Reagan And The Cold War

Reagan became president in 1981, which means that he was president of the U.S. during a time in which the Cold War began to draw to a close. (Fischer, 1997, p.477). Whereas his predecessors used détente, a more relaxed approach in order to reduce tension between the U.S. and USSR, Reagan and his advisers rejected this strategy (Authors, People and a Nation, p.833). This led to a turning point in the Cold War. Even though the Cold War ended in 1991, two years after Reagan’s presidency, Reagan is still known to have made a huge influence on ending the Cold War. This essay will investigate his actions and how they might have influenced the ending of the Cold War, by looking at how Reagan expressed his distrust toward the Soviet Union and communism, the ways in which Reagan expanded the arms race in order to bankrupt the USSR and other ways in which he tried to sabotage the Soviet economy, but also

Despite the increase of defense projects and counter-Soviet initiatives, Reagan did desire for negotiation and improve relations between Washington and Kremlin (Rossinow, 224). Soon afterward, during his second term, Reagan held meetings with leader Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom he negotiated a treaty to eliminate a range of nuclear weapons. Between the two men was a forged relationship- as a partnership, as friends. Reagan, surprisingly, even suggested that both powers should do what they can to ensure that such weapons entirely removed from the world (Rossinow, 232)- although the proposal 's implementation did not work, it still did prove interestingly of Reagan 's thinking to establish disarmament, even if it never happened. Nonetheless, ending the war after so many decades of tension was a monumental triumph for the US and American policy.

President Ronald Reagan, the man who is accredited with ended the forty six year cold war was elected on Nov. 4, 1980. Reagan won his election with fifty percent of the popular vote over former President Jimmy Carter who had forty one percent. While Reagan as a president is praised for such successes as strengthening the national defense, stimulating growth in the U.S. economically, and as mentioned before he is considered the President who ended the Cold War. President Reagan had achieved many things by the end of his administration, but just as he had many successes his presidency was plagued with shortcomings and a handful of what could be considered flat out failures. The purpose of this writing is to establish and identify the ‘cons’ or failures of the Reagan administration, and provide a brief description of each different aspect of the administration.

He would argue back and forth with them. Reagan was so determined to end this Cold War that “when Reagan became President he had only one well-defined foreign policy goal: containing the Soviet Union, or the "evil empire" as he once referred to it.” (“Spark Notes”). Reagan's persistence with the Soviets didn't go to waste because “For the first time since the beginning of the Cold War, a Soviet leader approached the United States to seriously discuss a possible peace. This initiative took the Reagan administration completely by surprise, but Reagan quickly responded in kind” (“Spark Notes”). Finally after a long time of negotiating and dealing with the Soviets Reagan got his way, ¨Gorbachev and President Reagan themselves sat together in both Washington and Moscow on a number of occasions to hammer out agreements”. (“Spark Notes”). Reagan negotiating with the Soviets really was what brought the Cold War to an end. If Reagan was not as persistent as he was the Cold War could have lasted a lot longer then it had already

During the beginning of the Reagan presidency, Cold War pressure between the Soviet Union and the United States boosted. Reagan entered office deeply cautious of the Soviet Union. Reagan characterized the Soviet Union as "an evil empire" and called for a space-based missile defense system, battered by critics as "Star Wars."

Before he took office, the war was a major Communist threat to the United States. Reagan reversed the policy of détente and stood strong against the Soviet Union. His efforts were responsible for the fall of the Soviet empire that ended the Cold War. He had made the US military even stronger and established a smaller federal government. He was responsible for the Strategic Defense Initiative, which had the intent to develop an anti-ballistic missile system to prevent missile attacks from other countries, especially the Soviet Union. With the tension of the Cold War still around, the Strategic Defense Initiative was the Reagan’s response to possible nuclear attacks from afar. Although the program seemed to have no negative consequences, there were concerns brought up about the program which caused them to set it aside for a while. Reagan tranquilized the concerns by fabricating the Intermediate Range Nuclear Force Treaty (INF), which provided for the destruction of about 2500 Soviet and American missiles in Europe. It banned all intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe and marked a significant ending in the Cold

President Reagan during his presidency implemented something he called Reganomics which was focused on tax cuts. It was supposed to help deregulate businesses, use private contractors and decrease spending on social programs. President Reagan had a foreign policy known as the Reagan Doctrine that was designed to roll back global inflation in an attempt to end the cold war. President Reagan’s policy placed a heavy emphasis on military built up so they could show off better defensive

I do somewhat agree with your idea of Reagan promoting criticism of the failure of Communism as Reagan quoted- "But the crisis is happening not in the free, non-Marxist West, but in the home of Marxist-Leninism, the Soviet Union". Mostly because this quote felt like Regan was saying we are better off than the Soviets, whom were denying the rights of respect and freedom to their own

In the early 1980s, the American people elected Ronald Reagan as President of the United States of America. Many people claim that Reagan was one of the greatest presidents of all time, while others believe that the country would have been much better off had Reagan never been elected. Regardless of their political preferences, it is undeniable that Ronald Reagan changed the world in the 1980s and his work as president will be forever remembered in the countless books of history. Ronald Reagan ran as a Republican and was the absolute epitome of a conservative. He worked to bring forth the ideal of conservatism in America and successfully captured and isolated that belief in the presidency. As president, Reagan worked to bring the ideal of American exceptionalism back to the country, to set the economy on the right track, and to end the Communist threat that had been present since the end of World War II. For all practical purposes, Ronald Reagan was a president who accomplished more than he set forth to do and did so famously; some would say infamously. Nevertheless, Reagan accomplished more in his eight year presidency than most presidents of the 20th Century. He is widely hailed as the man who ended the Cold War and will forever be remembered as the man who led to the conservative resurgence in America. He was a man of profound ability and charisma and America is better off for having Reagan as the Commander-in-Chief during the latter portion of the 20th

President Ronald Reagan’s Doctrine was supposed to sponsor anti-communist guerillas who were trying to overthrow pro-Soviet regimes (Roskin 58). President Reagan supported anti-communist groups, and Reagan argued that the American economy was on the move again, while the Soviet Union had become stagnant. President Reagan had morally opposed nuclear weapons since 1945, and he quietly worked to make the world safer from the threat of nuclear war. Under Reagan’s administration, the Reagan Doctrine was implemented by the United States to oppose global influence of

During the cold war era, President Reagan’s strong anti-Soviet feelings and rhetorical “attack” style was an approach that his own administration saw as extreme and even dangerous (Rowland, p 23). And unlike many American leaders before him, who avoided the strained relations between the United States and Soviet Union, President Reagan set out to exploit and end communist tyranny. President Reagan’s devotion to ending tyranny was stronger than any other leader during the time period. For example, he criticized the Carter administration for their failure to deal with "the adventurousness of the Soviet Union" (Fisher, p 303). He believed that their foreign policy enabled the Soviet Union to view the United States in a weak and vulnerable state. President Reagan 's staunch opposition to communism and his willingness to confront the Soviet Union during a time when it was not popular, played a key role in the failure of the Soviet Union. Aiding him in his lone stand against tyranny was his rhetoric style of "ideological and moral clarity." A rhetoric style that he utilized to demonstrate a strong moral position towards the Soviet Union, while reducing the risk of conflict. In doing so he was able to set the stage for successful negotiation between the two nations (Rowland, p 24). This essay will examine Ronald Reagan 's June 12, 1987, address at the Brandenburg Gate. Mainly, the rhetoric style of "ideological and moral clarity", he utilized to exploit the Soviet Union, while

This essay will focus on the Reagan Administration which spanned from January 1981 to January 1989. When Reagan became President, he had only one clear, defined foreign policy goal – containment of the Soviet Union, or the “evil empire” as he referred to it. He primarily wanted to stop the USSR from growing larger and to keep other non-Communist countries from becoming Communist. In the past, American presidents had used a theory called the “Domino Theory” to justify the need for intervention around

In the minds of many Americans Ronald Reagan is the president that ended the Cold War, but is this view accurate? They claim Reagan's unprecedented military spending forced the Soviets to crumble. However, many critics of the president's outspending theory claim that the Russian economy would have imploded without such spending, and a military buildup of that kind did nothing but delay peace. Although, Reagan's willingness to negotiate was a clear factor in ending the Cold War, his aggressive arms race may have done more to forestall peace than abet it. The ascendance of Mikhail Gorbachev to power, the stagnating economy of Russia, and the personal friendship forged between Gorbachev and Reagan were the clear factors that contributed to

During his Presidency, The Ronald Reagan Doctrine was a foreign policy in the United States from 1980 to 1991. The doctrine was to help eliminate communist governments such as Latin America, Africa and Asia which were supported by the Soviet Union (Lagon, 1994). The plan was to implement support to private and open guerilla and resistance movements that were supported by the Soviet in communist countries. Containment was the official policy towards communism and in creating the Reagan Doctrine, the focus started from keeping communism from spreading then it shifted to eliminating existing communist governments. In addition to the eliminations of the communist governments, the United

The Reagan Doctrine was the foreign policy in the United States, enacted by President Ronald Reagan. The doctrine was design to eradicate the communist governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America that were authorized and corroborated by the Soviet Union. This assignment will review by what method the United States delivered open and private backing to guerrilla and resistance movements during the Regan years. Additionally, explain the political doctrine detailed events that occurred in Afghanistan when the Soviet Union invaded. As a final point, this assignment will define