Reagan was a Lousy father. Supposedly in private, he was cold and distant, and he produced two little monsters.
I suspect Nancy was no great shakes as a loving mother either. She has always struck me as cold with a “switched-on warmth” quality,i.e. for others to see but not how she really felt.
I don’t believe that Ronald and Nancy Reagan were aloof and uncaring parents. That’s a narrative the Fake News media created and pushed because they hated Reagan so much.
Reagan wasn’t necessarily a bad dad. The fact that the Jane Wyman kids — Michael (adopted) and the late Maureen (natural) — turned out to be good people would suggest that the parental problem was not Ron but Nancy. Patti and RR Jr are, and always have been, bums.