Famous+Americans+Bio;+Ronald+Reagan

FAMOUS AMERICANS BIO; RONALD REAGAN

BEGINNINGS Ronald Reagan was elected into office into office as the 40th President of the United States during the election of 1980 after gaining fame as a well-known movie and television actor. Before he ran for office, he was noted as an effective political speaker in the 1964 Goldwater campaign, and went on to be elected the governor of California. In 1776 he came close to taking the Republican party's nomination from President Ford; by this time he was recognized as the most effective spokesperson for conservative positions. He proved a master of the media with his charming looks and appealing tone of voice and was seen by millions as a likeable and sensible champion of average Americans.  1980 CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT Serving as the nominee for the Republican party, Reagan attacked the Democratic party's big government solutions to problems an the loss of U.S. prestige abroad. Reagan ran on the platform that his administration would lower taxes, reduce government spending on welfare, build up the U.S. armed forces, and create a more conservative federal court. He defeated Carter with 51% of the popular vote and almost 91% of the electoral vote. Reagan's election broke up a key element of the New Deal coalition by taking over fifty percent of the blue-collar vote. For the first time since 1954, Republicans took over the Senate by defeating liberal Democrats targeted by the Moral Majority. Republicans also gained 33 seats in the House, which when combine with the votes of conservative southern Democrats would give them the working majority on many key issues. Political analysts stated that the nineteen eighty election marked the end of a half century of Democratic dominance of Congress.

IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS The day that Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, the Iranians released the 52 American hostages whom they had been holding for months, giving Reagan's administration and immediate positive foot to step off on. Many have speculated that Reagan negotiated the release with Iranian officials, setting himself up to look excellent by correlating the day of their release with the day of his inauguration into presidency.

REAGANOMICS The Reagan administration advocated supply-side economics, arguing that tax cuts reduced government spending, would increase investment by the private sector, and lead to increased production, jobs, and prosperity. His supply-side economic theory of [|Reaganomics] contrasted with the Keynesian economics which were long favored by the Democratic party, based on government spending to boost consumer income and demand. Following up on the promise of "getting government off the backs of the people," the Reagan administration reduced federal regulations on business and industry. Restrictions were eased on savings and loan institutions, mergers and takeovers by large corporations, and environmental protection. Regulations on emissions and auto safety were also reduced. Reagan took a tough stand against unions. In 1982, the nation had began to suffer the worst recession since the 1930s. As the policies of Reaganomics took hold, the economy rebounded and the beginning in 1983 entered a long period of recovery, widening the gap between the rich and poor. Reagan also nominated Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman on the Supreme Court. His two terms reduced restrictions on a free-market economy and left more money in the hands of investors and higher income Americans. His policies also succeeded in containing the growth of the New-Deal Great Society welfare state. Reaganomics changed the debate to issues of what government programs to cut and by how much.

ELECTION OF 1984 At the Republican convention, Republicans nominated Reagan yet again. The Democratic party nominated Walter Mondale to be their presidential candidate. Reagan easily defeated Mondale, taking every state except Mondales home state.

FOREIGN POLICY Reagan started his presidency determined to restore the military might and superpower presige of the U.S. and to intensify the Cold War competition with the Soviet Union. He called the Soviet Communists "the evil empire." Reagan was prepared to use military force to back up his rhetoric. During his second term, he responded to significant changes in the Sovet Union and its satellites in Eastern Europe. He increased spending for defense and aid to anticommunist forces in Latin America. In the Americas, Reagan supported friendly rightwing dictators to keep out communism and also worked to overthrow Marxist regimes, though his foreign policy suffered a series of setbacks in the Middle East. Reagan’s most damaging foreign-policy event was the Iran-contra affair. Late in 1986 the administration admitted that it had been secretly selling arms to Iran, with some of the profits possibly going to the guerrillas in Nicaragua. Reagan claimed that he had not been informed of the Iran-contra link. The two policies-selling arms to Iran in apparent exchange for hostages and sending arms to Nicaragua-triggered multiple investigations. In the Soviet Union during 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev and Reagan agreed to remove and destroy all intermediate-range missiles. Reagan instructed Gorbachev to [|"tear down"] the Berlin Wall. In a speech at the Brandenberg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin, by the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to tear it down as a symbol of Reagan's desire for increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc. The Reagan administration would claim that its military buildup forced the Soviet Union to concede defeat and abandon the Cold War. Reagan must be credited with responding to the opportunity to end the Cold War.