EUREKA - Ronald Reagan's lifeguarding on the Rock River in Dixon and lessons learned in church gave him the confidence and faith that would lead to his successful presidency decades later.

"I think you can draw a direct line between that river and that church and the White House," said Paul Kengor, a political science professor from Grove City, Pa. He spoke at Eureka College on his book, "God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life."

Kengor described Aug. 2, 1928, at Lowell Park, where Reagan had been a lifeguard since his sophomore year in high school. It was dark at the end of a long day when a person screamed that a friend was drowning about 100 yards upstream.

Reagan dove into the river and saved the boy, his second rescue in two weeks, leading to a headline in the Dixon Telegraph: "James Rader Pulled From the Jaws of Death."

It was Reagan's 25th rescue since becoming a lifeguard, and the first of many front-page headlines he would receive, Kengor said. During his seven summers as a lifeguard in Dixon, Reagan was credited with making 77 rescues.

Kengor said Reagan was contacted in 1932 to try out for the Olympic swim team, but couldn't afford to give up his summer pay of $15 to $16 per week for six days' work.

Kengor credited Reagan's mother, Nelle, and First Christian Church, Dixon, with giving Reagan his faith in God and hatred for atheistic communism.

"He was sure that God had a plan for his life on a daily basis," Kengor said.

Reagan began teaching Sunday school at age 15, staying until he left for Eureka College in September 1928.

After he was shot in 1981, the president quit attending church because of security hassles and potential danger to others, Kengor said. At a meeting late in his presidency, Reagan was seen counting on his fingers. Asked what he was doing, he replied he was counting the weeks until he could return to church.

Kengor also has written "The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism," and books about the faith of George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton. He is executive director of The Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College.