Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was a conservative American actor, union leader and politician who became the 40th President of the United States.

Anti-communist activities
As president of the Screen Actors Guild Reagan struggled politically with progressive members of his union, secretly serving as an FBI informant and testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee, identifying persons he suspected of being communist sympathizers.

Reagan was skeptical of private efforts to root out communists, expressing to the FBI and HUAC his awareness of the uncertainty involved and the anti-democratic nature of the anti-communist witch hunt."I abhor their philosophy, but I detest more than that their tactics, which are those of the fifth column, and are dishonest, but at the same time I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment."