Ronald Reagan was in the office from 1981 up to 1989 as the 40th president and remains the greatest American patriot and icon who influenced many lives of the American people. Even after leaving the Whitehouse for more than twenty years he still captivates the hearts and thoughts of Americans. When Ronald took the office of the president, he was much troubled by what he witnessed in the globe. Above three decades, the USA and its allies were struggling to contain communism via a sequence of economic, diplomatic and sometimes military policies that had claimed many lives and billions of dollars. However, Reagan remains the most influential leader of the period due to rebuilding the United States military, economy policy and bringing the Cold War to closure.
Initially, the economic strategies also known as the Reaganomics influenced the American society significantly by creating about 20 million jobs, the rise of gross national product, a drop of inflation, reduction of unemployment and increase of net salaries for families by 27 percent. The Reaganomics entailed amplified
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The fight had raged since the Second World War where the communism’s quest for the globe domination remained a threat to the USA when he became the president. However, Reagan reversed the strategy of détente and confronted the Soviet Union by calling it the evil kingdom as well as telling Mikhail to tear the walls in Berlin. Moreover, he was persistent in pushing his planned defense policy and offered aid to rebels who fought communism from Angola to Nicaragua. Also, Ronald’s doctrine was cost-effective when compared to others since it made the USA use a billion dollars in one year but forced the Soviet Union to use 8 billion dollars early. The foreign efforts of American government during the era of Reagan were critical to the fall of the Soviet kingdom and essentially finalized the Cold
Ronald Reagan, like many other presidents, had his successes and his failures while in office. He led the nation with a conservative agenda that a lot of critics disagreed with. Some of his actions can be called a success or a failure depending on who is looking at it. His successes included the tax cuts of 1981, appointing the first woman to the United States Supreme Court, reduced the amount of nuclear arms by signing a deal with the Soviet Union, made progress towards the end of the Cold War, got the Soviet Union to leave Afghanistan, released the Air Traffic Controllers who went on strike, the rescue mission in Grenada, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and the Strategic Defense Strategy Initiative of 1983. His failures included the Marines
Eisenhower’s foreign policy was about containment and trying to discourage other countries from joining it by giving them financial and military aid. When he realized that containment itself was not enough to stop the Soviet expansion, he adopted a policy which he called massive retaliation whereby the U.S. was prepared to use atomic weapons if they were to be attacked. He tried diplomacy to develop relation with the Soviets even agreeing to join other leaders in Geneva Switzerland with the intention to calm the temperatures between the two nations. When diplomacy didn’t work, he signed a bill that allowed countries to request economic and military help from the U.S. if they are being attacked by a communist nation. Cold War did not end until after Ronald Reagan’s time as president when he challenged the leader of the Soviet to take down the Berlin wall which was the most recognizable symbol of the Cold War. At this time, the Soviet Union was disintegrating and its influence in Eastern Europe was waning fast bringing the war to an
The "Reaganomics" - "The 'Reaganomics'" Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association of Philadelphia, n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
During the Cold War, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities, the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union. After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had very different ideas on how to rebuild.
Reagan rose into power after years of turmoil and the American pride was dipping. About a decade before he became president, the war in Viet-Nam was winding down and the troops were returning home to negative demonstrations towards their duty. Then, during the Carter years, America transitioned into a détente policy, which meant that the United States would try to ease the tensions with the Soviet Union by not expanding the military, but not doing anything to acting ease the tension. The idea behind this became known as MAD, mutually assured destruction, (Hannaford) which meant that both the United States and Soviet Union would maintain and even number of nuclear weapons so that if one would fire, the other would be able to fire back equally. Reagan completely disagreed with this philosophy and created a whole new policy when he became president. The foreign policy he established was to create the Reagan Doctrine. According to a speech by Peter Hannaford, the Reagan Doctrine was that America would support democratic movements in any Communist country until that country could enjoy the fruits of freedom (Hannaford). This meant that the United States would help any country who wanted to leave the influence of the Soviet Union and create their own democracy. Also, to counter the Soviet Union and end the Cold War, a race between the United State and Soviet Union to create the best technology and become the world powerhouse, Reagan increased military spending. Ronald Reagan knew that the Soviet Union was unable to keep up the United States in military spending and still having enough funds to fund their own economy to keep it stable. Reagan used this knowledge to convince Congress to increase military budget to build up technology, causing the Soviets decide on what to do. The United States had the funds to continue, but the Soviet Union could not keep up. The breaking point
Reagan became president when the country was experiencing economic troubles; mainly inflation was at 13 percent and the unemployment rate climbing. Reagan developed a relief act and policies that became known as Reaganomics. Marc Cornman states “that there was no positive to the policies unless you were rich.” Interesting perspective, meaning that the policies covered lowering income and capital gains taxes, encouraging businesses to do business in the United States hoping to boost spending and in turn the economy. Mr. Cornman remembers more negatives, “Unemployment and the first recession, he raised taxes and eliminated deductions but continued to lower taxes for the wealthy.” He also recollects that President Reagan fired thousands of air traffic controllers for going on strike and that Reagan implied that unions were no longer needed this harming the economy even more. He feels ...
When President Reagan took office, the U.S. was on the back end of the economic prosperity World War 2 had created. The U.S. was experiencing the highest inflation rates since 1947 (13.6% in 1980), unemployment rates reaching 10% in 1982, and nonexistent increases GDP. To combat the recession the country was experiencing, President Reagan implemented the beginning stages of trickle down economics – which was a short-term solution aimed to stimulate the economy. Taxes in the top bracket dropped from 70% to 28% while GDP recovered. However, this short-term growth only masked the real problem at hand.
In 1980, it seemed like the United States was not as dominant in the world as it had been before. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union began after World War II. The two nations had joined forces as members of the Allies, but tensions arose after the war. The Americans were very worried about the spread of Soviet communism, and tried to prevent it with a policy of containment, where the United States would protect countries from outside oppression. The Cold War also expanded to include the race between the Soviets and Americans to create atomic weapons. Furthermore, there was a race between the two countries to put the first man in space, which was accomplished by the United States in 1961 (“Cold War History”). The Cold War was a standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union to try to prove their dominance in the world. Each country wanted to have more power and diminish the power of the other. At home, Americans were paranoid with the thought of Soviet spies and communists hiding amongst them, dubbed the “Red Scare.” President Richard Nixon and the Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic A...
President Ronald Reagan had a huge impact on our country and the rest of the world while serving as the 40th president of the United States of America. Our country exhibited peace through strength to nations everywhere. The American people prospered economically with less government intervention. Crime rates dropped dramatically and family values were restored. Ronald Wilson Reagan will go down in history as a great president of the United States of America.
His extreme effectiveness feeds from decision-making ability that turned the country away from the negative and instable foreign policy of Carter and back to support winning the Cold War and promoting the strength of the US. In the 1970s, because Carter allowed Communism to gain military and territorial advantages, and failed to impose American hegemon and his own power as President. Reagan took office in 1981, “he was determined to rebuild that power, regain for the United States the capability to wage war successfully against the Soviets, to act with impunity against Soviet Third World clients, and to regain its status as the world’s dominant military force.” Reagan handled the Iran hostage Crisis within the hour of assuming the Presidency. Simultaneously, doing what was necessary to free Americans, and to use his power as President to go outside the constitution and congress and secure funding for the Contras to overthrown the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and restore the nation to a pro-American government. Unlike Carter Reagan wanted to make it clear he only cared about protecting American security, and that human rights could be an after
...s of economic and political initiatives that became known as "the Reagan revolution." His accomplishments of winning the Cold War without firing a shot, recovering the American economy known as Reaganomics and his “Star Wars” predicament, his two terms during presidency did not go unseen. He restored the traditional spirit of can-do optimism to the American people, making him a President that cannot be forgotten.
Reagan’s foreign policy intention was to eliminate the efforts of the Soviet Union to prolong its domination and from this time, he opted for the formulation of his doctrine to aid the rebels who in various countries of the world who were attempting to overthrown the Soviet regimes (Carpenter, 1986). Relative to this point, it must be mentioned that in distinction to the earlier Cold War doctrine of “inclosing”, Reagan’s Doctrine projected “American moral and material backing for rebellious actions trying to oust Soviet-backed regimes in various Third World nations” (Carpenter, 1986). Additionally, it must be stated that the Reagan Doctrine came into being as the outcome of the thwarting of the U.S. administration over the Soviet progresses in Africa, Central America, and Central Asia. “Just as the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and Chinese leader Mao reinforced armed revolutions against colonial or U.S.-aligned states, American power would now reassure and upkeep rebels against communist states” (“The Reagan Doctrine”,
There was general prosperity in America following the Second World War, however in the 1970s inflation rose, productivity decreased, and corporate debt increased. Individual incomes slipped as oil prices raised. Popular dissent surrounding the economic crisis helped Reagan win the 1980 election under promises to lower taxes, deregulate, and bring America out of stagnation. Many New Right supporters put their faith in him to change the system. To start his tenure, Reagan passed significant tax cuts for the rich to encourage investment. Next he passed the Economy Recovery Tax Act that cut tax rates by 25% with special provisions that favored business. Reagan’s economic measures were based on his belief in supply-side economics, which argued that tax cuts for the wealthy and for business stimulates investment, with the benefits eventually tricking down to the popular masses. His supply-side economic policies were generally consistent with the establishment’s support of free market, ...
Throughout his presidency, Ronald Wilson Reagan's goal was achieve "peace through strength". His courage and love for this nation made him feel like he fulfilled his 1980 campaign pledge to bring back "the great, confident roar of American progress and growth and optimism". He proved to the American people that he was brave and resilient by overcoming many different obstacles and diversities. We consider him as one of the greatest because of his commitment to this country (Fidel and Sidey, 2006).
Moral and political ideology aside, Reaganomics was a success, and a working solution to the economic crises of the 70s. Though it did not exactly meet the level of success expected, and though it should never be used as a one-size-fits-all solution, Reaganomics is not the “voodoo economics” that many people deride it as. Through its implementation to a modicum of success in the past 28 years, it is, as Milton Friedman said, just another set of policies for use by the government when the need arises.