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Ronald Reagan Economic Policy Research Paper

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Reagan’s Policies Ronald Reagan, with his starting image of honesty and integrity, was one of America’s most iconic and most celebrated leaders. As evidenced by the mere invocation of his name in modern politics because of its positive connotation, Reagan has had a profound effect on America. There is no doubt that he left behind a legacy of his own that would carry into the future of the United States. However, Reagan’s conservative economic, foreign, and social policies ended up creating more obstacles for the nation to overcome in the long run. When Reagan became president, he promised to minimize government regulations, lower taxes, and balance the budget. His economic policies, alternatively known as “Reaganomics”, were designed to …show more content…

His lack of efficient management of his administration resulted in the Iran-Contra scandal that would shadow his presidency. In 1985, under his own nose, Reagan’s administration sold weapons to Iranians in exchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. Money from the this payment was given to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Not only did this go against the congressional ban on military assistance to the rebels, but it also went against Reagan’s promise that he wouldn’t traffic with terrorists. Initially stating that he didn’t trade arms for hostages, Reagan ended up taking full responsibility in the end, when faced with all the evidence. This incident was the first “crack” on Reagan’s integrity as a new image of him portrayed him as an ignorant president who paid little attention to his …show more content…

He rejected affirmative action and abortion, two distinct liberal political ideas. In addition, he also appointed three conservative justices onto the Supreme Court. In the court case Ward’s Cove Packing v. Antonia the Court made it harder to provide evidence that a company was intentionally discriminating racially when it hired new employees. This was a major setback for affirmative action policies as reverse discrimination could now be easily claimed. In Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, the Court undermined Roe v. Wade’s ruling on abortion rights. States began to legislate in areas that the previous Roe had forbidden them to legislate in. As a result, pro-choice organizations were forced into a new militancy as the issue of abortion was disputed throughout the nation. This cultural disagreement over the right of abortion would continue on, even after Reagan’s presidency. Furthermore, Reagan was painfully slow in the recognition of another national problem that arose in the 1980s, the advent of the disease AIDS. For a period of time, Reagan showed no intention of speaking about the epidemic, not even uttering its name in public. When he did take action, many believed that it was too late because he had failed to bring national awareness when lives had already been lost. Reagan’s stance on domestic policies brought about more issues within the nation that would

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President Reagan believed that by doing this it would benefit the economy by making it grow. This all transferred to his domestic policy which

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According to The Reagan Presidency (n.d.), Ronald Reagan ran on a platform of smaller government, lower taxes, and a more robust military. He argued that the country was facing an economic crisis due to high inflation, high unemployment, and high taxes, and he promised to restore prosperity and national pride. Reagan emphasized the importance of individual freedom and personal responsibility, and he spoke out against what he saw as excessive government regulation and intrusion into people's lives. He also stressed the need for a strong national defense and a more assertive foreign policy to counter the Soviet Union's influence and aggression.

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Introduction Perhaps no aspect of Ronald Reagan’s presidency is so greatly praised—or so heavily criticized—as Reaganomics. Reaganomics is the nickname of President Reagan’s modified version of supply-side economics, which the President hoped would combat the weak economic performance of the 1970s. As inflation and unemployment soared while economic growth stagnated through the mid to late 1970s, public opinion turned against President Carter as Americans blamed him for the so-called “stagflation” that burdened the nation. As Americans searched for a solution, then-governor of California Ronald Reagan offered one as he campaigned for the Republican nomination in the 1980 presidential election.

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Although some questioned his skills, none questioned his tenacity. During Reagan’s first four months in office, he went on to meet with Congress over seventy times to discuss his military buildup plans and tax and budget cuts (page 110, ibook). On July 29, 1981, Congress passed a series of tax cuts that reduced the federal budget by 25% over three years. Although this seemed like a great start, Reagan did this so he would be able to boost his military spending and that’s exactly what he did. He once said “defense is not a budget item, you spend what you need” (p. 182 ibook).

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people were getting taxed to much, and Soviets were gaining too much control (Brands 209). In his first one hundred days he wanted nothing more than an economic recovery, later to be called the Reagan Revolution. It was a tax cut, reduction in domestic spending, and a balanced budget (Schaller 33). This was called supply side economics, or Reaganomics. He believed this would stimulate product activity which

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When president Reagan entered the oval office in 1981, his first priority was to stimulate economic growth for generations to come. Reagan’s plan consisted of four economic pillars, they are as follows: to reduce the growth of government spending, to reduce the marginal tax rates on income from both labor and capital, reduce regulation, and to reduce inflation by controlling the money supply (Niskanen, 2002). Reagan’s policies created an economic boom during 1983, however, it is argued that Reagan’s policies increased the national debt for years to come and widened the gap between the rich and the poor (ushistory.org, 2016). Reagan helped America escape the stagflation it faced through most of the 1970’s through four major policy changes (Niskanen,

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The Reagan administration’s actions and the way America responds to this

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Ronald Reagan’s presidencies are commonly referred to as “The Reagan Era,” which was full of ups and downs. He was strongly supported for his familiar and casual rhetoric, although it often reflected his lack of knowledge on the topics he dealt with. One occurrence where his amiable and humorous demeanor settled itself negatively within his career was in 1984 when he “...made a joke about bombing Russia. The recording was transmitted to the press…” (History.com). This slip revealed how reckless of a figure Reagan was, and gave the public reason to question his adaptation of what is appropriate at the executive level, thus questioning his credibility.

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Despite these disappointing low moments, Reagan still managed to end his presidency with one of the highest approval ratings. One low in particular was the iran-contra affair which damaged the reputation of the government after the affair became exposed in a Lebanese magazine. (1) The Iran-contra

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He started economic reforms called, “Reaganomics” which spurred growth and cut taxes for others. By this you can see that he really cared for the rights others had. I also think that it showed how wise he was to create his own reform that assisted the people economically. This helped because it reduced the growth that the government was spending. This is another important thing he did for us.

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Reagan was on opposition to all government health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. He took shots at Medicare by saying it was "traditional method of imposing socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. " His Supply Side economics lowers taxes in order to keep more of your money where people will invest in more and create new jobs. It also will make people want to work more knowing that they will be able to keep more of their money. Reagan's foreign policy has had many accomplishments!

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Reagan possessed visionary ideas on how to protect America from Soviet missiles through the Strategic Defense Initiative. Additionally, by selling arms to Iran, Reagan focused his ethics on securing the release of seven American hostages. Reagan created a felt need for change, inspired America’s intellectual stimulation, faced ethical dilemmas and had to think critically to solve problems. In his eyes, the old ways of doing business were outdated.

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What made his policy victories possible was his willingness, when faced with political reality, to make pragmatic compromises without seeming to abandon his ideals. Reagan 's presidency was marked by inconsistencies, so his legacies are mixed: in his individual character, in his policy legacy, and in his constitutional role as custodian of the

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1498 Words | 6 Pages

also his cold warhawk ideas to hard line against the soviet union. (Reagan revolution. Par.3) “Since the end of world war II,the United states and the Soviet Union had both grown into super powers and become powerful enemies. for over 40 years, the two nation engaged in a “cold war”: jockeying for dominance on the world stage”(Ronald Reagan and the Cold War, Par. 2) Reagan had a 2 part plan to collapse the “evil empire” of the USSR. He spent a great deal pf american money to invest in military build up.

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Ronald Reagan’s presidency was an important era in American history because it vastly shaped America's transition into the twenty-first century. Reagan is considered by many to be a near-great president and is very high on the list of most influential American presidents. His contributions to the country, as well as his leadership skills, have been appreciated for many years. Reagan entered political office with many goals, and he succeeded in accomplishing many of them. One of Reagan’s main objectives was to end the Cold War.

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