Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as President of the 40th United States from 1981 to 1989. Prior to the presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and trade union leader before serving as California's 33rd Governor from 1967 to 1975.
Reagan grew up in a poor family in small towns in northern Illinois. He graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and worked as a sports broadcaster on several regional radio stations. After moving to Hollywood in 1937, he became an actor and starred in several major productions. Reagan was twice elected President of the Screen Actors Guild - a union for actors - where he worked to root out Communist influence. In the 1950s, he moved to television and became a motivational speaker at General Electric's factory. Reagan had been a Democrat until 1962, when he became conservative and turned to the Republican Party. In 1964, Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" speech, supported President Barry Goldwater's campaign and earned him national attention as a new conservative spokesman. Building a support network, he was elected Governor of California in 1966. As governor, Reagan raised taxes, turned the country's budget deficit into a surplus, challenged protesters at the University of California, ordered National Guard troops during the protest period. movement in 1969, and re-elected in 1970. He twice unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination, in 1968 and 1976. Four years later in 1980, he won the nomination, and then defeated the ruling president Jimmy Carter. At the age of 69, 349 days at the time of his inauguration, he became the oldest elected president to take the oath of office (a distinction now held by Donald Trump, since 2017). Reagan faced former vice-president Walter Mondale when he ran for re-election in 1984, defeating him in a major victory in electoral history in electoral history.
Immediately after taking office, Reagan began implementing new political and economic initiatives. The supply-side economic policy, dubbed "Reaganomics", encourages tax rate reductions to spur economic growth, economic deregulation, and reduced government spending. In his first term, he survived the assassination attempt, spurred the War on Drugs, and fought in the public sector. For two periods, the economy experienced a decrease in inflation from 12.5% ​​to 4.4%, and the average annual growth of real GDP by 3.4%. Reagan imposed cuts in domestic discretionary spending, tax cuts, and increased military spending contributed to an increase in overall federal spending, even after adjustments for inflation. Foreign affairs dominated his second term, including an end to the Cold War, the Libyan bombing, and Iran-Contra affairs. In June 1987, four years after he publicly described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire", Reagan challenged Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!", During a speech at the Brandenburg Gate. He transferred the Cold War policy from dÃÆ' Â © tente to the rollback by increasing the arms race with the Soviet Union while engaging in talks with Gorbachev. The talks culminated in the INF Agreement, which shrank the nuclear arsenal of both countries. Reagan started his presidency during Soviet decline, and the Berlin Wall collapsed only ten months after the end of his term. Germany reunited the following year, and on December 26, 1991 (nearly three years after he left office), the Soviet Union collapsed.
When Reagan left office in 1989, he held an approval rating of sixty-eight percent, equaling Franklin D. Roosevelt, and then Bill Clinton, as the highest ranking for presidents who went in the modern era. He was the first president since Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve two full terms, after the succession of five previous presidents did not. Although he had planned an active post-presidency, Reagan revealed in November 1994 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier in the year. After that, his informal public appearance becomes less frequent as disease develops. He died at home on June 5, 2004. An icon among American conservatives, he is well-regarded in the US president's history, and his tenure is a reorganization of conservative policy in the United States. Early life
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in an apartment on the second floor of a commercial building in Tampico, Illinois. He was the younger son of Nelle Clyde (nÃÆ' Â © eÃ, Wilson, 1883-1962) and Jack Reagan (1883-1941). Jack is a salesman and storyteller whose grandparents are Irish Catholic emigrants from County Tipperary, while Nelle is half English and half of Scottish descent (her mother was born in Surrey). Reagan's sister, Neil Reagan (1908-1996), became an advertising executive.
Reagan's father dubbed his son "Dutch", for his "fat-like Dutch" appearance and a "Dutchboy" haircut; his nickname stuck with him throughout his youth. The Reagan family briefly lived in several towns and cities in Illinois, including Monmouth, Galesburg, and Chicago. In 1919, they returned to Tampico and stayed on top of the H. C. Pitney Variety Store until finally settled on Dixon. After being elected president, Reagan lives in the private residence of the White House upstairs, and he will say that he "lives above the shop again".
Religion
Ronald Reagan writes that his mother "always hopes to find the best in people and do it often". He attends the Disciples of Christ churches regularly and actively, and is very influential, in them; he often leads Sunday worship services and gives Bible readings to the congregation during the service. A man who strongly believes in the power of prayer, he conducts prayer meetings at church and is responsible for the mid-week prayer when the priest leaves town. His strong commitment to the church is what caused his son Ronald to become a Protestant Christian rather than a Roman Catholic like his father. He also stated that he greatly influenced his own beliefs: "I know that he implanted that faith deeply in me." For example, Ronald Reagan attended the Eureka College, founded by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1855. While pursuing his degree in economics-sociology in 1932, Ronald Reagan continued to be surrounded by the same faith his mother introduced in his life.
According to Paul Kengor, author of God and Ronald Reagan, Reagan has a strong conviction in the good of people; This faith comes from his mother's optimistic faith and the faith of the Disciples of Christ, where he was baptized in 1922. During that time period, long before the civil rights movement, the Reagan opposition to racial discrimination was unusual and commendable. He remembered the time at Dixon when the local innkeeper did not allow blacks to live there, and he took them back to his home. Her mother invited them to stay and have breakfast the next morning. After the closure of the Pitney Store in 1920 and a family move to Dixon, the middle-eastern "middle universe" had a lasting impression on Reagan.
Formal education
Reagan attended Dixon High School, where he developed an interest in acting, sports, and storytelling. His first job was to work as a lifeguard at Rock River at Lowell Park in 1927. Over a six-year period, Reagan reportedly performed 77 rescues as a lifeguard. He attended Eureka College, a pupil-oriented liberal arts school, where he became a member of the fraternity of Tau Kappa Epsilon, a cheerleader, and studied economics and sociology. When involved, the Miller Center of Public Affairs describes it as an "indifferent pupil". He majored in economics and sociology and graduated with C grades. He developed a reputation as a "jack of all trades", proficient in campus politics, sports, and theater. He is a member of the football team and captain of the swimming team. He was elected chairman of the student organization and led a student rebellion against the college president after the president tried to trim the faculty.
Video Ronald Reagan
Entertainment career
Radio and movies
After graduating from Eureka in 1932, Reagan went to Iowa, where he held a job as a radio broadcaster at several stations. He moved to WHO radio in Des Moines as an announcer for the Chicago Cubs baseball game. His specialty is to create a play-by-play game account using it as the source only the basic description the station receives while the game is in progress.
While traveling with Cubs in California in 1937, Reagan took a screen test that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers studio. He spent the first few years of his Hollywood career in the "B movie" unit, where, Reagan joked, the producers "did not want them to be nice; they wanted them Thursday".
She earned her first screen credit with a lead role in the 1937 movie Love Is on the Air, and by the end of 1939 she had appeared in 19 films, including Dark Victory with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. Prior to the film Santa Fe Trail with Errol Flynn in 1940, he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American; from him, he earned the lifetime nickname "the Penggaruk." In 1941, the exhibitors chose him as the fifth most popular star of the younger generation in Hollywood.
Reagan played his favorite acting role in 1942 Kings Row, where he played a double amputee who read the lines "Where's the rest of me?" - was later used as his 1965 autobiographical title. Many film critics consider Kings Row as their best movie, although the film is condemned by critic Bosley Crowther by The New York Times.
Although Reagan called the Kings Row film that "made me a star," he could not take advantage of his success because he was ordered to take active duty with the US Army in San Francisco two months after its launch, and never regained the status "stars" in the movie. In the postwar era, after being separated from nearly four years of Worldide War II service with the First Motion Picture Unit in December 1945, Reagan co-starred in films such as The Voice of the Turtle John Loves Mary, The Hasty Heart, Sleeping Time for Bonzo, Cattle Queen of Montana, Tennessee Partner i>, Hellcats of Navy (the only film that appeared with Nancy Reagan), and remake of 1964 The Killers (the last movie). Throughout his film career, Reagan's mother answered many fan letters.
Military services
After completing 14 Army Extension Courses at home, Reagan enlisted in the Army registered Reserve and was assigned a second lieutenant in the Officers Corps of Personnel from Cavalry on May 25, 1937.
On April 18, 1942, Reagan was ordered to active duty for the first time. Because of his poor eyesight, he is classified only for limited service, which removes him from serving overseas. His first assignment was at San Francisco's Embarkation Port in Fort Mason, California, as the liaison officer of the Port and Transport Office. After receiving approval from the Army Air Force (AAF), he applied for a transfer from cavalry to AAF on May 15, 1942, and was assigned to AAF Public Relations and then to the First Motion Picture Unit (formally, "the 18th Air Force Unit Air ") in Culver City, California. On January 14, 1943, he was promoted to first lieutenant and sent to the Provisional Task Force Unit from This Is the Army in Burbank, California. He returned to the First Motion Picture Unit after completing this task and was promoted to captain on July 22, 1943.
In January 1944, Reagan was ordered to serve temporarily in New York City to participate in the opening of Sixth War Loan Drive, which campaigned for the purchase of war bonds. He was transferred to the First Motion Picture Unit on November 14, 1944, where he stayed until the end of World War II. He was recommended for promotion to major on February 2, 1945, but this recommendation was not approved on July 17 of that year. While with the Moving First Image Unit in 1945, he was indirectly involved in finding actress Marilyn Monroe. He returned to Fort MacArthur, California, where he was separated from active duty on December 9, 1945. By the end of the war, his unit had produced about 400 training films for the AAF.
Screen Actors Guild president
Reagan was first elected to the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in 1941, serving as an alternate member. After World War II, he returned to serve and became the third vice-president in 1946. The adoption of the conflict-of-interest rule in 1947 led the SAG president and six councilors to resign; Reagan was nominated in a special election for the presidency and elected later. He was elected by membership to serve seven additional one-year periods, from 1947 to 1952 and in 1959. Reagan led SAG through the full years marked by workers-management disputes, the Taft-Hartley Act, House Un-American. Activity Committee (HUAC) hearings and Hollywood blacklist era.
FBI secret informant in Hollywood
During the late 1940s, Reagan and his wife, Jane Wyman, provided the FBI with the names of actors in the film industry whom they believed to be communist sympathizers. Though he objected, he said, "Do they expect us to be ourselves as our own little FBI and determine who is the Communist and who is not?"
Reagan also testified to this before the Un-American Activities Committee. A highly anti-communist, he reaffirms his commitment to democratic principles, stating, "I have never as a citizen wanting to see our country becoming urged, either by the fear or hatred of this group, that we have ever compromised with one of the principles our democracy through that fear or hatred. "
Television
Despite an early television critic, Reagan landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s and decided to join the media. He was hired as host of the General Electric Theater , a series of weekly dramas that became very popular. His contract requires him to tour General Electric (GE) factory 16 weeks a year, which often requires him to give 14 speeches per day. It earns about $ 125,000 (equivalent to $ 1011276 in 2017) in this role. The show lasted for 10 seasons from 1953 to 1962, which enhanced Reagan's profile in American households. He has previously appeared in widescreen films mainly in supporting roles or as a "second cast". In his last work as a professional actor, Reagan was host and player from 1964 to 1965 on the television series Death Valley Days. Reagan and his future wife Nancy Davis appeared together on television several times, including the episode of the 1958 General Electric Theater in 1958 called "A Turkey for the President."
Maps Ronald Reagan
Marriage and children
In 1938, Reagan co-starred in the movie Brother Rat with actress Jane Wyman (1917-2007). They announced their engagement at the Chicago Theater and married on January 26, 1940 at Wee Kirk o 'the Heather church in Glendale, California. Together they have two biological children, Maureen (1941-2001) and Christine (b) in 1947 but live only one day), and adopted a third, Michael (b) 1945). After the couple had arguments about Reagan's political ambitions, Wyman filed for divorce in 1948, citing distraction because of the Screen Actors Guild acting job; the divorce was completed in 1949. Wyman, who is a registered Republican, also stated that their separation was due to differences in politics (Reagan was still a Democrat at the time). When Reagan became President 32 years later, he had the distinction of being the first divorced person to occupy the highest office in the country. Reagan and Wyman continued to be friends until his death, with Wyman choosing Reagan in both ways and, after his death, said "America has lost a great president and a good, kind, and gentle person."
Reagan met actress Nancy Davis (1921-2016) in 1949 after she contacted him in his capacity as president of the Screen Actors Guild. She helped her with issues about her name appearing on the Communist blacklist in Hollywood. He had mistaken another Nancy Davis. He described their meeting by saying, "I do not know if it's exactly love at first sight, but it's pretty close." They were engaged in the Chasen restaurant in Los Angeles and married on March 4, 1952, at Little Brown Church in the Valley (North Hollywood, now Studio City) San Fernando Valley. Actor William Holden served as the best man in the ceremony. They have two children: Patti (b 1952) and Ronald "Ron" Jr. (born 1958).
Analysts describe Reagan's relationship as close, authentic, and intimate. During their presidency, they reportedly showed frequent affection for each other; a press secretary said, "They never honor each other, they never stop dating." He often calls him "Mommy" and he calls him "Ronnie." He once wrote to him, "Whatever I appreciate and enjoy... everything will be meaningless if I do not have you." When he was hospitalized in 1981 after an assassination attempt, he slept with one of his clothes to be comforted by his scent. In a letter to the Americans in 1994, Reagan wrote, "I was recently told that I am one of millions of Americans who will suffer from Alzheimer's disease... I just hope there are some ways I can save Nancy from this is a painful experience, "and in 1998, when he was attacked by Alzheimer's, Nancy told Vanity Fair," Our relationship is very special We are very loving and still there When I say my life starts with Ronnie, well, that's true.I can not imagine life without him. "Nancy Reagan died on March 6, 2016 at the age of 94 years.
early political career
Reagan started as a Hollywood Democrat, and Franklin D. Roosevelt was a "true hero" to him. He moved to the right wing in the 1950s, became a Republican in 1962, and emerged as the leading conservative spokesman in the Goldwater campaign of 1964.
Early in his political career, he joined many political committees with left-wing orientation, such as the American Veterans Committee. He fought against Republican-sponsored employment rights rights and supported Helen Gahagan Douglas in 1950 when she was defeated for the Senate by Richard Nixon. It was his awareness that the Communists were a powerful backstage influence in the groups that led him to rally his friends against them.
At the rally, Reagan often spoke with a strong ideological dimension. In December 1945, he was stopped from leading an anti-nuclear rally in Hollywood by pressure from Warner Bros. studio. He would then make nuclear weapons the key point of his presidency when he specifically expressed his opposition to the mutual destruction believed to be. Reagan was also built on previous efforts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. In the 1948 presidential election, Reagan strongly supported Harry S. Truman and appeared on stage with him during a campaign speech in Los Angeles. In the early 1950s, her relationship with actress Nancy Davis grew, and she shifted to the right as she supported presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower (1952 and 1956) and Richard Nixon (1960).
Reagan was hired by General Electric (GE) in 1954 to host the General Electric Theater , a weekly TV drama series. He also traveled across the country to give motivational speeches to more than 200,000 GE employees. Many of his speeches - which he wrote himself - are not partisan but carry conservative, pro-business messages; he was influenced by Lemuel Boulware, a GE senior executive. Boulware, known for his tough stance against unions and his innovative strategy for winning workers, championed the core principles of modern American conservatism: free markets, anti-communism, lower taxes, and limited government. Eager for a bigger stage, but not allowed to enter politics by GE, he quits and is officially registered as a Republican. He often said, "I did not leave the Democratic Party. The party left me."
When a law that became Medicare was introduced in 1961, he made a recording for the American Medical Association (AMA) warning that the law would mean the end of freedom in America. Reagan said that if his audience did not write letters to prevent him, "we will wake up to find that we have socialism and if you do not do this, and if I do not, one day you and I will spend our sunset years tell our children, and our children's children, as it used to be in America when men are free. "He also joins the National Rifle Association (NRA) and will become a lifelong member.
Reagan gained national attention in his address to conservative presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964. Speaking for Goldwater, Reagan emphasized his belief in the importance of a smaller government. He consolidated the theme he developed in his speech for GE to deliver his famous speech, "A Time for Choosing":
The Founding Fathers know that the government can not control the economy without controlling people. And they know when the government sets out to do that, it has to use force and force to achieve its goals. So we came to vote... You and I were told we had to choose between left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as left or right. There is only one up or down. Until the old human dream - the maximum individual freedom that is consistent with order - or down to the pile of totalitarian ants.
This "Time to Choose" speech is not enough to reverse the faltering Goldwater campaign, but it is a key event that builds Reagan's political visibility.
California Governor (1967-1975)
The Republic of California was impressed with Reagan's political views and charisma after his "Time to Choose" speech, and in late 1965 he announced his campaign for the Governor in the 1966 election. He defeated former San Francisco mayor George Christopher in the GOP primaries. In Reagan's campaign, he emphasized two main themes: "to send the welfare bum back to work," and, in order to raise anti-war student protests and anti-establishment at the University of California at Berkeley, "to clean up the chaos at Berkeley." In 1966 , Reagan completed what was done by both US Senators William F. Knowland in 1958 and former Vice President Richard Nixon in 1962 had attempted to: he was elected, defeated two governor Pat Brown, and inaugurated on January 2, 1967. In term of office first, he freezes government recruitment and approves tax increases to balance the budget.
Shortly after taking his governor's term, Reagan tested the presidential waters of 1968 as part of the "Stop Nixon" movement, hoping to cut off southern Nixon support and become a compromise candidate if Nixon or second-place Nelson Rockefeller candidate did not receive enough delegates to win. on the first vote at the Republican convention. However, at the time of the convention, Nixon had 692 votes for delegates, 25 more than he needed to secure the nomination, followed by Rockefeller with Reagan in third place.
Reagan was involved in several high-profile conflicts with the protest movement in that era, including his public criticism of university administrators for tolerating student demonstrations at the University of California, Berkeley campus. On May 15, 1969, during the People's Park protest on university campus (the original purpose was to discuss the Arab-Israeli conflict), Reagan sent a California Highway Patrol and other officers to quell the protests. This led to an incident known as "Bloody Thursday," resulting in the death of James Rector's student and dazzling carpenter Alan Blanchard. In addition, 111 policemen were wounded in the conflict, including one who was stabbed in the chest. Reagan then summoned 2,200 National Guard troops to occupy the town of Berkeley for two weeks to crack down on protesters. The Guard remained at Berkeley for 17 days, camped at People's Park, and the demonstrations died down as the university removed the fenced fence and put all the development plans for the People's Park suspended. One year after "Bloody Thursday," Reagan responded to questions about the campus protest movement that said, "If it takes bloodshed, let's finish it. No more calm." When the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patty Hearst in Berkeley and demanded the distribution of food for the poor, Reagan joked to a group of political aides about a botulism plague that contaminates food.
In early 1967, the national debate on abortion began to gain traction. In the early stages of the debate, Federal state senator Anthony C. Beilenson introduced the "Therapeutic Abortion Act" in an effort to reduce the number of "back-space abortions" conducted in California. The state legislature sent a bill to Reagan's desk where, after a few days of confusion, he signed it on June 14, 1967. About two million abortions will be done as a result, largely because of the provisions in the bill allowing abortion for the mother-wells. Reagan had just served for four months when he signed the bill, and then stated that he was more experienced as a governor, he would not sign it. After he recognized what he called the "consequences" of the bill, he announced that he was pro-life. He retained that position later in his political career, writing much about abortion.
In 1967, Reagan signed the Mulford Act, which repealed a law allowing people to carry loaded weapons (being California Penal Code 12031 and 171 (c)). The bill, named after Republican Don Mulford, received national attention after the Black Panthers marched with weapons to California State Capitol to protest.
Despite a failed attempt to force Reall's recall election in 1968, he was re-elected governor in 1970, defeating "Big Daddy" Jesse M. Unruh. He chose not to look for the third term in the next election cycle. One of Reagan's biggest frustrations at the office was the question of the death penalty, which he strongly encouraged. His attempts to enforce state law in this area were thwarted when the California Supreme Court issued a decision People v. Anderson , who canceled all death penalties issued in California before 1972, although the decision was later canceled. by constitutional amendment. The only execution during Reagan's reign was on 12 April 1967, when Aaron Mitchell's conviction was committed by the state in the San Quentin gas chamber.
When Reagan became governor in 1969, he signed the Family Law Act, which is a combination of two sheets that have been written and revised by the California State Legislature for more than two years. This became the first innocent divorce law in the United States. Years later, a fraudulent divorce became Reagan's greatest regret.
Reagan's terms as governor helped shape the policies he would pursue in his political career later as president. By campaigning on the delivery platform "twin wells return to work," he spoke against the idea of ​​a welfare state. He also strongly advocated the Republican ideals of under-regulation of economic governments, including undue federal taxation.
Reagan did not seek re-election for a third term as governor in 1974; he was replaced by the Secretary of State, Democrat Jerry Brown, who took office on January 6, 1975.
1976 presidential campaign
In 1976, Reagan challenged President Gerald Ford in an effort to become a Republican candidate for the presidency. Reagan soon proved himself a conservative candidate with the support of like-minded organizations like the American Conservative Union, which became a key component of his political base, while Ford was considered a more moderate Republican.
The Reagan campaign relies on a strategy created by campaign manager John Sears who won some early elections to undermine Ford's inevitable nomination. Reagan won North Carolina, Texas, and California, but the strategy failed, as he eventually lost New Hampshire, Florida, and his native Illinois. The Texas campaign gave Reagan a new hope, as he swept all 96 delegates selected on May 1st primers, with four more waiting at the state convention. Much of the praise for the victory came from the work of three co-chairs, including Ernest Angelo, the mayor of Midland, and Ray Barnhart of Houston, whom Reagan would be appointed in 1981 as director of the Federal Street Administration.
However, as the GOP convention approached, Ford seemed close to victory. Acknowledging the moderate wing of his party, Reagan chose moderate Senator Richard Schweiker from Pennsylvania as his nomination candidate if nominated. Nevertheless, Ford won with 1,187 delegates to 1,070 Reagan. Ford will continue to lose the 1976 presidential election to the Democratic nominee, Jimmy Carter.
Reagan's concession speech emphasized the dangers of nuclear war and the threat posed by the Soviet Union. Although he lost his nomination, he received 307 voices in New Hampshire, 388 votes as an Independent on Wyoming vote, and one electoral vote from an unfaithful electorate in the November election of Washington state, which Ford has won. Democratic challenger, Jimmy Carter.
After the campaign, Reagan remained in public debate with Ronald Reagan Radio Commentary series and his political action committee, Citizens for the Republic, which was later revived in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2009 by Reagan biographer Craig Shirley.
1980 presidential campaign
The 1980 presidential election featured Reagan against President Jimmy Carter and was conducted amid many domestic concerns as well as the ongoing Iranian hostage crisis. The Reagan campaign emphasizes some of its fundamental principles: lower taxes to stimulate the economy, less government interference in people's lives, strong state rights, and strong national defense.
Reagan launched his campaign by stating "I believe in state rights." After receiving Republican nomination, Reagan chose one of his opponents in the primaries, George H. W. Bush, to be his partner. Her relaxed, confident appearance during the televised Reagan-Carter debate on October 28, heightened her popularity, and helped to broaden her leadership in the polls.
On November 4, Reagan won a decisive victory over Carter, carrying 44 countries and receiving 489 electoral votes, to 49 Carter election votes from six states plus the District of Columbia. He won popular votes with a simpler margin, receiving 50.7% to Carter's 41.0%, with independent John B. Anderson collecting 6.6%. In addition, Republicans won a majority of seats in the Senate for the first time since 1952, and won 34 parliamentary seats, but the Democrats retained a majority.
Presidency (1981-1989)
During his presidency, Reagan pursued a policy that reflected his personal belief in individual freedom; bringing domestic changes, both to the US economy and to the expanded military; and contributed to the end of the Cold War. Called "The Reagan Revolution," his presidency will revive American spirit, revive the US economy and reduce dependence on the government. As president, Reagan made diaries in which he commented on his presidential everyday events and his views on the issues of the day. The diary was published in May 2007 in the bestseller book, The Reagan Diaries.
First term
Ronald Reagan was 69 years old when he was sworn in for his post for his first term on January 20, 1981. In his inaugural address (written by Reagan himself), he spoke of the country's economic malaise, arguing: "In the current crisis, for our problems, the government is a problem. "
Prayer at school and moments of silence
In 1981, Reagan became the first president to propose constitutional amendments to school prayer. Reagan's election reflects opposition to the Supreme Court case of 1962 Engel v. Vitale , which prohibits state officials from organizing official state prayers and requiring them to be read in public schools. Reagan 1981 proposed an amendment stating: "Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to prohibit individual or group prayer in public schools or other public institutions." No person is required by the United States or by any country to participate in prayer. " In 1984, Reagan again raised the issue, asking Congress, "why is the freedom [not] to acknowledge God enjoyed again by the children in every schoolroom throughout the country?" In 1985, Reagan expressed his disappointment that the Supreme Court ruling still forbade a moment's silence for public schools, saying he "had a great struggle". In 1987 Reagan renewed his call for Congress to support voluntary prayer at school and end the "expulsion of God from the American classroom." Critics argue that any imposition of government prayer on public school students is unintentional. There is no Supreme Court decision stating that students can not engage in their own silent prayer. During his tenure, Reagan campaigned vigorously to restore organized prayers to schools, first as a moment of prayer and then as a Moment of Silence.
Murder attempts
On March 30, 1981 (shortly after the new government), Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy were struck by the shot of would-be killer John Hinckley Jr. outside Washington Hilton. hotel. Although "almost dead" upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital, Reagan was stabilized in the emergency room, then underwent an emergency exploration operation. He recovered and was released from hospital on April 11, becoming the first surviving US president to be shot in an assassination attempt. The effort greatly affected Reagan's popularity; polls show approval ratings of about 73%. Reagan believed that God had saved his life so that he could continue to achieve a greater goal.
Assistant Secretary of State nomination
Responding to the conservative criticism that the State Department has no hard line, Reagan in 1981 nominated Ernest W. Lefever as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs. Lefever performed poorly in the confirmation hearing and the Senate committee rejected his candidacy in a 4-13 vote; Lefever withdrew his name.
Air traffic control strikes
In 1981, PATCO, a federal air traffic control union broke down, violating federal laws that prohibit government unions to go on strike. Stating the emergency situation as described in the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, Reagan stated that if air traffic controllers "do not report to work within 48 hours, they have lost their jobs and will be stopped." They did not return and on August 5, Reagan shot 11,345 staggering air traffic controllers who ignored his orders, and used military inspectors and controllers to handle the country's commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained. A prominent reference work in public administration concluded, "The shooting of PATCO employees not only shows a clear determination by the president to take control of the bureaucracy, but also sends a clear message to the private sector that unions no longer need to be feared."
"Reaganomics" and economics
During Jimmy Carter's last year in office (1980), inflation averaged 12.5%, compared to 4.4% during Reagan's final year at office (1988). During the Reagan administration, the unemployment rate declined from 7.5% to 5.4%, with levels reaching a high of 10.8% in 1982 and 10.4% in 1983, averaging 7.5% over eight years, and real GDP growth averaged 3.4% with a high of 8.6% in 1983, while nominal GDP growth averaged 7.4%, and peaked at 12.2% in 1982.
Reagan implements a supply-side economic policy, advocates the philosophy of laissez-faire and free-market fiscal policy, which seeks to stimulate the economy with large, comprehensive tax cuts. He also supports the return of the United States to a kind of gold standard, and succeeds in urging Congress to establish a US Gold Commission to learn how a person can be implemented. Citing Arthur Laffer's economic theory, Reagan promoted the proposed tax cuts as potentially stimulating economies enough to expand the tax base, offsetting the loss of income due to reduced taxation rates, a theory that enters political discussions as the Laffer curve. Reaganomics is a subject of debate with supporters pointing to improvements in some key economic indicators as evidence of success, and critics pointing to large increases in federal budget deficits and national debt. His policy of "peace through force" resulted in defense defense records in the past including a 40% real increase in defense spending between 1981 and 1985.
During the Reagan presidency, federal income tax rates were significantly lowered by the signing of the 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act, which lowered the upper marginal tax bracket from 70% to 50% and the lowest group from 14% to 11%. Another tax increase authorized by Congress and signed by Reagan ensured that tax revenues on both terms were 18.2% of GDP compared to 18.1% during the 40-year period 1970-2010. Then, in 1982, the Partnership Practices Work Agreement of 1982 was signed into law, initiating one of the first public-private partnerships of the United States and a major part of the president's job creation program. Assistant Secretary of Labor and Chief of Staff of Reagan, Al Angrisani, was the principal architect of the bill.
Instead, Congress passed and Reagan signed a legal tax increase of several properties annually from 1981 to 1987 to continue funding government programs such as the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA), Social Security and Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (DEFRA). TEFRA is "the largest ever peace-time tax increase in American history." Gross domestic product growth recovered strongly after the early 1980s recession ended in 1982, and grew for eight years at the office at an annual rate of 7.9% per year, with 12.2% growth in 1981. Unemployment peaking at 10.8% monthly rate in December 1982 - higher than ever since the Great Depression - then declined for the rest of the Reagan presidency. Sixteen million new jobs were created, while inflation declined significantly. The Tax Reform Act of 1986, another bipartisan effort championed by Reagan, simplified the tax code by reducing the number of parchment taxes to four and bypassing some tax breaks. The top rate drops to 28%, but capital gains tax increases on those with the highest income from 20% to 28%. The increase in the lowest tax rate from 11% to 15% is more than offset by the extension of personal exemption, standard deduction, and income tax credit income. The net result is the dismissal of six million poor Americans from the list of income taxes and the reduction of income tax liabilities at all income levels.
The net effect of all Reagan-era tax bills is a 1% reduction in government revenues when compared to Department of Finance earnings estimates from the first post-January budget. However, federal income tax revenues increased from 1980 to 1989, up from $ 308.7 billion to $ 549 billion or an average annual rate of 8.2% (2.5% associated with higher Social Security acceptance), and expenditures federal grew at an annual rate of 7.1%.
Reagan's policy proposes that economic growth will occur when marginal tax rates are low enough to spur investment, which will lead to higher employment and wages. Critics call this a "trickle-down economy" - the belief that a tax policy that benefits the rich will create a "dripping down" effect for the poor. The question arises whether Reagan's policies benefit the rich more than those living in poverty, and many poor and minority view Reagan as unconcerned about their cause. This view is exacerbated by the fact that the Reagan economic regimen includes a minimum wage freeze of $ 3.35 per hour, federal assistance cuts to local governments by 60%, cuts the budget for public housing and Section 8 leases subsidies halves, and removes the anti-poverty communities Program Development of Block Grant. The widening gap between the rich and the poor had begun during the 1970s before Reagan's economic policy came into force. Along with Reagan's deductions in 1981 at the regular tax rate on unbilled earnings, it reduced the maximum rate of capital gains to 20%. Reagan then set a tax rate on capital gains at the same rate as regular income levels such as salaries and wages, with both reaching above 28%. Reagan is seen as an anti-hero hero despite raising taxes eleven times during his presidency, all on behalf of fiscal responsibilities. According to Paul Krugman, "Overall, the 1982 tax increase was not up to one-third of the 1981 deductions; as a share of GDP, the increase was far greater than Mr. Clinton's 1993 tax increase." According to historian and domestic policy advisor Bruce Bartlett, Reagan's tax increase during his presidency took back half of the 1981 tax withheld.
Reagan opposes government intervention, and he cuts non-military program budgets including Medicaid, food stamps, federal education programs and EPA. It protects proprietary programs such as Social Security and Medicare, but its government seeks to clean many people with disabilities from the Social Security disability rolls.
The government's attitude toward the saving and lending industries contributed to the savings and loan crisis. A small number of Reaganomics critics also stated that policy partially affected the stock market crash of 1987, but there was no consensus on a single source for the accident. To cover the growing federal budget deficit, the United States borrows a lot of money both domestically and abroad, raising its national debt from $ 997 billion to $ 2.85 trillion. Reagan described the new debt as "the greatest disappointment" of his presidency.
He reappointed Paul Volcker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and in 1987 he appointed monetary expert Alan Greenspan to succeed him. Reagan ended the price controls on domestic oil that had contributed to the 1973-74 energy crisis and the summer of 1979. Oil prices then fell, and the 1980s did not see the fuel shortages of the 1970s. Reagan also fulfilled a promise of a 1980 campaign to lift an unexpected profit tax in 1988, which had previously increased dependence on foreign oil. Some economists, such as Nobel Prize winners Milton Friedman and Robert Mundell, argue that Reagan's tax policy refreshes the American economy and contributes to the economic boom in the 1990s. Other economists, such as Nobel Prize winner Robert Solow, argue that the Reagan deficit is the main reason his successor, George H. W. Bush, reneged on the campaign promise and was forced to raise taxes.
During Reagan's presidency, a program began in the United States Intelligence Community to ensure the strength of the American economy. The Program, Socrates Project, develops and demonstrates the way it is necessary for the United States to generate and lead the next evolutionary leap in the acquisition and utilization of technology for competitive advantage - automatic innovation. To ensure that the United States derives maximum benefits from automated innovation, Reagan, during its second term, has an executive order designed to create a new federal agency to implement the Socrat Project outcomes nationally. However, the Reagan administration ended before the executive order could be coordinated and signed, and the impending Bush administration, which labeled Socrates Project as "industrial policy," had been stopped.
Civil rights
The Reagan administration is often criticized for its inadequate enforcement, if not actively debilitating, civil rights laws. In 1982, he signed a bill that extended the Election Law for 25 years after a grassroots lobby and legislative campaign forced him to cancel his plans to ease the restrictions on the law. He also signed a law that sets out Martin Luther King's federal vacation, even though he does so with a reservation. In 1988, he vetoed the Civil Rights Recovery Act, but his veto was defeated by Congress. Reagan argues that the law violates the rights of states and the rights of churches and business owners.
Cold War Escalation
Reagan stepped up the Cold War, which accelerated the reversal of the tente dÃÆ'Â © policy that began in 1979 after the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
Reagan ordered the massive buildup of the United States Armed Forces and adopted new policies directed at the Soviet Union; he revived the Lancer B-1 program that had been canceled by the Carter administration, and he produced the MX missiles. In response to the Soviet SS-20 deployment, Reagan oversaw the deployment of NATO from Pershing missiles in West Germany. In 1982 Reagan tried to cut Moscow's access to hard currency by blocking the proposed gas line to Western Europe. It hurt the Soviet economy, but also caused bad intentions among the American allies in Europe who counted on that income. Reagan withdrew from this problem.
In 1984, journalist Nicholas Lemann interviewed Defense Minister Caspar Weinberger and summarized the Reagan administration's strategy to overthrow the Soviet Union:
Their societies are economically weak, and lack the wealth, education, and technology to enter the information age. They had thrown everything into military production, and their society began to show terrible pressure as a result. They can not support military production as much as we can. In the end it will destroy them, and then there will only be one super power in a safe world - if, only if, we can still spend it.
Lemann notes that when he wrote that in 1984, he thought the Reagan people lived in a fantasy world. But by 2016, Lemann stated that this section represents "a fairly uncontroversial description of what Reagan actually did."
Reagan and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher both criticized the Soviet Union ideologically. In a famous speech on June 8, 1982, to the Royal Parliament at the Royal Palaces of the Palace of Westminster, Reagan said, "a row of freedom and advanced democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism in a pile of historical ash." On March 3, 1983, he foresaw that communism will collapse, stating, "Communism is another sad and bizarre chapter in human history whose final pages are even now being written." In a speech at the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983, Reagan called the Soviet Union "the evil empire."
After Soviet fighter drowned Korean Air Lines Flight 007 near Moneron Island on September 1, 1983, carrying 269 people, including Georgian congressman Larry McDonald, Reagan called the act a "massacre" and claimed that the Soviets had changed "against the world and morals the guidelines that guide human relationships among people everywhere. "The Reagan administration responded to the incident by suspending all Soviet air passenger services to the United States, and dropped several agreements negotiated with the Soviets, injuring them financially. As a result of the shootings, and the cause of KAL 007 getting lost is considered a deficiency associated with its navigation system, Reagan announced on 16 September 1983 that the Global Positioning System will be available for civilian use, free of charge, once completed to prevent similar navigation mistakes in the future.
Under a policy known as the Reagan Doctrine, Reagan and his administration also provided open and secret assistance to the anti-communist resistance movement in an effort to "dampen" Soviet-backed communist governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America. However, in the break from the Carter Administration policy of arming Taiwan under Taiwan's Relations Act, Reagan also agreed with the communist government in China to reduce arms sales to Taiwan.
Reagan mobilized the CIA's Special Activities Division into Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were instrumental in training, equipping and leading the Mujahideen forces against the Soviet Army. President Reagan's Covert Action Program has been awarded for helping to end the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, although some US-funded weapons introduced later will pose a threat to US forces in the 2001 War in Afghanistan. The CIA also began sharing information with the Iranian government, which he secretly held. In one instance, in 1982, this practice enabled the government to identify and clean communists from its ministries, and to virtually eliminate pro-Soviet infrastructure in Iran.
In March 1983, Reagan introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative, a defense project that would use land and space-based systems to protect the United States from attacks by strategic ballistic missiles. Reagan believed that this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible. There is a lot of distrust surrounding the scientific feasibility of the program, which causes the opponent to dub the SDI "Star Wars" and argues that the purpose of the technology is unattainable. The Soviets became concerned about the possible effects SDI had; Leader Yuri Andropov said it would put "the whole world in jeopardy." For those reasons, David Gergen, a former assistant to President Reagan, believes that in retrospect, SDI accelerated the end of the Cold War.
Although supported by prominent American conservatives who argue that Reagan's foreign policy strategy is critical to protecting US security interests, critics label the government's foreign policy initiatives as aggressive and imperialistic, and rebuke them as "war warmers". The government has also been heavily criticized for supporting anti-communist leaders accused of gross human rights violations, such as HissÃÆ'¨ne HabrÃÆ'Â Chad and EfraÃÆ'n RÃÆ'os Montt of Guatemala. For 16 months (1982-1983) Montt was President of Guatemala, the Guatemalan military was accused of genocide for the massacre of members of the Ixil and other indigenous groups. Reagan said that Montt got a "rap bum," and described it as "a person of great personal integrity." Previous human rights abuses have prompted the United States to cut aid to the Guatemalan government; but the Reagan administration appealed to Congress to restart military aid. Although unsuccessful with it, the government succeeded, however, in providing non-military assistance such as USAID.
Lebanese Civil War
With the approval of Congress, Reagan sent troops to Lebanon in 1983 to reduce the threat of the Lebanese Civil War. The American peacekeeping force in Beirut, part of a multinational force during the Lebanese Civil War, was attacked on October 23, 1983. The Beirut barrack bombings killed 241 American soldiers and wounded more than 60 others by a suicide truck bomber. Reagan sent the USSÃ warships, New Jersey to break the Syrian position in Lebanon. He then withdrew all Marines from Lebanon.
Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada)
On October 25, 1983, Reagan ordered US troops to attack Grenada (codenamed "Operation Urgent Fury") in which the 1979 coup had formed an incompatible independent Marxist-Leninist government. The formal appeals from the Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) led to the intervention of US forces; President Reagan also cited an alleged regional threat posed by the Soviet-Cuban military development in the Caribbean and concern for the safety of several hundred American medical students at St. University. George as an adequate reason to invade. Operation Urgent Fury was the first major military operation conducted by US forces since the Vietnam War, several days of fighting began, resulting in a US victory, with 19 American casualties and 116 wounded American soldiers. In mid-December, after the new government was appointed by the governor-general, US troops withdrew.
1984 presidential campaign
Reagan received a Republican nomination in Dallas, Texas. He stated that it was "another morning in America," about the economic recovery and performance dominated by US athletes at the 1984 Summer Olympics, among other things. He became the first president to open the Olympic Games held in the United States.
Reagan's opponent in the 1984 presidential election was former Vice President Walter Mondale. With questions about Reagan's age, and weak performance in the first presidential debate, his ability to perform presidential duties for other terms is questionable. His obvious and forgetful behavior is obvious to his supporters; they had known him smart and intelligent. Rumors began to circulate that he had Alzheimer's disease. Reagan bounced back in the second debate, and confronted the question of his age, grumbling, "I will not make age as the issue of this campaign, I will not exploit, for political purposes, opponent youth and lack of experience," which produces applause and laughter, even from Mondale itself.
In November, Reagan won a landslide victory in re-election, carrying 49 of the 50 states while Mondale won only Minnesota, his home state, and the District of Columbia. Reagan won 525 of the 538 voter votes, the most from every presidential candidate in US history, and also received 58.8% of popular votes to Mondale 40.6%. The limits of his popular vote win, nearly 16.9 million votes (54.4 million for Reagan to 37.5 million for Mondale), surpassed only by Richard Nixon in his 1972 win over George McGovern.
Second term
Reagan was sworn in as president for the second time on January 20, 1985, during a private ceremony at the White House. To date, at the age of 73, he is the oldest person to take the oath of presidency. Since January 20th falls on a Sunday, a public celebration is not held but takes place on Capitol rotunda the next day. January 21 is one of the coldest days recorded in Washington, D.C.; due to bad weather, the inauguration ceremony was held on the Capitol. In the weeks that followed, he shook his staff, transferring White House Chief of Staff James Baker to Treasury Secretary and naming Minister of Finance Donald Regan, former officer of Merrill Lynch, Chief of Staff.
The disintegration of the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986, proved to be an important moment in Reagan's presidency. All seven astronauts on board were killed. On the eve of the disaster, Reagan delivered a speech, written by Peggy Noonan, where he said:
The future does not belong to the persecutor; it's brave... We'll never forget them, or last time we see them, this morning, as they prepare for their journey and wave good-bye and 'tuck the Earth's massive bond' to 'touch God's face'. '
In 1988, towards the end of the Iran-Iraq War, the US Navy guided the USSÃ missile cruisers, Vincennes accidentally shot down the Iranian Air Flight 655 killing 290 civilian passengers. The incident further aggravated the already tense Iran-US relations.
1985 placed a wreath at a funeral in Bitburg, Germany
In February 1985, the government accepted an invitation to Reagan to visit the German military cemetery in Bitburg and to place a wreath with Western German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Deaver was assured by the head of the German protocol that no war criminals were buried there. It was then determined that the grave held the graves of 49 Waffen-SS members. What neither Deaver nor other government officials knew was that many Germans drew the distinction between ordinary SS, which usually consisted of real Nazis, and the Waffen-SS attached to the military unit and comprised of conscripts.
During the April 1985 controversy, Reagan issued a statement calling Nazi soldiers buried in the cemetery as themselves "victims," ​​a name that triggered a dispute whether Reagan had likened the SSs to the Holocaust victims. Pat Buchanan, Director of Communications of Reagan, argued that the president did not equate members of the SS with the real Holocaust, but as a victim of the ideology of Nazism. Now it is urgent to cancel the visit, the president replied that it was wrong to break the promise he made to Chancellor Kohl. On May 5, 1985, President Reagan and Chancellor Kohl first visited the site of the former Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen and then the Bitburg tomb, along with two army generals, they placed a wreath.
War on Drugs
Reagan announced a War on Drugs in 1982, in response to concerns about an escalating crack epidemic. Although Nixon had earlier declared war on drugs, Reagan advocated a more militant policy.
He said that "drugs are threatening our society" and pledging to fight for drug-free and workplace schools, expanding drug treatments, stronger law enforcement and drug prohibition efforts, and
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