like Robert Lincoln, Ronald P. Reagan, the president’s son with Nancy Reagan, had no interest in being a living legacy. Sister Maureen, who died in 2001, was an activist. Patti, a novelist and actor, avoided the family business. 

As syndicated host of radio’s “The Michael Reagan Show,” in print, and through TV appearances, the “chosen” son picked up Reaganism’s torch and held it high. He did so with the smile and generosity that characterized his father, making his own mark on the arena. “Words alone endure,” Sir Winston Churchill said, and so Reagan’s do. 

“Dad,” Reagan closed his 2004 eulogy, “when I go, I will go to Heaven, too. And you and I and my sister, Maureen … will dance with the heavenly host of angels before the presence of God. We will do it melanoma- and Alzheimer’s-free.” He closed thanking America “for letting me share my father.”