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Ronald Reagan

October 15, 2023

"Reagan" redirects here. For other uses, see Reagan (disambiguation) and Ronald Reagan (disambiguation).

Ronald Wilson Reagan (/ˈreɪɡən/ RAY-gən; 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. A member of the Republican Party, his presidency constituted the Reagan era, and he is considered one of the most prominent conservative figures in American history.

Ronald Reagan
Official portrait, 1981
40th President of the United States
In office
January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
Vice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byJimmy Carter
Succeeded byGeorge H. W. Bush
33rd Governor of California
In office
January 2, 1967 – January 6, 1975[1]
Lieutenant
Preceded byPat Brown
Succeeded byJerry Brown
9th and 13th President of the Screen Actors Guild
In office
November 16, 1959 – June 7, 1960
Preceded byHoward Keel
Succeeded byGeorge Chandler
In office
March 10, 1947 – November 10, 1952
Preceded byRobert Montgomery
Succeeded byWalter Pidgeon
Personal details
Born
Ronald Wilson Reagan

(1911-02-06)February 6, 1911
Tampico, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJune 5, 2004(2004-06-05) (aged 93)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeRonald Reagan Presidential Library
Political partyRepublican (from 1962)
Other political
affiliations		Democratic (until 1962)
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1940; div. 1949)​
​
(m. 1952)​
Children5, including Maureen, Michael, Patti, and Ron
Parents
RelativesNeil Reagan (brother)
Alma materEureka College (BA)
Occupation
AwardsFull list
Signature
Military service
Service
Years of service
Rank Captain
Unit
Wars
Ronald Reagan's voice
Reagan addresses the nation on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
Recorded January 28, 1986
Other offices

Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and began to work as a sports broadcaster in Iowa. In 1937, Reagan moved to California, where he became a well-known film actor. From 1947 to 1952, Reagan served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild. In the 1950s, he worked in television and spoke for General Electric. From 1959 to 1960, he again served as the Screen Actors Guild's president. In 1964, "A Time for Choosing" gave Reagan attention as a new conservative figure. He was elected governor of California in 1966. During his governorship, he raised taxes, turned the state budget deficit into a surplus, and cracked down harshly on university protests. After challenging and losing to incumbent president Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican presidential primaries, Reagan won the Republican nomination and then a landslide victory over incumbent Democratic president Jimmy Carter in the 1980 United States presidential election.

In his first term, Reagan implemented "Reaganomics", which involved economic deregulation and cuts in both taxes and government spending during a period of stagflation. He escalated an arms race and transitioned Cold War policy away from détente with the Soviet Union; he also ordered the invasion of Grenada in 1983. Additionally, he 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 United States, which began early in his presidency. In the 1984 presidential election, Reagan defeated former vice president Walter Mondale in another landslide victory. Foreign affairs dominated Reagan's second term, including the 1986 bombing of Libya, the Iran–Iraq War, the secret and illegal sale of arms to Iran to fund the Contras, and a more conciliatory approach in talks with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that 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, the unemployment rate having fallen, and the United States having entered its then-longest peacetime expansion. At the same time, the national debt had nearly tripled since 1981 as a result of his cuts in taxes and increased military spending, despite cuts to domestic discretionary spending. Reagan's policies also helped contribute to the end of the Cold War and the end of Soviet communism.[7] Alzheimer's disease hindered Reagan post-presidency, and his physical and mental capacities rapidly deteriorated, ultimately leading to his death in 2004. Historians and scholars have typically ranked Reagan among the upper to middle tier of American presidents, and his post-presidential approval ratings by the general public are usually high.[8]

Early life

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911, in a commercial building in Tampico, Illinois, as the younger son of Nelle Clyde Wilson and Jack Reagan.[9] Nelle was committed to the Disciples of Christ,[10] which believed in the Social Gospel.[11] She led prayer meetings and ran mid-week prayers at her church when the pastor was out of town.[10] Reagan credited her spiritual influence[12] and he became a Christian.[13] According to 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".[14] Jack focused on making money to take care of the family,[9] but this was complicated by his alcoholism.[15] Neil Reagan was Reagan's older brother.[16] Together, they lived in Chicago, Galesburg, and Monmouth before returning to Tampico. In 1920, they settled in Dixon, Illinois,[17] living in a house near the H. C. Pitney Variety Store Building.[18]

 
Reagan at Eureka

Reagan attended Dixon High School, where he developed interests in drama and football.[19] His first job involved working as a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park.[20] In 1928, Reagan began attending Eureka College[21] at Nelle's approval on religious grounds.[22] He was a mediocre student[23] that 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.[24] Reagan played at the guard position for the 1930 and 1931 Eureka Red Devils football teams and recalled a time when two black football 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 were unusually progressive in Dixon.[25] Reagan himself had grown up with very few black Americans there and was unaware of a race problem.[26]

Entertainment career

Further information: Ronald Reagan filmography

Radio and film

 
Dark Victory (1939)
 
The Bad Man (1941)

After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology from Eureka College in 1932,[27][28] Reagan took a job in Davenport, Iowa, as a sports broadcaster for four football games in the Big Ten Conference.[29] 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.[30] Simultaneously, he often expressed his opposition to racism.[31] 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.[32]

Reagan arrived at Hollywood in 1937, debuting in Love Is on the Air (1937).[33] Using a simple and direct approach to acting and following his directors' instructions,[34] Reagan made thirty films, mostly B films, before beginning military service in April 1942.[35] 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 of the United States.[36] Afterward, Reagan starred in Kings Row (1942) as a leg amputee, asking, "Where's the rest of me?"[37] His performance was considered his best by many critics.[38] Reagan became a star,[39] with Gallup polls placing him "in the top 100 stars" from 1941 to 1942.[38]

World War II interrupted the movie stardom that Reagan would never be able to achieve again[39] 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. As a result, 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. With this, Reagan appeared in multiple western films, something that had been denied him working at Warner Bros.[40] In 1952, he ended his relationship with Warner Bros.,[41] but went on to appear in a total of 53 films,[35] his last being The Killers (1964).[42]

Military service

 
Reagan at Fort Roach, between 1943 and 1944

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.[43] He later became a part of the 323rd Cavalry Regiment in California.[44] 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.[45]

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 subsequently assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit in Culver City[46] 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.[47] Despite this, Reagan participated in the Provisional Task Force Show Unit in Burbank[48] and continued to make theatrical films.[49] 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.[48]

Screen Actors Guild presidency

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.[50] Reagan's first tenure saw various labor-management disputes,[51] the Hollywood blacklist,[52] and the Taft–Hartley Act's implementation.[53] On April 10, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interviewed Reagan and he provided them with the names of actors whom he believed to be communist sympathizers.[54] During a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing, Reagan testified that some guild members were associated with the Communist Party[55] and that he was well-informed on a "jurisdictional strike".[56] When asked if he was aware of communist efforts within the Screen Writers Guild, he called the efforts "hearsay".[57] Reagan would remain SAG president until he resigned on November 10, 1952;[58] Walter Pidgeon succeeded him, but Reagan stayed on the board.[59]

The SAG fought with film producers over residual payments[60] and on November 16, 1959, the board installed Reagan as SAG president,[61] replacing the resigned Howard Keel. In his second stint, Reagan managed to secure the payments for actors whose theatrical films were released from 1948 to 1959 and subsequently televised. The producers were initially required to pay the actors fees, but they ultimately settled for pensions instead. However, they were still required to pay residuals for films after 1959. Reagan resigned from the SAG presidency on June 7, 1960, and also left the board;[62] George Chandler succeeded him as SAG president.[63]

Marriages and children

 
Reagan and Jane Wyman, 1942
 
Ronald and Nancy Reagan, 1952

Reagan married Brother Rat (1938) co-star Jane Wyman[64] in January 1940.[65] Together, they had two biological daughters: Maureen in 1941,[66] and Christine,[67] born prematurely and dead the next day in 1947.[68] They adopted one son, Michael, in 1945.[47] Wyman filed to divorce Reagan in June 1948. She was uninterested in politics, and occasionally recriminated, reconciled and separated with him. Although Reagan was unprepared,[68] the divorce was finalized in July 1949. Reagan would also remain close to his children.[69] 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.[70] They married in March 1952[71] and had two children, Patti in 1952, and Ron in 1958.[72]

Television

Reagan became the host of MCA Inc. television production General Electric Theater[41] at Wasserman's recommendation. It featured multiple guest stars,[73] and Ronald and Nancy Reagan, continuing to use her stage name Nancy Davis, acted together in three episodes.[74] 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."[75] However, the viewership declined in the 1960s and the show was canceled in 1962.[76] In 1965, Reagan became the host[77] of another MCA production, Death Valley Days.[78]

Early political activities

 
Reagan campaigning with Barry Goldwater, 1964

Reagan began as a Democrat, viewing Franklin D. Roosevelt as "a true hero".[79] 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,[80] and continued to speak out against racism when he was in Hollywood.[81] In 1945, Reagan planned to lead an HICCASP anti-nuclear rally, but Warner Bros. prevented him from going.[82] In 1946, he appeared in a radio program called Operation Terror to speak out against rising Ku Klux Klan activity in the country, citing the attacks as a "capably organized systematic campaign of fascist violence and intimidation and horror".[83] Reagan also supported Harry S. Truman in the 1948 presidential election[84] and Helen Gahagan Douglas for the United States 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.[80]

Reagan began shifting to the right when he supported the presidential campaigns of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and Richard Nixon in 1960.[85] When Reagan was contracted by General Electric (GE), he gave speeches to their employees. His speeches had a positive take on free markets.[86] Under GE vice president Lemuel Boulware, a staunch anti-communist,[87] employees were encouraged to vote for business-friendly politicians.[88]

In 1961, Reagan adapted his speeches into another speech to criticize Medicare.[89] In his view, its legislation would have meant "the end of individual freedom in the United States".[90] In 1962, Reagan was dropped by GE,[91] and he formally registered as a Republican.[85]

In 1964, Reagan gave a speech for presidential contender Barry Goldwater[92] that was eventually referred to as "A Time for Choosing".[93] 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"[94] and that "We've been told increasingly that we must choose between left or right."[95] 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".[92]

1966 California gubernatorial election

Further information: 1966 California gubernatorial election
 
Ronald and Nancy Reagan celebrating his gubernatorial election victory, 1966

In January 1966, Reagan announced his candidacy for the California governorship,[96] repeating his stances on individual freedom and big government.[97] When he met with black Republicans in March,[98] he was criticized for opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Certain in his own lack of prejudice, Reagan responded resentfully that bigotry was not in his nature[99] and later argued that certain provisions of the act infringed upon the rights of property owners.[100] 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,[101] but later preferred amending it.[102] In the Republican primary, Reagan defeated George Christopher,[103] a moderate[104] who William F. Buckley Jr. thought had painted Reagan as extreme.[97]

Reagan's general election opponent, incumbent governor Pat Brown, attempted to label Reagan as an extremist and tout his own accomplishments.[105] Reagan portrayed himself as a political outsider,[106] and charged Brown as responsible for the Watts riots and lenient on crime.[105] 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".[107] 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.[108] Ultimately, Reagan won the governorship with 57 percent of the vote compared to Brown's 42 percent.[109]

1967–1975: California governorship

Main article: Governorship of Ronald Reagan
 
The Reagans in 1972

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,[110] and Reagan would call for reduced government spending and tax hikes to balance the budget.[111] 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.[112] 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."[113] 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.[114] By 1973, the budget had a surplus, which Reagan preferred "to give back to the people".[115]

In 1967, Reagan reacted to the Black Panther Party's strategy of copwatching by signing the Mulford Act[116] 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".[117] The act marked the beginning of both modern legislation and public attitude studies on gun control.[116] 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 and more abortions were resulting.[118]

After Reagan won the 1966 election, he and his advisors planned a run in the 1968 Republican presidential primaries.[119] 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,[120] but Nixon secured enough delegates for the nomination.[121]

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.[122] On February 5, 1969, Reagan declared a state of emergency in response to ongoing protests and acts of 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.[123][124] 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."[125]

During his victorious reelection campaign in 1970, Reagan, remaining critical of government, promised to prioritize welfare reform.[126] 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.[127] 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.[128] In 1976, the Employment Development Department published a report suggesting that the experiment that ran from 1971 to 1974 was unsuccessful.[129]

Reagan did not run for the governorship in 1974 and it was won by Pat Brown's son, Jerry.[130] Reagan's governorship, as professor Gary K. Clabaugh writes, saw public schools deteriorate due to his opposition to additional basic education funding.[131] As for higher education, journalist William Trombley believed that the budget cuts Reagan enacted damaged Berkeley's student-faculty ratio and research.[132] Additionally, the homicide rate doubled and armed robbery rates rose as well during Reagan's eight years, even with the many laws Reagan signed to try toughening criminal sentencing and reforming the criminal justice system.[133] Reagan strongly supported capital punishment, but his efforts to enforce it were thwarted by People v. Anderson in 1972.[134] According to his son, Michael, Reagan said that he regretted signing the Family Law Act that granted no-fault divorces.[135]

1975–1981: Seeking the presidency

1976 Republican primaries

Main articles: Ronald Reagan 1976 presidential campaign and 1976 Republican Party presidential primaries
 
Reagan and Gerald Ford shaking hands on the podium after Reagan narrowly lost the nomination at the 1976 Republican National Convention

Insufficiently conservative to Reagan[136] and many other Republicans,[137] president Gerald Ford suffered from multiple political and economic woes. Ford, running for president, was disappointed to hear him also run.[138] Reagan was strongly critical of détente and Ford's policy of détente with the Soviet Union.[139] He repeated "A Time for Choosing" around the country[140] before announcing his campaign on November 20, 1975, when he discussed economic and social problems, and to a lesser extent, foreign affairs.[141] Both candidates were determined to knock each other out early in the primaries,[142] but Reagan would devastatingly lose the first five primaries beginning with New Hampshire,[143] where he popularized the welfare queen narrative about Linda Taylor, exaggerating her misuse of welfare benefits and igniting voter resentment for welfare reform,[144] but never overtly mentioning her name or race.[145]

In Florida, Reagan referred to a "strapping young buck",[146] which became an example of dog whistle politics,[147] and accused Ford for handing the Panama Canal to Panama's government while Ford implied that he would end Social Security.[143] Then, in Illinois, he again criticized Ford's policy and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.[148] 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.[149] 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 presidential campaign,[150] and repeated criticisms of Ford and Kissinger's policies, including détente.[151]

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 convention[152] in August[153] and Ford replacing mentions of détente with Reagan's preferred phrase, "peace through strength".[154] 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,[155] and distract Ford. Instead, conservatives were left alienated, and Ford picked up the remaining uncommitted delegates and prevailed, earning 1,187 to Reagan's 1,070. Before giving his acceptance speech, Ford invited Reagan to address the convention; Reagan emphasized individual freedom[156] and the dangers of nuclear weapons. In 1977, Ford told Cannon that Reagan's primary challenge contributed to his own narrow loss to Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1976 United States presidential election.[157]

1980 election

Main articles: Ronald Reagan 1980 presidential campaign and 1980 United States presidential election
 
1980 United States presidential election

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 inflation, interest and unemployment rates helped set up his 1980 presidential campaign,[158] which he announced on November 13, 1979[159] with an indictment of the federal government.[160] His announcement stressed his fundamental principles of tax cuts to stimulate the economy and having both a small government and a strong national defense,[161] since he believed the United States was behind the Soviet Union militarily.[162] Heading into 1980, his age became an issue among the press, and the United States was in a severe recession.[163] 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.[164] 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.[165] 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.[166] 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.[167] The moderator asked Bob Malloy, the volume operator, to mute Reagan's microphone. After Malloy repeated his demand to Malloy, Reagan furiously replied, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green! [sic]".[a][169] This turned out to be the turning point of the debate and the primary race.[170] 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.[171] 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.[172]

The general election pitted Reagan against Carter amid the multitude of domestic concerns and ongoing Iran hostage crisis that began on November 4, 1979.[173] 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,[174] Carter "suggested that Reagan would wreck Social Security" and portrayed him as a warmonger,[175] and Anderson carried support from liberal Republicans dissatisfied with Reagan's conservatism.[174][b] 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 homosexuality.[177] Evangelical Protestants became an increasingly important voting bloc, and they generally supported Reagan.[178] Reagan also won the backing of Reagan Democrats.[179] Though he advocated socially conservative view points, Reagan focused much of his campaign on attacks against Carter's foreign policy.[180]

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,[181] and some also saw these actions as an extension of the Southern strategy to garner white support for Republican candidates.[182] Reagan's supporters have said that this was his typical anti-big government rhetoric, without racial context or intent.[183][184][185] 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.[186] Reagan later asked the audience if they were better off than they were four years ago, slightly paraphrasing Roosevelt's words in 1934.[187] In 1983, Reagan's campaign managers were revealed to having obtained Carter's debate briefing book before the debates.[188] 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. In the United States Congress, Republicans won a majority of seats in the Senate for the first time since 1952[189] while Democrats retained the House of Representatives.[190]

1981–1989: Presidency

Main article: Presidency of Ronald Reagan
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Ronald Reagan presidency.
Further information: Domestic policy of the Ronald Reagan administration and Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration

First inauguration

Main article: First inauguration of Ronald Reagan
 
Reagan delivering his inaugural address, 1981

The 40th president of the United States,[191] Reagan was sworn into office for his first term on January 20, 1981. In his inaugural address, he addressed the country's economic malaise, arguing, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem."[192] In a final insult to President Carter, Iran had waited until Reagan had been sworn in before sending the hostages home.[193]

"Reaganomics" and the economy

Main article: Reaganomics

Reagan advocated a laissez-faire philosophy,[194] and promoted a set of neoliberal reforms dubbed "Reaganomics", which included monetarism and supply-side economics.[195]

Taxation

 
Reagan outlining his plan for tax cuts, 1981

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.[196][c] He lifted federal oil and gasoline price controls on January 28, 1981,[198] and in August, he signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981[199] to dramatically lower federal income tax rates and require exemptions and brackets to be indexed for inflation starting in 1985.[200] Amid growing concerns about the mounting federal debt, Reagan signed the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982,[201] one of the eleven times Reagan raised taxes.[202] The bill doubled the federal cigarette tax, rescinded a portion of the corporate tax cuts from the 1981 tax bill,[203] and according to Paul Krugman, "a third of the 1981 cut" overall.[204] Many of his supporters condemned the bill, but Reagan defended his preservation of cuts on individual income tax rates.[205] By 1983, the amount of federal tax had fallen for all or most taxpayers, but most strongly affected the wealthy.[206]

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 reduced the number of tax brackets and top tax rate, and almost doubled personal exemptions.[207]

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 spur investments, which would result in more spending, consumption, and ergo tax revenue. This theoretical relationship has been illustrated by some with the controversial Laffer curve.[208] Critics labeled this "trickle-down economics", the belief that tax policies that benefit the wealthy will spread to the poor.[209] Milton Friedman and Robert Mundell argued that these policies invigorated America's economy and contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s.[210]

Inflation and unemployment

 
Monthly unemployment, inflation, and interest rates from January 1981 to January 1989 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Federal Reserve Economic Data

Reagan took office in the midst of stagflation.[211] The economy briefly experienced growth before plunging into a recession in July 1981.[212] As Federal Reserve chairman, Paul Volcker fought inflation by pursuing a tight money policy of high interest rates,[213] which restricted lending and investment, raised unemployment, and temporarily reduced economic growth.[214] In December 1982, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measured the unemployment rate at 10.8 percent.[215] Around the same time, economic activity began to rise until its end in 1990, setting the record for the longest peacetime expansion.[216] In 1983, the recession ended[217] and Reagan nominated Volcker to a second term in fear of damaging confidence in the economic recovery.[218]

Reagan appointed Alan Greenspan to succeed Volcker in 1987. Greenspan raised interest rates in another attempt to curb inflation, setting off the Black Monday although the markets eventually recovered.[219] By 1989, the BLS measured the unemployment rate at 5.3 percent.[220] 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.[221] Yet, not all shared equally in the economic recovery, and both economic inequality[222] and the number of homeless individuals increased during the 1980s.[223] Critics have contended that a majority of the jobs created during this decade paid the minimum wage.[224]

Government spending

In 1981, in an effort to keep it solvent, Reagan approved a plan for cuts to Social Security. He later backed off of these plans due to public backlash.[225] 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.[226] 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,[227] and would discontinue the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.[228] On the other side, defense spending doubled between 1981 and 1985.[162] 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 exceed Soviet missile defense technology.[229][230]

Deregulation

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.[231] 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.[232] 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.[233]

Deficits

The deficits were exacerbated by the early 1980s recession, which cut into federal revenue.[234] 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.[235] Reagan described the tripled debt the "greatest disappointment of his presidency".[236] 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.[237]

Assassination attempt

Main article: Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan
 
Reagan moments before he was shot, 1981

On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Washington Hilton. Also struck were: James Brady, Thomas Delahanty, and Tim McCarthy. Although "right on the margin of death" upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital, Reagan underwent surgery and recovered quickly from a broken rib, a 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".[238] Later, Reagan came to believe that God had spared his life "for a chosen mission".[239]

Supreme Court appointments

Main article: Ronald Reagan Supreme Court candidates

Reagan appointed three Associate Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States: Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981, Antonin Scalia in 1986, and Anthony Kennedy in 1988. He also elevated William Rehnquist from Associate Justice to Chief Justice in 1986.[240] The direction of the Supreme Court's reshaping has been described as conservative.[241][242]

Public sector labor union fights

 
Reagan making a statement to the press regarding the air traffic controllers strike, 1981

Early in August 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) went on strike, violating a federal law prohibiting government unions from striking.[243] 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.[244] He used military controllers[245] and supervisors to handle the nation's commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained.[246] The breaking of the PATCO strike demoralized organized labor, and the number of strikes fell greatly in the 1980s.[245] 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.[247] 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.[248]

Civil rights

 
Reagan signing the Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 1983

Despite Reagan having opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965,[31] the bill was extended for 25 years in 1982.[249] He initially opposed the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day,[250] but signed a veto-proof bill to create the holiday in 1983, and also alluded to claims that King was associated with communists during his career.[251] In 1984, he signed legislation intended to impose fines for fair housing discrimination offenses.[252] 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.[253] Later in September, legislation was passed to correct loopholes in the Fair Housing Act of 1968.[254][255]

Early in his presidency, Reagan appointed Clarence M. Pendleton Jr. as chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights to criticism for politicizing the agency. Pendleton and Reagan's subsequent appointees steered the commission in line with Reagan's views on civil rights, arousing the ire of civil rights advocates.[256] 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,[257] but Reagan reluctantly continued these policies.[258] In housing, Reagan's administration saw considerably fewer fair housing cases filed than the three previous administrations.[259] Reagan's recasting of civil rights through reduced enforcement of civil rights laws has been regarded by some as the largest since Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency.[260]

War on drugs

Main article: War on drugs
 
Reagan signing the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986

In response to concerns about the increasing crack epidemic, Reagan intensified the war on drugs in 1982.[261] 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.[262] Reagan's administration publicized the campaign to gain support after crack became widespread in 1985.[263] Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and 1988 to specify penalties for drug offenses.[264] Both bills have been criticized in the years since for promoting racial disparities.[265] Additionally, 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.[266] A 1988 study showed 39 percent of high school seniors using illegal drugs compared to 53 percent in 1980,[267] but Scott Lilienfeld and Hal Arkowitz say that the success of these types of campaigns have not been found to be affirmatively proven.[268]

Escalation of the Cold War

Further information: Cold War (1979–1985) and Reagan Doctrine
 
Reagan meeting with Afghan mujahideen leaders in the Oval Office, 1983

Reagan ordered a massive defense buildup;[269] he revived the B-1 Lancer program that had been rejected by the Carter administration,[270] and deployed the MX missile.[271] In response to Soviet deployment of the SS-20, he oversaw NATO's deployment of the Pershing missile in Western Europe.[272] In 1982, Reagan tried to cut off the Soviet Union's access to hard currency by impeding its proposed gas line to Western Europe. It hurt the Soviet economy, but it also caused much ill will among American allies in Europe who counted on that revenue; he later retreated on this issue.[273] 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.[274] There was much disbelief among the scientific community surrounding the program's scientific feasibility, leading opponents to dub the SDI "Star Wars",[275] though Soviet leader Yuri Andropov said it would lead to "an extremely dangerous path".[276]

 
Reagan listening to Pakistani president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, 1982

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".[277] 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 empire'"[278] in reference to the Soviet Union during a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in March 1983.[232] After Soviet fighters downed Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in September, which included Larry McDonald and 61 other Americans, Reagan expressed outrage towards the Soviet Union.[279] The next day, reports suggested that the Soviets had fired on the plane by mistake.[280] In spite of the harsh, discordant rhetoric,[281] Reagan's administration continued discussions with the Soviet Union on START I.[282]

Although the Reagan administration agreed with the communist government in China to reduce the sale of arms to Taiwan in 1982,[283] 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.[284] 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.[285] However, the United States was subjected to blowback in the form of the Taliban that opposed them in the war in Afghanistan.[286] In his 1985 State of the Union Address, Reagan proclaimed, "Support for freedom fighters is self-defense."[287] 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.[288] Critics have felt that the administration ignored the human rights violations in the countries they backed,[289] including genocide in Guatemala[290] and mass killings in Chad.[291]

Invasion of Grenada

Main article: United States invasion of Grenada
 
Reagan discussing the Grenada situation with a bipartisan group of members of Congress, 1983

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 in the Caribbean nation and concern for the safety of hundreds of American medical students at St. George's University as adequate reasons to invade. Two days of fighting commenced, resulting in an American victory.[292] 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.[293] Cannon later noted that throughout Reagan's 1984 presidential campaign, the invasion overshadowed the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings,[294] which killed 241 Americans taking part in an international peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War.[295]

1984 election

Main articles: Ronald Reagan 1984 presidential campaign and 1984 United States presidential election
 
1984 electoral vote results

Reagan announced his reelection campaign on January 29, 1984, declaring, "America is back and standing tall."[227] 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,[296] and he and Bush accepted the nomination at the Dallas convention in August.[297] In the general election, his campaign ran the commercial, "Morning in America".[298] At a time when the American economy was already recovering,[217] former vice president Walter Mondale[299] 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.[300]

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,[301] even from Mondale. At that point, Broder suggested that age was no longer a liability for Reagan,[302] and Mondale's campaign felt that "the election was over".[303] 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.[304]

Response to the AIDS epidemic

 
Reagan has been criticized for his delayed and muted response to the AIDS epidemic. This 1987 art installation by ACT UP quotes Reagan on AIDS with a blank slate, representing total silence.

The AIDS epidemic began to unfold in 1981,[305] and AIDS was initially difficult to understand for physicians and the public.[306] 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.[307]

In 1986, Reagan asked C. Everett Koop to draw up a report on the AIDS issue. 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.[308] A year later, Reagan, who reportedly had not read the report,[309] gave his first speech on the epidemic when 36,058 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, and 20,849 had died of it.[310] Reagan called for increased testing (including routine testing for marriage applicants) and mandatory testing of select groups (including federal prisoners).[311] Even after this speech, however, Reagan remained reluctant to publicly address AIDS.[312]

Scholars and AIDS activists have argued that the Reagan administration largely ignored the AIDS crisis.[313][314][315] 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.[316][317] In a September 1985 press conference, after Hudson announced his AIDS diagnosis, Reagan called a government AIDS research program a "top priority", but also cited budgetary constraints.[318] 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.[319]

Addressing apartheid

 
Shortly after the 1984 election, Reagan met Desmond Tutu, who described Reagan's administration as "an unmitigated disaster for us blacks",[320] and Reagan himself as "a racist pure and simple".[321]

Opposition to apartheid strengthened during Reagan's first term in office as its component disinvestment from South Africa movement, which had been in existence for quite some years. The opposition also gained critical mass following in the United States, particularly on college campuses and among mainline Protestant denominations.[322][323] President Reagan was opposed to divestiture because, 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".[324] The anti-communist focus of Reagan's administration lent itself to closer ties with the apartheid regime of South Africa, particularly with regards to matters pertaining to nuclear weapons.[325]

The Reagan administration developed constructive engagement[326] with the South African government as a means of encouraging it to move away from apartheid gradually. It was part of a larger initiative designed to foster peaceful economic development and political change throughout southern Africa.[327] This policy, however, engendered much public criticism, and renewed calls for the imposition of stringent sanctions.[328] In response, Reagan announced the imposition of new sanctions on the South African government, including an arms embargo in late 1985.[329] These sanctions were seen as weak by anti-apartheid activists and as insufficient by the president's opponents in Congress.[328] 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.[330]

Libya bombing

Main article: 1986 United States bombing of Libya
 
Reagan receiving a briefing on the Libya bombing, 1986

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.[331] 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.[332] 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".[333] 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.[334]

Iran–Contra affair

Main article: Iran–Contra affair
 
Reagan receiving the Tower Commission Report on the Iran–Contra affair, 1987

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 United States 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.[335] 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.[336] By mid-1985, Hezbollah began to take American hostages in Lebanon, holding seven of them in reaction to the United States' support of Israel.[337]

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.[338] 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.[338] 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.[339]

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.[340] 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".[341] The affair damaged the administration and raised questions about Reagan's competency and the wisdom of conservative policies.[342] The administration's credibility was also badly damaged on the international stage as it had violated its own arms embargo on Iran.[343]

Soviet decline and thaw in relations

Further information: Cold War (1985–1991)
 
Mikhail Gorbachev and Reagan signing the INF Treaty, 1987

Although the Soviets did not accelerate military spending in response to Reagan's military buildup,[344] 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 Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure as the Soviet Union's leader.[345]

Reagan's foreign policy towards the Soviets wavered between brinkmanship and cooperation.[346] 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.[284] They held four summit conferences between 1985 and 1988.[347] 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.[348] 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.[349]

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.[350][351][352] In December, Reagan and Gorbachev met again at the Washington Summit[353] to sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, committing to the total abolition of their respective short-range and medium-range missile stockpiles.[354] The treaty established an inspections regime designed to ensure that both parties honored the agreement.[355] In May 1988, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the treaty,[356] 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.[357]

1989–2004: Post-presidency

 
Reagan and Gorbachev at Rancho del Cielo, 1992
 
Nancy and Ronald Reagan with a model of USS Ronald Reagan, 1996

After leaving the presidency on January 20, 1989,[358] Ronald and Nancy Reagan lived at 668 St. Cloud Road in Bel Air, in addition to Rancho del Cielo in Santa Barbara.[359] He received multiple awards and honors,[360] and received generous payments for speaking engagements. In 1991, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library opened. Reagan also addressed the 1992 Republican National Convention "to inspire allegiance to the party regulars";[361] publicly favored the Brady Bill, drawing criticism from gun control opponents;[362] a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget; and the repeal of the 22nd Amendment. His 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.[361]

In August 1994, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which he announced through a handwritten letter in November.[363] There was speculation over how long he had demonstrated symptoms of mental degeneration,[364] but lay observations that he suffered from Alzheimer's while still in office have been widely refuted by medical experts;[365][366][367] his doctors said that he first began exhibiting overt symptoms of the illness in late 1992[368] or 1993.[367] 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.[367] Eventually, his family decided that he would live in quiet semi-isolation with his wife.[369] By the end of 2003, Reagan had lost his ability to speak and was mostly confined to his bed, no longer able to recognize any family members.[370]

Support for Brady Bill

In 1989, in his first public appearance after leaving office and shortly after a mass shooting at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California, 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."[371][372]

In March 1991, Reagan wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, titled: “Why I’m for the Brady Bill.”[373][374] In 1994, Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter sent a letter to House members, urging them to support the controversial Federal Assault Weapons Ban.[375]

Death and funeral

Main article: Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan

Reagan died of pneumonia, complicated by Alzheimer's,[376] at his home in Los Angeles, on June 5, 2004.[377] President George W. Bush called Reagan's death "a sad hour in the life of America".[376] His public funeral was held in the Washington National Cathedral,[378] where eulogies were given by Margaret Thatcher, Brian Mulroney, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.[379] Other world leaders attended including Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Wałęsa.[380] Reagan was interred at his presidential library.[379]

Legacy

See also: List of things named after Ronald Reagan and Cultural depictions of Ronald Reagan

Historical reputation

 
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

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",[381] which ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[382] 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.[383] During the initial years of Reagan's post-presidency, historical rankings placed his presidency in the twenties.[384] Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, his presidency was often placed in the top ten.[385][386]

Many proponents, including his Cold War contemporaries,[387][388] 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.[389][284] 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.[284] 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.[390] 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".[391]

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.[392] 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 ushering in 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.[393]

Reagan was known for storytelling and humor,[394] which involved puns[395] and self-deprecation.[396] Reagan also often emphasized family values, despite being the first president to have been divorced.[397] He showed the ability to comfort Americans during the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.[398] 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".[399][394] He also earned the nickname "Teflon President" in that public perceptions of him were not substantially tarnished by the multitude of controversies that arose during his administration.[400][401]

Political influence

Reagan led a new conservative movement, altering the political dynamic of the United States.[402] Conservatism became the dominant ideology for Republicans, displacing the party's faction of liberals and moderates.[403] In his time, men began voting more Republican, and women began voting more Democrat – a gender distinction that has persisted.[402] He was supported by young voters, an allegiance that shifted many of them to the party.[404] He attempted to appeal to black voters in 1980,[405] but would receive the lowest black vote for a Republican presidential candidate at the time.[406] Throughout Reagan's presidency, Republicans were unable to gain complete control of Congress.[407]

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 Bill Clinton administration is often treated as an extension of the era, as is the George W. Bush administration.[408] Since 1988, Republican presidential candidates have invoked Reagan's policies and beliefs.[409] Carlos Lozada noted Trump's praising of Reagan in a book he published during his 2016 campaign.[410]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Reagan misstated Breen's last name as "Mr. Green"[168]
  2. ^ John B. Anderson questioned how realistic Reagan's budget proposals were, saying: "The only way Reagan is going to cut taxes, increase defense spending, and balance the budget at the same time is to use blue smoke and mirrors."[176]
  3. ^ Despite their various disagreements, Reagan and O'Neill developed a friendship across party lines. O'Neill told Reagan that Republican opponents were friends "after six o'clock". Reagan would sometimes call O'Neill at any time and ask if it was after six o'clock to which O'Neill would invariably respond, "Absolutely, Mr. President".[197]

Citations

  1. ^ Holmes 2020, p. 210.
  2. ^ Oliver, Myrna (October 11, 1995). . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. ^ Chang, Cindy (December 25, 2016). . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  4. ^ South, Garry (May 21, 2018). . San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  5. ^ The Chairman's Report – 1968: To the Members of the Republican National Committee Jan. 16–17, 1969. Republican National Committee. January 1969. p. 41. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  6. ^ Synergy, Volumes 13–30. Bay Area Reference Center. 1969. p. 41. Retrieved January 16, 2023. Governor Raymond Shafer of Pennsylvania was elected on December 13 to succeed Governor Ronald Reagan as Chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
  7. ^ "Ronald Reagan". Encyclopædia Britannica. June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  8. ^ "Retrospective Approval of Presidents". Gallup, Inc. July 17, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Kengor 2004, p. 5.
  10. ^ a b Kengor 2004, p. 12.
  11. ^ Spitz 2018, p. 36.
  12. ^ Kengor 2004, p. 48.
  13. ^ Kengor 2004, p. 10.
  14. ^ Vaughn 1995, p. 109.
  15. ^ Brands 2015, p. 10.
  16. ^ Kengor 2004, p. 4.
  17. ^ Pemberton 1998, p. 5.
  18. ^ Woodard 2012, p. 4.
  19. ^ Brands 2015, p. 14.
  20. ^ Brands 2015, p. 16.
  21. ^ Pemberton 1998, p. 10.
  22. ^ Brands 2015, p. 17.
  23. ^ Brands 2015, p. 20.
  24. ^ Pemberton 1998, pp. 10–11.
  25. ^ Cannon 2000, p. 457; Mayer 2015, p. 73.
  26. ^ Primuth 2016, p. 42.
  27. ^ Mullen 1999, p. 207.
  28. ^ . The Ronald W. Reagan Society of Eureka College. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  29. ^ Brands 2015, pp. 24–26.
  30. ^ Brands 2015, pp. 29–30.
  31. ^ a b Cannon 2000, p. 458.
  32. ^ Woodard 2012, pp. 18–19.
  33. ^ Brands 2015, p. 39–40.
  34. ^ Freie 2015, pp. 43–44.
  35. ^ a b Vaughn 1994, p. 30.
  36. ^ Cannon 2001, pp. 13–15.
  37. ^ Woodard 2012, pp. 25–26.
  38. ^ a b Vaughn 1994, p. 37.
  39. ^ a b Friedrich 1997, p. 89.
  40. ^ Cannon 2003, p. 59.
  41. ^ a b Vaughn 1994, p. 236.
  42. ^ Vaughn 1994, p. 312.
  43. ^ Oliver & Marion 2010, p. 148.
  44. ^ Vaughn 1994, p. 96.
  45. ^ Woodard 2012, p. 26; Brands 2015, pp. 54–55.
  46. ^ Oliver & Marion 2010, pp. 148–149.
  47. ^ a b Woodard 2012, p. 27.
  48. ^ a b Oliver & Marion 2010, p. 149.
  49. ^ Brands 2015, pp. 57.
  50. ^ Cannon 2003, p. 86.
  51. ^ Vaughn 1994, p. 133.
  52. ^ Vaughn 1994, p. 146.
  53. ^ Vaughn 1994, p. 154.
  54. ^ Pemberton 1998, p. 32.
  55. ^ Cannon 2003, p. 97.
  56. ^ Cannon 2003, p. 98.
  57. ^ Brands 2015, p. 89.
  58. ^ Eliot 2008, p. 266.
  59. ^ Vaughn 1994, p. 179.
  60. ^ Pemberton 1998, p. 35.
  61. ^ "Reagan Heads Actors Guild". The Arizona Republic. United Press International. November 17, 1959. p. 47. Retrieved February 10, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.
  62. ^ Cannon 2003, pp. 111–112.
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Works cited

Further information: Bibliography of Ronald Reagan

Books

Chapters

Journal articles

  • Birkner, Michael J. (1987). "The Defining Moment: The 1980 Nashua Debate". Gettysburg College. from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  • Boris, Eileen (2007). "On Cowboys and Welfare Queens: Independence, Dependence, and Interdependence at Home and Abroad". Journal of American Studies. 41 (3): 599–621. doi:10.1017/S002187580700401X. JSTOR 27558050. S2CID 145653386.
  • Clabaugh, Gary (2004). "The Educational Legacy of Ronald Reagan". Educational Horizons. 82 (4): 256–259. JSTOR 42926508.
  • DeGrasse, Robert W. Jr. (1983). "Military Spending and Jobs". Challenge. 26 (3): 4–15. doi:10.1080/05775132.1983.11470849. JSTOR 40720151.
  • Francis, Donald (2012). "Commentary: Deadly AIDS policy failure by the highest levels of the US government: A personal look back 30 years later for lessons to respond better to future epidemics". Journal of Public Health Policy. 33 (3): 290–300. doi:10.1057/jphp.2012.14. ISSN 1745-655X. JSTOR 23253449. PMID 22895498. S2CID 205127920.
  • Garrow, David (2007). "Review: Picking up the Books: The New Historiography of the Black Panther Party". Reviews in American History. 35 (4): 650–670. doi:10.1353/rah.2007.0068. JSTOR 30031608. S2CID 145069539.
  • Gellin, Bruce (1992). "The Stalled Response to AIDS". Issues in Science and Technology. 9 (1): 24–28. JSTOR 43311244. PMID 10122433.
  • Graetz, Michael (2012). "Energy Policy: Past or Prologue?". Daedalus. 141 (2): 31–44. doi:10.1162/DAED_a_00144. JSTOR 23240277. S2CID 57569482.
  • Hayes, Matthew; Fortunato, David; Hibbing, Matthew (2020). "Race–gender bias in white Americans' preferences for gun availability". Journal of Public Policy. 41 (4): 818–834. doi:10.1017/S0143814X20000288. S2CID 234615039.
  • Heclo, Hugh (2008). "The Mixed Legacies of Ronald Reagan". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 38 (4): 555–574. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5705.2008.02664.x. JSTOR 41219701.
  • Henry, David (2009). "Ronald Reagan and the 1980s: Perceptions, Policies, Legacies by Cheryl Hudson, Gareth Davies". The Journal of American History. 96 (3): 933–934. doi:10.1093/jahist/96.3.933. JSTOR 25622627.
  • Kanet, Roger E. (2006). "The Superpower Quest for Empire: The Cold War and Soviet Support for 'Wars of National Liberation'". Cold War History. 6 (3): 331–352. doi:10.1080/14682740600795469. S2CID 154531753.
  • Kazanjian, Powel (2014). "The AIDS Pandemic in Historic Perspective". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. 69 (3): 351–382. doi:10.1093/jhmas/jrs061. JSTOR 24631705. PMID 23090980.
  • Kim, Young Soo; Shin, Joongbum (2017). "Variance in Global Response to HIV/AIDS between the United States and Japan: Perception, Media, and Civil Society". Japanese Journal of Political Science. 18 (4): 514–535. doi:10.1017/S1468109917000159. S2CID 158468369.
  • Li, Jinhua (2013). "Analysis of the High Unemployment Rate in the USA". World Review of Political Economy. 4 (2): 218–229. doi:10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.4.2.0218. JSTOR 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.4.2.0218.
  • Lucas, Richert (2009). "Reagan, Regulation, and the FDA: The US Food and Drug Administration's Response to HIV/AIDS, 1980-90". Canadian Journal of History. 44 (3): 467–487. doi:10.3138/cjh.44.3.467. ProQuest 194343072.
  • Nichols, Curt (2012). "The Presidential Ranking Game: Critical Review and Some New Discoveries". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 42 (2): 275–299. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5705.2012.03966.x. JSTOR 41427390.
  • Onge, Jeffrey (2017). "Operation Coffeecup: Ronald Reagan, Rugged Individualism, and the Debate over "Socialized Medicine"". Rhetoric and Public Affairs. 20 (2): 223–252. doi:10.14321/rhetpublaffa.20.2.0223. JSTOR 10.14321/rhetpublaffa.20.2.0223. S2CID 149379808.
  • Pach, Chester (2006). "The Reagan Doctrine: Principle, Pragmatism, and Policy". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 36 (1): 75–88. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5705.2006.00288.x. JSTOR 27552748.
  • Primuth, Richard (2016). "Ronald Reagan's Use of Race in the 1976 and 1980 Presidential Elections". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 100 (1): 36–66. JSTOR 43855884.
  • Putnam, Jackson (2006). "Governor Reagan: A Reappraisal". California History. 83 (4): 24–45. doi:10.2307/25161839. JSTOR 25161839.
  • Reimler, John (1999). "The Rebirth of Racism in Education: The Real Legacy of the Reagan Revolution". Journal of Thought. 34 (2): 31–40. JSTOR 42589574.
  • Sinai, Allen (1992). "Financial and Real Business Cycles". Eastern Economic Journal. 18 (1): 1–54. JSTOR 40325363.
  • Sirin, Cigdem (2011). "From Nixon's War on Drugs to Obama's Drug Policies Today: Presidential Progress in Addressing Racial Injustices and Disparities". Race, Gender & Class. 18 (3/4): 82–99. JSTOR 43496834.
  • Vaughn, Stephen (1995). "The Moral Inheritance of a President: Reagan and the Dixon Disciples of Christ". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 25 (1): 109–127. JSTOR 27551378.

External links

Official sites

  • Ronald Reagan Foundation and Presidential Library
  • Ronald Reagan on whitehouse.gov
  • The Ronald W. Reagan Society of Eureka College

Media

News coverage

Other

October 15, 2023
ronald, reagan, reagan, redirects, here, other, uses, reagan, disambiguation, disambiguation, ronald, wilson, reagan, gən, february, 1911, june, 2004, american, politician, actor, served, 40th, president, united, states, from, 1981, 1989, member, republican, p. Reagan redirects here For other uses see Reagan disambiguation and Ronald Reagan disambiguation Ronald Wilson Reagan ˈ r eɪ ɡ en RAY gen 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 A member of the Republican Party his presidency constituted the Reagan era and he is considered one of the most prominent conservative figures in American history Ronald ReaganOfficial portrait 198140th President of the United StatesIn office January 20 1981 January 20 1989Vice PresidentGeorge H W BushPreceded byJimmy CarterSucceeded byGeorge H W Bush33rd Governor of CaliforniaIn office January 2 1967 January 6 1975 1 LieutenantRobert Finch 1967 1969 2 Edwin Reinecke 1969 1974 3 John L Harmer 1974 1975 4 Preceded byPat BrownSucceeded byJerry Brown9th and 13th President of the Screen Actors GuildIn office November 16 1959 June 7 1960Preceded byHoward KeelSucceeded byGeorge ChandlerIn office March 10 1947 November 10 1952Preceded byRobert MontgomerySucceeded byWalter PidgeonPersonal detailsBornRonald Wilson Reagan 1911 02 06 February 6 1911Tampico Illinois U S DiedJune 5 2004 2004 06 05 aged 93 Los Angeles California U S Resting placeRonald Reagan Presidential LibraryPolitical partyRepublican from 1962 Other politicalaffiliationsDemocratic until 1962 SpousesJane Wyman m 1940 div 1949 wbr Nancy Davis m 1952 wbr Children5 including Maureen Michael Patti and RonParentsJack Reagan Nelle WilsonRelativesNeil Reagan brother Alma materEureka College BA OccupationActorpoliticiansports broadcasterunion leaderAwardsFull listSignatureMilitary serviceServiceUnited States Army Reserve United States Air ForcesYears of service1937 1942 reserve 1942 1945 regular RankCaptainUnit322nd Cavalry Regiment 323rd Cavalry Regiment 18th AAF Base UnitWarsWorld War IIRonald Reagan s voice source source Reagan addresses the nation on the Space Shuttle Challenger disasterRecorded January 28 1986Other offices 1968 5 1969 6 Chair of the Republican Governors AssociationReagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and began to work as a sports broadcaster in Iowa In 1937 Reagan moved to California where he became a well known film actor From 1947 to 1952 Reagan served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild In the 1950s he worked in television and spoke for General Electric From 1959 to 1960 he again served as the Screen Actors Guild s president In 1964 A Time for Choosing gave Reagan attention as a new conservative figure He was elected governor of California in 1966 During his governorship he raised taxes turned the state budget deficit into a surplus and cracked down harshly on university protests After challenging and losing to incumbent president Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican presidential primaries Reagan won the Republican nomination and then a landslide victory over incumbent Democratic president Jimmy Carter in the 1980 United States presidential election In his first term Reagan implemented Reaganomics which involved economic deregulation and cuts in both taxes and government spending during a period of stagflation He escalated an arms race and transitioned Cold War policy away from detente with the Soviet Union he also ordered the invasion of Grenada in 1983 Additionally he 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 United States which began early in his presidency In the 1984 presidential election Reagan defeated former vice president Walter Mondale in another landslide victory Foreign affairs dominated Reagan s second term including the 1986 bombing of Libya the Iran Iraq War the secret and illegal sale of arms to Iran to fund the Contras and a more conciliatory approach in talks with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that 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 the unemployment rate having fallen and the United States having entered its then longest peacetime expansion At the same time the national debt had nearly tripled since 1981 as a result of his cuts in taxes and increased military spending despite cuts to domestic discretionary spending Reagan s policies also helped contribute to the end of the Cold War and the end of Soviet communism 7 Alzheimer s disease hindered Reagan post presidency and his physical and mental capacities rapidly deteriorated ultimately leading to his death in 2004 Historians and scholars have typically ranked Reagan among the upper to middle tier of American presidents and his post presidential approval ratings by the general public are usually high 8 Contents 1 Early life 2 Entertainment career 2 1 Radio and film 2 2 Military service 2 3 Screen Actors Guild presidency 2 4 Marriages and children 2 5 Television 3 Early political activities 3 1 1966 California gubernatorial election 4 1967 1975 California governorship 5 1975 1981 Seeking the presidency 5 1 1976 Republican primaries 5 2 1980 election 6 1981 1989 Presidency 6 1 First inauguration 6 2 Reaganomics and the economy 6 2 1 Taxation 6 2 2 Inflation and unemployment 6 2 3 Government spending 6 2 4 Deregulation 6 2 5 Deficits 6 3 Assassination attempt 6 4 Supreme Court appointments 6 5 Public sector labor union fights 6 6 Civil rights 6 7 War on drugs 6 8 Escalation of the Cold War 6 9 Invasion of Grenada 6 10 1984 election 6 11 Response to the AIDS epidemic 6 12 Addressing apartheid 6 13 Libya bombing 6 14 Iran Contra affair 6 15 Soviet decline and thaw in relations 7 1989 2004 Post presidency 7 1 Support for Brady Bill 7 2 Death and funeral 8 Legacy 8 1 Historical reputation 8 2 Political influence 9 References 9 1 Notes 9 2 Citations 10 Works cited 10 1 Books 10 2 Chapters 10 3 Journal articles 11 External links 11 1 Official sites 11 2 Media 11 3 News coverage 11 4 OtherEarly lifeRonald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6 1911 in a commercial building in Tampico Illinois as the younger son of Nelle Clyde Wilson and Jack Reagan 9 Nelle was committed to the Disciples of Christ 10 which believed in the Social Gospel 11 She led prayer meetings and ran mid week prayers at her church when the pastor was out of town 10 Reagan credited her spiritual influence 12 and he became a Christian 13 According to 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 14 Jack focused on making money to take care of the family 9 but this was complicated by his alcoholism 15 Neil Reagan was Reagan s older brother 16 Together they lived in Chicago Galesburg and Monmouth before returning to Tampico In 1920 they settled in Dixon Illinois 17 living in a house near the H C Pitney Variety Store Building 18 nbsp Reagan at EurekaReagan attended Dixon High School where he developed interests in drama and football 19 His first job involved working as a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park 20 In 1928 Reagan began attending Eureka College 21 at Nelle s approval on religious grounds 22 He was a mediocre student 23 that 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 24 Reagan played at the guard position for the 1930 and 1931 Eureka Red Devils football teams and recalled a time when two black football 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 were unusually progressive in Dixon 25 Reagan himself had grown up with very few black Americans there and was unaware of a race problem 26 Entertainment careerFurther information Ronald Reagan filmography Radio and film nbsp Dark Victory 1939 nbsp The Bad Man 1941 After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology from Eureka College in 1932 27 28 Reagan took a job in Davenport Iowa as a sports broadcaster for four football games in the Big Ten Conference 29 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 30 Simultaneously he often expressed his opposition to racism 31 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 32 Reagan arrived at Hollywood in 1937 debuting in Love Is on the Air 1937 33 Using a simple and direct approach to acting and following his directors instructions 34 Reagan made thirty films mostly B films before beginning military service in April 1942 35 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 of the United States 36 Afterward Reagan starred in Kings Row 1942 as a leg amputee asking Where s the rest of me 37 His performance was considered his best by many critics 38 Reagan became a star 39 with Gallup polls placing him in the top 100 stars from 1941 to 1942 38 World War II interrupted the movie stardom that Reagan would never be able to achieve again 39 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 As a result 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 With this Reagan appeared in multiple western films something that had been denied him working at Warner Bros 40 In 1952 he ended his relationship with Warner Bros 41 but went on to appear in a total of 53 films 35 his last being The Killers 1964 42 Military service nbsp Reagan at Fort Roach between 1943 and 1944In 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 43 He later became a part of the 323rd Cavalry Regiment in California 44 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 45 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 subsequently assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit in Culver City 46 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 47 Despite this Reagan participated in the Provisional Task Force Show Unit in Burbank 48 and continued to make theatrical films 49 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 48 Screen Actors Guild presidency 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 50 Reagan s first tenure saw various labor management disputes 51 the Hollywood blacklist 52 and the Taft Hartley Act s implementation 53 On April 10 the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI interviewed Reagan and he provided them with the names of actors whom he believed to be communist sympathizers 54 During a House Un American Activities Committee hearing Reagan testified that some guild members were associated with the Communist Party 55 and that he was well informed on a jurisdictional strike 56 When asked if he was aware of communist efforts within the Screen Writers Guild he called the efforts hearsay 57 Reagan would remain SAG president until he resigned on November 10 1952 58 Walter Pidgeon succeeded him but Reagan stayed on the board 59 The SAG fought with film producers over residual payments 60 and on November 16 1959 the board installed Reagan as SAG president 61 replacing the resigned Howard Keel In his second stint Reagan managed to secure the payments for actors whose theatrical films were released from 1948 to 1959 and subsequently televised The producers were initially required to pay the actors fees but they ultimately settled for pensions instead However they were still required to pay residuals for films after 1959 Reagan resigned from the SAG presidency on June 7 1960 and also left the board 62 George Chandler succeeded him as SAG president 63 Marriages and children nbsp Reagan and Jane Wyman 1942 nbsp Ronald and Nancy Reagan 1952 Reagan married Brother Rat 1938 co star Jane Wyman 64 in January 1940 65 Together they had two biological daughters Maureen in 1941 66 and Christine 67 born prematurely and dead the next day in 1947 68 They adopted one son Michael in 1945 47 Wyman filed to divorce Reagan in June 1948 She was uninterested in politics and occasionally recriminated reconciled and separated with him Although Reagan was unprepared 68 the divorce was finalized in July 1949 Reagan would also remain close to his children 69 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 70 They married in March 1952 71 and had two children Patti in 1952 and Ron in 1958 72 Television Reagan became the host of MCA Inc television production General Electric Theater 41 at Wasserman s recommendation It featured multiple guest stars 73 and Ronald and Nancy Reagan continuing to use her stage name Nancy Davis acted together in three episodes 74 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 75 However the viewership declined in the 1960s and the show was canceled in 1962 76 In 1965 Reagan became the host 77 of another MCA production Death Valley Days 78 Early political activities nbsp Reagan campaigning with Barry Goldwater 1964Reagan began as a Democrat viewing Franklin D Roosevelt as a true hero 79 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 80 and continued to speak out against racism when he was in Hollywood 81 In 1945 Reagan planned to lead an HICCASP anti nuclear rally but Warner Bros prevented him from going 82 In 1946 he appeared in a radio program called Operation Terror to speak out against rising Ku Klux Klan activity in the country citing the attacks as a capably organized systematic campaign of fascist violence and intimidation and horror 83 Reagan also supported Harry S Truman in the 1948 presidential election 84 and Helen Gahagan Douglas for the United States 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 80 Reagan began shifting to the right when he supported the presidential campaigns of Dwight D Eisenhower in 1952 and Richard Nixon in 1960 85 When Reagan was contracted by General Electric GE he gave speeches to their employees His speeches had a positive take on free markets 86 Under GE vice president Lemuel Boulware a staunch anti communist 87 employees were encouraged to vote for business friendly politicians 88 In 1961 Reagan adapted his speeches into another speech to criticize Medicare 89 In his view its legislation would have meant the end of individual freedom in the United States 90 In 1962 Reagan was dropped by GE 91 and he formally registered as a Republican 85 In 1964 Reagan gave a speech for presidential contender Barry Goldwater 92 that was eventually referred to as A Time for Choosing 93 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 94 and that We ve been told increasingly that we must choose between left or right 95 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 92 1966 California gubernatorial election Further information 1966 California gubernatorial election nbsp Ronald and Nancy Reagan celebrating his gubernatorial election victory 1966In January 1966 Reagan announced his candidacy for the California governorship 96 repeating his stances on individual freedom and big government 97 When he met with black Republicans in March 98 he was criticized for opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Certain in his own lack of prejudice Reagan responded resentfully that bigotry was not in his nature 99 and later argued that certain provisions of the act infringed upon the rights of property owners 100 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 101 but later preferred amending it 102 In the Republican primary Reagan defeated George Christopher 103 a moderate 104 who William F Buckley Jr thought had painted Reagan as extreme 97 Reagan s general election opponent incumbent governor Pat Brown attempted to label Reagan as an extremist and tout his own accomplishments 105 Reagan portrayed himself as a political outsider 106 and charged Brown as responsible for the Watts riots and lenient on crime 105 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 107 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 108 Ultimately Reagan won the governorship with 57 percent of the vote compared to Brown s 42 percent 109 1967 1975 California governorshipMain article Governorship of Ronald Reagan nbsp The Reagans in 1972Brown 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 110 and Reagan would call for reduced government spending and tax hikes to balance the budget 111 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 112 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 113 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 114 By 1973 the budget had a surplus which Reagan preferred to give back to the people 115 In 1967 Reagan reacted to the Black Panther Party s strategy of copwatching by signing the Mulford Act 116 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 117 The act marked the beginning of both modern legislation and public attitude studies on gun control 116 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 and more abortions were resulting 118 After Reagan won the 1966 election he and his advisors planned a run in the 1968 Republican presidential primaries 119 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 120 but Nixon secured enough delegates for the nomination 121 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 122 On February 5 1969 Reagan declared a state of emergency in response to ongoing protests and acts of 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 123 124 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 125 During his victorious reelection campaign in 1970 Reagan remaining critical of government promised to prioritize welfare reform 126 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 127 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 128 In 1976 the Employment Development Department published a report suggesting that the experiment that ran from 1971 to 1974 was unsuccessful 129 Reagan did not run for the governorship in 1974 and it was won by Pat Brown s son Jerry 130 Reagan s governorship as professor Gary K Clabaugh writes saw public schools deteriorate due to his opposition to additional basic education funding 131 As for higher education journalist William Trombley believed that the budget cuts Reagan enacted damaged Berkeley s student faculty ratio and research 132 Additionally the homicide rate doubled and armed robbery rates rose as well during Reagan s eight years even with the many laws Reagan signed to try toughening criminal sentencing and reforming the criminal justice system 133 Reagan strongly supported capital punishment but his efforts to enforce it were thwarted by People v Anderson in 1972 134 According to his son Michael Reagan said that he regretted signing the Family Law Act that granted no fault divorces 135 1975 1981 Seeking the presidency1976 Republican primaries Main articles Ronald Reagan 1976 presidential campaign and 1976 Republican Party presidential primaries nbsp Reagan and Gerald Ford shaking hands on the podium after Reagan narrowly lost the nomination at the 1976 Republican National ConventionInsufficiently conservative to Reagan 136 and many other Republicans 137 president Gerald Ford suffered from multiple political and economic woes Ford running for president was disappointed to hear him also run 138 Reagan was strongly critical of detente and Ford s policy of detente with the Soviet Union 139 He repeated A Time for Choosing around the country 140 before announcing his campaign on November 20 1975 when he discussed economic and social problems and to a lesser extent foreign affairs 141 Both candidates were determined to knock each other out early in the primaries 142 but Reagan would devastatingly lose the first five primaries beginning with New Hampshire 143 where he popularized the welfare queen narrative about Linda Taylor exaggerating her misuse of welfare benefits and igniting voter resentment for welfare reform 144 but never overtly mentioning her name or race 145 In Florida Reagan referred to a strapping young buck 146 which became an example of dog whistle politics 147 and accused Ford for handing the Panama Canal to Panama s government while Ford implied that he would end Social Security 143 Then in Illinois he again criticized Ford s policy and his secretary of state Henry Kissinger 148 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 149 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 presidential campaign 150 and repeated criticisms of Ford and Kissinger s policies including detente 151 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 convention 152 in August 153 and Ford replacing mentions of detente with Reagan s preferred phrase peace through strength 154 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 155 and distract Ford Instead conservatives were left alienated and Ford picked up the remaining uncommitted delegates and prevailed earning 1 187 to Reagan s 1 070 Before giving his acceptance speech Ford invited Reagan to address the convention Reagan emphasized individual freedom 156 and the dangers of nuclear weapons In 1977 Ford told Cannon that Reagan s primary challenge contributed to his own narrow loss to Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1976 United States presidential election 157 1980 election Main articles Ronald Reagan 1980 presidential campaign and 1980 United States presidential election nbsp 1980 United States presidential electionReagan emerged as a vocal critic of President Carter in 1977 The Panama Canal Treaty s signing the 1979 oil crisis and rise in the inflation interest and unemployment rates helped set up his 1980 presidential campaign 158 which he announced on November 13 1979 159 with an indictment of the federal government 160 His announcement stressed his fundamental principles of tax cuts to stimulate the economy and having both a small government and a strong national defense 161 since he believed the United States was behind the Soviet Union militarily 162 Heading into 1980 his age became an issue among the press and the United States was in a severe recession 163 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 164 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 165 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 166 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 167 The moderator asked Bob Malloy the volume operator to mute Reagan s microphone After Malloy repeated his demand to Malloy Reagan furiously replied I am paying for this microphone Mr Green sic a 169 This turned out to be the turning point of the debate and the primary race 170 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 171 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 172 The general election pitted Reagan against Carter amid the multitude of domestic concerns and ongoing Iran hostage crisis that began on November 4 1979 173 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 174 Carter suggested that Reagan would wreck Social Security and portrayed him as a warmonger 175 and Anderson carried support from liberal Republicans dissatisfied with Reagan s conservatism 174 b 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 homosexuality 177 Evangelical Protestants became an increasingly important voting bloc and they generally supported Reagan 178 Reagan also won the backing of Reagan Democrats 179 Though he advocated socially conservative view points Reagan focused much of his campaign on attacks against Carter s foreign policy 180 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 181 and some also saw these actions as an extension of the Southern strategy to garner white support for Republican candidates 182 Reagan s supporters have said that this was his typical anti big government rhetoric without racial context or intent 183 184 185 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 186 Reagan later asked the audience if they were better off than they were four years ago slightly paraphrasing Roosevelt s words in 1934 187 In 1983 Reagan s campaign managers were revealed to having obtained Carter s debate briefing book before the debates 188 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 In the United States Congress Republicans won a majority of seats in the Senate for the first time since 1952 189 while Democrats retained the House of Representatives 190 1981 1989 PresidencyMain article Presidency of Ronald Reagan For a chronological guide see Timeline of the Ronald Reagan presidency Further information Domestic policy of the Ronald Reagan administration and Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration First inauguration Main article First inauguration of Ronald Reagan nbsp Reagan delivering his inaugural address 1981The 40th president of the United States 191 Reagan was sworn into office for his first term on January 20 1981 In his inaugural address he addressed the country s economic malaise arguing In this present crisis government is not the solution to our problem government is the problem 192 In a final insult to President Carter Iran had waited until Reagan had been sworn in before sending the hostages home 193 Reaganomics and the economy Main article Reaganomics Reagan advocated a laissez faire philosophy 194 and promoted a set of neoliberal reforms dubbed Reaganomics which included monetarism and supply side economics 195 Taxation This section is missing information about analysis Please expand the section to include this information Further details may exist on the talk page April 2023 nbsp Reagan outlining his plan for tax cuts 1981Reagan 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 196 c He lifted federal oil and gasoline price controls on January 28 1981 198 and in August he signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 199 to dramatically lower federal income tax rates and require exemptions and brackets to be indexed for inflation starting in 1985 200 Amid growing concerns about the mounting federal debt Reagan signed the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 201 one of the eleven times Reagan raised taxes 202 The bill doubled the federal cigarette tax rescinded a portion of the corporate tax cuts from the 1981 tax bill 203 and according to Paul Krugman a third of the 1981 cut overall 204 Many of his supporters condemned the bill but Reagan defended his preservation of cuts on individual income tax rates 205 By 1983 the amount of federal tax had fallen for all or most taxpayers but most strongly affected the wealthy 206 The Tax Reform Act of 1986 reduced the number of tax brackets and top tax rate and almost doubled personal exemptions 207 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 spur investments which would result in more spending consumption and ergo tax revenue This theoretical relationship has been illustrated by some with the controversial Laffer curve 208 Critics labeled this trickle down economics the belief that tax policies that benefit the wealthy will spread to the poor 209 Milton Friedman and Robert Mundell argued that these policies invigorated America s economy and contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s 210 Inflation and unemployment nbsp Monthly unemployment inflation and interest rates from January 1981 to January 1989 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Federal Reserve Economic DataReagan took office in the midst of stagflation 211 The economy briefly experienced growth before plunging into a recession in July 1981 212 As Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker fought inflation by pursuing a tight money policy of high interest rates 213 which restricted lending and investment raised unemployment and temporarily reduced economic growth 214 In December 1982 the Bureau of Labor Statistics BLS measured the unemployment rate at 10 8 percent 215 Around the same time economic activity began to rise until its end in 1990 setting the record for the longest peacetime expansion 216 In 1983 the recession ended 217 and Reagan nominated Volcker to a second term in fear of damaging confidence in the economic recovery 218 Reagan appointed Alan Greenspan to succeed Volcker in 1987 Greenspan raised interest rates in another attempt to curb inflation setting off the Black Monday although the markets eventually recovered 219 By 1989 the BLS measured the unemployment rate at 5 3 percent 220 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 221 Yet not all shared equally in the economic recovery and both economic inequality 222 and the number of homeless individuals increased during the 1980s 223 Critics have contended that a majority of the jobs created during this decade paid the minimum wage 224 Government spending In 1981 in an effort to keep it solvent Reagan approved a plan for cuts to Social Security He later backed off of these plans due to public backlash 225 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 226 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 227 and would discontinue the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act 228 On the other side defense spending doubled between 1981 and 1985 162 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 exceed Soviet missile defense technology 229 230 Deregulation 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 231 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 232 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 233 Deficits The deficits were exacerbated by the early 1980s recession which cut into federal revenue 234 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 235 Reagan described the tripled debt the greatest disappointment of his presidency 236 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 237 Assassination attempt Main article Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan nbsp Reagan moments before he was shot 1981On March 30 1981 Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr outside the Washington Hilton Also struck were James Brady Thomas Delahanty and Tim McCarthy Although right on the margin of death upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital Reagan underwent surgery and recovered quickly from a broken rib a 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 238 Later Reagan came to believe that God had spared his life for a chosen mission 239 Supreme Court appointments Main article Ronald Reagan Supreme Court candidates Reagan appointed three Associate Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States Sandra Day O Connor in 1981 Antonin Scalia in 1986 and Anthony Kennedy in 1988 He also elevated William Rehnquist from Associate Justice to Chief Justice in 1986 240 The direction of the Supreme Court s reshaping has been described as conservative 241 242 Public sector labor union fights nbsp Reagan making a statement to the press regarding the air traffic controllers strike 1981Early in August 1981 the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization PATCO went on strike violating a federal law prohibiting government unions from striking 243 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 244 He used military controllers 245 and supervisors to handle the nation s commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained 246 The breaking of the PATCO strike demoralized organized labor and the number of strikes fell greatly in the 1980s 245 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 247 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 248 Civil rights nbsp Reagan signing the Passage of Martin Luther King Jr Day 1983Despite Reagan having opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 31 the bill was extended for 25 years in 1982 249 He initially opposed the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr Day 250 but signed a veto proof bill to create the holiday in 1983 and also alluded to claims that King was associated with communists during his career 251 In 1984 he signed legislation intended to impose fines for fair housing discrimination offenses 252 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 253 Later in September legislation was passed to correct loopholes in the Fair Housing Act of 1968 254 255 Early in his presidency Reagan appointed Clarence M Pendleton Jr as chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights to criticism for politicizing the agency Pendleton and Reagan s subsequent appointees steered the commission in line with Reagan s views on civil rights arousing the ire of civil rights advocates 256 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 257 but Reagan reluctantly continued these policies 258 In housing Reagan s administration saw considerably fewer fair housing cases filed than the three previous administrations 259 Reagan s recasting of civil rights through reduced enforcement of civil rights laws has been regarded by some as the largest since Lyndon B Johnson s presidency 260 War on drugs Main article War on drugs nbsp Reagan signing the Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986In response to concerns about the increasing crack epidemic Reagan intensified the war on drugs in 1982 261 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 262 Reagan s administration publicized the campaign to gain support after crack became widespread in 1985 263 Reagan signed the Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and 1988 to specify penalties for drug offenses 264 Both bills have been criticized in the years since for promoting racial disparities 265 Additionally 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 266 A 1988 study showed 39 percent of high school seniors using illegal drugs compared to 53 percent in 1980 267 but Scott Lilienfeld and Hal Arkowitz say that the success of these types of campaigns have not been found to be affirmatively proven 268 Escalation of the Cold War Further information Cold War 1979 1985 and Reagan Doctrine nbsp Reagan meeting with Afghan mujahideen leaders in the Oval Office 1983Reagan ordered a massive defense buildup 269 he revived the B 1 Lancer program that had been rejected by the Carter administration 270 and deployed the MX missile 271 In response to Soviet deployment of the SS 20 he oversaw NATO s deployment of the Pershing missile in Western Europe 272 In 1982 Reagan tried to cut off the Soviet Union s access to hard currency by impeding its proposed gas line to Western Europe It hurt the Soviet economy but it also caused much ill will among American allies in Europe who counted on that revenue he later retreated on this issue 273 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 274 There was much disbelief among the scientific community surrounding the program s scientific feasibility leading opponents to dub the SDI Star Wars 275 though Soviet leader Yuri Andropov said it would lead to an extremely dangerous path 276 nbsp Reagan listening to Pakistani president Muhammad Zia ul Haq 1982In 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 277 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 empire 278 in reference to the Soviet Union during a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in March 1983 232 After Soviet fighters downed Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in September which included Larry McDonald and 61 other Americans Reagan expressed outrage towards the Soviet Union 279 The next day reports suggested that the Soviets had fired on the plane by mistake 280 In spite of the harsh discordant rhetoric 281 Reagan s administration continued discussions with the Soviet Union on START I 282 Although the Reagan administration agreed with the communist government in China to reduce the sale of arms to Taiwan in 1982 283 Reagan himself was the first president to reject containment and detente and to put into practice the concept that the Soviet Union could be defeated rather than simply negotiated with 284 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 285 However the United States was subjected to blowback in the form of the Taliban that opposed them in the war in Afghanistan 286 In his 1985 State of the Union Address Reagan proclaimed Support for freedom fighters is self defense 287 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 288 Critics have felt that the administration ignored the human rights violations in the countries they backed 289 including genocide in Guatemala 290 and mass killings in Chad 291 Invasion of Grenada Main article United States invasion of Grenada nbsp Reagan discussing the Grenada situation with a bipartisan group of members of Congress 1983On 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 in the Caribbean nation and concern for the safety of hundreds of American medical students at St George s University as adequate reasons to invade Two days of fighting commenced resulting in an American victory 292 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 293 Cannon later noted that throughout Reagan s 1984 presidential campaign the invasion overshadowed the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings 294 which killed 241 Americans taking part in an international peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War 295 1984 election Main articles Ronald Reagan 1984 presidential campaign and 1984 United States presidential election nbsp 1984 electoral vote resultsReagan announced his reelection campaign on January 29 1984 declaring America is back and standing tall 227 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 296 and he and Bush accepted the nomination at the Dallas convention in August 297 In the general election his campaign ran the commercial Morning in America 298 At a time when the American economy was already recovering 217 former vice president Walter Mondale 299 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 300 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 301 even from Mondale At that point Broder suggested that age was no longer a liability for Reagan 302 and Mondale s campaign felt that the election was over 303 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 304 Response to the AIDS epidemic nbsp Reagan has been criticized for his delayed and muted response to the AIDS epidemic This 1987 art installation by ACT UP quotes Reagan on AIDS with a blank slate representing total silence The AIDS epidemic began to unfold in 1981 305 and AIDS was initially difficult to understand for physicians and the public 306 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 307 In 1986 Reagan asked C Everett Koop to draw up a report on the AIDS issue 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 308 A year later Reagan who reportedly had not read the report 309 gave his first speech on the epidemic when 36 058 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS and 20 849 had died of it 310 Reagan called for increased testing including routine testing for marriage applicants and mandatory testing of select groups including federal prisoners 311 Even after this speech however Reagan remained reluctant to publicly address AIDS 312 Scholars and AIDS activists have argued that the Reagan administration largely ignored the AIDS crisis 313 314 315 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 316 317 In a September 1985 press conference after Hudson announced his AIDS diagnosis Reagan called a government AIDS research program a top priority but also cited budgetary constraints 318 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 319 Addressing apartheid nbsp Shortly after the 1984 election Reagan met Desmond Tutu who described Reagan s administration as an unmitigated disaster for us blacks 320 and Reagan himself as a racist pure and simple 321 Opposition to apartheid strengthened during Reagan s first term in office as its component disinvestment from South Africa movement which had been in existence for quite some years The opposition also gained critical mass following in the United States particularly on college campuses and among mainline Protestant denominations 322 323 President Reagan was opposed to divestiture because 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 324 The anti communist focus of Reagan s administration lent itself to closer ties with the apartheid regime of South Africa particularly with regards to matters pertaining to nuclear weapons 325 The Reagan administration developed constructive engagement 326 with the South African government as a means of encouraging it to move away from apartheid gradually It was part of a larger initiative designed to foster peaceful economic development and political change throughout southern Africa 327 This policy however engendered much public criticism and renewed calls for the imposition of stringent sanctions 328 In response Reagan announced the imposition of new sanctions on the South African government including an arms embargo in late 1985 329 These sanctions were seen as weak by anti apartheid activists and as insufficient by the president s opponents in Congress 328 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 330 Libya bombing Main article 1986 United States bombing of Libya nbsp Reagan receiving a briefing on the Libya bombing 1986Contentious 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 331 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 332 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 333 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 334 Iran Contra affair Main article Iran Contra affair nbsp Reagan receiving the Tower Commission Report on the Iran Contra affair 1987Reagan 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 United States 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 335 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 336 By mid 1985 Hezbollah began to take American hostages in Lebanon holding seven of them in reaction to the United States support of Israel 337 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 338 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 338 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 339 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 340 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 341 The affair damaged the administration and raised questions about Reagan s competency and the wisdom of conservative policies 342 The administration s credibility was also badly damaged on the international stage as it had violated its own arms embargo on Iran 343 Soviet decline and thaw in relations Further information Cold War 1985 1991 nbsp Mikhail Gorbachev and Reagan signing the INF Treaty 1987Although the Soviets did not accelerate military spending in response to Reagan s military buildup 344 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 Mikhail Gorbachev s tenure as the Soviet Union s leader 345 Reagan s foreign policy towards the Soviets wavered between brinkmanship and cooperation 346 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 284 They held four summit conferences between 1985 and 1988 347 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 348 The critical summit was in Reykjavik 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 349 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 350 351 352 In December Reagan and Gorbachev met again at the Washington Summit 353 to sign the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty committing to the total abolition of their respective short range and medium range missile stockpiles 354 The treaty established an inspections regime designed to ensure that both parties honored the agreement 355 In May 1988 the U S Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the treaty 356 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 357 1989 2004 Post presidency nbsp Reagan and Gorbachev at Rancho del Cielo 1992 nbsp Nancy and Ronald Reagan with a model of USS Ronald Reagan 1996 After leaving the presidency on January 20 1989 358 Ronald and Nancy Reagan lived at 668 St Cloud Road in Bel Air in addition to Rancho del Cielo in Santa Barbara 359 He received multiple awards and honors 360 and received generous payments for speaking engagements In 1991 the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library opened Reagan also addressed the 1992 Republican National Convention to inspire allegiance to the party regulars 361 publicly favored the Brady Bill drawing criticism from gun control opponents 362 a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget and the repeal of the 22nd Amendment His 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 361 In August 1994 Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer s disease which he announced through a handwritten letter in November 363 There was speculation over how long he had demonstrated symptoms of mental degeneration 364 but lay observations that he suffered from Alzheimer s while still in office have been widely refuted by medical experts 365 366 367 his doctors said that he first began exhibiting overt symptoms of the illness in late 1992 368 or 1993 367 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 367 Eventually his family decided that he would live in quiet semi isolation with his wife 369 By the end of 2003 Reagan had lost his ability to speak and was mostly confined to his bed no longer able to recognize any family members 370 Support for Brady Bill In 1989 in his first public appearance after leaving office and shortly after a mass shooting at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton California 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 371 372 In March 1991 Reagan wrote an op ed in the New York Times titled Why I m for the Brady Bill 373 374 In 1994 Reagan Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter sent a letter to House members urging them to support the controversial Federal Assault Weapons Ban 375 Death and funeral Main article Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan Reagan died of pneumonia complicated by Alzheimer s 376 at his home in Los Angeles on June 5 2004 377 President George W Bush called Reagan s death a sad hour in the life of America 376 His public funeral was held in the Washington National Cathedral 378 where eulogies were given by Margaret Thatcher Brian Mulroney George H W Bush and George W Bush 379 Other world leaders attended including Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Walesa 380 Reagan was interred at his presidential library 379 LegacySee also List of things named after Ronald Reagan and Cultural depictions of Ronald Reagan Historical reputation nbsp The Ronald Reagan Presidential LibraryIn 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 381 which ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 382 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 383 During the initial years of Reagan s post presidency historical rankings placed his presidency in the twenties 384 Throughout the 2000s and 2010s his presidency was often placed in the top ten 385 386 Many proponents including his Cold War contemporaries 387 388 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 389 284 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 284 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 390 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 391 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 392 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 ushering in 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 393 Reagan was known for storytelling and humor 394 which involved puns 395 and self deprecation 396 Reagan also often emphasized family values despite being the first president to have been divorced 397 He showed the ability to comfort Americans during the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster 398 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 399 394 He also earned the nickname Teflon President in that public perceptions of him were not substantially tarnished by the multitude of controversies that arose during his administration 400 401 Political influence Reagan led a new conservative movement altering the political dynamic of the United States 402 Conservatism became the dominant ideology for Republicans displacing the party s faction of liberals and moderates 403 In his time men began voting more Republican and women began voting more Democrat a gender distinction that has persisted 402 He was supported by young voters an allegiance that shifted many of them to the party 404 He attempted to appeal to black voters in 1980 405 but would receive the lowest black vote for a Republican presidential candidate at the time 406 Throughout Reagan s presidency Republicans were unable to gain complete control of Congress 407 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 Bill Clinton administration is often treated as an extension of the era as is the George W Bush administration 408 Since 1988 Republican presidential candidates have invoked Reagan s policies and beliefs 409 Carlos Lozada noted Trump s praising of Reagan in a book he published during his 2016 campaign 410 ReferencesNotes Reagan misstated Breen s last name as Mr Green 168 John B Anderson questioned how realistic Reagan s budget proposals were saying The only way Reagan is going to cut taxes increase defense spending and balance the budget at the same time is to use blue smoke and mirrors 176 Despite their various disagreements Reagan and O Neill developed a friendship across party lines O Neill told Reagan that Republican opponents were friends after six o clock Reagan would sometimes call O Neill at any time and ask if it was after six o clock to which O Neill would invariably respond Absolutely Mr President 197 Citations Holmes 2020 p 210 Oliver Myrna October 11 1995 Robert H Finch Lt Gov Under Reagan Dies Politics Leader in California GOP was 70 He also served in Nixon s Cabinet and as President s special counselor and campaign manager Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on December 26 2022 Retrieved April 4 2020 Chang Cindy December 25 2016 Ed Reinecke who resigned as California s lieutenant governor after a perjury conviction dies at 92 Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on December 26 2022 Retrieved April 4 2020 South Garry May 21 2018 California s lieutenant governors rarely move up to the top job San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original on December 26 2022 Retrieved April 4 2020 The Chairman s Report 1968 To the Members of the Republican National Committee Jan 16 17 1969 Republican National Committee January 1969 p 41 Retrieved January 16 2023 Synergy Volumes 13 30 Bay Area Reference Center 1969 p 41 Retrieved January 16 2023 Governor Raymond Shafer of Pennsylvania was elected on December 13 to succeed Governor Ronald Reagan as Chairman of the Republican Governors Association Ronald Reagan Encyclopaedia Britannica June 9 2023 Retrieved June 27 2023 Retrospective Approval of Presidents Gallup Inc July 17 2023 Retrieved August 23 2023 a b Kengor 2004 p 5 a b Kengor 2004 p 12 Spitz 2018 p 36 Kengor 2004 p 48 Kengor 2004 p 10 Vaughn 1995 p 109 Brands 2015 p 10 Kengor 2004 p 4 Pemberton 1998 p 5 Woodard 2012 p 4 Brands 2015 p 14 Brands 2015 p 16 Pemberton 1998 p 10 Brands 2015 p 17 Brands 2015 p 20 Pemberton 1998 pp 10 11 Cannon 2000 p 457 Mayer 2015 p 73 Primuth 2016 p 42 Mullen 1999 p 207 Visit Reagan s Campus The Ronald W Reagan Society of Eureka College Archived from the original on April 18 2023 Retrieved February 19 2023 Brands 2015 pp 24 26 Brands 2015 pp 29 30 a b Cannon 2000 p 458 Woodard 2012 pp 18 19 Brands 2015 p 39 40 Freie 2015 pp 43 44 a b Vaughn 1994 p 30 Cannon 2001 pp 13 15 Woodard 2012 pp 25 26 a b Vaughn 1994 p 37 a b Friedrich 1997 p 89 Cannon 2003 p 59 a b Vaughn 1994 p 236 Vaughn 1994 p 312 Oliver amp Marion 2010 p 148 Vaughn 1994 p 96 Woodard 2012 p 26 Brands 2015 pp 54 55 Oliver amp Marion 2010 pp 148 149 a b Woodard 2012 p 27 a b Oliver amp Marion 2010 p 149 Brands 2015 pp 57 Cannon 2003 p 86 Vaughn 1994 p 133 Vaughn 1994 p 146 Vaughn 1994 p 154 Pemberton 1998 p 32 Cannon 2003 p 97 Cannon 2003 p 98 Brands 2015 p 89 Eliot 2008 p 266 Vaughn 1994 p 179 Pemberton 1998 p 35 Reagan Heads Actors Guild The Arizona Republic United Press International November 17 1959 p 47 Retrieved February 10 2023 via NewspaperArchive Cannon 2003 pp 111 112 Landesman 2015 p 173 Brands 2015 p 43 Woodard 2012 p 23 Woodard 2012 p 25 Dick 2014 p 88 a b Woodard 2012 p 29 Cannon 2003 pp 73 74 Brands 2015 p 109 Brands 2015 p 113 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2015 pp 157 159 Putnam 2006 p 26 Schuparra 2015 pp 47 48 Cannon 2003 p 370 a b Hayes Fortunato amp Hibbing 2020 p 819 Carter 2002 p 493 Cannon 2003 pp 209 214 Pemberton 1998 p 76 Gould 2010 pp 92 93 Gould 2010 pp 96 97 Cannon 2003 p 271 Cannon 2003 pp 291 292 Remembering Bloody Thursday 1969 People s Park Riot The Daily Californian April 21 2017 Retrieved May 25 2023 Cannon 2003 p 295 Woodard 2012 pp 73 75 Woodard 2012 p 75 Brands 2015 pp 179 181 Rich Spencer March 30 1981 Reagan s Workfare Program Failed in California Report Reveals The Washington Post Archived from the original on December 24 2022 Retrieved December 24 2022 Cannon 2000 pp 754 755 Clabaugh 2004 p 257 Cannon 2003 p 296 Cannon 2003 p 388 Cannon 2003 pp 223 224 Reagan 2011 p 67 Woodard 2012 p 78 Primuth 2016 p 45 Woodard 2012 pp 84 87 Kengor 2006 p 48 Brands 2015 pp 193 194 Primuth 2016 p 47 Witcover 1977 p 433 a b Woodard 2012 pp 89 90 Boris 2007 pp 612 613 Cannon 2000 p 457 Primuth 2016 p 48 Haney Lopez 2014 p 4 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doi 10 1080 14682740902764569 S2CID 218575117 Retrieved February 10 2023 Thomson 2008 p 113 Thomson pp 106 123 a b Ungar Sanford J Vale Peter Winter 1985 86 South Africa Why Constructive Engagement Failed Foreign Affairs 64 2 234 258 doi 10 2307 20042571 JSTOR 20042571 Smith William E September 16 1985 South Africa Reagan s Abrupt Reversal Time Vol 126 no 11 Retrieved August 13 2019 Glass Andrew September 27 2017 House overrides Reagan apartheid veto Sept 29 1986 Politico Retrieved August 13 2019 Brands 2015 pp 530 531 Woodard 2012 p 161 1986 US Launches air strike on Libya BBC News April 15 2008 Retrieved April 19 2008 Piszkiewicz Dennis 2003 Terrorism s War with America A History Praeger Security International Greenwood Publishing Group p 66 ISBN 978 0 275 97952 2 A RES 41 38 November 20 1986 United Nations Retrieved April 14 2014 Weisberg pp 128 129 Patterson pp 208 209 Brands 2015 pp 488 491 a b Weisberg pp 129 134 Patterson pp 210 211 Brands pp 646 649 Patterson pp 211 212 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Berlin Wall Chicago Tribune October 31 2014 Retrieved January 2 2022 Rossinow pp 234 235 Patterson p 215 Rossinow p 236 Patterson p 216 Herring pp 897 898 Cannon 2000 p xi Woodard 2012 p 180 Ward Myah September 8 2022 Bidens offer condolences after death of Queen Elizabeth whose reign spanned 14 American presidents Politico Archived from the original on January 21 2023 Retrieved January 21 2023 Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to President Ronald Reagan The American Presidency Project January 23 2023 Archived from the original on January 23 2023 Retrieved January 23 2023 a b Woodard 2012 pp 181 182 Brands 2015 pp 717 718 Cannon 2000 p xiv President Ronald Reagan s Alzheimer s Disease Radio National June 7 2004 Retrieved January 7 2008 Reagan s doctors deny covering up Alzheimer s His mental status in office never in doubt they say The New York Times October 5 1997 Retrieved April 20 2021 via The Baltimore Sun Altman Lawrence K February 21 2011 When Alzheimer s 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Power PublicAffairs ISBN 978 1 58648 030 1 Carter Gregg 2002 Guns in American Society An Encyclopedia of History Politics Culture and the Law Volume 1 ABC Clio ISBN 978 1 57607 268 4 Crespino Joseph 2021 In Search of Another Country Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0 691 14094 0 Dick Bernard F 2014 The President s Ladies Jane Wyman and Nancy Davis University Press of Mississippi ISBN 978 1 61703 980 5 Eliot Marc 2008 Reagan The Hollywood Years Crown Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 307 40512 8 Evans Thomas W 2006 The Education of Ronald Reagan The General Electric Years and the Untold Story of His Conversion to Conservatism Columbia University Press ISBN 978 0 231 13860 4 Fallon Janet L 2017 A Communication Perspective on Margaret Thatcher Stateswoman of the Twentieth Century Lexington Books ISBN 978 1 4985 4738 3 Fialka John J 1999 War by Other Means Economic Espionage in America W W Norton amp Company ISBN 978 0 393 04014 2 Fischer Beth A 2019 The Myth of Triumphalism Rethinking President Reagan s Cold War Legacy University Press of Kentucky ISBN 978 0 8131 7819 6 Freie John F 2015 Making of the Postmodern Presidency From Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama Paradigm Publishers ISBN 978 1 59451 782 2 Friedrich Otto 1997 1986 City of Nets A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940 s University of California Press ISBN 978 0 520 20949 7 Gerstle Gary 2022 The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order America and the World in the Free Market Era Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 751964 6 Gould Lewis L 2010 1968 The Election That Changed America Government Institutes ISBN 978 1 56663 862 3 Graebner Norman Burns Richard Siracusa Joseph 2008 Reagan Bush Gorbachev Revisiting the End of the Cold War Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 313 35241 6 Hampson Fen Osler 2018 Master of Persuasion Brian Mulroney s Global Legacy McClelland amp Stewart ISBN 978 0 7710 3907 2 Haney Lopez Ian 2014 Dog Whistle Politics How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 996427 7 Herring George C 2008 From Colony to Superpower U S Foreign Relations Since 1776 Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 507822 0 Holmes Alison R 2020 Multi Layered Diplomacy in a Global State The International Relations of California Springer Science Business Media ISBN 978 3 030 54131 6 Karaagac John 2002 Between Promise and Policy Ronald Reagan and Conservative Reformism Lexington Books ISBN 978 0 7391 0094 3 Kengor Paul 2004 God and Ronald Reagan A Spiritual Life ReganBooks ISBN 978 0 06 057141 2 2006 The Crusader Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism ReganBooks ISBN 978 0 06 113690 0 Keyssar Alexander 2009 The Right to Vote The Contested History of Democracy in the United States Basic Books ISBN 978 0 465 00502 4 Kupelian David 2010 How Evil Works Understanding and Overcoming the Destructive Forces That Are Transforming America Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 1 4391 6819 6 Koop C Everett 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14321 rhetpublaffa 20 2 0223 S2CID 149379808 Pach Chester 2006 The Reagan Doctrine Principle Pragmatism and Policy Presidential Studies Quarterly 36 1 75 88 doi 10 1111 j 1741 5705 2006 00288 x JSTOR 27552748 Primuth Richard 2016 Ronald Reagan s Use of Race in the 1976 and 1980 Presidential Elections The Georgia Historical Quarterly 100 1 36 66 JSTOR 43855884 Putnam Jackson 2006 Governor Reagan A Reappraisal California History 83 4 24 45 doi 10 2307 25161839 JSTOR 25161839 Reimler John 1999 The Rebirth of Racism in Education The Real Legacy of the Reagan Revolution Journal of Thought 34 2 31 40 JSTOR 42589574 Sinai Allen 1992 Financial and Real Business Cycles Eastern Economic Journal 18 1 1 54 JSTOR 40325363 Sirin Cigdem 2011 From Nixon s War on Drugs to Obama s Drug Policies Today Presidential Progress in Addressing Racial Injustices and Disparities Race Gender amp Class 18 3 4 82 99 JSTOR 43496834 Vaughn Stephen 1995 The Moral Inheritance of a President Reagan and the Dixon Disciples of Christ Presidential Studies Quarterly 25 1 109 127 JSTOR 27551378 External linksRonald Reagan at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Definitions from Wiktionary nbsp Media from Commons nbsp News from Wikinews nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Texts from Wikisource nbsp Textbooks from Wikibooks Official sites Ronald Reagan Foundation and Presidential Library Ronald Reagan on whitehouse gov The Ronald W Reagan Society of Eureka CollegeMedia Appearances on C SPAN 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 Reagan Library s channel on YouTubeNews coverage Ronald Reagan collected news and commentary at The New York Times Ronald Reagan from The Washington Post Ronald Reagan at CNN Ronald Reagan collected news and commentary at The GuardianOther Ronald Reagan at IMDb nbsp Works by or about Ronald Reagan at Internet Archive Ronald Reagan at Miller Center Portals 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