In 1 996, Reagan ran as republican candidate for governor of California, and won the election. With his first run in politics it gave him his ticket to become a major influence for the nation. Reggae’s biggest problem on his path to presidency was the concern about his age. His age did not stop him from running for president. He made and wrote many ads and editorials each week that aired on the television and on multiple newspapers across the United States. Through his speeches and his role in trying to reach the people he built a positive image for the growing number of public voters.
Reagan blamed President Carter for the dull and sluggish economy, which was effected by high unemployment, the rising prices and the decline of standard living. A main priority in his campaign was to reach out to the voters and ask them if the present is better than it was four years ago before Jimmy Carter became president Ronald Reagan won by a major landslide due to many independents and Democrats who joined the Republican voters in electing him the fortieth president of the united States.
In Reagan is first inaugural address, he made confident and inspirational statements about his strategies and priorities for the nation. “We are a nation that has a government-not the there way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed. It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment…
Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it’s not my intention to do away with the government. It is rather to make it work-work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not mother it; foster productivity, not stifle it. ” 1 President Reagan was eager and determined to fix the economy. He proposed many policies to cut taxes and help business and the effect was seen for six straight months where there was economic growth.
Many more people were TABLE to find a job; during his time of presidency there was fifteen million more jobs than in 1982. President Reggae’s supporters where disappointed with the big budget deficits. The National defense and the economic recovery were President Reggae’s main priorities in rebuilding America. His priorities led to him challenging the Cold War and the Soviet Union. He believed that America needed both economic and military strength in order to win.
The once widely held view that Ronald Reagan stumbled his way through the end Of the Cold War by good luck alone has been shattered by two recent books?one by a conservative scholar, and the other by a liberal intellectual historian. Together, these two books, building on the work of previous scholars since the collapse of the Soviet empire, catapult Reagan to the forefront of presidential greatness. 2 Reggae’s goal was to defeat communism and winning the Cold war can be inked to his early struggle in Hollywood with communism.
Reagan fought against an attempt to take over the union; his fellow actor Sterling Hayden called him “a one man battalion. ” 3 Reagan continued to speak out against communism and the Soviet Union when he entered the national political arena during the Goldwater presidential campaign in 1964. Ronald was consistently advocating winning the Cold War than settling for the “containment?’ of communism. His will to end communism lead him to joining the “crusade for Freedom,” a group that called back the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe. He gave speeches at anti-communist meeting and also made anti-communist documentaries.
In 1967 during a debate with Robert Kennedy, Reagan prophesied that his actions as president in the next 20 years, would bring down the Berlin Wall. The Nixon-Ford- Kissing approach to d©tenet with the Soviet Union caused Reagan to challenge Ford for the republican nomination for president. Reagan nearly lost, although he and his followers controlled the GOFF”s foreign policy platform which abandoned the notion of d©tenet. Peter Cheerier, based at the Hoover Institution, was the first scholar to significantly make the case that Ronald Reagan deliberately set out to win the Cold War.
In two books?victory: The Reagan Administration’s Secret Strategy That Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union and Reggae’s War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism Cheerier used interviews with some of Reggae’s national security and foreign policy staffers, national security directives, Reggae’s speeches and private correspondence, and documents from several foreign countries, to argue that Reagan intentionally abandoned d©tenet, moved beyond a passive containment logic, and pursued a strategy of victory. Reagan had a well formed strategy to exploit the Soviet vulnerabilities, especially the economical side. The first being covering financial and intelligence support to Poland and other opposition groups within the Soviet empire. Second strategy was to support the Afghan resistance with financial and military support. The third was to reduce the Soviet hard currency earnings. The fourth strategy was a campaign to limit Soviet access to the economy. The fifth strategy was an effort to help disrupt the Soviet economy. His sixth plan was to buildup a sieve U. S. Defense.
Arnold’s final strategy to his master plan of exploiting the Soviet Union was to be there for the anti- communist forces in third world countries with financial, military and logistical support. 5 On May 17, 1 981, Reagan gave the first public hint of the new strategy at a speech at Notre Dame University. He said, the West won’t contain communism, it will transcend communism. “It will dismiss it,” he explained, “as some bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written. ” A year later, in his Westminster address in England, Reagan spoke of a long- ERM “policy’ that would leave communism “on the ash heap of history. Reagan noted that the Soviet Logion was “in crisis,” and “in deep economic difficulty,” explaining that it’s political structure “no longer corresponds to its President Reagan strongly disliked the d©tenet policy; economic base. “6 he believed this approach would not bring a successful end to the Cold War. In a news conference Reagan expressed his hatred for “So far d©tent’s been a one-way street that the Soviet Union has used to pursue its 01,www aims. Their goal must be the promotion of world revolution and a one world communist r socialist state. 7 President Reagan could not have d©tenet for the Cold War because the Soviets would consider it a weakness for the United States. Instead of d©tenet, the president wanted peace by building America’s economic and military power. He said, “Our strategy is defensive; our aim is to protect the peace by ensuring that no adversaries ever conclude they could best us in a war of their own choosing. “8 Reagan believed that having a secure position on the military and economic power he could not only contain the Soviet Communism but he could also end it. Ronald believed that the
Soviet Union was not as strong as they appeared to be and if the United States was to challenge them they would fall quickly. Reagan dared the Soviets to compete with the United States military technology and weapons; he knew that they would run out of money trying to match them. President Reagan formed another policy in where he set out freedom and democracy throughout the world, predicting that given a choice, people everywhere would reject totalitarian government. “A people free to choose will always choose peace. ‘9 In the new policy, called the “Reagan Doctrine” was expressed in his speech in British parliament. History teaches the dangers of government that overreaches-political control taking precedence over free economic growth, secret police, mindless bureaucracy, all combining to stifle individual excellence and personal freedom… ” 10 President Reggae’s policies were designed to spread freedom and democracy around the world and halt the advancement of Soviet communism. Reggae’s plan of daring the Soviets to match their technology and military strength took a toll on the Soviets and weakened there global strength. The United States supported anti-Soviet uprisings by people in various places around the world.
President Reagan provided moral and material support to the solidarity movement in Poland. His support helped bring down the Soviet- backed regime after President Reagan left office and inspired other anti- Soviet rebellions. The final outcome was the fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe, which brought freedom, democracy and end of Soviet control. In November 1989, the Berlin wall- a symbol of Soviet Tyranny in East Germany for almost three decades- was torn down by the German people. The fall of the wall led to a peaceful unification of Germany in 1990 and the end of communism in Europe.
President Reggae’s predication of the collapse of the Soviet communism had come true. President Reggae’s policies of maintaining peace through strength and promoting democracy led to the significant victory over the Soviet Union. In conclusion, President Reggae’s second term ended in January 1989. In a farewell address, he spoke about his legacy to the people of America. President Reagan said, “The way I see it, there were two great triumphs, two things that I’m proudest of. One is the economic recovery… The other is the covers of our morale.
America is respected again in the world and looked to for leadership… “1 1 President Reagan was a very influential president he was a major part of The Cold War, he implemented sweeping new political and economical initiatives, and he supported anti-communist movements worldwide and spent his first term forgoing the strategy of d©tenet by ordering a massive military buildup in an arms race with the Union of Soviet Socialists Republicans. This is why I believe that the president Ronald Reagan and his administration can be credited with winning the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
