Anonymous Humanities Terry and Martinez 12th February, 2015 Ronald Reagan was an extremely important and influential president. The decisions and actions that took place during his presidency greatly improved the economy in the United States. Ronald Reagan was an American politician and actor who was adored by his country. He created an economic boom that lasted 20 years and earned the title “Reaganomics”. Reagan was instrumental in ending the Cold War. Ronald Reagan was loved and appreciated prior to his roles as Governor and President. In his early twenties, Reagan attended Eureka College in Illinois, where he participated in small plays and productions. He later moved to Hollywood to pursue his acting career after winning a screen contest. …show more content…
Many praised Reagan for his economics skills which earned the title “Reaganomics” that is still appreciated today. Reaganomics included the idea of the “trickle down effect”. When taxes are lower, the wealthy have more money to employ people who are out of work. Those newly employed people now have an income to purchase property and other goods, which helps the economy. When the economy is improving, the poor are at an advantage because there are increasingly greater job openings. Furthermore, another element that contributed to Reaganomics was that Reagan strengthened national defense. Prior to rebuilding the armed forces, the US army did not rival that of other countries. In his autobiography, Reagan speaks of feeling the need to have an army which would rival that of Germany. By the time a presidential summit was held in Switzerland, the US’s national defense was clearly superior to Germany’s. Reagan made sure that Gorbachev, the leader of Germany was aware of this fact and wrote about their discussion as follows: “ ‘We have a choice, I told him. ‘We can agree to reduce arms-or we can continue the arms race, which I think you know you can’t win.’ ”. With the help and eventual cooperation of Gorbachev, the Cold War and potential nuclear war was put to an end in 1989. Next, another branch of Reaganomics includes the Reagan Revolution. This revolution aimed to lower the country’s dependence on the government. Reagan was a Republican, who was in favor of a smaller government. When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, the misery index, which is a combination of the inflation and unemployment rate, was at an astonishing 19.99 percent. By the time his second term came to an end, the misery index had been lowered to 9.72