Ronald Wilson Reagan's Legacy

Throughout the history of the United States there have been forty four different presidents. Each of these has had his own legacy following his term or terms, but some are more well known than others. One of the most famous of all time is Ronald Wilson Reagan. Ronald Reagan had the honors of being the first president to be a movie star, survive being shot during an attempted assassination, and the only president to win every state but one in an election that was contested (Wilson). Ronald Wilson Reagan was an incredibly influential politician from an interesting background. Unlike some presidents, most people would not say that Reagan’s entire life was leading up to his eventual presidency. Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois on February

Both of Reagan’s wives were actresses. Originally Reagan was married to Jane Wyman from 1940 until 1948. Reagan had a daughter, Maureen, and adopted a son named Michael with Wyman. In 1952 Reagan married Nancy Davis and had two children, Patti and Ron (Chidester and Knott). It is said that Reagan’s preoccupation with politics contributed to his divorce with Wyman, but Davis became his full fledged political partner (Garrison and Glad). After his two previously failed attempts at the presidency, Reagan was finally seen as a favorite to win the Republican primary. Reagan ended up winning the primary and eventually the entire election with George Bush as his vice president (Wilson). After multiple failed attempts Reagan finally received his victory shortly before his seventieth birthday, making him an unusually old president. As president, Reagan made many lasting impacts. One of his major contributions was the idea of what people call “Reaganomics”. This term is used as a way to describe the economic, political, and social policies of the conservative movement since the early 1980s (Hardman). Reagan was the beginning of what is the currently called the conservative movement in the United States. The main goal of his policy was cut taxes and federal spending and regulations as a way to increase consumer spending and stimulate the economy. During his presidency inflation fell from 10.4 percent to 4.2 percent while unemployment dropped from 7 percent to 4.2 percent (Hardman). Reagan’s policies helped to greatly improve the country and its economy and his ideas are still used today by the Republican party. Reagan also made impacts across the globe. Since the beginning of his presidency Reagan advocated for the removal of the wall separating East and West Berlin. Then in 1987 he gave a speech in Germany urging the leader of Germany to tear down the wall in a dramatic fashion. A little