The Heart Of Reagan 's Foreign Policy

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."

Serving as the 40th president, Ronald Reagan made a lasting impact on the United States of America. Reagan ran for president in 1968 and 1976 and did not win the elections, it was not until 1980 when he ran again for the third time and became the president. He entered his presidency with some background as he was the governor of California for 8 years. When he went in to presidency the economy was weak, inflation was high, and there were foreign difficulties. The Cold War and a recession was also happening during this time period. Reagan had a plan that is now known as the “Reagan Revolution.” During his presidency Reagan’s goal was to cut taxes to increase employment and the economy, increase defense spending, and bring a quick end to the Cold War.

The United States during the mid to late 70’s was in a constant state of alert; millions of citizens waiting for the piercing sounds of the air raid sirens to slice through the night air. America was in need of a leader, someone who could unify a divided country and save it from crushing economic failure. One man saw his need and stood up to the task, his name is President Ronald Reagan. Reagan rose to power as President during one of the most critical periods in not only American history, but also, World history: The arms standoff of the cold war. His actions as a unifier in the homeland and as a diplomat in foreign halls changed the way Americans and citizens of the world lived their lives.

After World War II, Soviet Union expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled America’s fears of Russia controlling the world. The United States had been aware of Soviet communism and became concerned about the safety of the country. From then on, the USSR and the United States competed in an arms race, starting with military buildups. This became known as the Cold War and was an international power struggle for both nations. For about forty-five years, the Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union took place. During this conflict, the two nations never directly confronted each other on the battlefield, but deadly threats were traded for years. The president at the time, Ronald Reagan, used U.S. policy and diplomacy to attempt

President Reagan had many objectives and policies he had set in order to restore America’s economy. Reagan’s four

However, before we get carried on talking about the Policys during Reagans president years and the cold war let’s talk about the way he felt towards the Soviet

Initially Reagan chose to go into the acting career and had starred in over 50 movies. While in Hollywood he was the president of the screen actor’s guild. There he met his future wife Nancy Davis Reagan. Later he became the governor of California. He was a liberal Democrat, but when Reagan ran for president he ran as a Republican and won two presidential terms beginning in 1980, becoming a conservative icon over the next few decades. In Reagan’s later years he developed Alzheimer’s disease and passed away on June, 5, 2004.

Reagan’s presidency Domestic Policies started 1981-1989 and Reagonomics created a significant change in our country. Reagan believed that a “trickle-down” economy will increase the wealth and he started to promote “American Values” and telling the people of America to focus to work hard and honest work. Right before a tragic change happen for our economy due to Reagonomics, he promoted “American Values” but created a new law that made America more conservative. He focused on religious rights and speaking against abortion. America is now conservative and changing in a whole new way. It was a roller coaster once he created the new policy with the economy. In the mid- 1980’s something abrupt the stock market and it fell tremendously. Because of the wisdom of Reaganomics it was put to question because our country was in $3 trillion in debt.

“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,

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

The Reagan Doctrine was an aggressive foreign policy from 1981-87 in his first term as President he designed a plan to roll back Communism at its weakest points, and weaken the U.S.S.R by targeting the overthrow of its marginal allies in the non-industrialized World. Many pundits argue that it was a smashing success and dramatically undermined the power of the U.S.S.R, forcing it to retreat, and collapse by 1989. Reagan 's foreign policy could be stated by his view of the U.S.S.R as the "Evil Empire" that is an illegitimate state. He rejected the détente policy that Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter had pursued until 1979, when the U.S.S.R invaded Afghanistan proved its failure. Reagan long had opposed the containment strategy. Reagan instead proposed Rollback, a strategy to steadily reduce and eventually eliminate the Communist threat.

     Ronald Reagan was more than a president. He was a phenomenon. Since he left office in 1989, many authors have tried to effectively identify who this man really was. He was an icon to some, and an enigma to others. He stood up to the worst economic, domestic, and international threats of the time and yet, took naps in the middle of cabinet meetings. At the height of his popularity in 1986, he had, as Time magazine put it, “found America's sweet spot. “ Reagan had ideals of what he felt America should be like, and made it his number one goal to share his unrelenting optimism with every person in the country. He pledged to bring Americans a “little good news.” and created a strong bond

In addition, he inherited a military that was still struggling to overcome the damage inflicted by the Vietnam War. In spite of these obstacles, Reagan had a vision for America. He said; “It was time for something different” (Tygiel, 2006). He felt that previous administrations such as Nixon, Ford, and Carter had all done a poor job in growing the economy, and building a strong military defense, and he wanted to rectify the problem. He argued that fifty years of misguided policies had shattered the free market of much of its natural vitality by burdening it with too many government taxes, too much government spending, and too much government regulations. He promised to restore prosperity by getting the government off the backs of the American people, and strengthening our defense system. His faith in the free-market principles proved to be contagious, helping to restore confidence in the future of the American economy known as Reaganomics. In addition to igniting the economy, Reagan was focused on the Soviet Union, believing that only by building up American armed forces strong enough to defeat the Soviet Union could the United States deter the Communists from instigating World War

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.