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Ronald Reagan Influence

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Throughout the years of Ronald Reagan’s presidency, 1981 to 1989, he envisioned America as the proverbial city on a hill. His presidency saw the restoration of faith in the nation and allowed America to heal after its long fought battle against communism. The president’s massive military expansion prepared America for unforeseeable conflicts such as the Gulf War and his tax reforms stimulated America’s economy. His leadership and negotiation skills helped to bring about the long-awaited collapse of the communist Soviet Union and sustained a peacetime period of notable economic strength. Ronald Reagan was the breath of fresh air that Washington needed, and he attained what many called the unattainable, and made Americans feel safe again.
The American that Ronald Reagan inherited in 1980 was not a hopeful one. However, his unwavering belief that American could still be great again made it so. Straight out of Hollywood, Reagan had a unique understanding of how the media amplified one’s personality, and he manipulated it to his advantage (Alonzo L. …show more content…

“The economic strain of the effort to keep up with the United States military brought the Soviets to the bargaining table and led to a de-escalation of their international military adventures” (Thomas Sowell, 2001). Reagan is the only president that may lay claim to the end of the Cold War that plagued America. However, a black mark on his record is the Iran-contra affair which involved the secret provision of funds from selling arms to Iran for Nicaraguan contra rebels (See Woodward and T. Draper, 2012). Despite the scandal of the Iran-contra affair, Reagan is praised for his foreign policies in which he spent a majority of his presidency playing the role of international peace-maker, leading to both a safer and more prosperous home and international front (George Nash,

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