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Ronald Wilson Reagan presidency

The post war period marked the transition of the lives of the American

society under the leadership of Ronald Wilson Reagan. He was voted in to be

the president at the age of 69 years being the oldest president to assume

power in the history of the United States. From the internal and external

assessment, President Ronald Reagan was a transformational leader (Berman

125). This owes to his effort in having a symbiotic relationship with the

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during their four summit meetings that

eventually set the platform for a diplomatic resolution of the Cold War.

Though his partisans were quick to assert that since the Soviet Union had

disappeared, Reagan had "won" the Cold War. Nevertheless, Reagan and

Gorbachev declared that the entire universe had won. He as well had the

reason to believe that the west were victorious in the cold war. Externally,

the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Reagan’s dependable ally,

wrote that Reagan attained the most difficult of all political responsibilities

such as changing attitudes and views about what is conceivable. During his

presidency, the number of democratic nations as well as the reach of free-

market ideology expanded due to his strong convictions, he set out to

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broaden freedom the world at a time when freedom was in turmoil 9Berman

126).

According to scholars, there are a variety of explanations for why the Cold

War ended the way it did and for the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union

(Strober, & Strober 77). While some cite the U.S. military buildup under President

Reagan and the pressures applied by his program, the Strategic Defense

Initiative, others put emphasis on the increased restiveness of Eastern

European nations, particularly Poland, and Soviet overreach in Afghanistan.

Still others point to the implosion of the Soviet economy after 7 decades of

Communist rule. Although historians have reached no agreement on the

weight that should be given to these various aspects, it is clear that Reagan

and his policies contributed to the outcome both internally as well as

externally

As far as his legacy is concerned, his economic heritage is diverse. While

tax reduction and tightening of interest rates by the Federal Reserve led to a

record period of peacetime economic growth the growth was accompanied

by record growth in the national debt, the federal budget deficit, and the

trade deficit. Reagan’s supporters claim that the big chunk of the deficit was

caused by increased military spending that declined after the Soviet downfall

and created the context for balanced budgets during the Clinton reign.

Despite that however, the supply-side tax cuts did not create the increase in

revenues that Reagan had expected (Rogin 87). Economists like Robert

Samuelson suggested that Reagan's main accomplishment in the economic

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sector was his reliable support of the Federal Reserve, which under Reagan's

appointee Alan Greenspan, followed financial policies that kept inflation low.

In addition, Reagan succeeded in a principal goal of decreasing the marginal

income tax rate, which was 70 percent when he took office and 28 percent at

the end of his term.

In line with that, Reagan left a monumental political legacy. This was

exhibited during his second term reelection in a 49-state landslide in 1984; it

became evident that Democrats would be unlikely to return to the White

House under a traditional liberal banner. This enabled Bill Clinton's centrist

capture of the Democratic nomination and the presidency in 1992.

Reagan ran for office as a foreigner who was strong-minded to restore

traditional standards. He was a master politician who expanded the reach of

his party at home and pursued his vision of a nuclear-free world abroad (Rogin

101). This owed to his intentions to introduce his nuclear policy. This was evident in his

script that included the “evil empire” part. This is enough evidence to demonstrate that the

president exceptionally effective in nailing on the needs of the nation.

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Works Cited

Berman, Larry. Looking back on the Reagan presidency. Johns Hopkins Univ Pr, 1990.

Rogin, Michael. Ronald Reagan the movie: And other episodes in political demonology. Univ of

California Press, 1988.

Strober, Deborah Hart, and Gerald S. Strober. The Reagan presidency: An oral history of the era.

Potomac Books, Inc., 2003.