Welcome to the 1st in our “Past Presidents” series in which we will take a look back at all of our nations former presidents.
Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois. After graduating from Eureka College, he tried his hand as a radio sports announcer before moving to Los Angeles in 1937 to pursue a movie career. He was signed to a 7-year contract and made several dozen movies before being called to active duty in 1942. He worked in films and promotions, never serving outside the U.S. or seeing active duty. He returned to films after returning from the war in 1945, but he never reached star status. He served as President of the Screen Actors Guild, a trade union, throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
His 1964 “Time for Choosing” speech promoting smaller government in support of Barry Goldwater launched him into national political prominence. He won the race for Governor of California in 1967. As Governor, he froze hiring and raised taxes to balance the budget. He also sent armed police and the National Guard to quell anti-war student protests that erupted in bloodshed. He survived an unsuccessful recall attempt and was reelected in 1970. Many of his presidential policies were shaped at this time.
Reagan had no luck in stealing the Republican presidential nomination from Gerald Ford in 1976, but he was successful in 1980 and beat incumbent Jimmy Carter for the White House. The Iran hostage crisis and Carter’s inability to bring the hostages home has been named as a factor in his loss. However, new information has come to light that suggests that Reagan’s campaign staff negotiated a deal to keep the hostages captive until Reagan was elected, then let them be released on the day of his inauguration.
About two months into his presidency, Reagan was the victim of an assassination attempt. Though it was brushed off as not serious, it has since come out that Reagan actually came very close to death. White House Press Secretary James Brady had been shot in the head, but survived with permanent disabilities. Reagan recovered and was out of the hospital in about 2 weeks and the incident cemented his popularity. His near-death experience convinced him that he was spared by God for the purpose of defeating Communism.
Domestically, Reagan is best remembered for his supply-side economics policies, dubbed “Reaganomics.” The rationale is that tax cuts and breaks to the wealthy and business will trickle down to benefit all of society. Top tier tax rates were cut from 70% to 28%. However, each budget included new sets of taxes for programs such as TEFRA, Social Security, and the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984. The perception of lower taxes for all helped Reagan to remain popular and tax revenue doubled during his administration. While tax cuts were occurring, the nation’s deficit increased exponentially from $700 billion to $3 trillion, due in great part to 40% increase in real spending on defense. His “less government” philosophy spurred cuts in entitlements and basic services and Social Security rolls were purged. Savings and loans (S&Ls) were deregulated, and along with changes made during the Tax Reform Act of 1986, eventually lead to 747 S&L failures to risky business practices. The subsequent bailout cost American taxpayers $124.6 billion. He also began the “War on Drugs.”
Reagan’s biggest arguable impact was in foreign policy. He is credited by most conservatives with ending the Cold War by escalating military spending and stockpiling to a point where the Soviet Union could no longer afford to keep up. The threat of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or Star Wars project, is also sited by past administration officials as having an impact on the standoff. Reagan negotiated several weapons treaties during his time in office. He invested in several covert anti-Communist operations in Third World countries. He ordered the invasion of the island of Granada to topple its pro-Communist government. Aid provided by the U.S. helped the Taliban in Afghanistan oust the Soviet Army in a ten-year struggle. Reagan also sent money to aid the Contras of Nicaragua in their effort to overthrow the Communist Sandinista government. This covert support brought about one of the great political scandals of the 20th century and had the potential to lead to impeachment.
Reagan was committed to wiping out Communism and set his sights on the Sandinista regime. He directed money, arms and assistance to be sent to the anti-communist guerilla group known as the Contras, who were trying to overthrow the Sandinista regime. After a few years of support, Congress specifically outlawed the sending any aid to the Contras. The Reagan Administration was still committed to helping the Contras, so a plan was devised for arms to be sold to Israel as reimbursement for weapons they sold to Iran. At this time, there was a U.S. trade embargo with Iran due to the Iran hostage crisis and the emergence of the Ayatollah Khomeni to power. A portion of the money from the sale was sent to the Contras.
Colonel Oliver North claims that he had direct conversations with officials in the Reagan Administration about the plan, that both Reagan and George Bush Sr. were present at these meetings, and that both were kept fully abreast of the proceedings. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and Secretary of State George Schultz were also fully aware of what was going on. When the scandal broke in November of 1986, the Tower Commission was created to investigate the charges. Under oath, Reagan, Bush and other senior officials claimed no knowledge of what was going on. The Tower Commission did not indict Reagan, but did say that if he did not know, he should have. Evidence has come to light strongly suggesting that Reagan did know, and approved of the actions, but that others in the Administration chose to fall on their swords in order to avoid another Watergate.
After leaving office, Reagan retired to California. In 1994, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and went public with the news. Over the next 10 years, he suffered from declining health, before succumbing to pneumonia related to Alzheimer’s on June 5, 2004.
Upcoming in part 2 of the series will be Thomas Jefferson.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve got to say I didn’t think much of this piece. It was slanted in the worst “media” fashion.
Reagan had no luck in stealing the Republican presidential nomination from Gerald Ford in 1976
Why “stealing”? Ford inherited the Presidency, he did not earn it.
new information has come to light that suggests that Reagan’s campaign staff negotiated a deal to keep the hostages captive until Reagan was elected.
Is it too much to ask for fact rather than rumor when giving “history” lessons. I’ve heard the same stuff you have and the funny thing is the claim is that in July Reagan’s people made this deal. Since the election was not until November, I am amazed that the Iranians were able to deduce a Reagan Victory and to go along with his plan. Maybe, just maybe, the Iranians let the hostages go just before Reagan took office because he referred to the hostages as “prisoners of war”.
Reagan recovered and was out of the hospital in about 2 weeks and the incident cemented his popularity
Really. His popularity plummeted throughout his first year in office and well into his second year. The Republicans lost a lot of seats in Congress in the mid-term elections.
After this your piece is about his raising taxes, and funding insurgencies in other countries. Hardly an honest and complete assessment of the Man’s Presidency.
While I don’t worship the man, I do expect honesty and even handedness when an essay is published.
As a reader from across the pond, I am afraid that Ronnie is viewed as a bit of a joke – perhaps not as bad as Dubya though.
As an American who lived across the pond while Reagan was President, I saw firsthand the hatred and envy that the Brits had for my country and our leader. The fear spread by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Labour Party, and other leftist groups was palpable. He was no joke. Chamberlain was a joke. When your most famous quote was “Tear down this wall”, and the wall comes down within years, you’re no joke. When your most famous quote is “Peace in our time” and the entire world is embroiled in war within a few years, you are a joke.
Ta
The unbiased, “Just the Facts Mam” approach is of course what is required for your article. Excellent text book reporting.
But that’s like saying Bob Dylan was a well known songwriter with only a few #1 hits, and struggled with his singing. Many people didn’t “like” his voice. In spite of the this fact he was very popular.
The unbiased historical view would likely not mention the fact that he was a genius, and influenced the future of musical and political thought.
Likewise, President Reagan was, in this bloggers way of thinking, a political genius, accomplishing the rare feat of inspiring a nation to patriotism. His demeanor and rock solid principles changed a nation seen as a paper tiger into a champion of the weak throughout the world, and someone who was not trifled with by those hostile to our great nation.
He was a leader in the sense that he stood on his principles and could not give a damn about kissing up to the press or anyone else. The facts would indicate he was “The Great Communicator” because of his acting background, but given thought, one realizes he was only a average actor, some say poor, yet he led the Free World, and defeated the worlds greatest threat. Hardly the work of an average actor.
Even Obama was forced to quote Reagan, act like he respected Reagan, just to survive the elections, so that he can now denigrate everything this great man stood for.
Let it be known, President Reagan was no ordinary President, his spirit and love of this country, all her people, and the founding principles are the intangibles that cause millions still to tear up when listening to the great words of this great man.