[2] Ragan graduated with the United States Air Force Academy Class of 1971 earning a 2.8 GPA toward his completion of a baccalaureate degree in Engineering Science.

[3] Ragan was issued a Commercial Pilot certificate by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on May 19, 1990, while he was a resident of Statesville, North Carolina.

[6][7][8] In 2010, he said, based upon academic studies by Vanderbilt University and other sources, that there wasn't sufficient evidence that public funding for early childhood education was needed.

[13] In the 110th Tennessee General Assembly (2017-2018) Ragan served as Vice Chair of the House Government Operations Committee, Vice Chair of the Joint Subcommittee on Education, Health and General Welfare, member of the House Health Committee and Subcommittee, Co-Chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures Nuclear Legislative Working Group, Member of the House Health Subcommittee and main Committee, Member of Southern States Energy Board.

[16] On August 1st, 2024, Ragan lost re-nomination in the Republican primary to former Clinton police chief Rick Scarbrough by 258 votes.

This was mainly due to many of Ragan's unpopular educational positions, including his support for increasing private school vouchers in the state.

[20] On June 9, 2020, Ragan voted as a member of the House Naming, Designating, & Private Acts Committee against removing a bust in the Tennessee State Capitol honoring Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee State Capitol building[21] Ragan reportedly responded to a constituent's email query questioning his support for honoring Forrest by keeping his bust on display by sending the constituent a copy of an opinion column (Tucker, Greg (July 11, 2015).

[22] In May 2021, at the end of the legislative session, Ragan introduced an amendment to an education bill to prohibit public and charter schools in Tennessee from "teaching that:[23] His proposal, which was described as a ban on teaching critical race theory and has also been called the "prohibited concepts" law, was quickly adopted by the General Assembly,[23] which was controlled by a Republican supermajority.

Ragan has defended the language of the law, acknowledging that slavery was abhorrent but advising that teachers should avoid stating "personal opinion" on the topic.

[31] In 2019 he introduced a bill to expand the definition of "public places" in law related to the crime of indecent exposure, so that it would apply to "incidents occurring in a restroom, locker room, dressing room, or shower, designated for single-sex, multi-person use, if the offender is a member of the opposite sex than the sex designated for use."

[34] Explaining his reasons for the bill, Ragan told a reporter that he was concerned that his granddaughters might see male genitalia in a public restroom, and said "I don't care if they think they're a woman.

"[32] In 2020, Ragan and State Senator Janice Bowling were co-sponsors of a bill that, as described in media reports, would largely ban puberty-blocking and gender-affirming medical treatments for persons under age 18 and establish criminal penalties for medical providers and parents who enabled children to receive treatments in violation of the law's restrictions.

[38] In the 2022 legislative session Ragan was the House sponsor for a bill to withhold state education funding from K-12 public schools that allow transgender youth to participate in girls' sports.

The letter advised schools to "immediately revoke and/or remove any publications, policies and website entries ... that state or imply that LGBTQ students, etc., are a protected class under Title IX" and report their actions to his legislative office by 2 September.