Ronald Reagan

About Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan, who passed away in 2004, holds a significant place in modern history, ranking #307 in overall historical importance according to MIT’s Pantheon project. As the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989), his tenure is most noted for his role in escalating Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union while simultaneously initiating diplomatic efforts that ultimately contributed to its end. Before his political career, he was a prominent film actor, further cementing his public profile leading into his political life.

When analyzing modern digital attention, Reagan commands considerable focus, yet this level of interest appears disproportionate to his historical ranking. In 2025, his Wikipedia pages accumulated 5.4 million annualized views. This places him in an "overattention" category, exhibiting a +13x attention gap relative to his HPI rank. For comparison, the highly influential religious figure John the Baptist (#151) garnered just 1.3 million views, while contemporary politician Joe Biden (#329) achieved double Reagan's attention with 10.6 million views.

Despite this high volume, the data suggests Reagan’s online relevance is waning: his pageviews dropped by 25.2% year-over-year, and his Q1 to Q3 momentum showed a significant -34% decline, indicating a potential fading interest in his legacy among contemporary internet users.