The American Government

The Reagan presidency was a time of restoration and prosperity for the United States. The country enjoyed its longest period of peacetime without a recession or depression. Ronald Reagan was the 40^th president of the United States and he took office in 1981 at the age of 69. He was the oldest person and the only Hollywood movie actor ever to be elected. In his own words, “How can a president not be an actor”?

Reagan attended Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, where he studied economics and sociology. In his early career he obtained a contract in Hollywood and acted in 53 movies. He later became president of the Screen Actors Guild and was involved in arguments over Communism in the film industry. At this point, his political views changed from liberal to conservative. When Reagan was elected the Governor of California in 1966 he won by a million votes, showing he was a rather popular candidate, which in part could be credited to his acting career and touring the county as a spokesman for conservatism.

While he was in office, his goals were to build up the American people and reduce their dependency on government. He believed, “Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives”. Reagan comically stated that the “Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it”. While in office, he was a strong advocate of limited Government and laissez-faire economics which means “Let alone, let pass”. In his own words, “Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem”. He also believed in supply-side economics, large budget cutting, tax cutting, and less business and social regulation because “Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.” This policy became known as Reaganomics.

Immediately after being inaugurated, he began putting his policies into effect. Reagan was a great communicator and he benefited from this because he was able to expertly deal with congress. He started with a major tax cut, $43 billion in budget cuts in domestic programs and business regulation. Shortly into Reagan’s first term he was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. He quickly recovered and became even more appealing than before which helped him gain support in carrying out his spending policies. At first, many people doubted his strategy because the military spending overwhelmed the other budget cuts and increased the deficits. Unemployment was the highest in 40 years, but inflation and interest rates lowered.

Reagan had an anti-Soviet stance during this period. The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy created in an effort to fight communism and push back the influence of the Soviet Union. In his opinion, “Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man”. Under the Reagan doctrine, the U.S. provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist resistance movements. Reagan believed the Soviet Union held a superior military advantage over the United States so he convinced congress to allow his defense program which called for a build-up of missiles, bombs, and other weapons. Many meetings were held between Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, to try to come to an agreement on nuclear arms. They were unable to reach an agreement and matters worsened when the United States supplied allies in Western Europe with missiles.

In 1982, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon encouraged the United States to become involved in the matter and send several Marine Corps units to join a peacekeeping force located in Lebanon. In 1983, a terrorist explosion collapsed a four-story Marine headquarters building in Beirut, killing a total of 241 U.S. troops. The United States began moving troops out in 1984.

Also in 1983, Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada because Grenadian rebels overthrew the island’s government. As Cuba began to concentrate their power, Reagan said, “Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.” He believed the invasion was necessary to protect Americans in Grenada and keep Cuba from occupying Grenada as a military base. As a defender of democracy and all that it stands for, Reagan passionately envisioned, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”

Despite all of the conflicts involving foreign affairs, the economic picture brightened, with rising production, low inflation, and a surge in the stock market. The nation had a renewed national self-confidence which helped Reagan win a second term.

Ronald Reagan was re-elected for a second term by defeating his opponent, Walter Mondale, with 59% of the votes and carried 49 of the states. In 1985, there was a budget deficit of $211 billion and the national economy seemed somewhat shaky. In October of 1986, Reagan signed a tax-reform bill that reduced and simplified taxes. However, the president’s domestic policy agenda seemed depleted because the Democrats claimed control of the Senate by margin of 55 to 45 seats.

The worst event that happened during the Reagan presidency was the Iran-contra affair. The Iran-contra affair was the biggest political scandal in the United States during the 1980’s. Members of Reagan’s executive branch exchanged weapons for American hostages. The proceeds of the secret arms sale with Iran were being used to aid contra forces which were anti-communist rebels in Nicuarga. Despite the fact that Congress banned the aid of the contras in 1983, Reagan’s adminstration helped them in a variety of ways.

In late 1986, the public became aware of the Iran-contra affair. Oliver North became a household name regardless of the side you were on. The event was damaging to Reagans reputation. When he was asked, he claimed to know nothing of the situation. As a result, his management style of the national security was heavily critized. A week later, Reagan admitted to knowing of the weapon exchange. Historically, in 1985, while Iran and Iraq were at war, Iran made a secret request to buy weapons from the United States. National Security Advisor, Robert McFarlane sought out Reagan's approval, in spite of the embargo against selling arms to Iran. Reagan’s advisor insured the President that the sale of arms would not only improve U.S. relations with Iran, but might in lead to improved relations with Lebanon, which would increase the U.S. influence in the Middle East. Reagan was obsessed and driven by his frustration at his inability to secure the release of the seven American hostages being held by Iranian terrorists in Lebanon. As president, Reagan felt that "he had the duty to bring those Americans home," and somehow he convinced himself that he was not negotiating with terrorists or enemies of the United States. Reagan's campaign promise never to negotiate with terrorist had been compromised and his approval to ship weapons to Iran had violated the embargo. Reagan had always been admired for his honesty so his change of tune caused quite a stir. Although in actuality, laws were broken, and Reagan's image was damaged, as a result of Iran-Contra, his popularity eventually made a comeback. In 1989 he left office with the highest approval rating of any president since Franklin Roosevelt.

Many people would argue that Ronal Reagan’s greatest achievement was bringing the Cold War to an end. The Cold War was a massive arms build up and military increase that began in 1979 between the Soviet Union and the United States. This President was passionate that, “Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.” Reagan launched a massive armaments program that was partly responsible for the Soviets decision that they couldn’t afford to compete in the arms race any longer. In 1987, Reagan and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed a treaty that reduced U.S. and Soviet nuclear arms.

Ronald Reagan never realized the impact he had on the world around him. Regardless of the many victories his allies gave him credit for, he remained a humble man. Not until his death and much televised memorial service did much of the world understand his great contribution to the United States and other countries that never experienced the freedom of this country. Reagan left office the year I was born. After researching this paper I have come to admire his great character and integrity. Even his adversaries that disagreed with his policies and political conservatism still viewed him as a great man, worthy of respect.

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