Ronald Reagan: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Born on February 6, 1911, Ronald Reagan lived an eventful life, but he did not become President of the United States until the age of 65. He picked George H. W. Bush as his running mate in the 1980 republican ticket. The incumbent, Jimmy Carter had no chance of retaining the presidency, the economy was stagnant, and America’s influence in the world was on the decline. Just two months into Reagan’s Presidency, it almost came to an abrupt end with the bullet of a would-be assassin; of course the President survived, and went on to contribute to the end of the cold war. The Contra scandal threatened Reagan’s Presidency, however, but for anyone to say he is overrated, should take a close look at
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His mother believed John’s withdrawl was due to shyness. An article in People magazine in May, 1980, asserted Jody Foster had enrolled in Yale University, upon hearing of this, Hinckley also enrolled in a writing course at Yale to be close to Foster. He left letters in her mailbox, and managed to have two telephone conversations with her, which he informed her, he was not a dangerous person. “At Yale, he attempted to establish contact with Jody, and left letter and poems in her mailbox” (Linder, 2002). Of course, Jody Forster had no interest in Hinckley, but in his mind, he had a plan that would earn her love and respect, and in doing so, he almost changed the course of history. On March 30, 1981, as was the custom, Ronald Reagan and Nancy eat breakfast together, after breakfast he kissed his wife goodbye and headed to the Oval Office. The President’s schedule for that day was not very busy; he had to attend a few meetings in the morning before going to the Washington Hilton to deliver a speech. The President emerged from the Hilton smiling and waving to the people waiting to catch a glimpse of their President. Reagan got several steps outside the Hilton when Hinckley appeared from a crowd of journalists and produced his R6-14 revolver and fired six shots at the President. The President was pushed into his limousine by Secret Service agents and brought to the George Washington University Hospital, which was thought to be a
Ronald Reagan is to this date the oldest serving president, and the effects of his presidency have affected not only the United States of America but most of the world as well. The consensus among historians is that Ronald Reagan left a lasting legacy that was a great one in numerous ways. His Reaganomics improved America’s economy greatly, and secured its future economic prosperity. He also fought communism head on and was able to end it in most parts of the world, but more importantly in Soviet Russia. However, in doing so he got wrapped up in the Iran-Contra Affair, which will forever be tied to his name in a negative regard. Within America, Reagan was able to improve society such as his success in curbing the use of illegal drugs.
Republican President Ronald Reagan served as Commander-in-chief from January 1981 to January of 1989, holding his position in office for two terms. When Reagan took his oath into office, he inherited prior damage from predecessor Jimmy Carter, including the issue of the Iranian Hostage Crisis as well as damage inflicted by the Vietnam War from years prior. Reagan’s start in politics was not the normal approach. Coming from a successful career as a popular Hollywood actor, Reagan acquired his interest in politics in a more unconventional way. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan became involved in disputes over the issue of Communism in the film industry. His political views quickly shifted from liberal to conservative and he
Ronald Reagan, the fortieth president of the United States of America, was arguably the best president the United States has ever had. Raised in rural Illinois, Reagan grew up as country boy, and kept his ideals and faith through his presidency. Reagan never faltered when he dealt with communism, dealt with a slipping economy, or in any other foreign affairs. His strong convictions led him to being one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States. (Thomas, 22)
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.
Ronald Reagan, a member of the republican party, served as the 40th president of the united states from 1981-1989. In 1980, Reagan was elected, then inaugurated on January 20, 1981. Surprisingly, from 1937 to 1965 Reagan was an actor. From 1967-75 he was the governor of California (Miller Center). Reagan was a very controversial president who made impressive decisions that aided in ending a war and helped the American economy grow. He also made some poor choices like the Intra-Contra Affair and his plans for the military.
In the 1980s there was many historic events such as… Ronald Reagan he was born in february 6th 1911 Tampico IL he died june 5th 2004. He was a great president he served one term as chief and commander he also started as an actor he was wise beyond years in the sense as a president.
On March 30, 1981 Ronald Reagan is giving a speech at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. John Hinckley Jr. is waiting outside the hotel with the intent to impress the young actress Jodie Foster, who he had fallen in love with after watching the movie Taxi Driver His plan to impress her was to kill the president of the United States Ronald Reagan. As Reagan was leaving the hotel after his speech John Hinckley approaches Reagan pulling out a 22. Pistol Hinckley fires six shots hitting 4 men including Reagan, police officer Thomas K. Delahanty, press secretary James Brady, and secret servicemen Tim McCarthy. Hinckley is apprehended by authorities was found not guilty by reasons of insanity and was then placed in a mental hospital in Washington D.C.(O’Reily Dugard) This was one of many defining moments in Reagan’s life and all moments help him become the man he was. Ronald Wilson Reagan Was the most influential and charismatic presidents of the United States of America.
Reagan had a strong vision for the American future and believed that through hard work, patriotism, and the Lord, we could say “it’s the morning again in America”.14 Reagan stated in his inaugural speech “It is time for us to realize that we’re too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We have every right to dream heroic dreams, those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes; they just don’t know where to look”. Reagan has inspired countless people with his charm, humility, faith, ability to lead, and clear thinking but he was first and foremost, proud to be an
Ronald Reagan was a very popular person before, during, and after his time of presidency. He went from a mere radio announcer, to the head of the United States of America. Ronald had defeated most of the world’s problems with Communism, improved the economy, and handled terrorist threats like a pro. Ronald quickly took America’s heart with his honorable deeds and doings. He was very famous by the time he became deceased. (Ronald Reagan Facts.)
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.
It was March 30th, 1981. Reagan was leaving the Washington Hotel after a speech when he was shot. The bullet came out of John W. Hinckley Junior’s gun. The bullet hit Reagan's left arm and ricocheted off the limousine. Regan was shoved into the limo by a secret service men and rushed to the Washington University Hospital. Another secret service member was shot but not severely wounded. The hospital said the bullet missed Reagan's heart by a little less than an inch. He lived through the wound, but had to have surgery that removed the bullet and repaired the collapsed lung. When going into surgery, Reagan was telling jokes the the surgeons like “Please tell me you are the republicans.” (www.millercenter.org/president/ronald-reagan/key-events). After healing, Reagan appeared at a Joint Session of Congress. He believed this gunshot survival showed him to be very tough and manly. Although, the press secretary was not so lucky. James brady suffered severe and permanent brain damage from his wounds. He later advocated a passage for gun control laws. The “Brady Bill”, named after him, was passed to have a background check when purchasing a weapon. In 1982, a trial was held for John. He was found not guilty because of insanity. He was sent to Saint Elizabeth’s hospital, for treatment. On April 11th, Reagan was officially recovered and ready to take back to the white house. Reagan handled this
Imagine, being the President of the United States of America, you are in charge of everything in the nation, being responsible for the well-being of your country. And imagine being on the verge of nuclear war with the Soviet Union and only having six minutes to decide whether or not civilization as we know it could continue. This is the type of stress Ronald Reagan was under almost every day of his eight year presidency.
Ronald Wilson Reagan took office on January 20th, 1981. Reagan served from 1981 to 1989. He served two terms and was president from 1981- 1989. President Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election and Walter Mondale in the 1984 election. He ran his first campaign mostly on President Carter 's shortcomings and failures. His campaign slogan was," Are you better off than you were four years ago?" His other slogan was," Lets make America great again." This clearly shows that his campaign strategy was mostly based on how America took a turn for the worst during Carter 's first term. He talked about how Carter dealt with the Iranian Hostage Crisis so poorly, which led to national embarrassment. Reagan promised an economic revival that
In the late 1970s, Americans tired of counterculture and political scandal turned to more conservative political solutions and Reagan was their guy. Ronald Reagan, arguably was one of the greatest men to step into the Oval Office. He had a strong work ethic and a love for America. Reagan was the son of John and Nelle Reagan and was born in Tampico Illinois on February 6, 1911 and died on June 6, 2004 in his lovely house in Bel-Aire, LA . Prior to Reagan’s first wife, Jane Wyman, he served in the Army during World War 2, but was discharged due to his poor eyesight in 1943. In 1940, when Reagan was filming for his first film he met Jane Wyman and married her, they had a daughter and adopted a son. During Reagan’s seven year contract with Warner
Even with this affliction, Reagan’s parents showed their two boys the value of fairness and qualities of discipline, faith, generosity, fairness, and tolerance, which Reagan would later use as president of the United States (Orr 27). At the age of nine years old, the Reagan family settled down in Dixon, Illinois (Boyarsky 164). When Reagan was a boy, he enjoyed drawing cartoons and reading numerous books (Orr 21). Watching Tom Mix, his favorite movie actor, was another passion Reagan carried with him while growing up (Orr 22). Reagan became a freshman at Dixon Northside High School in 1924 (Orr 26). This high school was concentrated more on the arts and cultural studies rather than sports (Orr 26). While in high school, Reagan was elected student council president (Boyarsky 165). Early in his high school career, Reagan began dating a girl named Myrtle Williams (Edwards 133). Myrtle and Reagan’s mother, who also performed in many local plays (Boyarsky 164), influenced Reagan to join the drama club at his school (Orr 30). As a result, Reagan performed in many school plays (Boyarsky 165). During his teen years, Reagan had many summer jobs, including being a construction worker, a golf caddy, and a lifeguard, his favorite (Orr 29). Being the only lifeguard at Lowell Park, Reagan was credited to have saved a total of 77 lives from drowning over his six year span of being a lifeguard (Sidey 143).