The Ronald Reagan Administration Free Essays

In the year 1980, an unstable economy at home, a hostage crisis overseas, and the end of prior administrations that were not trusted at all troubled The Untied States. Ronald Reagan was elected as the oldest president at sixty-nine years old on November 4th, 1980. Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois and before he was elected he served two terms as California governor first year starting in 1966. We will write a custom essay sample on The Ronald Reagan Administration or any similar topic only for you Order Now He served to presidential terms from 1981-1989. Reagan’s track record proved to be very strong and included welfare cuts, decreasing the number of state employees, and halting radical student protesters. Like other GOP members, Reagan came into office promising to limit the power of government and to strengthen American military power overseas. â€Å"In this present crisis,† Reagan said in his inaugural address in 1981, â€Å"government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. † He was saying that government was holding the economy back of its full potential. Ronald Reagan wasted no time in institutionalizing the new conservative creed. In 1981, after surviving an assassination attempt, Reagan pushed his plan of lower taxes which was that proved most beneficial to the rich and steep budget cuts through a tentative Congress. Additionally to that year he cut spending on social security, debilitated and weakened organized labor groups, and lived up to his campaign promises and commitments by reducing government regulations and laws that had prevented mergers while managing the banking industry. Also, in 1981 he appointed conservatives who would carry out his vision of smaller government to agencies like the EPA, his cabinet, and the courts. A big keystone was Anti-Communism of Ronald Reagan administration’s foreign policy. The Reagan Doctrine had a unstable relationship with the Soviet Union and Central America, more so than with other nations. President Reagan drove for a space-based missile system to help keep America on the offensive and, to protect ourselves from other countries trying to attack the Untied States. He also pushed for a â€Å"Caribbean Basin Initiative† in expectations of stimulation of economic growth in the United States. Many critics saw Reagan’s military tactics as illegitimate and dishonest. They disagreed with the quantity of funding relegated to military efforts in Central America. . These funds were used to intervene in Grenada and El Salvador, and aided pay an undercover war against the revolutionary government of Nicaragua. As expected from a timid Liberal Congress, funding for the Nicaraguan war was blocked. Nonetheless, the National Security Council raised the money to finance the intervention. Reagan saw the Soviets at the heart of every international dispute, from revolution in Central America to international terrorism in the Middle East. To frustrate the Soviets, Reagan called for the largest and most expensive peacetime military buildup in American history. Ronald Reagan made the Untied States of America military powers way stronger than ever, he was always trying to improve the military’s technology and weapons. He made America one of the strongest military powers when in office. With his telegenic features and extensive experience in front of a camera from his career in Hollywood, Reagan was ideally suited for politics in a growing media age. Though intellectually unaspiring and often disengaged in his leadership style, he brilliantly articulated themes of patriotism, individualism, and limited government that resonated with millions of Americans. The President worked tirelessly in effort to propel his campaign for a second term. Ronald Reagan’s victory in the 1984 presidential election underscored his political popularity which he carried 49 states and 525 electoral votes. Through his speeches he repeated his anti-Communist bombast that Soviets and Communism, as a whole, would fail. He despised the Soviets and told the country they would fail in anything against America. Ronald Reagan’s second term witnessed a radical change in U. S. and Soviet relations. He was concerned about a possible backfire against his policies; Reagan called for a â€Å"constructive working relationship† with the Kremlin. At the same time, a new leader was emerged in Mikhail Gorbachev, came into power determined to change Soviet society by introducing a series of political and economic reforms. In determination to avoid an expensive arms  race and allow economic growth to take place, Gorbachev declared a suspension, or delay, on deployment of medium range missiles in Europe and asked the United States to do the same. The result of these growths was a series of four Reagan-Gorbachev summits, which concluded in the first U. S. and Soviet treaty to reduce the number of nuclear weapons. Treaties were then worked out and caused demolition of some missiles and allowed onsite checkups and inspections to occur. This was big for both country’s’ as the missiles were demolished from attacking each other. This was one of the many huge accomplishments while Reagan was in office. The Soviet Union no longer standing the type of threat it once did, Reagan and his anti-communist attitude and mentality still did not let up. Reagan with a goal of greater participation in the third world, the military’s attention and care was soon afterward shared with the Middle East and its terrorism. Previous administrations had not been completely honest with the public as to what exactly their foreign policies involved. For this reason, great attention was turned toward President Ronald Reagan’s handling of foreign policy in 1986. That year, there was assumption of the United States trading weapons with Iran in exchange for the return of American hostages being held in Tehran. In 1986, despite a Congressional ban, Reagan approved and authorized the sale of arms to Iran. This complex arrangement’s aim was to furtively fund Nicaraguan rebels’ efforts to defeat the cruel Sandinista government, successfully stopping the spread of Communism. All this was done in an effort to send a strong message to the Soviets that further Marxist activity would not be tolerated. Reagan was not a fan of communism he was an anti-communist. He did not accept it, and always had his eyes on communist. Despite these wins over communism, Reagan’s authority was diminished and weakened in his second term by this scandal. Congressional hearings and investigation by special prosecutors led to the indictment of some of the President’s top advisers. By the conclusion of his presidency, conservatives spoke greatly of the â€Å"Reagan Revolution,† which reduced the size of the government, reduced and lowered taxes, and technically â€Å"won† the Cold War. However, some claimed that Reagan’s domestic policies forced excessive adversity on the poor and created a piercing increase and surge in homelessness around the whole country, while his extreme military spending produced an extraordinary budget deficit. People say he increased military power over economic attentions. Possibly the critical irony of Reagan’s presidency was that he improved public faith, confidence, and trust in the office of the presidency at the same time that his enormous scarcities crippled Washington’s capability to reply to demands for greater government services. Nonetheless in actuality, his anti-Communist movement led to a grander involvement in the third world, particularly in Central America, and made his point very clear that he would stop at nothing to achieve worldwide democracy. Ronald Reagan’s passionate opposing Communist rhetoric could be viewed as very debatable in its time, but events have shown he was prophetic in regards to the complexity of Soviet interior flaws. In an address to the British Parliament on June 8, 1982, Reagan declared that the Soviet Union was in the middle of a â€Å"great revolutionary crisis† and expressed hope that Communism would wind up â€Å"on the ash heap of history.† He noted the depth of Soviet economic stagnation. Which he said, â€Å"The dimensions of this failure are astounding,† and, â€Å"A country which employs one-fifth of its population in agriculture is unable to feed its own people. Over centralized, with little or no incentives, year after year the Soviet system pours its best resources into the making of instruments of destruction†. The Soviet authorities criticized this Westminster speech, one of the most important of Reagan’s presidency. Still, what Reagan had defined was no secret to numerous Communist Party officials. One of them was Gorbachev, who evoked in his memoir that he was acquainted with the â€Å"disastrous picture† of Soviet agriculture millions of acres wasted, villages abandoned, and soils ruined by pollution. It was not until after President Reagan’s two terms in office that his efforts against Communism were understood as necessary. Less than a year after Reagan left office, the Berlin Wall was knocked and the Cold War was officially over in 1991. The Soviet collapse and failure was the result of a conclusion of many events, including the Chernobyl disaster, rebellion in the Baltic republics, and the rising expectations of consumers in a socialist system that could not manufacture anything of use. Reagan was right about the Soviet collapsing. Reagan was indeed sensible in his pomposity and his Anti-Communist views. These actions on his behalf led to greater worldwide investment in democracy. Ronald Reagan was a great natural born leader. He was a great speaker and his speeches were so motive. He was one of most influential political leaders in modern American history. Reagan’s presidency was a social, ideological, and political impact for the Untied States of America. He was one of the main leaders against anti- Communism. Ronald Reagan made the country stronger in political and military wise. Reagan thought you should be able to dream big and to accomplish your dream. Ronald Reagan thought you should have the determination, courage, strength, and hope to live that big dream and make it become real. Reagan thought outside the box and wanted Americans to live with big hope with their freedom. How to cite The Ronald Reagan Administration, Papers