Reagan Revolution Research Paper

Ronald Reagan, President of the United States from 1981 through 1989, created economic policies throughout his presidency that aimed to pull the United States out of a recession. His policies, called Reaganomics, reduced government spending and reduced tax rates in order to foster economic growth. Reagan also appointed many conservative judges to the Supreme Court and federal courts in order to shift ideologies to the right. Because of this, Reagan was both underrated and overrated as a president.

The election of 1980 marked a ‘new political era’ that was ushered in by President Reagan and that followed on through the presidencies of George H. W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton. These presidents were inaugurated at different times and succeeded the successes and the failures of their predecessors. Having came from different political backgrounds and having unique political and social beliefs, Bush, Reagan, and Clinton can only be analyzed through their foreign policies, domestic policies, achievements as well as shortcomings, and legacies.

One major reason Ronald Reagan was able to defeat Carter in the election of 1980 was because Carter failed to rescue the hostages from the American embassy, prior to the election. He had already run for president in 1968 and in 1976, but didn’t win until 1980 as a Republican nominee because he established himself as the conservative candidate with the support of like-minded organizations such as the American Conservative Union. Reagan had several policies to try to recover the economy, one of them being deregulation, in which he advocated limiting government involvement in business. Following this policy, he deregulated several industries from government control. Another policy was to reduce inflation by controlling the growth of the money

Politics in the U.S. during the 1980’s were exciting. Much like everything else during this decade, politics were changing and making a new way for economic development and social construct. Policy in the 1980’s were both huge on foreign policy, and domestic development. The cold war, being the main concern with foreign policy, consisted of Communism versus Democracy, or Socialism versus Capitalism. President Reagan being the face of America and our Commander and Chief, created “Reaganomics,” which fought for small Government, and utilized Government spending in a way that would effectively establish National Security as well as make a name for himself as being known as one of the most popular presidents in United State’s history. Though these issues took place some thirty years ago, it is safe to say that the tribulations we faced as a nation in the eighties have directly affected society in 2015.

Although he was a generally controversial president, Ronald Reagan’s policy decisions to stimulate economic prosperity, known as Reaganomics, were legitimately beneficial to the United States of America. First, in order to substantiate the success of Reagan’s economic policy decisions one must first grasp the varying levels of importance for each aspect of his plan. As Reagan’s policies were substantial decisions that defined his presidency and alienated an entire population of more economically liberal people, it makes sense that an understanding of his emphasis on certain decisions would lead to a more persuasive argument. Next, the negation of well formed and logical criticisms of Reagan’s economic policies also lend to the support of their benefits and success. Acknowledging a sensible counterargument and addressing specific points of critical analysis serves to further enhance the argument for the success of Reagan’s decisions. Furthermore, strong economic growth and the curbing of federal domestic power reinforce the accomplishments of Reaganomics. Though the U.S. did see economic growth, Reaganomics was not purely an economic plan, as cuts in government power, not including the military, benefitted the average American citizen. Moreover, Ronald Reagan’s economic decisions regarding Soviet foreign policy were also extremely beneficial to the United States. The tough decisions to further the national deficit proved a worthy sacrifice in pressuring the collapse

Thesis Statement: Ronald Reagan’s presidency was one of the most successful in United States history because he revitalized the failing economy, used his remarkable communication skills to reestablish America’s lost morale, and even played a vital role in ending the Cold War.

Reaganomics—also known as supply-side and trickle-down economics—is an economic policy practiced by presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover in the twenties and most recently, by the fortieth president of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Just like the state of the economy before Reagan stepped into office, the economy of the United States today is in a vulnerable place. The economy has taken multiple blows over the last few years: a recession in 2008, a close call in 2011, and an overwhelming deficit. Most Americans are looking for something to change. While some are advocating for an increase in the government’s power in order to step in and seemingly help the people, the way for the government to truly succor

From a liberal perspective, the Reagan Revolution was insignificant for the United States. For example, Reagan’s plan was to stimulate the economy by introducing the Reaganomics. He lowered tax rates, which left more money for individuals and businesses to spend, save, or invest. President Reagan cut federal taxes by 25 percent over a three-year period, but the economy continued to struggle for two years and the unemployment rate rose. Although, the personal income grew in the 1980s, the income gap between the rich and poor widened. The Reaganomics assisted the rich, but hurt the poor. These tax cuts would raise wealth among the rich and then would “trickle down” to all Americans. The problem with that is that the middle class Americans would have to wait for trickle effect.

A good place to begin would be in regards to Reagan’s administration and his communication with said administrators or better the lack thereof. President Reagan’s style of administration was regarded as a ‘hands off’ approach in which left him out of a lot the specifics in decision making other than just making the decision of yes or no to a certain degree. The reliance on his administration to make most of the decisions for him ended up creating some issues small and major such as the Iran-Contra scandal. Reagans un

While he seemed the perfect antidote to the corrupt ‘Washington scene’ in 1976, he turned out to be perceived as weak and ineffectual in his economic and foreign policies. He also had much stronger competition from Reagan in 1980 than he had from

Reagan implemented policies based on supply-side economics and advocated a classical liberal and laissez-faire philosophy, seeking to stimulate the economy with large, across-the-board tax cuts. Reagan’s outlook on economics was what he and the public called “Reaganomics”. “The blueprint for “Reaganomics,” was a sketched out supply-side approach to the economic, including massive cuts in income taxes, capital gains taxes, and corporate taxes,”(340). His platform advocated reducing tax rates to spur economic growth, controlling the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulation of the economy, and reducing government spending. Reagan's policies proposed that economic growth would occur when marginal tax rates were low enough to spur investment, which would then lead to increased economic growth, higher employment, and wages. Reagan’s beliefs on cutting taxes were supported by ideas of William Sumner who believed that the best equipped to win the struggle for existence was the American businessman, and concluded that taxes and regulations serve as dangers to his survival. Reagan believed strong nations were composed of people who were successful at expanding their empires and these strong nations would survive in the struggle for dominance.

President Reagan wanted America to govern itself. He felt that when some prosper it would trickle down to all. He especially did not believe in big government spending programs. With his less government views

Ronald Reagan was more than just our nation’s 40th President, he was a remarkable leader. Winning the Governor election by more than 1 million votes, and President of the United States for two terms, America was needing a fearless figure in front of economic, domestic and international threats this nation was experiencing. He brought lower tax rates, negotiated the nuclear arms treaty with the Soviet Union, and influenced the tear down of the Berlin wall and the ending the Cold War without firing a shot. Reagan left Office in 1989 and said, “We meant to change the nation, but instead we changed the world” (cardigan, 1995). Spending his last years with

I have decided to write my research paper on the topic of Ronald Reagan's Domestic and Foreign Affairs. The reason that I choose this topic was because I have always been personally interested in Ronald Reagan's time in office and the national crisis he had to deal with. Reagan was awesome when it came to foreign policy because he knew how to negotiate with foreign leaders and their countries to get what he wanted. There were several instances during his time in office that he had the chance to use his ability to get the country out of danger. Domestic Affairs is another part of Reagan's presidency that was very important. He was able to take the country, which seemed to be in an economic slump and turn their economic status around.

President Reagan was a man with strong beliefs that made his statements believable and logical. He believed that democracy was the way to go and communism was the root of all evil. In Philip Kostka's piece, he addresses, “ The president presents us with the basic idea that freedom is the natural state of man, and that one reaches his fullest potential under freedom. In contrast, totalitarianism holds individuals back,keeps one from doing things that he