Ronald Reagan

Dark Victory (1939)

The Bad Man (1941)

After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology from Eureka College in 1932,[27][28] Reagan took a job in Davenport, Iowa, as a sports broadcaster for four football games in the Big Ten Conference.[29] He then worked for WHO radio in Des Moines as a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. His specialty was creating play-by-play accounts of games using only basic descriptions that the station received by wire as the games were in progress.[30] Simultaneously, he often expressed his opposition to racism.[31] In 1936, while traveling with the Cubs to their spring training in California, Reagan took a screen test that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Bros.[32]

Reagan arrived at Hollywood in 1937, debuting in Love Is on the Air (1937).[33] Using a simple and direct approach to acting and following his directors' instructions,[34] Reagan made thirty films, mostly B films, before beginning military service in April 1942.[35] He broke out of these types of films by portraying George Gipp in Knute Rockne, All American (1940), which would be rejuvenated when reporters called Reagan "the Gipper" while he campaigned for president of the United States.[36] Afterward, Reagan starred in Kings Row (1942) as a leg amputee, asking, "Where's the rest of me?"[37] His performance was considered his best by many critics.[38] Reagan became a star,[39] with Gallup polls placing him "in the top 100 stars" from 1941 to 1942.[38]

World War II interrupted the movie stardom that Reagan would never be able to achieve again[39] as Warner Bros. became uncertain about his ability to generate ticket sales. Reagan, who had a limited acting range, was dissatisfied with the roles he received. As a result, Lew Wasserman renegotiated his contract with his studio, allowing him to also make films with Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and RKO Pictures as a freelancer. With this, Reagan appeared in multiple western films, something that had been denied him working at Warner Bros.[40] In 1952, he ended his relationship with Warner Bros.,[41] but went on to appear in a total of 53 films,[35] his last being The Killers (1964).[42]

Reagan at Fort Roach, between 1943 and 1944

In April 1937, Reagan enlisted in the United States Army Reserve. He was assigned as a private in Des Moines' 322nd Cavalry Regiment and reassigned to second lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps.[43] He later became a part of the 323rd Cavalry Regiment in California.[44] As relations between the United States and Japan worsened, Reagan was ordered for active duty while he was filming Kings Row. Wasserman and Warner Bros. lawyers successfully sent draft deferments to complete the film in October 1941. However, to avoid accusations of Reagan being a draft dodger, the studio let him go in April 1942.[45]

Reagan reported for duty with severe near-sightedness. His first assignment was at Fort Mason as a liaison officer, a role that allowed him to transfer to the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). Reagan became an AAF public relations officer and was subsequently assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit in Culver City[46] where he felt that it was "impossible to remove an incompetent or lazy worker" due to what he felt was "the incompetence, the delays, and inefficiencies" of the federal bureaucracy.[47] Despite this, Reagan participated in the Provisional Task Force Show Unit in Burbank[48] and continued to make theatrical films.[49] He was also ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate in the sixth War Loan Drive before being reassigned to Fort MacArthur until his discharge on December 9, 1945, as a captain. Throughout his military service, Reagan produced over 400 training films.[48]

When Robert Montgomery resigned as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) on March 10, 1947, Reagan was elected to that position, in a special election.[50] Reagan's first tenure saw various labor-management disputes,[51] the Hollywood blacklist,[52] and the Taft–Hartley Act's implementation.[53] On April 10, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interviewed Reagan and he provided them with the names of actors whom he believed to be communist sympathizers.[54] During a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing, Reagan testified that some guild members were associated with the Communist Party[55] and that he was well-informed on a "jurisdictional strike".[56] When asked if he was aware of communist efforts within the Screen Writers Guild, he called the efforts "hearsay".[57] Reagan would remain SAG president until he resigned on November 10, 1952;[58] Walter Pidgeon succeeded him, but Reagan stayed on the board.[59]

The SAG fought with film producers over residual payments[60] and on November 16, 1959, the board installed Reagan as SAG president,[61] replacing the resigned Howard Keel. In his second stint, Reagan managed to secure the payments for actors whose theatrical films were released from 1948 to 1959 and subsequently televised. The producers were initially required to pay the actors fees, but they ultimately settled for pensions instead. However, they were still required to pay residuals for films after 1959. Reagan resigned from the SAG presidency on June 7, 1960, and also left the board;[62] George Chandler succeeded him as SAG president.[63]

Reagan and Jane Wyman, 1942

Ronald and Nancy Reagan, 1952

Reagan married Brother Rat (1938) co-star Jane Wyman[64] in January 1940.[65] Together, they had two biological daughters: Maureen in 1941,[66] and Christine,[67] born prematurely and dead the next day in 1947.[68] They adopted one son, Michael, in 1945.[47] Wyman filed to divorce Reagan in June 1948. She was uninterested in politics, and occasionally recriminated, reconciled and separated with him. Although Reagan was unprepared,[68] the divorce was finalized in July 1949. Reagan would also remain close to his children.[69] Later that year, Reagan met Nancy Davis after she contacted him in his capacity as the SAG president about her name appearing on a communist blacklist in Hollywood; she had been mistaken for another Nancy Davis.[70] They married in March 1952[71] and had two children, Patti in 1952, and Ron in 1958.[72]

Reagan became the host of MCA Inc. television production General Electric Theater[41] at Wasserman's recommendation. It featured multiple guest stars,[73] and Ronald and Nancy Reagan, continuing to use her stage name Nancy Davis, acted together in three episodes.[74] When asked how Reagan was able to recruit such stars to appear on the show during television's infancy, he replied, "Good stories, top direction, production quality."[75] However, the viewership declined in the 1960s and the show was canceled in 1962.[76] In 1965, Reagan became the host[77] of another MCA production, Death Valley Days.[78]

Ronald and Nancy Reagan celebrating his gubernatorial election victory, 1966

In January 1966, Reagan announced his candidacy for the California governorship,[96] repeating his stances on individual freedom and big government.[97] When he met with black Republicans in March,[98] he was criticized for opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Certain in his own lack of prejudice, Reagan responded resentfully that bigotry was not in his nature[99] and later argued that certain provisions of the act infringed upon the rights of property owners.[100] After the Supreme Court of California ruled that the initiative that repealed the Rumford Act was unconstitutional in May, he voiced his support for the act's repeal,[101] but later preferred amending it.[102] In the Republican primary, Reagan defeated George Christopher,[103] a moderate[104] who William F. Buckley Jr. thought had painted Reagan as extreme.[97]

Reagan's general election opponent, incumbent governor Pat Brown, attempted to label Reagan as an extremist and tout his own accomplishments.[105] Reagan portrayed himself as a political outsider,[106] and charged Brown as responsible for the Watts riots and lenient on crime.[105] In numerous speeches, Reagan "hit the Brown administration about high taxes, uncontrolled spending, the radicals at the University of California, Berkeley, and the need for accountability in government".[107] Meanwhile, many in the press perceived Reagan as "monumentally ignorant of state issues", though Lou Cannon said that Reagan benefited from an appearance he and Brown made on Meet the Press in September.[108] Ultimately, Reagan won the governorship with 57 percent of the vote compared to Brown's 42 percent.[109]

Reagan and Gerald Ford shaking hands on the podium after Reagan narrowly lost the nomination at the 1976 Republican National Convention

Insufficiently conservative to Reagan[136] and many other Republicans,[137] president Gerald Ford suffered from multiple political and economic woes. Ford, running for president, was disappointed to hear him also run.[138] Reagan was strongly critical of détente and Ford's policy of détente with the Soviet Union.[139] He repeated "A Time for Choosing" around the country[140] before announcing his campaign on November 20, 1975, when he discussed economic and social problems, and to a lesser extent, foreign affairs.[141] Both candidates were determined to knock each other out early in the primaries,[142] but Reagan would devastatingly lose the first five primaries beginning with New Hampshire,[143] where he popularized the welfare queen narrative about Linda Taylor, exaggerating her misuse of welfare benefits and igniting voter resentment for welfare reform,[144] but never overtly mentioning her name or race.[145]

In Florida, Reagan referred to a "strapping young buck",[146] which became an example of dog whistle politics,[147] and accused Ford for handing the Panama Canal to Panama's government while Ford implied that he would end Social Security.[143] Then, in Illinois, he again criticized Ford's policy and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.[148] Losing the first five primaries prompted Reagan to desperately win North Carolina's by running a grassroots campaign and uniting with the Jesse Helms political machine that viciously attacked Ford. Reagan won an upset victory, convincing party delegates that Ford's nomination was no longer guaranteed.[149] Reagan won subsequent victories in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Indiana with his attacks on social programs, opposition to forced busing, increased support from inclined voters of a declining George Wallace presidential campaign,[150] and repeated criticisms of Ford and Kissinger's policies, including détente.[151]

The result was a seesaw battle for the 1,130 delegates required for their party's nomination that neither would reach before the Kansas City convention[152] in August[153] and Ford replacing mentions of détente with Reagan's preferred phrase, "peace through strength".[154] Reagan took John Sears' advice of choosing liberal Richard Schweiker as his running mate, hoping to pry loose of delegates from Pennsylvania and other states,[155] and distract Ford. Instead, conservatives were left alienated, and Ford picked up the remaining uncommitted delegates and prevailed, earning 1,187 to Reagan's 1,070. Before giving his acceptance speech, Ford invited Reagan to address the convention; Reagan emphasized individual freedom[156] and the dangers of nuclear weapons. In 1977, Ford told Cannon that Reagan's primary challenge contributed to his own narrow loss to Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1976 United States presidential election.[157]

1980 United States presidential election

Reagan emerged as a vocal critic of President Carter in 1977. The Panama Canal Treaty's signing, the 1979 oil crisis, and rise in the inflation, interest and unemployment rates helped set up his 1980 presidential campaign,[158] which he announced on November 13, 1979[159] with an indictment of the federal government.[160] His announcement stressed his fundamental principles of tax cuts to stimulate the economy and having both a small government and a strong national defense,[161] since he believed the United States was behind the Soviet Union militarily.[162] Heading into 1980, his age became an issue among the press, and the United States was in a severe recession.[163] In the primaries, Reagan unexpectedly lost the Iowa caucus to George H. W. Bush. Three days before the New Hampshire primary, the Reagan and Bush campaigns agreed to a one-on-one debate sponsored by The Telegraph at Nashua, New Hampshire, but hours before the debate, the Reagan campaign invited other candidates including Bob Dole, John B. Anderson, Howard Baker and Phil Crane.[164] Debate moderator Jon Breen denied seats to the other candidates, asserting that The Telegraph would violate federal campaign contribution laws if it sponsored the debate and changed the ground rules hours before the debate.[165] As a result, the Reagan campaign agreed to pay for the debate. Reagan said that as he was funding the debate, he could decide who would debate.[166] During the debate, when Breen was laying out the ground rules and attempting to ask the first question, Reagan interrupted in protest to make an introductory statement and wanted other candidates to be included before the debate began.[167] The moderator asked Bob Malloy, the volume operator, to mute Reagan's microphone. After Malloy repeated his demand to Malloy, Reagan furiously replied, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green! [sic]".[lower-alpha 1][169] This turned out to be the turning point of the debate and the primary race.[170] Ultimately, the four additional candidates left, and the debate continued between Reagan and Bush. Reagan's polling numbers improved, and he won the New Hampshire primary by more than 39,000 votes.[171] Soon thereafter, Reagan's opponents began dropping out of the primaries, including Anderson, who left the party to become an independent candidate. Reagan easily captured the presidential nomination and chose Bush as his running mate at the Detroit convention in July.[172]

The general election pitted Reagan against Carter amid the multitude of domestic concerns and ongoing Iran hostage crisis that began on November 4, 1979.[173] Reagan's campaign worried that Carter would be able to secure the release of the American hostages in Iran as part of the October surprise,[174] Carter "suggested that Reagan would wreck Social Security" and portrayed him as a warmonger,[175] and Anderson carried support from liberal Republicans dissatisfied with Reagan's conservatism.[174][lower-alpha 2] One of Reagan's key strengths was his appeal to the rising conservative movement. Though most conservative leaders espoused cutting taxes and budget deficits, many conservatives focused more closely on social issues like abortion and homosexuality.[177] Evangelical Protestants became an increasingly important voting bloc, and they generally supported Reagan.[178] Reagan also won the backing of Reagan Democrats.[179] Though he advocated socially conservative view points, Reagan focused much of his campaign on attacks against Carter's foreign policy.[180]

In August, Reagan gave a speech at the Neshoba County Fair, stating his belief in states' rights. Joseph Crespino argues that the visit was designed to reach out to Wallace-inclined voters,[181] and some also saw these actions as an extension of the Southern strategy to garner white support for Republican candidates.[182] Reagan's supporters have said that this was his typical anti-big government rhetoric, without racial context or intent.[183][184][185] In the October 28 debate, Carter chided Reagan for being against national health insurance. Reagan replied, "There you go again", though the audience laughed and viewers found him more appealing.[186] Reagan later asked the audience if they were better off than they were four years ago, slightly paraphrasing Roosevelt's words in 1934.[187] In 1983, Reagan's campaign managers were revealed to having obtained Carter's debate briefing book before the debates.[188] On November 4, 1980, Reagan won in a decisive victory in the Electoral College over Carter, carrying 44 states and receiving 489 electoral votes to Carter's 49 in six states and the District of Columbia. He won the popular vote by a narrower margin, receiving nearly 51 percent to Carter's 41 percent and Anderson's 7 percent. In the United States Congress, Republicans won a majority of seats in the Senate for the first time since 1952[189] while Democrats retained the House of Representatives.[190]

Reagan delivering his inaugural address, 1981

The 40th president of the United States,[191] Reagan was sworn into office for his first term on January 20, 1981. In his inaugural address, he addressed the country's economic malaise, arguing, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem."[192] In a final insult to President Carter, Iran had waited until Reagan had been sworn in before sending the hostages home.[193]

Reagan advocated a laissez-faire philosophy,[194] and promoted a set of neoliberal reforms dubbed "Reaganomics", which included monetarism and supply-side economics.[195]

Reagan outlining his plan for tax cuts, 1981

Reagan worked with the boll weevil Democrats to pass tax and budget legislation in a Congress led by Tip O'Neill, a liberal who strongly criticized Reaganomics.[196][lower-alpha 3] He lifted federal oil and gasoline price controls on January 28, 1981,[198] and in August, he signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981[199] to dramatically lower federal income tax rates and require exemptions and brackets to be indexed for inflation starting in 1985.[200] Amid growing concerns about the mounting federal debt, Reagan signed the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982,[201] one of the eleven times Reagan raised taxes.[202] The bill doubled the federal cigarette tax, rescinded a portion of the corporate tax cuts from the 1981 tax bill,[203] and according to Paul Krugman, "a third of the 1981 cut" overall.[204] Many of his supporters condemned the bill, but Reagan defended his preservation of cuts on individual income tax rates.[205] By 1983, the amount of federal tax had fallen for all or most taxpayers, but most strongly affected the wealthy.[206]

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 reduced the number of tax brackets and top tax rate, and almost doubled personal exemptions.[207]

To Reagan, the tax cuts would not have increased the deficit as long as there was enough economic growth and spending cuts. His policies proposed that economic growth would occur when the tax cuts spur investments, which would result in more spending, consumption, and ergo tax revenue. This theoretical relationship has been illustrated by some with the controversial Laffer curve.[208] Critics labeled this "trickle-down economics", the belief that tax policies that benefit the wealthy will spread to the poor.[209] Milton Friedman and Robert Mundell argued that these policies invigorated America's economy and contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s.[210]

Monthly unemployment, inflation, and interest rates from January 1981 to January 1989 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Federal Reserve Economic Data

Reagan took office in the midst of stagflation.[211] The economy briefly experienced growth before plunging into a recession in July 1981.[212] As Federal Reserve chairman, Paul Volcker fought inflation by pursuing a tight money policy of high interest rates,[213] which restricted lending and investment, raised unemployment, and temporarily reduced economic growth.[214] In December 1982, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measured the unemployment rate at 10.8 percent.[215] Around the same time, economic activity began to rise until its end in 1990, setting the record for the longest peacetime expansion.[216] In 1983, the recession ended[217] and Reagan nominated Volcker to a second term in fear of damaging confidence in the economic recovery.[218]

Reagan appointed Alan Greenspan to succeed Volcker in 1987. Greenspan raised interest rates in another attempt to curb inflation, setting off the Black Monday although the markets eventually recovered.[219] By 1989, the BLS measured the unemployment rate at 5.3 percent.[220] The inflation rate dropped from 12 percent during the 1980 election to under 5 percent in 1989. Likewise, the interest rate dropped from 15 percent to under 10 percent.[221] Yet, not all shared equally in the economic recovery, and both economic inequality[222] and the number of homeless individuals increased during the 1980s.[223] Critics have contended that a majority of the jobs created during this decade paid the minimum wage.[224]

In 1981, in an effort to keep it solvent, Reagan approved a plan for cuts to Social Security. He later backed off of these plans due to public backlash.[225] He then created the Greenspan Commission to keep Social Security financially secure and in 1983, he signed amendments to raise both the program's payroll taxes and retirement age for benefits.[226] He had signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to cut funding for federal assistance such as food stamps, unemployment benefits, subsidized housing and the Aid to Families with Dependent Children,[227] and would discontinue the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.[228] On the other side, defense spending doubled between 1981 and 1985.[162] During Reagan's presidency, Project Socrates operated within the Defense Intelligence Agency to discover why the United States was unable to maintain its economic competitiveness. According to program director Michael Sekora, their findings helped the country exceed Soviet missile defense technology.[229][230]

Reagan sought to loosen federal regulation of economic activities, and he appointed key officials who shared this agenda. William Leuchtenburg writes that by 1986, the Reagan administration eliminated almost half of the federal regulations that had existed in 1981.[231] The 1982 Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act deregulated savings and loan associations by letting them make a variety of loans and investments outside of real estate.[232] After the bill's passage, savings and loans associations engaged in riskier activities, and the leaders of some institutions embezzled funds. The administration's inattentiveness toward the industry contributed to the savings and loan crisis and costly bailouts.[233]

The deficits were exacerbated by the early 1980s recession, which cut into federal revenue.[234] The national debt tripled between the fiscal years of 1980 and 1989, and the national debt as a percentage of the gross domestic product rose from 33 percent in 1981 to 53 percent by 1989. During his time in office, Reagan never fulfilled his 1980 campaign promise of submitting a balanced budget. The United States borrowed heavily to cover newly spawned federal budget deficits.[235] Reagan described the tripled debt the "greatest disappointment of his presidency".[236] Jeffrey Frankel opined that the deficits were a major reason why Reagan's successor, Bush, reneged on his campaign promise by raising taxes through the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990.[237]

Reagan moments before he was shot, 1981

On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Washington Hilton. Also struck were: James Brady, Thomas Delahanty, and Tim McCarthy. Although "right on the margin of death" upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital, Reagan underwent surgery and recovered quickly from a broken rib, a punctured lung, and internal bleeding. Professor J. David Woodard says that the assassination attempt "created a bond between him and the American people that was never really broken".[238] Later, Reagan came to believe that God had spared his life "for a chosen mission".[239]

Reagan appointed three Associate Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States: Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981, Antonin Scalia in 1986, and Anthony Kennedy in 1988. He also elevated William Rehnquist from Associate Justice to Chief Justice in 1986.[240] The direction of the Supreme Court's reshaping has been described as conservative.[241][242]

Reagan making a statement to the press regarding the air traffic controllers strike, 1981

Early in August 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) went on strike, violating a federal law prohibiting government unions from striking.[243] On August 3, Reagan said that he would fire air traffic controllers if they did not return to work within 48 hours; according to him, 38 percent did not return. On August 13, Reagan fired roughly 12,000 striking air traffic controllers who ignored his order.[244] He used military controllers[245] and supervisors to handle the nation's commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained.[246] The breaking of the PATCO strike demoralized organized labor, and the number of strikes fell greatly in the 1980s.[245] With the assent of Reagan's sympathetic National Labor Relations Board appointees, many companies also won wage and benefit cutbacks from unions, especially in the manufacturing sector.[247] During Reagan's presidency, the share of employees who were part of a labor union dropped from approximately one-fourth of the total workforce to approximately one-sixth of the total workforce.[248]

Reagan signing the Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 1983

Despite Reagan having opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965,[31] the bill was extended for 25 years in 1982.[249] He initially opposed the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day,[250] but signed a veto-proof bill to create the holiday in 1983, and also alluded to claims that King was associated with communists during his career.[251] In 1984, he signed legislation intended to impose fines for fair housing discrimination offenses.[252] In March 1988, Reagan vetoed the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, but Congress overrode his veto. He had argued that the bill unreasonably increased the federal government's power and undermined the rights of churches and business owners.[253] Later in September, legislation was passed to correct loopholes in the Fair Housing Act of 1968.[254][255]

Early in his presidency, Reagan appointed Clarence M. Pendleton Jr. as chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights to criticism for politicizing the agency. Pendleton and Reagan's subsequent appointees steered the commission in line with Reagan's views on civil rights, arousing the ire of civil rights advocates.[256] In 1987, Reagan unsuccessfully nominated Robert Bork to the Supreme Court as a way to achieve his civil rights policy that could not be fulfilled during his presidency; his administration had opposed affirmative action, particularly in education, federal assistance programs, housing and employment,[257] but Reagan reluctantly continued these policies.[258] In housing, Reagan's administration saw considerably fewer fair housing cases filed than the three previous administrations.[259] Reagan's recasting of civil rights through reduced enforcement of civil rights laws has been regarded by some as the largest since Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency.[260]

Reagan signing the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986

In response to concerns about the increasing crack epidemic, Reagan intensified the war on drugs in 1982.[261] While the American public did not see drugs as an important issue then, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Department of Defense all increased their anti-drug funding immensely.[262] Reagan's administration publicized the campaign to gain support after crack became widespread in 1985.[263] Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and 1988 to specify penalties for drug offenses.[264] Both bills have been criticized in the years since for promoting racial disparities.[265] Additionally, Nancy Reagan founded the "Just Say No" campaign to discourage others from engaging in recreational drug use and raise awareness about the dangers of drugs.[266] A 1988 study showed 39 percent of high school seniors using illegal drugs compared to 53 percent in 1980,[267] but Scott Lilienfeld and Hal Arkowitz say that the success of these types of campaigns have not been found to be affirmatively proven.[268]

Reagan meeting with Afghan mujahideen leaders , 1983

Reagan ordered a massive defense buildup;[269] he revived the B-1 Lancer program that had been rejected by the Carter administration,[270] and deployed the MX missile.[271] In response to Soviet deployment of the SS-20, he oversaw NATO's deployment of the Pershing missile in Western Europe.[272] In 1982, Reagan tried to cut off the Soviet Union's access to hard currency by impeding its proposed gas line to Western Europe. It hurt the Soviet economy, but it also caused much ill will among American allies in Europe who counted on that revenue; he later retreated on this issue.[273] In March 1983, Reagan introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to protect the United States from space intercontinental ballistic missiles. He believed that this defense shield could protect the country from nuclear destruction in a hypothetical nuclear war with the Soviet Union.[274] There was much disbelief among the scientific community surrounding the program's scientific feasibility, leading opponents to dub the SDI "Star Wars",[275] though Soviet leader Yuri Andropov said it would lead to "an extremely dangerous path".[276]

Reagan listening to Pakistani president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, 1982

In a 1982 address to the British Parliament, Reagan said, "the march of freedom and democracy... will leave Marxism–Leninism on the ash heap of history." Dismissed by the American press as "wishful thinking", Margaret Thatcher called the address a "triumph".[277] David Cannadine says of Thatcher that "Reagan had been grateful for her interest in him at a time when the British establishment refused to take him seriously" with the two agreeing on "building up stronger defenses against Soviet Russia" and both believing in outfacing "what Reagan would later call 'the evil empire'"[278] in reference to the Soviet Union during a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in March 1983.[232] After Soviet fighters downed Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in September, which included Larry McDonald and 61 other Americans, Reagan expressed outrage towards the Soviet Union.[279] The next day, reports suggested that the Soviets had fired on the plane by mistake.[280] In spite of the harsh, discordant rhetoric,[281] Reagan's administration continued discussions with the Soviet Union on START I.[282]

Reagan meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Oval Office, 1983

Although the Reagan administration agreed with the communist government in China to reduce the sale of arms to Taiwan in 1982,[283] Reagan himself was the first president to reject containment and détente, and to put into practice the concept that the Soviet Union could be defeated rather than simply negotiated with.[284] His covert aid to Afghan mujahideen forces through Pakistan against the Soviets has been given credit for assisting in ending the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.[285] However, the United States was subjected to blowback in the form of the Taliban that opposed them in the war in Afghanistan.[286] In his 1985 State of the Union Address, Reagan proclaimed, "Support for freedom fighters is self-defense."[287] Through the Reagan Doctrine, his administration supported anti-communist movements that fought against groups backed by the Soviet Union in an effort to rollback Soviet-backed communist governments and reduce Soviet influence across the world.[288] Critics have felt that the administration ignored the human rights violations in the countries they backed,[289] including genocide in Guatemala[290] and mass killings in Chad.[291]

Reagan discussing the Grenada situation with a bipartisan group of members of Congress, 1983

On October 19, 1983, Maurice Bishop was overthrown and murdered by one of his colleagues. Several days later, Reagan ordered American forces to invade Grenada. Reagan cited a regional threat posed by a Soviet-Cuban military build-up in the Caribbean nation and concern for the safety of hundreds of American medical students at St. George's University as adequate reasons to invade. Two days of fighting commenced, resulting in an American victory.[292] While the invasion enjoyed public support in the United States, it was criticized internationally, with the United Nations General Assembly voting to censure the American government.[293] Cannon later noted that throughout Reagan's 1984 presidential campaign, the invasion overshadowed the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings,[294] which killed 241 Americans taking part in an international peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War.[295]

1984 electoral vote results

Reagan announced his reelection campaign on January 29, 1984, declaring, "America is back and standing tall."[227] In February, his administration reversed the unpopular decision to send the United States Marine Corps to Lebanon, thus eliminating a political liability for him. Reagan faced minimal opposition in the Republican primaries,[296] and he and Bush accepted the nomination at the Dallas convention in August.[297] In the general election, his campaign ran the commercial, "Morning in America".[298] At a time when the American economy was already recovering,[217] former vice president Walter Mondale[299] was attacked by Reagan's campaign as a "tax-and-spend Democrat", while Mondale criticized the deficit, the SDI, and Reagan's civil rights policy. However, Reagan's age induced his campaign managers to minimize his public appearances. Mondale's campaign believed that Reagan's age and mental health were issues before the October presidential debates.[300]

Following Reagan's performance in the first debate where he struggled to recall statistics, his age was brought up by the media in negative fashion. Reagan's campaign changed his tactics for the second debate where he quipped, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." This remark generated applause and laughter,[301] even from Mondale. At that point, Broder suggested that age was no longer a liability for Reagan,[302] and Mondale's campaign felt that "the election was over".[303] In November, Reagan won a landslide reelection victory with 59 percent of the popular vote and 525 electoral votes from 49 states. Mondale won 41 percent of the popular vote and 13 electoral votes from the District of Columbia and his home state of Minnesota.[304]

Reagan has been criticized for his delayed and muted response to the AIDS epidemic. This 1987 art installation by ACT UP quotes Reagan on AIDS with a blank slate, representing total silence.

The AIDS epidemic began to unfold in 1981,[305] and AIDS was initially difficult to understand for physicians and the public.[306] As the epidemic advanced, according to White House physician and later physician to the president, brigadier general John Hutton, Reagan thought of AIDS as though "it was the measles and would go away". The October 1985 death of the President's friend Rock Hudson affected Reagan's view; Reagan approached Hutton for more information on the disease. Still, between September 18, 1985, and February 4, 1986, Reagan did not mention AIDS in public.[307]

In 1986, Reagan asked C. Everett Koop to draw up a report on the AIDS issue. Koop angered many evangelical conservatives, both in and out of the Reagan administration, by stressing the importance of sex education including condom usage in schools.[308] A year later, Reagan, who reportedly had not read the report,[309] gave his first speech on the epidemic when 36,058 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, and 20,849 had died of it.[310] Reagan called for increased testing (including routine testing for marriage applicants) and mandatory testing of select groups (including federal prisoners).[311] Even after this speech, however, Reagan remained reluctant to publicly address AIDS.[312]

Scholars and AIDS activists have argued that the Reagan administration largely ignored the AIDS crisis.[313][314][315] Randy Shilts and Michael Bronski said that AIDS research was chronically underfunded during Reagan's administration, and Bronski added that requests for more funding by doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were routinely denied.[316][317] In a September 1985 press conference (soon after Hollywood celebrity Rock Hudson had announced his AIDS diagnosis) Reagan called a government AIDS research program a "top priority", but also cited budgetary constraints.[318] Between the fiscal years of 1984 and 1989, federal spending on AIDS totaled $5.6 billion. The Reagan administration proposed $2.8 billion during this time period, but pressure from congressional Democrats resulted in the larger amount.[319]

Shortly after the 1984 election, Reagan met Desmond Tutu, who described Reagan's administration as "an unmitigated disaster for us blacks",[320] and Reagan himself as "a racist pure and simple".[321]

Opposition to apartheid strengthened during Reagan's first term in office as its component disinvestment from South Africa movement, which had been in existence for quite some years. The opposition also gained critical mass following in the United States, particularly on college campuses and among mainline Protestant denominations.[322][323] President Reagan was opposed to divestiture because, as he wrote in a letter to Sammy Davis Jr., it "would hurt the very people we are trying to help and would leave us no contact within South Africa to try and bring influence to bear on the government". He also noted the fact that the "American-owned industries there employ more than 80,000 blacks" and that their employment practices were "very different from the normal South African customs".[324] The anti-communist focus of Reagan's administration lent itself to closer ties with the apartheid regime of South Africa, particularly with regards to matters pertaining to nuclear weapons.[325]

The Reagan administration developed constructive engagement[326] with the South African government as a means of encouraging it to move away from apartheid gradually. It was part of a larger initiative designed to foster peaceful economic development and political change throughout southern Africa.[327] This policy, however, engendered much public criticism, and renewed calls for the imposition of stringent sanctions.[328] In response, Reagan announced the imposition of new sanctions on the South African government, including an arms embargo in late 1985.[329] These sanctions were seen as weak by anti-apartheid activists and as insufficient by the president's opponents in Congress.[328] In 1986, Congress approved the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which included tougher sanctions; Reagan's veto was overridden by Congress. Afterward, he remained opposed to apartheid and unsure of "how best to oppose it". Several European countries, as well as Japan, also imposed their sanctions on South Africa soon after.[330]

Reagan receiving a briefing on the Libya bombing, 1986

Contentious relations between Libya and the United States under President Reagan were revived in the West Berlin discotheque bombing that killed an American soldier and injured dozens of others on April 5, 1986. Stating that there was irrefutable evidence that Libya had a direct role in the bombing, Reagan authorized the use of force against the country. On April 14, the United States launched a series of airstrikes on ground targets in Libya.[331] Thatcher allowed the United States Air Force to use Britain's air bases to launch the attack, on the justification that the United Kingdom was supporting America's right to self-defense under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations.[332] The attack was, according to Reagan, designed to halt Muammar Gaddafi's "ability to export terrorism", offering him "incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior".[333] The attack was condemned by many countries; by an overwhelming vote, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to condemn the attack and deem it a violation of the Charter and international law.[334]

Reagan receiving the Tower Commission Report on the Iran–Contra affair, 1987

Reagan authorized William J. Casey to arm the Contras, fearing that Communists would take over Nicaragua if it remained under the leadership of the Sandinistas. Congress passed the 1982 Boland Amendment, prohibiting the CIA and United States Department of Defense from using their budgets to provide aid to the Contras. Still, the Reagan administration raised funds for the Contras from private donors and foreign governments.[335] When Congress learned that the CIA had secretly placed naval mines in Nicaraguan harbors, Congress passed a second Boland Amendment that barred granting any assistance to the Contras.[336] By mid-1985, Hezbollah began to take American hostages in Lebanon, holding seven of them in reaction to the United States' support of Israel.[337]

Reagan procured the release of seven American hostages held by Hezbollah by selling American arms to Iran, then engaged in the Iran–Iraq War, in hopes that Iran would pressure Hezbollah to release the hostages.[338] The Reagan administration sold over 2,000 missiles to Iran without informing Congress; Hezbollah released four hostages but captured an additional six Americans. On Oliver North's initiative, the administration redirected the proceeds from the missile sales to the Contras.[338] The transactions were exposed by Ash-Shiraa in early November 1986. Reagan initially denied any wrongdoing, but on November 25, he announced that John Poindexter and North had left the administration and that he would form the Tower Commission to investigate the transactions. A few weeks later, Reagan asked a panel of federal judges to appoint a special prosecutor who would conduct a separate investigation.[339]

The Tower Commission released a report in February 1987 confirming that the administration had traded arms for hostages and sent the proceeds of the weapons sales to the Contras. The report laid most of the blame on North, Poindexter, and Robert McFarlane, but it was also critical of Donald Regan and other White House staffers.[340] Investigators did not find conclusive proof that Reagan had known about the aid provided to the Contras, but the report noted that Reagan had "created the conditions which made possible the crimes committed by others" and had "knowingly participated or acquiesced in covering up the scandal".[341] The affair damaged the administration and raised questions about Reagan's competency and the wisdom of conservative policies.[342] The administration's credibility was also badly damaged on the international stage as it had violated its own arms embargo on Iran.[343]

Mikhail Gorbachev and Reagan signing the INF Treaty, 1987

Although the Soviets did not accelerate military spending in response to Reagan's military buildup,[344] their enormous military expenses, in combination with collectivized agriculture and inefficient planned manufacturing, were a heavy burden for the Soviet economy. At the same time, the prices of oil, the primary source of Soviet export revenues, fell to one third of the previous level in 1985. These factors contributed to a stagnant economy during Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure as the Soviet Union's leader.[345]

Reagan's foreign policy towards the Soviets wavered between brinkmanship and cooperation.[346] Reagan appreciated Gorbachev's revolutionary change in the direction of the Soviet policy and shifted to diplomacy, intending to encourage him to pursue substantial arms agreements.[284] They held four summit conferences between 1985 and 1988.[347] Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, this would lead to reform and the end of communism.[348] The critical summit was in Reykjavík in 1986, where they agreed to abolish all nuclear weapons. However, Gorbachev added the condition that SDI research must be confined to laboratories during the ten-year period when disarmament would take place. Reagan refused, stating that it was defensive only and that he would share the secrets with the Soviets, thus failing to reach a deal.[349]

In June 1987, Reagan addressed Gorbachev during a speech at the Berlin Wall, demanding that he "tear down this wall". The remark was ignored at the time, but after the wall fell in November 1989, it was retroactively recast as a soaring achievement.[350][351][352] In December, Reagan and Gorbachev met again at the Washington Summit[353] to sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, committing to the total abolition of their respective short-range and medium-range missile stockpiles.[354] The treaty established an inspections regime designed to ensure that both parties honored the agreement.[355] In May 1988, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the treaty,[356] providing a major boost to Reagan's popularity in the aftermath of the Iran–Contra affair. A new era of trade and openness between the two powers commenced, and the United States and Soviet Union cooperated on international issues such as the Iran–Iraq War.[357]

In 1989, in his first public appearance after leaving office and shortly after a mass shooting at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California, he stated: "I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen to own guns for sporting, for hunting, and so forth, or for home defense. But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for the defense of the home."[371][372]

In March 1991, Reagan wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, titled: “Why I’m for the Brady Bill.”[373][374] In 1994, Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter sent a letter to House members, urging them to support the controversial Federal Assault Weapons Ban.[375]

Reagan died of pneumonia, complicated by Alzheimer's,[376] at his home in Los Angeles, on June 5, 2004.[377] President George W. Bush called Reagan's death "a sad hour in the life of America".[376] His public funeral was held in the Washington National Cathedral,[378] where eulogies were given by Margaret Thatcher, Brian Mulroney, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.[379] Other world leaders attended including Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Wałęsa.[380] Reagan was interred at his presidential library.[379]

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

In 2008, British historian M. J. Heale summarized that scholars had reached a broad consensus in which "Reagan rehabilitated conservatism, turned the country to the right, practiced a 'pragmatic conservatism' that balanced ideology with the constraints of government, revived faith in the presidency and American self-respect, and contributed to critically ending the Cold War",[381] which ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[382] Many conservative and liberal scholars have agreed that Reagan has been the most influential president since Roosevelt, leaving his imprint on American politics, diplomacy, culture, and economics through his effective communication of his conservative agenda and pragmatic compromising.[383] During the initial years of Reagan's post-presidency, historical rankings placed his presidency in the twenties.[384] Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, his presidency was often placed in the top ten.[385][386]

Many proponents, including his Cold War contemporaries,[387][388] believe that his defense policies, economic policies, military policies, and hard-line rhetoric against the Soviet Union and communism, together with his summits with Gorbachev, played a significant part in ending the Cold War.[389][284] Professor Jeffrey Knopf argues that while Reagan's practice of referring to the Soviet Union as "evil" probably made no difference to the Soviet leaders, it possibly gave encouragement to Eastern European citizens who opposed their communist regimes.[284] President Truman's policy of containment is also regarded as a force behind the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan undermined the Soviet system itself.[390] Nevertheless, Melvyn P. Leffler called Reagan "Gorbachev's minor, yet indispensable partner, setting the framework for the dramatic changes that neither anticipated happening anytime soon".[391]

Critics, for example Paul Krugman, note Reagan's tenure as having begun a period of increased income inequality, sometimes called the "Great Divergence". Krugman also views Reagan as having initiated the ideology of the current-day Republican Party, which he feels is led by "radicals" who seek to "undo the twentieth century" gains in income equality and unionization.[392] Others, such as Nixon's Secretary of Commerce Peter G. Peterson, also criticize what they feel was not just Reagan's fiscal irresponsibility, but also ushering in an era where tax cutting "became the GOP's core platform". With resulting deficits and GOP leaders (speciously in Peterson's opinion) arguing supply-side gains would enable the country to "grow" its way out of deficits.[393]

Reagan was known for storytelling and humor,[394] which involved puns[395] and self-deprecation.[396] Reagan also often emphasized family values, despite being the first president to have been divorced.[397] He showed the ability to comfort Americans during the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.[398] Reagan's ability to talk about substantive issues with understandable terms and to focus on mainstream American concerns earned him the laudatory moniker the "Great Communicator".[399][394] He also earned the nickname "Teflon President" in that public perceptions of him were not substantially tarnished by the multitude of controversies that arose during his administration.[400][401]

Reagan led a new conservative movement, altering the political dynamic of the United States.[402] Conservatism became the dominant ideology for Republicans, displacing the party's faction of liberals and moderates.[403] In his time, men began voting more Republican, and women began voting more Democrat – a gender distinction that has persisted.[402] He was supported by young voters, an allegiance that shifted many of them to the party.[404] He attempted to appeal to black voters in 1980,[405] but would receive the lowest black vote for a Republican presidential candidate at the time.[406] Throughout Reagan's presidency, Republicans were unable to gain complete control of Congress.[407]

The period of American history most dominated by Reagan and his policies (particularly on taxes, welfare, defense, the federal judiciary, and the Cold War) is known as the Reagan era, which suggests that the "Reagan Revolution" had a lasting impact on the United States in domestic and foreign policy. The Bill Clinton administration is often treated as an extension of the era, as is the George W. Bush administration.[408] Since 1988, Republican presidential candidates have invoked Reagan's policies and beliefs.[409] Carlos Lozada noted Trump's praising of Reagan in a book he published during his 2016 campaign.[410]

• Ronald Reagan Foundation and Presidential Library
• Ronald Reagan on whitehouse.gov
• The Ronald W. Reagan Society of Eureka College

• Appearances on C-SPAN
  • "Life Portrait of Ronald Reagan", from American Presidents: Life Portraits, December 6, 1999
• Ronald Reagan Oral Histories at Miller Center
• Ronald Reagan's timeline at PBS
• Reagan Library's channel on YouTube

• Ronald Reagan collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Ronald Reagan from The Washington Post
• Ronald Reagan at CNN
• Ronald Reagan collected news and commentary at The Guardian

• Ronald Reagan at IMDb 
• Works by or about Ronald Reagan at Internet Archive
• Ronald Reagan at Miller Center