How Did Ronald Reagan Influence The Conservative Movement

Ronald Reagan was one of the greatest Presidents in the history of this nation, and he accomplished great things that were of great beneficial to the nation. First off, The Cold War had raged since World War II and communism‘s quest for world domination remained an existential threat to the United States when President Reagan took office. Reagan reversed the policy of detente and stood firm against the Soviet Union, calling it the Evil Empire and telling Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” in Berlin. He was relentless in pushing his Strategic Defense Initiative and gave aid to rebels battling Soviet-backed Marxists from Nicaragua to Angola. Those efforts were critical in the ultimate collapse of the Soviet empire and essentially ended

The Republican Party was at its nadir after Watergate, but Reagan was able to form a winning coalition of fiscal conservatives, family-values voters, blue-collar Reagan Democrats and neo-conservative intellectuals and set the stage for future GOP electoral gains. His free-market, small-government, pro-liberty conservatism helped to revitalize the GOP and his influence resonates today as conservative candidates still invoke Reagan as their standard-bearer. The military was abated during the Carter years, but Reagan reversed it by rebuilding the armed forces. He revived the B-1 bomber that Carter canceled, starting production of the MX missile, and pushing NATO to deploy Pershing missiles in West Germany. Also, he increased defense spending by more than 40%, increased troop levels, and even got much-needed space parts into the pipeline, which ensured that America remained a military superpower. Moreover, Morning in America was basically a slogan for Reagan’s 1984 reelection bid, but it symbolized a new beginning for the country. Reagan’s jaunty optimism and an economic boom was a much-needed tonic for a country that had experienced the malaise of the Carter years and the traumas of Watergate and

building the system was instrumental in the Soviet Union’s collapse. The successful use of Patriot missile batteries in the first Gulf War proved the critics wrong, and the missile defense system that ensued has lessened the threat of ballistic missiles. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty he signed with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons. He also laid the framework with Gorbachev for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which reduced both countries’ arsenals of nuclear weapons. Reagan gave voice to the values that had served America well; she championed the causes of the pro-life and family-values movements that sought to counter the societal upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. Not only did he cut tax rates, but the Tax Reform Act of 1986 simplified the income-tax code by eliminating many tax shelters, reducing the number of deductions and tax brackets. Finally, Reagan gave the workers an ultimatum when members of the federal air traffic controllers union (PATCO) went on strike, violating a federal regulation, and ended up firing more than 11,000 of the controllers, sending a strong signal that union workers needn’t be