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Ronald Wilson ReaganTemplate:Efn (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party and became an important figure in the American conservative movement. His presidency is known as the Reagan era.
Born in Illinois, Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and was hired the next year as a sports broadcaster in Iowa. In 1937, he moved to California where he became a well-known film actor. During his acting career, Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild twice from 1947 to 1952 and from 1959 to 1960. In the 1950s, he hosted General Electric Theater and worked as a motivational speaker for General Electric. During the 1964 presidential election, Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" speech launched his rise as a leading conservative figure. After being elected governor of California in 1966, he raised state taxes, turned the state budget deficit into a surplus and implemented harsh crackdowns on university protests. Following his loss to Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Reagan won the Republican Party's nomination and then a landslide victory over President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election.
In his first term as president, Reagan began implementing "Reaganomics", a policy involving economic deregulation and cuts in both taxes and government spending during a period of stagflation. On the world stage, he escalated the arms race, increased military spending, transitioned Cold War policy away from the policies of détente with the Soviet Union, and ordered the 1983 invasion of Grenada. Reagan also survived an assassination attempt, fought public-sector labor unions, expanded the war on drugs, and was slow to respond to the AIDS epidemic. In the 1984 presidential election, he defeated former vice president Walter Mondale in another landslide victory. Foreign affairs dominated Reagan's second term, including the 1986 bombing of Libya, the secret and illegal sale of arms to Iran to fund the Contras, and engaging in negotiations with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, which culminated in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
Reagan left the presidency in 1989 with the American economy having seen a significant reduction of inflation, a fall in the unemployment rate, and the longest peacetime economic expansion in U.S. history at that time. Conversely, despite cuts to domestic discretionary spending, the national debt had nearly tripled since 1981 as a result of his tax cuts and increased military spending. Reagan's foreign policies also contributed to the end of the Cold War. Though he planned an active post-presidency, it was hindered after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, and his physical and mental capacities gradually deteriorated, leading to his death in 2004. His tenure constituted a realignment toward conservative policies in the United States, and he is often considered an icon of American conservatism. Historical rankings of U.S. presidents have typically placed Reagan in the middle to upper tier, and his post-presidential approval ratings by the general public are usually high.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Early lifeEdit
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911, in an apartment in Tampico, Illinois, as the younger son of Nelle Clyde Wilson and Jack Reagan.Template:Sfn Nelle was committed to the Disciples of Christ,Template:Sfn which believed in the Social Gospel.Template:Sfn She led prayer meetings and ran mid-week prayers at her church when the pastor was out of town.Template:Sfn Reagan credited her spiritual influenceTemplate:Sfn and he became a Christian.Template:Sfn According to American political figure Stephen Vaughn, Reagan's values came from his pastor, and the First Christian Church's religious, economic and social positions "coincided with the words, if not the beliefs of the latter-day Reagan".Template:Sfn Jack focused on making money to take care of the family,Template:Sfn but this was complicated by his alcoholism.Template:Sfn Reagan had an older brother, Neil.Template:Sfn The family lived in Chicago, Galesburg, and Monmouth before returning to Tampico. In 1920, they settled in Dixon, Illinois,Template:Sfn living in a house near the H. C. Pitney Variety Store Building.Template:Sfn
Reagan attended Dixon High School, where he developed interests in drama and football.Template:Sfn His first job was as a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park.Template:Sfn In 1928, Reagan began attending Eureka College,Template:Sfn which Nelle approved because of its affiliation with the Disciples of Christ.Template:Sfn He was a mediocre studentTemplate:Sfn who participated in sports, drama, and campus politics. He became student body president and joined a student strike that resulted in the college president's resignation.Template:Sfn Reagan was initiated as a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and served as president of the local chapter.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Reagan played at the guard position for the 1930 and 1931 Eureka Red Devils football teams and recalled a time when two Black teammates were refused service at a segregated hotel; he invited them to his parents' home nearby in Dixon and his parents welcomed them. At the time, his parents' stance on racial questions was unusually progressive in Dixon.Template:Sfnm Reagan himself had grown up with very few Black Americans and was oblivious to racial discrimination.Template:Sfn
Entertainment careerEdit
Radio and filmEdit
After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in economics and sociology from Eureka College in 1932,Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Reagan took a job in Davenport, Iowa, as a sports broadcaster for four football games in the Big Ten Conference.Template:Sfn He then worked for WHO radio in Des Moines as a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. His specialty was creating play-by-play accounts of games using only basic descriptions that the station received by wire as the games were in progress.Template:Sfn Simultaneously, he often expressed his opposition to racism.Template:Sfn In 1936, while traveling with the Cubs to their spring training in California, Reagan took a screen test that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Bros.Template:Sfn
Reagan arrived at Hollywood in 1937, debuting in Love Is on the Air (1937).Template:Sfn Using a simple and direct approach to acting and following his directors' instructions,Template:Sfn Reagan made thirty films, mostly B films, before beginning military service in April 1942.Template:Sfn He broke out of these types of films by portraying George Gipp in Knute Rockne, All American (1940), which would be rejuvenated when reporters called Reagan "the Gipper" while he campaigned for president.Template:Sfn Reagan starred in Kings Row (1942) as a leg amputee;Template:Sfn this performance was considered his best by many critics.Template:Sfn Reagan became a star,Template:Sfn with Gallup polls placing him "in the top 100 stars" from 1941 to 1942.Template:Sfn
World War II interrupted the movie stardom that Reagan would never be able to achieve againTemplate:Sfn as Warner Bros. became uncertain about his ability to generate ticket sales. Reagan, who had a limited acting range, was dissatisfied with the roles he received. Lew Wasserman renegotiated his contract with his studio, allowing him to also make films with Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and RKO Pictures as a freelancer. Reagan appeared in multiple western films, something that had been denied to him while working at Warner Bros.Template:Sfn In 1952, he ended his relationship with Warner Bros.,Template:Sfn but went on to appear in a total of 53 films,Template:Sfn his last being The Killers (1964).Template:Sfn
Military serviceEdit
In April 1937, Reagan enlisted in the United States Army Reserve. He was assigned as a private in Des Moines' 322nd Cavalry Regiment and reassigned to second lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps.Template:Sfn He later became a part of the 323rd Cavalry Regiment in California.Template:Sfn As relations between the United States and Japan worsened, Reagan was ordered for active duty while he was filming Kings Row. Wasserman and Warner Bros. lawyers successfully sent draft deferments to complete the film in October 1941. However, to avoid accusations of Reagan being a draft dodger, the studio let him go in April 1942.Template:Sfnm
Reagan reported for duty with severe near-sightedness. His first assignment was at Fort Mason as a liaison officer, a role that allowed him to transfer to the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). Reagan became an AAF public relations officer and was assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit in Culver CityTemplate:Sfn where he felt that it was "impossible to remove an incompetent or lazy worker" due to what he felt was "the incompetence, the delays, and inefficiencies" of the federal bureaucracy.Template:Sfn Despite this, Reagan participated in the Provisional Task Force Show Unit in BurbankTemplate:Sfn and continued to make theatrical films.Template:Sfn He was also ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate in the sixth War Loan Drive before being reassigned to Fort MacArthur until his discharge on December 9, 1945, as a captain. Throughout his military service, Reagan produced over 400 training films.Template:Sfn
Screen Actors Guild presidencyEdit
When Robert Montgomery resigned as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) on March 10, 1947, Reagan was elected to that position in a special election.Template:Sfn Reagan's first tenure saw various labor–management disputes,Template:Sfn the Hollywood blacklist,Template:Sfn and the Taft–Hartley Act's implementation.Template:Sfn Reagan aligned the union with the studios against the Conference of Studio Unions in the aftermath of the Hollywood Black Friday strike. In The Invisible Bridge, Rick Perlstein wrote that Reagan's actions lent legitimacy to the studio's efforts to crush the more radical union by giving liberals in SAG who did not want to strike "a story that turned them into moral innocents instead of scabs".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On April 10, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interviewed Reagan and he provided the names of actors whom he believed to be communist sympathizers.Template:Sfn During a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing, Reagan testified that some guild members were associated with the Communist PartyTemplate:Sfn and that he was well-informed about a "jurisdictional strike".Template:Sfn When asked if he was aware of communist efforts within the Screen Writers Guild, he called information about the efforts "hearsay".Template:Sfn Reagan resigned as SAG president November 10, 1952, but remained on the board.Template:Sfn
The SAG fought with film producers for the right to receive residual payments,Template:Sfn and on November 16, 1959, the board elected Reagan SAG president for the second time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Reagan managed to secure payments for actors whose theatrical films had been released between 1948 and 1959 and subsequently televised. The producers were initially required to pay the actors fees, but they ultimately settled instead for providing pensions and paying residuals for films made after 1959. Reagan resigned from the SAG presidency on June 7, 1960, and also left the board.Template:Sfn
Marriages and childrenEdit
In January 1940, Reagan married Jane Wyman, his co-star in the 1938 film Brother Rat.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Together, they had two biological daughters: Maureen in 1941,Template:Sfn and Christine in 1947 (born prematurely and died the following day).Template:Sfn They adopted one son, Michael, in 1945.Template:Sfn Wyman filed for divorce in June 1948. She was uninterested in politics, and occasionally recriminated, reconciled and separated with him. Although Reagan was unprepared,Template:Sfn the divorce was finalized in July 1949. Reagan would remain close to his children.Template:Sfn Later that year, Reagan met Nancy Davis after she contacted him in his capacity as the SAG president about her name appearing on a communist blacklist in Hollywood; she had been mistaken for another Nancy Davis.Template:Sfn They married in March 1952,Template:Sfn and had two children, Patti in October 1952, and Ron in May 1958.Template:Sfn Reagan has three grandchildren.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TelevisionEdit
Reagan became the host of MCA Inc. television production General Electric TheaterTemplate:Sfn at Wasserman's recommendation. It featured multiple guest stars,Template:Sfn and Ronald and Nancy Reagan, continuing to use her stage name Nancy Davis, acted together in three episodes.Template:Sfn When asked how Reagan was able to recruit such stars to appear on the show during television's infancy, he replied, "Good stories, top direction, production quality".Template:Sfn However, the viewership declined in the 1960s and the show was canceled in 1962.Template:Sfn In 1965, Reagan became the hostTemplate:Sfn of another MCA production, Death Valley Days.Template:Sfn
Early political activitiesEdit
Reagan began his political career as a Democrat, viewing Franklin D. Roosevelt as "a true hero".Template:Sfn He joined the American Veterans Committee and Hollywood Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions (HICCASP), worked with the AFL–CIO to fight right-to-work laws,Template:Sfn and continued to speak out against racism when he was in Hollywood.Template:Sfn In 1945, Reagan planned to lead an HICCASP anti-nuclear rally, but Warner Bros. prevented him from going.Template:Sfn In 1946, he appeared in a radio program called Operation Terror to speak out against rising Ku Klux Klan activity, calling it a "capably organized systematic campaign of fascist violence and intimidation and horror".<ref name="Racism">Template:Cite journal</ref> Reagan supported Harry S. Truman in the 1948 presidential election,Template:Sfn and Helen Gahagan Douglas for the U.S. Senate in 1950. It was Reagan's belief that communism was a powerful backstage influence in Hollywood that led him to rally his friends against them.Template:Sfn
Reagan began shifting to the right when he supported the presidential campaigns of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and Richard Nixon in 1960.Template:Sfn When Reagan was contracted by General Electric (GE), he gave speeches to their employees. His speeches had a positive take on free markets.Template:Sfn In 1961, Reagan adapted his speeches into another speech to criticize Medicare.Template:Sfn In his view, its legislation would have meant "the end of individual freedom in the United States".Template:Sfn In 1962, Reagan was dropped by GE,Template:Sfn and he formally registered as a Republican.Template:Sfn
In the 1964 U.S. presidential election, Reagan gave a speech for presidential contender Barry GoldwaterTemplate:Sfn that was eventually referred to as "A Time for Choosing".Template:Sfn Reagan argued that the Founding Fathers "knew that governments don't control things. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose"Template:Sfn and that "We've been told increasingly that we must choose between left or right".Template:Sfn Even though the speech was not enough to turn around the faltering Goldwater campaign, it increased Reagan's profile among conservatives. David S. Broder and Stephen H. Hess called it "the most successful national political debut since William Jennings Bryan electrified the 1896 Democratic convention with his famous 'Cross of Gold' address".Template:Sfn
1966 California gubernatorial electionEdit
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In January 1966, Reagan announced his candidacy for the California governorship,Template:Sfn repeating his stances on individual freedom and big government.Template:Sfn When he met with black Republicans in March,Template:Sfn he was criticized for opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Reagan responded that bigotry was not in his natureTemplate:Sfn and later argued that certain provisions of the act infringed upon the rights of property owners.Template:Sfn After the Supreme Court of California ruled that the initiative that repealed the Rumford Act was unconstitutional in May, he voiced his support for the act's repeal,Template:Sfn but later preferred amending it.Template:Sfn In the Republican primary, Reagan defeated George Christopher,Template:Sfn a moderate RepublicanTemplate:Sfn who William F. Buckley Jr. thought had painted Reagan as extreme.Template:Sfn
Reagan's general election opponent, incumbent governor Pat Brown, attempted to label Reagan as an extremist.Template:Sfn Reagan portrayed himself as a political outsider,Template:Sfn and charged Brown as responsible for the Watts riots and lenient on crime.Template:Sfn In numerous speeches, Reagan "hit the Brown administration about high taxes, uncontrolled spending, the radicals at the University of California, Berkeley, and the need for accountability in government".Template:Sfn Meanwhile, many in the press perceived Reagan as "monumentally ignorant of state issues", though Lou Cannon said that Reagan benefited from an appearance he and Brown made on Meet the Press in September.Template:Sfn Reagan won the governorship with 57 percent of the vote compared to Brown's 42 percent.Template:Sfn
California governorship (1967–1975)Edit
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Brown had spent much of California's funds on new programs, prompting them to use accrual accounting to avoid raising taxes. Consequently, it generated a larger deficit,Template:Sfn and Reagan called for reduced government spending and tax hikes to balance the budget.Template:Sfn He worked with Jesse M. Unruh on securing tax increases and promising future property tax cuts. This caused some conservatives to accuse Reagan of betraying his principles.Template:Sfn As a result, taxes on sales, banks, corporate profits, inheritances, liquor, and cigarettes jumped. Kevin Starr states Reagan "gave Californians the biggest tax hike in their history—and got away with it".Template:Sfn In the 1970 gubernatorial election, Unruh used Reagan's tax policy against him, saying it disproportionally favored the wealthy. Reagan countered that he was still committed to reducing property taxes.Template:Sfn By 1973, the budget had a surplus, which Reagan preferred "to give back to the people".Template:Sfn
In 1967, Reagan reacted to the Black Panther Party's strategy of copwatching by signing the Mulford ActTemplate:Sfn to prohibit the public carrying of firearms. The act was California's most restrictive piece of gun control legislation, with critics saying that it was "overreacting to the political activism of organizations such as the Black Panthers".Template:Sfn The act marked the beginning of both modern legislation and public attitude studies on gun control.Template:Sfn Reagan also signed the 1967 Therapeutic Abortion Act that allowed abortions in the cases of rape and incest when a doctor determined the birth would impair the physical or mental health of the mother. He later expressed regret over signing it, saying that he was unaware of the mental health provision. He believed that doctors were interpreting the provision loosely, resulting in more abortions.Template:Sfn
After Reagan won the 1966 election, he and his advisors planned a run in the 1968 Republican presidential primaries.Template:Sfn He ran as an unofficial candidate to cut into Nixon's southern support and be a compromise candidate if there were to be a brokered convention. He won California's delegates,Template:Sfn but Nixon secured enough delegates for the nomination.Template:Sfn
Reagan had previously been critical of former governor Brown and university administrators for tolerating student demonstrations in the city of Berkeley, making it a major theme in his campaigning.Template:Sfn On February 5, 1969, Reagan declared a state of emergency in response to ongoing protests and violence at the University of California, Berkeley, and sent in the California Highway Patrol. In May 1969, these officers, along with local officers from Berkeley and Alameda county, clashed with protestors over a site known as the People's Park.Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> One student was shot and killed while many police officers and two reporters were injured. Reagan then commanded the state National Guard troops to occupy Berkeley for seventeen days to subdue the protesters, allowing other students to attend class safely. In February 1970, violent protests broke out near the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he once again deployed the National Guard. On April 7, Reagan defended his policies regarding campus protests, saying, "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with. No more appeasement".Template:Sfn
During his victorious reelection campaign in 1970, Reagan, remaining critical of government, promised to prioritize welfare reform.Template:Sfn He was concerned that the programs were disincentivizing work and that the growing welfare rolls would lead to both an unbalanced budget and another big tax hike in 1972.Template:Sfn At the same time, the Federal Reserve increased interest rates to combat inflation, putting the American economy in a mild recession. Reagan worked with Bob Moretti to tighten up the eligibility requirements so that the financially needy could continue receiving payments. This was only accomplished after Reagan softened his criticism of Nixon's Family Assistance Plan. Nixon then lifted regulations to shepherd California's experiment.Template:Sfn In 1976, the Employment Development Department published a report suggesting that the experiment that ran from 1971 to 1974 was unsuccessful.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Reagan declined to run for the governorship in 1974 and it was won by Pat Brown's son, Jerry.Template:Sfn Reagan's governorship, as professor Gary K. Clabaugh writes, saw public schools deteriorate due to his opposition to additional basic education funding.Template:Sfn As for higher education, journalist William Trombley believed that the budget cuts Reagan enacted damaged Berkeley's student-faculty ratio and research.Template:Sfn The homicide rate doubled and armed robbery rates rose by even more during Reagan's eight years, even with the many laws Reagan signed to try toughening criminal sentencing and reforming the criminal justice system.Template:Sfn Reagan strongly supported capital punishment, but his efforts to enforce it were thwarted by People v. Anderson in 1972.Template:Sfn According to his son, Michael, Reagan said that he regretted signing the Family Law Act that granted no-fault divorces.Template:Sfn
Seeking the presidency (1975–1981)Edit
1976 Republican primariesEdit
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Insufficiently conservative to ReaganTemplate:Sfn and many other Republicans,Template:Sfn President Gerald Ford suffered from multiple political and economic woes. Ford, running for president, was disappointed to hear him also run.Template:Sfn Reagan was strongly critical of détente and Ford's policy of détente with the Soviet Union.Template:Sfn He repeated "A Time for Choosing" around the countryTemplate:Sfn before announcing his campaign on November 20, 1975, when he discussed economic and social problems, and to a lesser extent, foreign affairs.Template:Sfn Both candidates were determined to knock each other out early in the primaries,Template:Sfn but Reagan would devastatingly lose the first five primaries beginning with New Hampshire,Template:Sfn where he popularized the welfare queen narrative about Linda Taylor, exaggerating her misuse of welfare benefits and igniting voter resentment for welfare reform,Template:Sfn but never overtly mentioning her name or race.Template:Sfn
In Florida, Reagan referred to a "strapping young buck",Template:Sfn which became an example of dog whistle politics,Template:Sfn and attacked Ford for handing the Panama Canal to Panama's government, while Ford implied that Reagan would end Social Security.Template:Sfn Then, in Illinois, Reagan again criticized Ford's policy and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.Template:Sfn Losing the first five primaries prompted Reagan to desperately win North Carolina's by running a grassroots campaign and uniting with the Jesse Helms political machine that viciously attacked Ford. Reagan won an upset victory, convincing party delegates that Ford's nomination was no longer guaranteed.Template:Sfnm Reagan won subsequent victories in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Indiana with his attacks on social programs, opposition to forced busing, increased support from inclined voters of a declining George Wallace campaign for the Democratic nomination,Template:Sfn and repeated criticisms of Ford and Kissinger's policies, including détente.Template:Sfn
The result was a seesaw battle for the 1,130 delegates required for their party's nomination that neither would reach before the Kansas City conventionTemplate:Sfn in AugustTemplate:Sfn and Ford replacing mentions of détente with Reagan's preferred phrase, "peace through strength".Template:Sfn Reagan took John Sears' advice of choosing liberal Richard Schweiker as his running mate, hoping to pry loose of delegates from Pennsylvania and other states, and distract Ford. Instead, conservatives were left alienated, and Ford picked up the remaining uncommitted delegates, earning 1,187 to Reagan's 1,070.Template:Sfn
After giving his acceptance speech, Ford invited Reagan to address the convention. Reagan gave an eloquent and stirring speech that overshadowed Ford's own acceptance address, despite being little more than five minutes long. Some delegates later stated that they left the convention wondering if they had voted for the wrong candidate.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> A contemporary media account stated that if a motion to reconsider the nomination had been in order, it might have passed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1977, Ford told Cannon that Reagan's primary challenge contributed to his own narrow loss to Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election.Template:Sfn
1980 electionEdit
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Reagan emerged as a vocal critic of President Carter in 1977. The Panama Canal Treaty's signing, the 1979 oil crisis, and rise in the interest, inflation and unemployment rates helped set up his 1980 presidential campaign,Template:Sfn which he announced on November 13, 1979Template:Sfn with an indictment of the federal government.Template:Sfn His announcement stressed his fundamental principles of tax cuts to stimulate the economy and having both a small government and a strong national defense,Template:Sfn since he believed the United States was behind the Soviet Union militarily.<ref name="Bowman 2004" /> Heading into 1980, his age became an issue among the press, and the United States was in a severe recession.Template:Sfn
In the primaries, Reagan unexpectedly lost the Iowa caucus to George H. W. Bush. Three days before the New Hampshire primary, the Reagan and Bush campaigns agreed to a one-on-one debate sponsored by The Telegraph at Nashua, New Hampshire, but hours before the debate, the Reagan campaign invited other candidates including Bob Dole, John B. Anderson, Howard Baker and Phil Crane.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Debate moderator Jon Breen denied seats to the other candidates, asserting that The Telegraph would violate federal campaign contribution laws if it sponsored the debate and changed the ground rules hours before the debate.Template:Sfn As a result, the Reagan campaign agreed to pay for the debate. Reagan said that as he was funding the debate, he could decide who would debate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the debate, when Breen was laying out the ground rules and attempting to ask the first question, Reagan interrupted in protest to make an introductory statement and wanted other candidates to be included before the debate began.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The moderator asked Bob Malloy, the volume operator, to mute Reagan's microphone. After Breen repeated his demand to Malloy, Reagan furiously replied, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!Template:Sic".Template:Efn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This turned out to be the turning point of the debate and the primary race.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ultimately, the four additional candidates left, and the debate continued between Reagan and Bush. Reagan's polling numbers improved, and he won the New Hampshire primary by more than 39,000 votes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Soon thereafter, Reagan's opponents began dropping out of the primaries, including Anderson, who left the party to become an independent candidate. Reagan easily captured the presidential nomination and chose Bush as his running mate at the Detroit convention in July.Template:Sfn
The general election pitted Reagan against Carter amid the multitude of domestic concerns and ongoing Iran hostage crisis that began on November 4, 1979.Template:Sfnm Reagan's campaign worried that Carter would be able to secure the release of the American hostages in Iran as part of the October surprise,Template:Sfn Carter "suggested that Reagan would wreck Social Security" and portrayed him as a warmonger,Template:Sfn and Anderson carried support from liberal Republicans dissatisfied with Reagan's conservatism.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn One of Reagan's key strengths was his appeal to the rising conservative movement. Though most conservative leaders espoused cutting taxes and budget deficits, many conservatives focused more closely on social issues like abortion and gay rights.<ref>Patterson, pp. 130–134</ref> Evangelical Protestants became an increasingly important voting bloc, and they generally supported Reagan.<ref>Patterson, pp. 135–141, 150</ref> Reagan also won the backing of Reagan Democrats.<ref>Patterson, p. 131</ref> Though he advocated socially conservative viewpoints, Reagan focused much of his campaign on attacks against Carter's foreign policy.<ref>Patterson, pp. 145–146</ref>
In August, Reagan gave a speech at the Neshoba County Fair, stating his belief in states' rights. Joseph Crespino argues that the visit was designed to reach out to Wallace-inclined voters,Template:Sfn and someTemplate:Who also saw these actions as an extension of the Southern strategy to garner white support for Republican candidates.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Reagan's supporters have said that this was his typical anti-big government rhetoric, without racial context or intent.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In the October 28 debate, Carter chided Reagan for being against national health insurance. Reagan replied, "There you go again", though the audience laughed and viewers found him more appealing.Template:Sfn Reagan later asked the audience if they were better off than they were four years ago, slightly paraphrasing Roosevelt's words in 1934.Template:Sfn In 1983, Reagan's campaign managers were revealed to having obtained Carter's debate briefing book before the debates.Template:Sfn On November 4, 1980, Reagan won in a decisive victory in the Electoral College over Carter, carrying 44 states and receiving 489 electoral votes to Carter's 49 in six states and the District of Columbia. He won the popular vote by a narrower margin, receiving nearly 51 percent to Carter's 41 percent and Anderson's 7 percent. Republicans won a majority of seats in the Senate for the first time since 1952Template:Sfn while Democrats retained the House of Representatives.Template:Sfn
Presidency (1981–1989)Edit
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First inaugurationEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}Template:Multiple image Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th president of the United States on January 20, 1981.Template:Sfn Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administered the presidential oath of office.<ref name="JCCIC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In his Template:Ws2, Reagan commented on the country's economic malaise, arguing, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem".Template:Sfn As a final insult to President Carter, Iran waited until Reagan had been sworn in before announcing the release of their American hostages.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn
"Reaganomics" and the economyEdit
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Reagan advocated a laissez-faire philosophy,Template:Sfn and promoted a set of neoliberal reforms dubbed "Reaganomics", which included monetarism and supply-side economics.Template:Sfnm
TaxationEdit
Reagan worked with the boll weevil Democrats to pass tax and budget legislation in a Congress led by Tip O'Neill, a liberal who strongly criticized Reaganomics.Template:SfnmTemplate:Efn He lifted federal oil and gasoline price controls on January 28, 1981,Template:Sfn and in August, he signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981Template:Sfn to dramatically lower federal income tax rates and require exemptions and brackets to be indexed for inflation starting in 1985.Template:Sfn Amid growing concerns about the mounting federal debt, Reagan signed the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982,Template:Sfn one of the eleven times Reagan raised taxes.Template:Sfn The bill doubled the federal cigarette tax, rescinded a portion of the corporate tax cuts from the 1981 tax bill,Template:Sfn and according to Paul Krugman, "a third of the 1981 cut" overall.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Many of his supporters condemned the bill, but Reagan defended his preservation of cuts on individual income tax rates.Template:Sfn By 1983, the amount of federal tax had fallen for all or most taxpayers, with taxes for higher-income people decreasing the most.Template:Sfn
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 reduced the number of tax brackets and top tax rate, and almost doubled personal exemptions.Template:Sfn
To Reagan, the tax cuts would not have increased the deficit as long as there was enough economic growth and spending cuts. His policies proposed that economic growth would occur when the tax cuts spurred investments. This theoretical relationship has been illustrated by some with the controversial Laffer curve.Template:Sfnm Critics labeled this "trickle-down economics", the belief that tax policies that benefit the wealthy will spread to the poor.Template:Sfn Milton Friedman and Robert Mundell argued that these policies invigorated America's economy and contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Inflation and unemploymentEdit
Reagan took office in the midst of stagflation.Template:Sfn The economy briefly experienced growth before plunging into a recession in July 1981.Template:Sfn As Federal Reserve chairman, Paul Volcker fought inflation by pursuing a tight money policy of high interest rates,Template:Sfn which restricted lending and investment, raised unemployment, and temporarily reduced economic growth.Template:Sfn In December 1982, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measured the unemployment rate at 10.8 percent.Template:Sfn Around the same time, economic activity began to rise until its end in 1990, setting the record for the (then) longest peacetime expansion.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1983, the recession endedTemplate:Sfn and Reagan nominated Volcker to a second term in fear of damaging confidence in the economic recovery.Template:Sfn
Reagan appointed Alan Greenspan to succeed Volcker in 1987. Greenspan raised interest rates in another attempt to curb inflation, setting off the Black Monday stock market crash, although the markets eventually recovered.Template:Sfn By 1989, the BLS measured unemployment at 5.3 percent.Template:Sfn The inflation rate dropped from 12 percent during the 1980 election to under 5 percent in 1989. Likewise, the interest rate dropped from 15 percent to under 10 percent.Template:Sfn Yet, not all shared equally in the economic recovery, and both economic inequalityTemplate:Sfn and the number of homeless individuals increased during the 1980s.Template:Sfn Critics have contended that a majority of the jobs created during this decade paid the minimum wage.Template:Sfn
Government spendingEdit
In 1981, in an effort to keep it solvent, Reagan approved a plan for cuts to Social Security. He later backed off due to public backlash.Template:Sfn He then created the Greenspan Commission to keep Social Security financially secure, and in 1983 he signed amendments to raise both the program's payroll taxes and retirement age for benefits.Template:Sfn He had signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to cut funding for federal assistance such as food stamps, unemployment benefits, subsidized housing and the Aid to Families with Dependent Children,Template:Sfn and would discontinue the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.Template:Sfn On the other side, defense spending doubled between 1981 and 1985.<ref name="Bowman 2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During Reagan's presidency, Project Socrates operated within the Defense Intelligence Agency to discover why the United States was unable to maintain its economic competitiveness. According to program director Michael Sekora, their findings helped the country surpass the Soviets in terms of missile defense technology.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn
DeregulationEdit
Reagan sought to loosen federal regulation of economic activities, and he appointed key officials who shared this agenda. William Leuchtenburg writes that by 1986, the Reagan administration eliminated almost half of the federal regulations that had existed in 1981.Template:Sfn The 1982 Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act deregulated savings and loan associations by letting them make a variety of loans and investments outside of real estate.Template:Sfn After the bill's passage, savings and loans associations engaged in riskier activities, and the leaders of some institutions embezzled funds. The administration's inattentiveness toward the industry contributed to the savings and loan crisis and costly bailouts.Template:Sfn
DeficitsEdit
The deficits were exacerbated by the early 1980s recession, which cut into federal revenue.Template:Sfn The national debt tripled between the fiscal years of 1980 and 1989, and the national debt as a percentage of the gross domestic product rose from 33 percent in 1981 to 53 percent by 1989. During his time in office, Reagan never fulfilled his 1980 campaign promise of submitting a balanced budget. The United States borrowed heavily to cover newly spawned federal budget deficits.Template:Sfnm Reagan described the tripled debt the "greatest disappointment of his presidency".Template:Sfn Jeffrey Frankel opined that the deficits were a major reason why Reagan's successor, Bush, reneged on his campaign promise by raising taxes through the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Assassination attemptEdit
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On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Washington Hilton. Although "right on the margin of death" upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital, Reagan underwent surgery and recovered quickly from a broken rib, punctured lung, and internal bleeding. Professor J. David Woodard says that the assassination attempt "created a bond between him and the American people that was never really broken".Template:Sfn Later, Reagan came to believe that God had spared his life "for a chosen mission".Template:Sfn
Supreme Court appointmentsEdit
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Reagan appointed three Associate Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States: Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981, which fulfilled a campaign promise to name the first female justice to the Court, Antonin Scalia in 1986, and Anthony Kennedy in 1988. He also elevated William Rehnquist from Associate Justice to Chief Justice in 1986.Template:Sfn The direction of the Supreme Court's reshaping has been described as conservative.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Public sector labor union fightsEdit
Early in August 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) went on strike, violating a federal law prohibiting government unions from striking.Template:Sfn On August 3, Reagan said that he would fire air traffic controllers if they did not return to work within 48 hours; according to him, 38 percent did not return. On August 13, Reagan fired roughly 12,000 striking air traffic controllers who ignored his order.Template:Sfn He used military controllersTemplate:Sfn and supervisors to handle the nation's commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained.Template:Sfn The breaking of the PATCO strike demoralized organized labor, and the number of strikes fell greatly in the 1980s.Template:Sfn With the assent of Reagan's sympathetic National Labor Relations Board appointees, many companies also won wage and benefit cutbacks from unions, especially in the manufacturing sector.Template:Sfn During Reagan's presidency, the share of employees who were part of a labor union dropped from approximately one-fourth of the total workforce to approximately one-sixth of the total workforce.Template:Sfn
Civil rightsEdit
Despite Reagan having opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965,Template:Sfn the bill was extended for 25 years in 1982.Template:Sfn He initially opposed the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and alluded to claims that King was associated with communists during his career, but signed a bill to create the holiday in 1983 after it passed both houses of Congress with veto-proof margins.Template:Sfn In 1984, he signed legislation intended to impose fines for fair housing discrimination offenses.Template:Sfn In March 1988, Reagan vetoed the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, but Congress overrode his veto. He had argued that the bill unreasonably increased the federal government's power and undermined the rights of churches and business owners.Template:Sfn Later in September, legislation was passed to correct loopholes in the Fair Housing Act of 1968.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn
Early in his presidency, Reagan appointed Clarence M. Pendleton Jr., known for his opposition to affirmative action and equal pay for men and women, as chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Pendleton and Reagan's subsequent appointees greatly eroded the enforcement of civil rights law, arousing the ire of civil rights advocates.Template:Sfn In 1987, Reagan unsuccessfully nominated Robert Bork to the Supreme Court as a way to achieve his civil rights policy that could not be fulfilled during his presidency; his administration had opposed affirmative action, particularly in education, federal assistance programs, housing and employment,Template:Sfn but Reagan reluctantly continued these policies.Template:Sfn In housing, Reagan's administration saw considerably fewer fair housing cases filed than the three previous administrations.Template:Sfn
War on drugsEdit
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In response to concerns about the increasing crack epidemic, Reagan intensified the war on drugs in 1982.Template:Sfn While the American public did not see drugs as an important issue then, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Department of Defense all increased their anti-drug funding immensely.Template:Sfn Reagan's administration publicized the campaign to gain support after crack became widespread in 1985.Template:Sfn Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and 1988 to specify penalties for drug offenses.Template:Sfn Both bills have been criticized in the years since for promoting racial disparities.Template:Sfn Nancy Reagan founded the "Just Say No" campaign to discourage others from engaging in recreational drug use and raise awareness about the dangers of drugs.Template:Sfn A 1988 study showed 39 percent of high school seniors using illegal drugs compared to 53 percent in 1980,Template:Sfn but Scott Lilienfeld and Hal Arkowitz say that the success of these types of campaigns has not been affirmatively proven.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Escalation of the Cold WarEdit
Reagan ordered a massive defense buildup;Template:Sfn he revived the B-1 Lancer program that had been rejected by the Carter administration,Template:Sfn and deployed the MX missile.Template:Sfn In response to Soviet deployment of the SS-20, he oversaw NATO's deployment of the Pershing missile in Western Europe.Template:Sfn In 1982, Reagan tried to cut off the Soviet Union's access to hard currency by impeding its proposed gas line to Western Europe. This hurt the Soviet economy, but also caused ill will among American allies in Europe who counted on the resulting revenue; he later retreated on this issue.Template:Sfn In March 1983, Reagan introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to protect the United States from space intercontinental ballistic missiles. He believed that this defense shield could protect the country from nuclear destruction in a hypothetical nuclear war with the Soviet Union.Template:Sfn There was much disbelief among the scientific community surrounding the program's scientific feasibility, leading opponents to dub the SDI "Star Wars",Template:Sfn although Soviet leader Yuri Andropov said it would lead to "an extremely dangerous path".Template:Sfn
In a 1982 address to the British Parliament, Reagan said, "the march of freedom and democracy... will leave Marxism–Leninism on the ash heap of history". Dismissed by the American press as "wishful thinking", Margaret Thatcher called the address a "triumph".Template:Sfn David Cannadine says of Thatcher that "Reagan had been grateful for her interest in him at a time when the British establishment refused to take him seriously", with the two agreeing on "building up stronger defenses against Soviet Russia" and both believing in outfacing "what Reagan would later call 'the evil empireTemplate:'",Template:Sfn in reference to the Soviet Union, during a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in March 1983.Template:Sfn After Soviet fighters downed Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in September, which included Congressman Larry McDonald and 61 other Americans, Reagan expressed outrage towards the Soviet Union.Template:Sfn The next day, reports suggested that the Soviets had fired on the plane by mistake.Template:Sfn In spite of the harsh, discordant rhetoric,<ref>G. Thomas Goodnight, "Ronald Reagan's re‐formulation of the rhetoric of war: Analysis of the 'zero option,' 'evil empire,' and 'star wars' addresses." Quarterly Journal of Speech 72.4 (1986): 390–414.</ref> Reagan's administration continued discussions with the Soviet Union on [[START I|Template:Nowrap]].Template:Sfn
Although the Reagan administration agreed with the communist government in China to reduce the sale of arms to Taiwan in 1982,Template:Sfn Reagan himself was the first president to reject containment and détente, and to put into practice the concept that the Soviet Union could be defeated rather than simply negotiated with.<ref name="Knopf" /> His covert aid to Afghan mujahideen forces through Pakistan against the Soviets has been given credit for assisting in ending the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.Template:Sfn However, the United States was subjected to blowback in the form of the Taliban that opposed them in the war in Afghanistan.Template:Sfn In his 1985 State of the Union Address, Reagan proclaimed, "Support for freedom fighters is self-defense."Template:Sfn Through the Reagan Doctrine, his administration supported anti-communist movements that fought against groups backed by the Soviet Union in an effort to rollback Soviet-backed communist governments and reduce Soviet influence across the world.Template:Sfnm The Reagan administration ignored human rights violations in the countries they backed and held a narrow definition of human rights.Template:Sfnm Other human rights concerns include the genocide in Guatemala,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as mass killings in Chad.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Invasion of GrenadaEdit
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On October 19, 1983, Maurice Bishop was overthrown and murdered by one of his colleagues. Several days later, Reagan ordered American forces to invade Grenada. Reagan cited a regional threat posed by a Soviet-Cuban military build-up and concern for the safety of hundreds of American medical students at St. George's University. Two days of fighting commenced, resulting in an American victory.Template:Sfn While the invasion enjoyed public support in the United States, it was criticized internationally, with the United Nations General Assembly voting to censure the American government.Template:Sfn Cannon later noted that throughout Reagan's 1984 presidential campaign, the invasion overshadowed the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings,Template:Sfn which killed 241 Americans taking part in an international peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War.Template:Sfn
1984 electionEdit
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Reagan announced his reelection campaign on January 29, 1984, declaring, "America is back and standing tall".Template:Sfn In February, his administration reversed the unpopular decision to send the United States Marine Corps to Lebanon, thus eliminating a political liability for him. Reagan faced minimal opposition in the Republican primaries,Template:Sfn and he and Bush accepted the nomination at the Dallas convention in August.Template:Sfn In the general election, his campaign ran the commercial, "Morning in America".Template:Sfn At a time when the American economy was already recovering,Template:Sfn former vice president Walter MondaleTemplate:Sfn was attacked by Reagan's campaign as a "tax-and-spend Democrat", while Mondale criticized the deficit, the SDI, and Reagan's civil rights policy. However, Reagan's age induced his campaign managers to minimize his public appearances. Mondale's campaign believed that Reagan's age and mental health were issues before the October presidential debates.Template:Sfn
Following Reagan's performance in the first debate where he struggled to recall statistics, his age was brought up by the media in negative fashion. Reagan's campaign changed his tactics for the second debate where he quipped, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience". This remark generated applause and laughter,Template:Sfn even from Mondale. At that point, Broder suggested that age was no longer a liability for Reagan,Template:Sfn and Mondale's campaign felt that "the election was over".Template:Sfn In November, Reagan won a landslide reelection victory with 59 percent of the popular vote and 525 electoral votes from 49 states. Mondale won 41 percent of the popular vote and 13 electoral votes from the District of Columbia and his home state of Minnesota.Template:Sfnm
Response to the AIDS epidemicEdit
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The AIDS epidemic began to unfold in 1981,Template:Sfn and AIDS was initially difficult to understand for physicians and the public.Template:Sfn As the epidemic advanced, according to White House physician and later physician to the president, brigadier general John Hutton, Reagan thought of AIDS as though "it was the measles and would go away". The October 1985 death of the President's friend Rock Hudson affected Reagan's view; Reagan approached Hutton for more information on the disease. Still, between September 18, 1985, and February 4, 1986, Reagan did not mention AIDS in public.Template:Sfn
In 1986, Reagan asked C. Everett Koop to develop a report on AIDS. Koop angered many evangelical conservatives, both in and out of the Reagan administration, by stressing the importance of sex education including condom usage in schools.Template:Sfn A year later, Reagan, who reportedly had not read the report,Template:Sfn gave his first speech on the epidemic when 36,058 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, and 20,849 had died of it.Template:Sfn Reagan called for increased testing (including routine testing for marriage applicants) and mandatory testing of select groups (including federal prisoners).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Even after this speech, however, Reagan remained reluctant to publicly address AIDS.Template:Sfn
Scholars and AIDS activists have argued that the Reagan administration largely ignored the AIDS crisis.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn Randy Shilts and Michael Bronski said that AIDS research was chronically underfunded during Reagan's administration, and Bronski added that requests for more funding by doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were routinely denied.Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a September 1985 press conference (soon after Hollywood celebrity Rock Hudson had announced his AIDS diagnosis) Reagan called a government AIDS research program a "top priority", but also cited budgetary constraints.Template:Sfn Between the fiscal years of 1984 and 1989, federal spending on AIDS totaled $5.6 billion. The Reagan administration proposed $2.8 billion during this time period, but pressure from congressional Democrats resulted in the larger amount.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Addressing apartheidEdit
Popular opposition to apartheid increased during Reagan's first term in office and the disinvestment from South Africa movement achieved critical mass after decades of growing momentum. Criticism of apartheid was particularly strong on college campuses and among mainline Protestant denominations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> President Reagan was opposed to divestiture because he personally thought, as he wrote in a letter to Sammy Davis Jr., it "would hurt the very people we are trying to help and would leave us no contact within South Africa to try and bring influence to bear on the government". He also noted the fact that the "American-owned industries there employ more than 80,000 blacks" and that their employment practices were "very different from the normal South African customs".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Reagan administration developed constructive engagementTemplate:Sfn with the South African government as a means of encouraging it to gradually move away from apartheid and to give up its nuclear weapons program.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It was part of a larger initiative designed to foster peaceful economic development and political change throughout southern Africa.<ref name=AT2008SApolicy>Thomson, pp. 106–123</ref> This policy, however, engendered much public criticism, and renewed calls for the imposition of stringent sanctions.<ref name=UngerVale>Template:Cite journal</ref> In response, Reagan announced the imposition of new sanctions on the South African government, including an arms embargo in late 1985.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> These sanctions were seen as weak by anti-apartheid activists and as insufficient by the president's opponents in Congress.<ref name=UngerVale/> In 1986, Congress approved the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which included tougher sanctions; Reagan's veto was overridden by Congress. Afterward, he remained opposed to apartheid and unsure of "how best to oppose it". Several European countries, as well as Japan, also imposed their sanctions on South Africa soon after.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Libya bombingEdit
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Contentious relations between Libya and the United States under President Reagan were revived in the West Berlin discotheque bombing that killed an American soldier and injured dozens of others on April 5, 1986. Stating that there was irrefutable evidence that Libya had a direct role in the bombing, Reagan authorized the use of force against the country. On April 14, the United States launched a series of airstrikes on ground targets in Libya.Template:Sfnm Thatcher allowed the United States Air Force to use Britain's air bases to launch the attack, on the justification that the United Kingdom was supporting America's right to self-defense under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The attack was, according to Reagan, designed to halt Muammar Gaddafi's "ability to export terrorism", offering him "incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior".<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The attack was condemned by many countries; by an overwhelming vote, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to condemn the attack and deem it a violation of the Charter and international law.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Iran–Contra affairEdit
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Reagan authorized William J. Casey to arm the Contras, fearing that Communists would take over Nicaragua if it remained under the leadership of the Sandinistas. Congress passed the 1982 Boland Amendment, prohibiting the CIA and Department of Defense from using their budgets to provide aid to the Contras. Still, the Reagan administration raised funds for the Contras from private donors and foreign governments.<ref>Weisberg, pp. 128–129</ref> When Congress learned that the CIA had secretly placed naval mines in Nicaraguan harbors, Congress passed a second Boland Amendment that barred granting any assistance to the Contras.<ref>Patterson, pp. 208–209</ref> By mid-1985, Hezbollah began to take American hostages in Lebanon, holding seven of them in reaction to the United States' support of Israel.Template:Sfn
Reagan procured the release of seven American hostages held by Hezbollah by selling American arms to Iran, then engaged in the Iran–Iraq War, in hopes that Iran would pressure Hezbollah to release the hostages.<ref name="weisberg129134"/> The Reagan administration sold over 2,000 missiles to Iran without informing Congress; Hezbollah released four hostages but captured an additional six Americans. On Oliver North's initiative, the administration redirected the proceeds from the missile sales to the Contras.<ref name="weisberg129134">Weisberg, pp. 129–134</ref> The transactions were exposed by Ash-Shiraa in early November 1986. Reagan initially denied any wrongdoing, but on November 25, he announced that John Poindexter and North had left the administration and that he would form the Tower Commission to investigate the transactions. A few weeks later, Reagan asked a panel of federal judges to appoint a special prosecutor who would conduct a separate investigation.<ref>Patterson, pp. 210–211</ref>
The Tower Commission released a report in February 1987 confirming that the administration had traded arms for hostages and sent the proceeds of the weapons sales to the Contras. The report laid most of the blame on North, Poindexter, and Robert McFarlane, but it was also critical of Donald Regan and other White House staffers.<ref>Brands, pp. 646–649</ref> Investigators did not find conclusive proof that Reagan had known about the aid provided to the Contras, but the report noted that Reagan had "created the conditions which made possible the crimes committed by others" and had "knowingly participated or acquiesced in covering up the scandal".<ref>Patterson, pp. 211–212</ref> The affair damaged the administration and raised questions about Reagan's competency and the wisdom of conservative policies.<ref>Rossinow, pp. 202–204</ref> The administration's credibility was also badly damaged on the international stage as it had violated its own arms embargo on Iran.<ref>Brands, pp. 653, 674</ref>
The USS Stark incidentEdit
In the context of the Tanker War on May 17, 1987, an Iraqi fighter jet hit the Template:USS with two Exocet missiles, killing 37 sailors.<ref name="usni3">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nhhc1">Template:Cite news</ref> Three days later, President Reagan declared a "policy of self-defense" would now be ordered, as he accepted Iraq's official apology:<ref name="ct2">Template:Cite news</ref> "Our ships are deployed in the Persian Gulf in order to protect U.S. interests and maintain free access and maintain freedom of navigation and access to the area's oil supplies. It is a vital mission, but our ships need to protect themselves and they will. [From now on] if aircraft approach any of our ships in a way that appears hostile, there is one order of battle. Defend yourselves. Defend American lives.. We're going to do what has to be done to keep the Persian Gulf open. It's international waters. No country there has a right to try and close it off and take it for itself. And the villain in the piece really is Iran. And so they're delighted with what has just happened."<ref name="crim1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Soviet decline and thaw in relationsEdit
Although the Soviets did not accelerate military spending in response to Reagan's military buildup,Template:Sfn their enormous military expenses, in combination with collectivized agriculture and inefficient planned manufacturing, were a heavy burden for the Soviet economy. At the same time, the prices of oil, the primary source of Soviet export revenues, fell to one third of the previous level in 1985. These factors contributed to a stagnant economy during the tenure of Mikhail Gorbachev as Soviet leader.<ref name="Gaidar">Template:Cite book</ref>
Reagan's foreign policy towards the Soviets wavered between brinkmanship and cooperation.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Reagan appreciated Gorbachev's revolutionary change in the direction of the Soviet policy and shifted to diplomacy, intending to encourage him to pursue substantial arms agreements.<ref name="Knopf">Template:Cite journal</ref> They held four summit conferences between 1985 and 1988.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, this would lead to reform and the end of communism.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The critical summit was in Reykjavík in 1986, where they agreed to abolish all nuclear weapons. However, Gorbachev added the condition that SDI research must be confined to laboratories during the ten-year period when disarmament would take place. Reagan refused, stating that it was defensive only and that he would share the secrets with the Soviets, thus failing to reach a deal.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In June 1987, Reagan addressed Gorbachev during a speech at the Berlin Wall, demanding that he "tear down this wall". The remark was ignored at the time, but after the wall fell in November 1989, it was retroactively recast as a soaring achievement.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Andreas Daum, Kennedy in Berlin (2008), pp. 207‒13.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December, Reagan and Gorbachev met again at the Washington Summit<ref>Rossinow, pp. 234–235</ref> to sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, committing to the total abolition of their respective short-range and medium-range missile stockpiles.<ref>Patterson, p. 215</ref> The treaty established an inspections regime designed to ensure that both parties honored the agreement.<ref>Rossinow, p. 236</ref> In May 1988, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the treaty,<ref>Patterson, p. 216</ref> providing a major boost to Reagan's popularity in the aftermath of the Iran–Contra affair. A new era of trade and openness between the two powers commenced, and the United States and Soviet Union cooperated on international issues such as the Iran–Iraq War.<ref>Herring, pp. 897–898</ref>
Post-presidency (1989–2004)Edit
Upon leaving the presidency on January 20, 1989, at the age of 77, Reagan became the oldest president at the end of his tenure. This distinction eventually passed to president Joe Biden who was 82 years old when he left office.<ref name="NYT01202021">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref name="Bloomberg01192021">Template:Cite news</ref>
In retirement, Ronald and Nancy Reagan lived at 668 St. Cloud Road in Bel Air, in addition to Rancho del Cielo in Santa Barbara.Template:Sfn He received multiple awards and honors<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in addition to generous payments for speaking engagements. In 1989 he supported repealing the Twenty-second Amendment's presidential term limits. In 1991, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library opened. Reagan also addressed the 1992 Republican National Convention "to inspire allegiance to the party regulars",Template:Sfn and favored a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget.
Support for Brady BillEdit
Reagan publicly favored the Brady Bill, drawing criticism from gun control opponents.Template:Sfn In 1989, in his first public appearance after leaving office and shortly after the Stockton schoolyard shooting, he stated: "I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen to own guns for sporting, for hunting, and so forth, or for home defense. But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for the defense of the home".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In March 1991, Reagan wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, titled "Why I'm for the Brady Bill".<ref>Shapira, Ian (March 2, 2018). "Before Trump's Wild Shifts on the NRA, Ronald Reagan Took on the Gun Lobby." The Washington Post. Retrieved January 9, 2023.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In May 1994, Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter sent a letter to House members, urging them to support the controversial Federal Assault Weapons Ban.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Alzheimer's diseaseEdit
Reagan's final public speech occurred on February 3, 1994, during a tribute to him in Washington, D.C.; his last major public appearance was at the funeral of Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994.Template:Sfn In August 1994, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which he announced through a handwritten letter in November.Template:Sfn There was speculation over how long he had demonstrated symptoms of mental degeneration,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but lay observations that he suffered from Alzheimer's while still in office have been disputed by medical experts;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="sr"/> his doctors said that he first began exhibiting overt symptoms of the illness in late 1992<ref name="NYT_2004/06/15">Template:Cite news</ref> or 1993.<ref name="sr"/> Over time, the disease destroyed Reagan's mental capacity. By 1997, he was reported to recognize few people other than his wife, though he continued to walk through parks and on beaches, play golf, and visit his office in nearby Century City.<ref name="sr">Template:Cite news</ref> Eventually, his family decided that he would live in quiet semi-isolation with his wife.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the end of 2003, Reagan had lost his ability to speak and was mostly confined to his bed, no longer able to recognize family members.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Death and funeralEdit
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Reagan died of pneumonia, complicated by Alzheimer's,<ref name = Neuman>Template:Cite news</ref> at his home in Los Angeles, on June 5, 2004.<ref name=DrehleReaganDies>Template:Cite news</ref> President George W. Bush called Reagan's death "a sad hour in the life of America".<ref name = Neuman/> His public funeral was held in the Washington National Cathedral,Template:Sfn where eulogies were given by Margaret Thatcher, Brian Mulroney, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.Template:Sfn Other world leaders attended including Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Wałęsa.Template:Sfn Reagan was interred at his presidential library.Template:Sfn
LegacyEdit
Approval ratingsEdit
Similar to previous presidents, Reagan began his presidency with approval ratings greater than 50 percent,<ref>Nyhan, David (February 15, 1981). Reagan's glow may reflect hostage return. Press and Sun-Bulletin. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref><ref>Voters already losing the faith. Winnipeg Sun. March 20, 1981. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref> peaking above 70 percent shortly after his attempted assassination,<ref>Reagan's popularity rises to 73 per cent. The Washington Post. The Miami Herald. April 3, 1981. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref><ref>Gallup, George (April 27, 1981). President earns approval. Gallup Organization. The Manhattan Mercury. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref> before declining by the end of his first year.<ref name="g5ugg5">Reagan's rating rises, Gallup says. United Press International. San Angelo Standard-Times. March 18, 1983. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref> Afterwards, his ratings fluctuated in the mid-30s and mid-40s in his second and third years,<ref name="g5ugg5"/><ref>Gallup, George (October 10, 1982). More Disapprove Than Approve Reagan's Performance of Job. Gallup Organization. The Daily Oklahoman. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref> which has been attributed to the 1981–1982 recession.<ref name="g5ugg5"/> His approval ratings rebounded after the invasion of Grenada<ref>Gallup, George (November 20, 1983). Foreign Events Bring Reagan More Support. The Daily Oklahoman. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref><ref>Butters, Brian (November 10, 1983). U.S. public backs Reagan, poll shows. Calgary Herald. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref><ref>Gallup, George (November 21, 1983). Reagan picks up moderate gains. Gallup Organization. The Daily Item. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref> and by mid-1984 his approval rating neared 60 percent.<ref>Friedman, Saul (June 10, 1984). Reagan landslide possible. The Oregonian. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref> In the first two years of his second term, his approval ratings were consistently above 60 percent<ref>Reagan's 61 percent approval rating continues to exceed predecessors. Minnesota Star Tribune. September 4, 1986. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref> but declined during the Iran–Contra scandal,<ref>Campbell, Don (December 14, 1986). Living and dying by public opinion. Pacific Daily News. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref> before beginning to recover in mid-1987.<ref>Gallup, George Jr. (June 25, 1987). Reagan's job performance rating improves slightly. The Daily Item. Retireved November 25, 2024.</ref> In the Gallup poll, Reagan finished his presidency with an approval rating of 63 percent, the third highest for a departing president in history, behind only Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bill Clinton, both of whom finished at 66 percent.<ref>Gallup, George; Gallup, Alec (January 12, 1989). Reagan gets highest final approval rating since FDR. The Daily Item. Retrieved November 25, 2024.</ref><ref>Brandus, Paul (January 18, 2017). The truth about Obama's approval rating. USA Today. Retrieved November 30, 2024.</ref>
In 1990, a year after he left office, a Gallup survey found that 54 percent of Americans said they approved of the overall job Reagan did as president.<ref>JFK Tops Presidents' List. The Post-Standard. December 5, 1990. Retrieved December 2, 2024.</ref> The number of Americans who approved of the Reagan administration declined to 48 percent in 1992<ref>Hugick, Larry (August 18, 1992). Bush's Approval Rating Up. The Post-Standard. Retrieved December 2, 2024.</ref> but rebounded two years later to 52 percent.<ref>Mercer, Marsha (May 1, 1994). Even in death, Richard Nixon continued to surprise us. Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved December 4, 2024.</ref> In recent years, favorability of Reagan's presidency reached its highest ever: 71 percent approval in 2006;<ref name="vr33v55">Retrospective approval ratings of past presidents, June 2006 poll. Gallup Organization. The Plain Dealer. December 30, 2006. Retrieved December 2, 2024.</ref> 74 percent in 2010;<ref>Saad, Lydia (December 6, 2010). Kennedy Still Highest-Rated Modern President, Nixon Lowest. Gallup Organization. Retrieved December 4, 2024.</ref> 72 percent in 2018;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and 69 percent in 2023.<ref name="uiwv3">Jones, Jeffrey M. (July 17, 2023). Retrospective Approval of JFK Rises to 90%; Trump at 46%. Gallup Organization. Retrieved December 2, 2024.</ref> He is often found to be second-most popular president since World War II, with only John F. Kennedy having higher ratings.<ref name="vr33v55"/><ref name="uiwv3"/>
Historical reputationEdit
In 2008, British historian M. J. Heale summarized that scholars had reached a broad consensus in which "Reagan rehabilitated conservatism, turned the country to the right, practiced a 'pragmatic conservatism' that balanced ideology with the constraints of government, revived faith in the presidency and American self-respect, and contributed to critically ending the Cold War",Template:Sfn which ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.Template:Sfnm<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Many conservative and liberal scholars have agreed that Reagan has been the most influential president since Roosevelt, leaving his imprint on American politics, diplomacy, culture, and economics through his effective communication of his conservative agenda and pragmatic compromising.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the initial years of Reagan's post-presidency, historical rankings placed his presidency in the twenties.Template:Sfnm Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, his presidency was often placed in the top ten.Template:Sfnm<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Many proponents, including his Cold War contemporaries,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfnm believe that his defense policies, economic policies, military policies, and hard-line rhetoric against the Soviet Union and communism, together with his summits with Gorbachev, played a significant part in ending the Cold War.<ref name="American Dreamer">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Knopf" /> Professor Jeffrey Knopf argues that while Reagan's practice of referring to the Soviet Union as "evil" probably made no difference to the Soviet leaders, it possibly gave encouragement to Eastern European citizens who opposed their communist regimes.<ref name="Knopf" /> President Truman's policy of containment is also regarded as a force behind the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan undermined the Soviet system itself.<ref name="Reagan's role exaggerated">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Nevertheless, Melvyn P. Leffler called Reagan "Gorbachev's minor, yet indispensable partner, setting the framework for the dramatic changes that neither anticipated happening anytime soon".Template:Sfn
Critics, for example Paul Krugman, note Reagan's tenure as having begun a period of increased income inequality, sometimes called the "Great Divergence". Krugman also views Reagan as having initiated the ideology of the current-day Republican Party, which he feels is led by "radicals" who seek to "undo the twentieth century" gains in income equality and unionization.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Others, such as Nixon's Secretary of Commerce Peter G. Peterson, also criticize what they feel was not just Reagan's fiscal irresponsibility, but also the ushering in of an era where tax cutting "became the GOP's core platform", with resulting deficits and GOP leaders (speciously in Peterson's opinion) arguing supply-side gains would enable the country to "grow" its way out of deficits.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Reagan was known for storytelling and humor,Template:Sfn which involved punsTemplate:Sfn and self-deprecation.Template:Sfn Reagan also often emphasized family values, despite being the first president to have been divorced.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He showed the ability to comfort Americans during the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.Template:Sfn Reagan's ability to talk about substantive issues with understandable terms and to focus on mainstream American concerns earned him the laudatory moniker the "Great Communicator".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He also earned the nickname "Teflon President" in that public perceptions of him were not substantially tarnished by the controversies that arose during his administration.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Political influenceEdit
Reagan led a new conservative movement, altering the political dynamic of the United States.<ref name="legacy-cnn">Template:Cite news</ref> Conservatism became the dominant ideology for Republicans, displacing the party's faction of liberals and moderates.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Men began voting more Republican, and women began voting more Democrat – a gender distinction that has persisted.<ref name="legacy-cnn"/> He was supported by young voters, an allegiance that shifted many of them to the party.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He attempted to appeal to Black voters in 1980,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but would receive the lowest Black vote for a Republican presidential candidate at the time.Template:Sfn Throughout Reagan's presidency, Republicans were unable to gain complete control of Congress.Template:Sfn
The period of American history most dominated by Reagan and his policies (particularly on taxes, welfare, defense, the federal judiciary, and the Cold War) is known as the Reagan era, which suggests that the "Reagan Revolution" had a lasting impact on the United States in domestic and foreign policy. The George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations are often treated as an extension of the era, as is the George W. Bush administration.<ref>Jack Godwin, Clintonomics: How Bill Clinton Reengineered the Reagan Revolution (2009).</ref> Since 1988, Republican presidential candidates have invoked Reagan's policies and beliefs.<ref name="agpi">Template:Cite news</ref>
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
CitationsEdit
Works citedEdit
BooksEdit
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ChaptersEdit
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External linksEdit
Official sitesEdit
- Ronald Reagan Foundation and Presidential Library
- Ronald Reagan on whitehouse.gov
- Ronald Reagan in the Governors' Gallery of the California State Library
- The Ronald W. Reagan Society of Eureka College
MediaEdit
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- "Life Portrait of Ronald Reagan", from American Presidents: Life Portraits, December 6, 1999
- Ronald Reagan Oral Histories at Miller Center
- Ronald Reagan's timeline at PBS
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News coverageEdit
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OtherEdit
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