Ronald Reagan's Legacy

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Society remembers historical figures for many things, but these reasons boil down to two basic ideas: those who contribute to more tangible contributions such as in science, politics, and acts, and those who contribute to the arts, ideas, and direct influence. While many fit into one of two categories, a select few breaks the status quo and make an impact that goes above and beyond mere groups such as these. On February 6, 1911, Ronald Reagan was born to a poor family in Tampico, Illinois. Following his dreams, Reagan became a Hollywood actor and began to develop his conservative political worldview as well as going after what he believed to be communists infiltrating actor’s unions. When acting was not a viable career anymore, he became …show more content…

He was seen as a patriot, loyal to the cause of “making America great again.” In fact, he was so respected as a person that he was named as the greatest United States president by a Gallup poll conducted in 2011 (Gallup), placing him above the likes of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. How could he outpace figures known by virtually everyone, even outside the US? Taking into account only the years in which each person served, something becomes clear: these are very different times with very different circumstances. The Founding Fathers may have been extremely inspirational and excellent people overall who were perhaps even better people than Reagan, but this tends to fade with time, as the only thing to go off now is their writings and the writings of others since then. Through the use of modern technology, people are able to relive every spoken word and inflection, truly getting to know a person much more intimately than just purely reading about them. Bringing it back to the point, the phrase mentioned earlier may seem very familiar to anyone who has had even the smallest bit of exposure to recent news. Current president Donald Trump has used this phrase in his campaign, taking after Reagan’s same slogan for his campaign. Trump, and many of his supporters, believe that they are the logical continuation of the neoconservative movement started all those years ago by Reagan. Trump’s inaugural address highlights many of the same concerns that Reagan had during his term: “the very sad depletion of our military,” terrorism, government control, and taxes (whitehouse.gov). However, Trump tries to live up to Reagan’s policy rather than his worldview, and misses some key points. Reagan’s simple foreign policy on Russia was to build up faster than they could and use the US’s upper-hand to negotiate and force

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