Ronald Reagan Administration

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In 1980, troubled by a unstable economy at home, a hostage crisis overseas, and the end of prior administrations that were not trusted, America elected Ronald Reagan by a landslide margin of victory. At sixty-nine years old, he was the oldest President to be elected. He was born in a small town in Illinois and served two terms as California governor starting in 1966. 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. "In this present crisis," Reagan said in his inaugural address, "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."(Reganfoundation). The new president wasted little time in institutionalizing the new conservative creed. In 1981, after surviving an assassination attempt, Reagan pushed his agenda of lower taxes (a measure that proved most beneficial to the rich) and steep budget cuts through a hesitant Congress. Furthermore, Reagan cut spending on social security, weakened organized labor groups, and lived up to his campaign promises by reducing government regulations that had prevented mergers while supervising the banking industry. At the same time, he appointed conservatives who would carry out his vision of smaller government to agencies like the EPA, his cabinet, and the courts. Anti-Communism was the cornerstone of the Reagan administration's foreign policy. The Reagan Doctrine had a turbulent relationship with the Soviet Union and Central America, more so than with other nations. President Reagan pushed for a space-based missile system to ... ... middle of paper ... ...l fell and the Cold War ended in 1991. The Soviet collapse was the result of a culmination 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 produce anything of use. Reagan was indeed judicious in his rhetoric and in his Anti-Communist views. These actions on his behalf led to greater worldwide investment in democracy. 1. Anderson, Annelise, Martin Anderson, and Ronald Reagan. RONALD REAGAN'S PATH TO VICTORY: SELECTED WRITINGS BOOK. New Yrk: Free Pr, 2004 2. .Strober, Gerald S.. Ronald Reagan. Triumph Books, 2004. 3.10 Apr 2007 . 4. Reagan, Ronald. 06 Apr 2007 . 5.Robinson, Peter. How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. Regan Books,

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