Ronald Reagan's Political Career Essay

917 Words4 Pages

Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States. President Reagan’s views changed throughout his career. He had a successful political career as governor of California and eventually President. Reagan made many accomplishments while in office including domestic and foreign. President Reagan’s party identification was Democratic in the beginning of his career. A party identification is defined as “the extent to which citizens relate to, or support a specific political party” (Lawrence, 101). However, is views gradually changed to be more conservative during the start of his political career and in 1960 he officially became a part of the Republican party. Reagan decided to abandon the beliefs of the Democratic party because he no …show more content…

He gave a simple speech that won the people over by explaining the need to for a “common sense” to be brought back to the government. Reagan served two terms as California governor. During his time as governor, Reagan made many cuts in education and social services.
He first made cuts to government hiring to slow down the state workforce. Reagan proposed that more than 4,000 jobs be cut from the state within 18 months. The California economy had moved into politics of abundance; services the people began to expect. According to the text, all of this is what attracted more people to come to California, but eventually, the negatives started to outweigh the positives. Reagan, therefore, tried to reverse these policies and “declared small is beautiful” (Lawrence, 33).
Due to the various cuts made, the government was then able to offer tax rebates and property tax relief. Reagan made many cuts but also increased taxes in order to balance the budget of the state. During his second term in the California governor’s mansion, Reagan’s biggest achievement was within the welfare system. The number of participants on welfare was significantly decreased and payments increased for those who still needed the help. With many positive achievements while in office as governor of California, the door was opened for Reagan as a leading candidate for the presidential election of