Today the top 1% account for 23% of the total income in the United States. In 2011, the “Occupy Wall Street” mass protest took on the “1%” as a protest movement calling attention to the inequality of income and wealth distribution in the U.S. and the influence of financial corporations on the U.S. government policies. The movement began in the Wall Street area of NY and quickly spread around the U.S. major cities. The protest mantra of “We are the 99%” was a direct hit on the income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. Reagan’s economic legacy is the erosion of the middle class so that the “‘man in the middle” income level is essentially unchanged and more Americans are now classified as “low income” than ever before. This is all a result of Reagan’s power to persuade which was unmatched by any President before him and possibly by any President since he left office.
“The Great Communicator” was the nickname given to Ronald Reagan because he was a powerful orator and able to persuade people. He told the nation what it wanted to hear. He was adept at dodging the truth and packaging information to the public in an optimistic way. Reagan won an election by using advertising to share his vision with a commercial entitled “Morning in America”. He understood the power of making an emotional connection with the everyday person. Reagan knew that if he gave people a way to talk about his political plan in plain but compelling language, then they could spread his message and endorse him to enlist other voters. Decades later Barack Obama would take this same approach, bringing his message of HOPE to a new generation of young Americans, by engaging them with an i...
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...was torn down. Reagan’s investment in the U.S. military and his political skills advanced democracy. But at what price? The deficit soared. The rest is history.
Bias and personal opinion cannot substitute for objective analysis. These are the facts and they hold true to today. Although Reagan brought the country out of a recession and secured our position as a global superpower, many believe he did so at the expense of those American citizens that need the most help--the poor, the disabled and the middle class. The deficit tripled from $934 billion to $2.7 trillion under Reagan as a result of lost revenue due to tax cuts while Reagan continued to invest in building the military. (source: consortiumnews.com ) That deficit continued to rise to $4 trillion with his Republican successor George H.W. Bush. By the late 1980s, middle-class incomes were barely higher
Politicians frequently receive negative publicity at the hand of their own use of language. Their uses of words as they relate to persuasion typically fall within one of the three dimensions of language functions, semantic or thematic. Often their persuasive language can be found to closely resemble any of these three categories simultaneously. There are many tools for analyzing persuasive symbols, many of which should be utilized when analyzing great communicators such as President Ronald Reagan. In response to the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion on January 28th, 1986 where seven brave American’s gave their lives. President Ronald Reagan made history with his famous speech, which didn’t only serve to address the great tragedy, but served as a focal point of comfort for the grieving nation. He commemorated the seven heroes who had fallen that morning in route to outer space; he expressed gratitude to NASA for their past developments and encouraged further explorations. Ronald Reagan was a great communicator, a charismatic persuader whose words delivered focus of the message through utilization of persuasive symbols. This paper aims not to be an all-inclusive guide for analyzing persuasive symbols, but will sufficiently guide the reader to be a more perceptive of persuasive language.
Works Cited "American President Ronald Wilson Reagan: Impact and Legacy." Miller Center. University of Virginia, n.d. -. Web. The Web.
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
The election of 1980 brought the re-nominated Democratic candidate, Jimmy Carter, against the newly nominated Republican candidate, Ronald Reagan. While Carter ran a rather “gloom and doom” campaign, Reagan came into the election upbeat and with high hopes of rebuilding the military. Americans, weary of the liberal government, elected Ronald Reagan. Reagan came into the Presidency wanting to restore United States leadership in world affairs w...
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.
And finally, the issue of distrust of government due to the failures of the liberal consensus to stimulate economic growth and the Watergate scandal played into the hands of the conservatives who preached the reduction of government presence in almost all aspects of Americans' lives. This must have been a strong motivating factor in many "Reagan Democrats" who sided with conservatives in the 1980 election.
curb inflation. President Reagan was able to sign into law a tax cut in late
Introduction Reagan, Ronald Wilson (1911- ),the 40th president of the United States (1981-1989), enforced the policies that reversed a general direction of movement toward greater government involvement in economic and social regulation. Reagan as the younger of two sons, was born in Tampico, Illinois and spent most of his childhood in Dixon, Illinois. After studying at Eureka College,a small Disciples of Christ college near Peoria, Illinois, he majored in economics, and became the president of the student body, a member of the football team, and captain of the swimming team. He had special drawings toward acting, but after the graduation in 1932 the only job available related to show business was as a local radio sportscaster. In 1936 he became a sportscaster for station WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. A year latter, Reagan went to Hollywood and began an acting career that spanned more than 25 years. He played in more than 50 films, including "Knute Rockne"-All American (1940), "King's Row" (1942), and "Bedtime for Bonzo" (1951). Early political career Reagan's first political activities were associated with his responsibilities as a union leader. As union president, Reagan tried to remove suspected Communists from the movie industry. When the U.S. House Committee. Began an investigation in 1947 on the influence of Communists in the film industry, Reagan took a strong anti-Communist stand testifying before the committee. Reagan emerged on the national political scene in 1964 when he made fervent television speech supports for the Republican presidential candidate, United States Senator Barry Goldwater from Arizona. Although the election was lost, Reagan's speech brought in money and admiration from Republicans around the country. After the speech a group of Republicans in California persuaded Reagan to run for governor of California in 1966. Reagan appealed to traditional Republican voters. He defeated Edmund G. (Pat) Brown, Sr., Democrat, by almost a million votes. The election of 1980 Reagan spent years making political friends at party fund-raising dinners around the country. In the election of 1980 for the president, the candidates were Carter and Reagan. The contrast between the television personalities of two candidates was very important to people. Carter’s nervous manner had never been popular to people, while Reagan’s charm and happy face was a call for return to patriotism, which appealed to the public. Many voters believed that Reagan was forceful leader who could get their lives in shape and who could restore prosperity at home.
Reagan himself trying to undo the damage done by the “ Great Society”, Reagan administration also had a profound effect on American life in the 80s. There was a decline in activism. The general mood reflected off a belief that earlier movements had gone to far and it was time to draw morals and a political line including the damage of the social security system from bankruptcy. All examples of how the President made huge changes in politics. On the other hand, like once stated before the President did have some questionable choices. Examples, near the end of the hearings into the Iran-Contra Affair, President Reagan admits to a policy that went astray, but denied knowledge of the funds to the Contras. On January 20th 1989, President Reagan’s reign came to an end. The presidency was known as the Reagan Revolution with successes in economic growth and political realignment. Reagan was the first President since Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve two full terms. While there was some difficulty in the beginning of the presidency with that nation debt increasing. The good outweighs the bad. Concluding, one of Reagan’s famous quotes
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, ...
Between the end of World War II and the late 1970s, income inequality in the U.S. was reduced; but since 1970s, the situation with wealth distribution has changed. Data from tax returns in 1976 show that the top 1 percent of households received 8.9 percent of all pre-tax income. In 2008, the top 1 percent’s share had more than doubled to 21.0 percent.
Beginning with the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 and lasting up to the current Obama doctrine, presidential doctrines have dominated American foreign policy. A presidential doctrine highlights the key goals and positions for United States foreign affairs outlined by a president. Many of the country’s major foreign policy successes or disasters can be explained by tracing the doctrines of sitting or previous presidents and analyzing their evolution and eventual impact on world events. After a presidential doctrine has been established it achieves a life of its own. This can be explained by the military resources and human capital involved in carrying out these doctrines. Future presidents often feel compelled to abide by it, or find the reality of changing the doctrine can only be done with incremental changes over a period of years. For this reason, presidential doctrines outlive their creators and some will affect American foreign policy for centuries to come.
While the the 1%, are secured, no one is addressing the rest of the people. As the economy flourishes, housing, higher education and health care, and child care increases with it to the point where 30 percent of a person’s income goes towards housing. People are finding it impossible to purchase a house with their middle class incomes. People begin to fall out of the once stable middle class because too much is needed to be sacrificed in order to live in a stable home. In the shrinking middle class, “40% or more of the residents live below the poverty
Whether people agree with him or not, he was able to captivate people with his inspiring speeches and his likable personality. Confidence in what someone says and what someone thinks is what makes that someone an icon, for better or for worse. Reagan had confidence in his policies and his ideas. Many people have confidence in their own ambitions and goals. However, this can go awry when someone’s goals can lead to them not making the best decisions. Ronald Reagan’s second term was severely damaged when the Iran-Contra affair happened. What happened was the US was selling weapons to Iran, which was illegal at the time. The money made from the selling of weapons was directed into funding anti-communist insurgencies throughout Central America. This was made even worse when Reagan tried denying that it ever took place. He eventually gave in and told the truth, but the damage had already been done. (Biography.com Editors, 2017) Reagan, nonetheless, was able to redeem himself with overseeing the fall of the Soviet Union. Even though it did not officially end until after Reagan left office, Reagan was the one to really push for better relations with Russia and encouraging the leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to become more open. Famously, he was able to convince Gorbachev to let the people of Germany tear down the Berlin wall, which was one of the last nails in the coffin of the USSR. (Biography.com Editor’s, 2017) The
On July 27, 2004, Barack Obama made arguably his most important speech, “The Audacity of Hope”, at the Democratic National Convention Keynote Address. These conventions are for political parties to announce a winner for nomination. All the way through his piece, Obama focuses on connecting Americans and himself to the audience. In fact, at the time, Barack Obama was a US Senate candidate for the United States president, and in making this speech, was offered a window for raising his popularity. Throughout “The Audacity of Hope” speech, Barack Obama implements three main devices to raise his political popularity: repetition, abstract language, and structure.