Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan served two terms as governor of California before becoming president in 1981. A former actor and union president, he had moved from the Democratic Party to conservative Republican politics. He entered the White House amid high inflation, economic stagnation, and the aftermath of the Iranian hostage crisis. His administration sought to restore American military strength and reduce the federal government’s role in domestic economic life. ¹

Reagan increased defense spending, supported deployment of American intermediate-range missiles in Europe, and announced the Strategic Defense Initiative, a proposed defense against ballistic missiles. His administration supplied anti-communist forces in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, and elsewhere. American troops intervened in Grenada in 1983, while a separate deployment in Lebanon ended after a suicide bombing killed hundreds of American servicemen. These policies combined opposition to Soviet influence with contested interventions in regional conflicts. ²

Relations with the Soviet Union changed after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. Reagan and Gorbachev held successive summits and signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987, eliminating an entire category of their countries’ ground-launched missiles. At the same time, the Iran-Contra affair exposed secret arms sales to Iran and diversion of proceeds to Nicaraguan rebels despite congressional restrictions. Investigations raised questions about executive accountability and Reagan’s supervision of foreign policy. ²

Reagan’s domestic program included substantial tax reductions, efforts to restrain social spending, and deregulation. The 1986 tax reform lowered rates and removed many deductions. Economic expansion followed the severe recession of the early 1980s, but federal deficits and debt increased, and the gains were unevenly distributed. His administration’s slow public response to AIDS drew sustained criticism. Reagan strengthened the conservative movement’s influence over national politics even as practical compromises limited the reduction of federal responsibilities. ³