Ronald Reagan's Accomplishments

Jonathan M. Schoenwald begins his passage talking about how Reagan wasn’t officially running for any office positions. However, he appeared to be the most dynamic force in American political conservatism in 1965. The figure that brought all these disparate strands together was Ronald Reagan, and he reached stardom as an actor in television before turning to politics. The combination of his acting skills and his ability to understand what his audience wanted to hear made his pronouncements irresistible. He first gained political prominence with a nationwide televised speech in 1964 in support of Barry Goldwater. Goldwater had placed principle before personality, but with the party principles solidly in place, all the movement needed was a person

Eventually, he was going on the path towards winning the presidency from Jimmy Carter. Reagan won overwhelming re-election in 1984 against Carter's vice president. President Reagan's endless optimism and his ability to honor the achievements and aspirations of the American people continued throughout his two terms in office. He was a figure of reassurance and stability for many Americans. Despite his capacity for misstatements, Reagan was known as the "Great Communicator," fundamentally for his mastery of television. Reagan thought that government intruded too deeply into American life. He wanted to cut programs he fought the country did not need, and his approach was by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. During his tenure, Reagan also continued a program of deregulation more thoroughgoing than that established by Jimmy Carter. Reagan sought to eliminate regulations concerning the consumer, the workplace and the environment that he argued were inefficient, expensive and impeded economic

Without a doubt, Reagan shaped its ideology and direction more than any other person in the 20th century. A definite understanding of his impact on the face of Conservatism requires a summing up of intellectual drifts in the movement as he appeared on the national scene. Ronald Reagan made his shift from card-carrying liberal to confirmed Conservative in the years just after World War II. It was at that point that one branch of the Conservative Movement reached its peak and began its rather precipitous decline. Historians refer to this category as the “Old Right.” These views can be summed up in the statement that the mere long-time presence of an institution designed an arrogance that it must have great value. Therefore, this was the idea that old systems should not be changed except for great cause. When Ronald Reagan came to power in 1981, most of his staff came from the Neoconservative side of the movement. Old Right attempts to gain seats of authority were mostly opposed. It is true that it has some ideas in common with the Old Right, such as opposition to communism, support for free markets and limited government, and respect for religion. To them, the vast majority of Americans supported their views, not the views of moderate and liberal Republicans. Though like Old Right leaders in some respects, they came at problems from a business and practical