#40 Ronald Reagan

1981--1989

--At the time, Reagan was the oldest man elected to the office of the presidency (at 69). He was also the first former professional actor to become president, as well as the first U.S. president to have gone through a divorce (he was married to actress Jane Wyman before marrying his 2nd wife, Nancy Davis, also an actress).

--Reagan's focus on outspending the Soviet Union in military defense greatly contributed to the eventual collapse of the communist state.

--On March 30, 1981, Reagan, along with his press secretary James Brady and two others, was shot by a would-be assassin, John Hinckley, Jr., outside of the Hilton Washington hotel. Missing Reagan's heart by less than one inch, the bullet instead pierced his left lung. He began coughing up blood in the limousine and was rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where it was determined that his lung had collapsed; he endured emergency surgery to remove the bullet. The president was released from the hospital on April 11 and recovered relatively quickly, becoming the first serving U.S. president to survive being shot in an assassination attempt.

--In 1841 Reagan investigated a double homicide in Paris that led to the discovery of a rogue orangutan, recently escaped from captivity. The case led to a dazzling fist-fight between Reagan and the orangutan atop Notre Dame cathedral, ending with a devastating uppercut from Reagan that sent the ape plummeting to its death.