Ronald Reagan

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Ronald Wilson Reagan
40th President of the United States
In office January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
Vice President(s)	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Jimmy Carter
Succeeded by	George H. W. Bush
33rd Governor of California
In office January 3, 1967 – January 7, 1975
Lieutenant(s)	Robert Finch (1967–1969) Ed Reinecke (1969–1974) John L. Harmer (1974–1975)
Preceded by	Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr.
Succeeded by	Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr.
Born	February 6, 1911 Tampico, Illinois, USA
Died	June 5, 2004 (aged 93) Bel Air, California
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse	(1) Jane Wyman (married 1940, divorced 1948) (2) Nancy Davis Reagan (married 1952)
Alma mater	Eureka College
Occupation	Actor
Religion	Presbyterian
Signature

Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981 – 1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967 – 1975). Born and raised in Illinois, Reagan moved to California in the 1930s, where he became a Hollywood actor, President of the Screen Actors Guild, a spokesman for General Electric, and later met his second wife, Nancy. Once a New Deal Democrat, Reagan switched parties and became a Republican in 1962. After delivering his famed "Time for Choosing" speech, he was persuaded to seek the California Governorship, winning in 1966. After serving, he made two presidential bids: the first, unsuccessful, in 1976; the second, which he won, in 1980.

The election of Reagan as president marked a significant rightward shift in American politics.^[1] As president, Reagan began by implementing his economic policies. Dubbed "Reaganomics," they consisted of large tax cuts and moderate deregulation, resulting in lower inflation but a soaring national debt.^[2][3] After surviving an assassination attempt in his first term, and ordering a military operation in Grenada, Reagan was reelected in a landslide in 1984. His administration also saw a number of scandals, most notably the Iran-Contra Affair.

Reagan instituted his policy of "peace through strength" in an arms race with the Soviet Union. He rejected détente and confronted Communism, famously portraying the USSR as an "Evil Empire" and supporting anti-Communist movements worldwide.^[4] Reagan negotiated with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to shrink both countries' nuclear arsenals and help bring a peaceful end to the Cold War.^[5]

In 1994, five years after leaving office, Reagan announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and died ten years later at the age of ninety-three.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Entertainment career 2.1 Radio and film 2.2 World War II 2.3 Television and SAG President 3 Marriages and children 4 Early political career 5 Governor of California, 1967–1975 5.1 1976 presidential campaign 5.2 1980 presidential campaign 6 Presidency, 1981–1989 6.1 First term, 1981–1985 6.1.1 Assassination attempt 6.1.2 Air traffic controllers' strike 6.1.3 "Reaganomics" and the economy 6.1.4 War on Drugs 6.1.5 Judiciary 6.1.6 Lebanon and Grenada, 1983 6.2 1984 presidential campaign 6.3 Second term, 1985–1989 6.3.1 Iran-Contra Affair 6.3.2 Cold War 6.3.3 End of the Cold War 6.3.4 Close of the Reagan Era 7 Post-presidential years, 1989–2004 7.1 Presidential Library and Museum 7.2 Alzheimer's disease 7.3 Religious beliefs and philosophy 8 Death 9 Legacy 9.1 Honors 10 Footnotes 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External links

Early life

Reagan was born in a flat above the local bank building in Tampico, Illinois on February 6, 1911 to John "Jack" Reagan and Nelle Wilson Reagan. As a boy, Reagan's father nicknamed his son "Dutch" due to his "fat little Dutchman" like appearance, and his "Dutch boy" haircut.^[6] The nickname stuck with him throughout his youth. Dutch's family briefly lived in several Illinois towns, including Chicago, until 1920, when his family settled in the small town of Dixon, Illinois.^[7] The Midwestern "small universe" made a lasting impression on Reagan: "I learned standards and values that would guide me the rest of my life ... I learned that hard work is an essential part of life – that by and large, you don't get something for nothing – and that America was a place that offered unlimited opportunity to those who did work hard."^[8]

Reagan attended Dixon High School, where he developed a passion for storytelling and acting. In 1926, his first job was that of a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park, near Dixon. He was credited with saving 77 lives during the seven summers that he worked there.^[9] After high school, Reagan attended Eureka College, where he majored in economics and sociology. He was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and was very active in sports.^[10]

Entertainment career

Radio and film

In 1932, after graduating from Eureka, Reagan worked at radio stations WOC in Davenport, Iowa, and then WHO in Des Moines as an announcer for Chicago Cubs baseball games.^[11] As an announcer, Reagan took a screen test that led to a seven-year contract with the Warner Brothers studio. Initially, Reagan secured roles in "B" films and later in more significant "A" pictures.

His first screen credit was the starring role in the 1937 movie Love Is on the Air, and by the end of 1939, he had appeared in nineteen films.^[12] Before Santa Fe Trail in 1940, he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American. From this role he acquired the nickname the Gipper, which he retained the rest of his life.^[13] Reagan's favorite acting role was in Kings Row in 1942,^[14] but his performance did not meet with universal approval – one reviewer felt that Reagan had made "only casual acquaintance with the [character]".^[15] Reagan also played in Tennessee's Partner, Hellcats of the Navy, This Is the Army, Bedtime for Bonzo, Cattle Queen of Montana, and The Killers in a 1964 remake.

World War II

On May 25, 1937, Reagan was appointed a second lieutenant in the Officers' Reserve Corps of the Cavalry, serving with Troop B, 322nd Cavalry.^[16] Reagan was prevented from serving overseas due to nearsightedness,^[17] and remained in Hollywood for the duration of the war. In June 1942, he was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit, which made training and education films for the war effort.^[17]

Television and SAG President

Reagan landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s, and moved to television as the host and a frequent performer for General Electric Theater. At one point in the late 1950s, Reagan was earning approximately $125,000 per year ($800,000 in 2006 dollars). His final work as a professional actor was as host and performer from 1964 to 1965 on the television series Death Valley Days.

Reagan was first elected to the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild in 1941, serving as an alternate. Following World War II, he resumed service and became 3rd Vice President in 1946.^[18] The adoption of conflict-of-interest bylaws in 1947 led the SAG president and six Board members to resign; Reagan was nominated in a special election for the position of SAG President by fellow Board member Gene Kelly and was elected. Reagan would subsequently be elected by the membership to seven additional one-year terms, from 1947–1952 and in 1959. Reagan led SAG through eventful years that were marked by labor-management disputes, the Taft-Hartley Act, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings and the Hollywood blacklist era.^[18]

In 1947, as SAG President, Reagan testified before HUAC regarding the influence of Communists in the motion picture industry. Strongly opposed to communism, Reagan reaffirmed his commitment to democratic principles, stating, "As a citizen, I would hesitate to see any political party outlawed on the basis of its political ideology. However, if it is proven that an organization is an agent of foreign power, or in any way not a legitimate political party – and I think the government is capable of proving that – then that is another matter... but at the same time I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment."^[19]

Marriages and children

In 1938, Reagan co-starred in the film Brother Rat with actress Jane Wyman. They were engaged at the Chicago Theatre,^[20] and they married on January 26, 1940, at the Week Kirk O'Heather Church in Forest Lawn, California.^[21] Together they had two children, Maureen Reagan (1941 – 2001) and Christine Reagan (born and died June 26, 1947), and adopted a third, Michael Reagan (born 1945). Reagan and Wyman divorced on June 28, 1948 following arguments about Reagan's political ambitions.^[13] Reagan is the only American President to have been divorced.^[22]

Reagan met actress Nancy Davis in 1949, after Davis contacted then-President of the Screen Actors Guild Reagan to help her with issues regarding her name appearing on a communist blacklist in Hollywood (Davis was mistaken for another Nancy Davis). Nancy described their meeting by saying, "I don't know if it was exactly love at first sight, but it was pretty close."^[21] They were engaged at Chasen's restaurant in Los Angeles, and were married on March 4, 1952 at the Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley.^[23] Ronald and Nancy Reagan had two children: Patti (b.1952) and Ron (b.1958).

Observers described Ronald and Nancy Reagan's relationship as close, real, and intimate.^[24] While President and First Lady, the Reagans were reported to frequently display their affection for each other, with one press secretary noting, "They never took each other for granted. They never stopped courting."^[21][25] He often called her "Mommy"; she called him "Ronnie." ^[25] When the President was recuperating in the hospital after the assassination attempt in 1981, Nancy Reagan slept with one of his shirts to be comforted by the scent;^[26] in a letter to Mrs. Reagan, President Reagan wrote, "whatever I treasure and enjoy...all would be without meaning if I didn’t have you."^[27] In 1994, President Reagan wrote "I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease...I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience,"^[21] and in 1998, while her husband was severely affected by Alzheimer's, Nancy told Vanity Fair, "Our relationship is very special. We were very much in love and still are. When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it's true. It did. I can't imagine life without him."^[28]

Early political career

Reagan was originally a Democrat, a supporter of the New Deal, and an admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the late 1940s, Reagan was a visible speaker defending President Harry S Truman, but his political loyalties soon shifted to the Republican Party.^[29]

His first major political role was as President of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the labor union that represented most Hollywood actors. In this position, he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on suspected communist influence in the motion picture industry. The Screen Actors Guild, he claimed, was being infiltrated by communists.^[30]

A committed anti-Communist, Reagan supported the presidential candidacies of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, as well as that of Richard Nixon in 1960, while remaining a registered Democrat. Following the election of John F. Kennedy, Reagan formally switched parties, becoming a Republican in 1962. "I didn't leave the Democratic Party," he claimed, "the party left me."^[9] He also implied that Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson, and FDR would have also disapproved of the change in the Democratic Party. ^[31]

Two years after switching parties, Reagan joined the campaign of conservative Presidential contender Barry Goldwater. Speaking on Goldwater's behalf, Reagan revealed his ideological motivation in a famed speech given on October 27, 1964: "The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government set out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing."^[32] The address soon became known as the "Time for Choosing" speech, and is considered the speech that launched Reagan's poitical career.^[33]

Governor of California, 1967–1975

After Reagan's "Time for Choosing" speech, California Republicans became impressed with his political views and charisma.^[34] They nominated him for Governor of California in 1966, and he was elected, defeating two-term governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. In Reagan's campaign, he emphasized two main themes, "to send 'the welfare bums' back to work," and in reference to burgeoning anti-war and anti-establishement student protests at the University of California at Berkeley, "to clean up the mess at Berkeley."^[35] Reagan was sworn in as Governor on January 3, 1967. In his first term, he froze government hiring and approved tax hikes to balance the budget.^[36]

Shortly after the beginning of his term, Reagan tested the Presidential waters in 1968 as part of a "Stop Nixon" movement which included those from the party's far right. Reagan managed to win the pledges of some 600 delegates, but Richard Nixon quickly steamrolled to the nomination.

Reagan was involved in high-profile conflicts with the protest movements of the era. In 1969, during the People's Park protests at UC Berkeley, Reagan met with Regent Edwin Pauley to discuss and try to end the unrest, and Reagan sent California Highway Patrol officers onto the campus to quell the riots.^[37] On May 15 of that year, the riots increased, and the officers resorted to using firearms, shooting and killing a 25 year old San Jose man and injuring many others.^[37] Reagan then called out 2,200 state National Guard troops to the university to crack down on the anti-war protesters and rioters.^[37]

Early in 1967, the national debate on abortion was beginning. Democratic California state senator Anthony Beilenson introduced the "Therapeutic Abortion Act," in an effort to reduce the number of "back-room abortions" performed in California.^[37] The State Legislature sent the bill to Reagan's desk, and after many days of indecision, he signed the bill.^[38] About two million abortions would be performed as a result, most because of a provision in the bill allowing abortions for the well-being of the mother.^[38] Reagan had been in office for only four months when he signed the bill, and stated that had he been more experienced as governor, it would not have been signed. After he recognized what he called the "consequences" of signing the bill, he announced that he was pro-life.^[38] He maintained that position later in his political career, writing extensively about abortion.^[39]

Reagan was re-elected in 1970, defeating "Big Daddy" Jesse Unruh, but chose not to seek a third term. One of Reagan's greatest frustrations in office concerned capital punishment, which he strongly supported.^[14] His efforts to enforce the state's laws in this area were thwarted when the Supreme Court of California issued its People v. Anderson decision, which invalidated all death sentences issued in California prior to 1972, though the decision was later overturned by a constitutional amendment. The only execution during Reagan's governorship was on April 12, 1967, when Aaron Mitchell's sentence was carried out by the state in San Quentin's gas chamber.

1976 presidential campaign

In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Ford was considered a more moderate Republican.^[40]

Reagan soon established himself as the conservative candidate; like-minded organizations such as the American Conservative Union became the key components of his political base.^[41]The ACU benefited from early knowledge of the changes in rules permitting PACs to contribute to campaigns, and "undertook one of the first independent, non-party campaigns on behalf of a presidential candidate," sponsoring hundreds of radio and newspaper ads contrasting Reagan's conservative views with Ford's.^[41] He relied on a strategy crafted by campaign manager John Sears of winning a few primaries early to seriously damage the lift-off of Ford's campaign, such as his victories in North Carolina, Texas, and California: but the strategy disintegrated. Poor management of the campaign, and other financial problems caused Reagan to lose New Hampshire and later Florida.^[42]

As the party's convention in Kansas City neared, Ford appeared close to victory, in thanks partly to New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania delegates ostensibly under the control of Ford's liberal Republican Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. Acknowledging the strength of his party's moderate wing, Reagan choose moderate Republican Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate. Nonetheless, Ford narrowly won, with 1,187 delegates to Reagan's 1,070.

Reagan's concession speech emphasized the dangers of nuclear war and the threat posed by the Soviet Union. Although Reagan lost the nomination, in the November election he received 307 write-in votes in New Hampshire, 388 votes as an Independent on Wyoming's ballot, and a single electoral vote from a Washington State "faithless elector."^[43] Ford went on to lose the 1976 presidential election to the Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter.

1980 presidential campaign

Main article: United States presidential election, 1980

The 1980 presidential campaign, led by William J. Casey, was conducted in the shadow of the Iran hostage crisis. Every day during the campaign, the networks reported on Jimmy Carter's unavailing efforts to free the hostages. On the domestic front, Reagan attacked Carter's inability to deal with double-digit inflation, soaring interest rates, and high unemployment. With respect to the economy, Reagan quipped, "I'm told I can't use the word depression. Well, I'll tell you the definition. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."^[44]

Reagan's showing in the televised debates boosted his campaign. He seemed more at ease, deflecting President Carter's criticisms with remarks like "there you go again." One of his most influential remarks was a closing question to the audience in which he asked, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" (a phrase he would successfully reuse in the 1984 campaign).^[45] During the Republican National Convention, Reagan unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate an unusual power-sharing arrangement that would entice former President Gerald Ford to be the Vice Presidential nominee. Instead, Reagan selected his opponent in the primaries, George H. W. Bush, who had extensive international experience. ^[46]

Reagan won in a landslide, carrying 44 states with 489 electoral votes to 49 for Carter, representing 6 states and the District of Columbia. Reagan won 50.7% of the popular vote while Carter took 41% and independent John B. Anderson (a liberal Republican) received 6.7%.^[47] In the general election, twelve Democrats were defeated in Senate races, allowing the Republicans to capture the Senate for the first time since 1952, with the margin of 54-46. The Republicans gained 34 House seats, though the Democrats retained a majority of 242-192.

Presidency, 1981–1989

Main article: Presidency of Ronald Reagan

During his Presidency, Ronald Reagan pursued policies that reflected his optimism in individual freedom, expanded the American economy, and contributed to the end of the Cold War.^[48] The "Reagan Revolution", as it came to be known, aimed to reinvigorate American morale, and reduce the people's reliance upon government.^[48] As President, Reagan kept a series of leather bound diaries, in which he talked about daily occurrences of his presidency, commented on current issues around the world (expressing his point of view on most of them), and frequently mentioned his wife, Nancy. The diaries were recently published into the bestselling book, The Reagan Diaries.^[49]

The Reagan Cabinet
OFFICE	NAME	TERM
President	Ronald Reagan	1981–1989
Vice President	George H. W. Bush	1981–1989
State	Alexander M. Haig	1981–1982
	George P. Shultz	1982–1989
Treasury	Donald Regan	1981–1985
	James A. Baker III	1985–1988
	Nicholas F. Brady	1988–1989
Defense	Caspar Weinberger	1981–1987
	Frank C. Carlucci	1987–1989
Justice	William F. Smith	1981–1985
	Edwin A. Meese III	1985–1988
	Richard L. Thornburgh	1988–1989
Interior	James G. Watt	1981–1983
	William P. Clark, Jr.	1983–1985
	Donald P. Hodel	1985–1989
Commerce	Malcolm Baldrige	1981–1987
	C. William Verity, Jr.	1987–1989
Labor	Raymond J. Donovan	1981–1985
	William E. Brock	1985–1987
	Ann Dore McLaughlin	1987–1989
Agriculture	John Rusling Block	1981–1986
	Richard E. Lyng	1986–1989
HHS	Richard S. Schweiker	1981–1983
	Margaret Heckler	1983–1985
	Otis R. Bowen	1985–1989
Education	Terrell H. Bell	1981–1984
	William J. Bennett	1985–1988
	Lauro Cavazos	1988–1989
HUD	Samuel R. Pierce, Jr.	1981–1989
Transportation	Drew Lewis	1981–1982
	Elizabeth Hanford Dole	1983–1987
	James H. Burnley IV	1987–1989
Energy	James B. Edwards	1981–1982
	John S. Herrington	1985–1989

First term, 1981–1985

In his inaugural address, Reagan addressed the economic malaise he inherited, arguing: "Government is not the solution to our problems; Government is the problem." The Reagan Presidency began in a historic manner. On January 20, 1981 while Reagan was delivering his inaugural address, just 30 minutes into his term, 52 American hostages, held by Iran for 444 days were set free.^[50]

Assassination attempt

Main article: Reagan assassination attempt

On March 30, 1981, only 69 days into the new administration, Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, and two others were struck by gunfire from a deranged would-be assassin, John Hinckley, Jr.. Missing Reagan’s heart by less than an inch, the bullet instead pierced his left lung, which likely saved his life. In the operating room, Reagan joked to the surgeons, "I hope you're all Republicans!"^[51] Though they were not, Dr. Joseph Giordano replied, "Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans." Reagan famously told his wife, "Honey, I forgot to duck" (using defeated boxer Jack Dempsey's quip). On April 12, Nancy Reagan and their daughter, Patti, escorted the President home from the hospital.

Air traffic controllers' strike

Main article: Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization

Only a short time into his administration, Federal air traffic controllers went on strike, violating a regulation prohibiting Government unions from striking.^[52] Declaring the situation an emergency as described in the 1947 Taft Hartley Act, Reagan held a press conference in the White House Rose Garden, where he stated that if the air traffic controllers "do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated."^[53] On August 5, 1981, Reagan fired 11,359 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored his order to return to work.

"Reaganomics" and the economy

Main article: Reaganomics

When Ronald Reagan entered office, the American economy faced the highest rate of inflation since 1947, as well as double-digit unemployment. Those, along with high interest rates, were considered the nation's principal economic problems. Reagan focused on reviving the economy through his economic policies, partially based on supply-side economics. The policies sought to stimulate the economy with large, across-the-board tax cuts^[54][55] and aimed to reduce the growth of domestic government spending, regulation, and inflation.^[56] Reagan's expansionary fiscal policies soon became known as "Reaganomics",^[54] and were considered by some to be the most serious attempt to change the course of U.S. economic policy of any administration since the New Deal.^[56]

President Reagan's tenure marked a time of economic prosperity for the majority of Americans. Income tax rates were lowered significantly, with the top personal tax bracket dropping from 70% to 28% in 7 years.^[57]Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth recovered strongly after the 1982 recession, and during Reagan's eight years in office, grew at an annual rate of 3.4% per year.^[58] Unemployment peaked at over 11 percent in 1982, then dropped steadily,^[55] and inflation significantly decreased.^[3] Reagan reappointed Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, as well as the monetarist Alan Greenspan to succeed him. He preserved the core New Deal safeguards, such as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the GI Bill and Social Security, while rolling back what he viewed as the excesses of 1960s and 1970s liberal policies.

Reagan's policies became common flashpoints for critics, many of whom charged that Reagan was unconcerned with income inequality and its effects, and derided his economic policies as "Trickle-down economics."^[59] They also stated that the combination of significant tax cuts and a massive increase in Cold War related defense spending caused large budget deficits,^[60] the U.S. trade deficit expansion,^[60] contributed to the Savings and Loan crisis,^[61] and the stock market crash of 1987, known as "Black Monday." In order to cover new federal budget deficits, the United States borrowed heavily both domestically and abroad, raising the national debt from $700 billion dollars to $3 trillion dollars,^[62] and the United States moved from being the world's largest international creditor to the world's largest debtor nation.^[63] Reagan described the new debt as the "greatest disappointment" of his presidency.^[62]

Ronald Reagan himself was criticized for his supposed lack of understanding of economics. Donald Regan, the President's former Secretary of the Treasury, and later Chief of Staff, stated, "In the four years that I served as Secretary of the Treasury, I never saw President Reagan alone and never discussed economic philosophy or fiscal and monetary policy with him one–on–one....The President never told me what he believed or what he wanted to accomplish in the field of economics.”^[64]

Some scholars agree that Reagan's tax policies invigorated America's economy. There is some speculation, however, about deficits from Reaganomics being a contributory factor to the economic recession of 1990-1991,^[65] and being the reason that Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush, reneged on a campaign promise and raised taxes.

War on Drugs

Not long after being sworn into office, Reagan declared more militant policies in the "War on Drugs".^[66][67] He promised a "planned, concerted campaign" against all drugs,^[68]leading to decreases in adolescent drug use in America.^[69][70]

On October 27, 1986, President Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill into law, which granted $1.7 billion dollars to fight the crisis, and ensured a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses.^[71] The Bill was criticized for promoting significant racial disparities in the prison population, because of the differences in sentencing for crack vs. powder cocaine.^[71]

Many critics also charged that the administration's policies did little to actually reduce the availability of drugs or crime on the street, while resulting in a great financial and human cost for American society.^[72] Many critics regarded Reagan as indifferent to the needs of poor and minority citizens.

Reagan's First Lady, Nancy, even took on the War on Drugs as her main cause, by founding the "Just Say No" anti-drug association. Today, there are still hundreds of "Just Say No" clinics around the country aimed at helping and rehabilitating children and teenagers with drug problems.^[71]

Judiciary

During his 1980 campaign, Reagan pledged that, if given the opportunity, he would appoint the first female Supreme Court Justice. ^[73] That opportunity came in his first year in office when he nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Potter Stewart. In his second term, Reagan elevated William Rehnquist to succeed Warren Burger as Chief Justice, and named Antonin Scalia to fill the vacant seat. However, in 1987, Reagan lost a significant political battle when the Senate rejected the nomination of Robert Bork, but Anthony Kennedy was eventually confirmed in his place.

Lebanon and Grenada, 1983

Main article: Invasion of Grenada

American peacekeeping forces in Beirut, a part of a multinational force during the Lebanese Civil War, were attacked on October 22, 1983. The Beirut barracks bombing, in which 241 American servicemen were killed by suicide bombers, was the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima, and the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States military since the first day of the Tet offensive. Reagan called the attack "despicable," pledged to keep a military force in Lebanon, and planned to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon, which housed Iranian Revolutionary Guards believed to be training Hezbollah fighters.^[74][75] Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger aborted the mission, however, reportedly because of his concerns that it would harm U.S. relations with other Arab nations. Besides a few shellings, there was no serious American retaliation, and the Marines were moved offshore where they could not be targeted. On February 7, 1984, President Reagan ordered the Marines to begin withdrawal from Lebanon. This was completed on February 26: the rest of the MNF was withdrawn by April.

Three days later, U.S. forces invaded Grenada, where a 1979 coup d’état had established a Marxist-Leninist government aligned with the Soviet Union and Cuba. The Grenadan government began military expansion and construction of an international airport with Cuban assistance. On October 13, 1983, a faction led by Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard seized power. A formal appeal from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) led to the intervention of U.S. forces; President Reagan also cited the regional threat posed by a Soviet-Cuban military build-up in the Caribbean and concern for the safety of several hundred American medical students at St. George's University as adequate reasons to invade. On October 25, 1983, in the first major operation conducted by the U.S. military since the Vietnam War, several days of fighting commenced, and led to U.S. victory,^[76] with 19 American fatalities and 116 wounded American soldiers.^[77] In mid-December, after a new government was appointed by the Governor-General, U.S. forces withdrew.^[76]

1984 presidential campaign

Main article: United States presidential election, 1984

Reagan accepted the Republican nomination in Dallas, Texas, on a wave of positive feeling bolstered by the recovering economy and the dominating performance by the U.S. athletes at the Los Angeles Olympics that summer. He became the first American president to open a summer Olympic Games held in the United States.^[78]

Reagan's opponent in the 1984 presidential election was former Vice President Walter Mondale. With questions about Reagan's age, and a weak performance in the first presidential debate, many wondered if he was up to the task of being president for another term.^[79] Reagan rebounded in the second debate, and confronted questions about his age, stating, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience," which generated applause and laughter from members of the audience.^[80]

In the 1984 presidential election, Reagan was re-elected over Mondale, winning 49 of 50 states. The president's landslide victory saw only Mondale carry his home state of Minnesota (by 3800 votes) and the District of Columbia. Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes total (of 538 possible), and received 58.8% of the popular vote to Mondale's 40.6%.^[81]

Second term, 1985–1989

Reagan was sworn in as President for the second time on January 20, 1985, in a private swearing in at the White House. He was sworn in publicly in the Capitol Rotunda the next day, because January 20 fell on a Sunday, and thus no public celebration was held. January 21 was one of the coldest days on record in Washington, D.C., thus due to the low temperatures, inaugural celebrations were held inside the Capitol.

On July 13, 1985, Reagan underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon, causing the first-ever invocation of the Acting President clause of the 25th Amendment,^[82] and on January 5, 1987, Reagan underwent surgery for prostate cancer which caused further worries about his health. At this time, the President was 76 years old.

In 1985, Ronald and Nancy Reagan visited a cemetery in Bitburg, Germany, where Reagan was to lay a wreath. Some Jewish leaders criticized him for deciding to visit the cemetery, after they discovered that 47 Waffen SS men were buried there.^[83] Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel pleaded with Reagan not to go, stating, "May I, Mr. President, if it is possible at all, implore you to do something else, to find a way, to find another way, another site."^[84] Reagan argued that it would be wrong to back down on a promise he had made to Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and in the end, two retired generals laid the wreath in the cemetery with Reagan present.^[85] In 1983, and again in 1984, Reagan told prominent Israelis and American Jews — notably Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel, Simon Wiesenthal, and Rabbi Martin Hier of Los Angeles — of his personal experience vis-à-vis the Holocaust, saying "I was there" and that that he himself had assisted personally at the liberation of Nazi death camps; in fact, he was in a film unit in Hollywood that processed raw footage it received from Europe for newsreels, but Reagan was not in Europe itself during the war.^[86]

Reagan's administration was criticized for its slow response to the HIV-AIDS epidemic, until the illness of movie star and national icon Rock Hudson became public news in July 1985, by which time over 10,000 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, and over 6,000 had died.^[87]

Iran-Contra Affair

Main articles: Iran-Contra Affair and Reagan administration scandals

In 1986, the Reagan Administration was found to have illegally sold arms to Iran to fund the anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua. The Iran-Contra Affair was the largest political scandal in the United States during the 1980s.^[88] President Reagan professed ignorance of the plot's existence and quickly called for an Independent Counsel to investigate. Reagan's denial of awareness of the scandal belied his signing a secret presidential "finding" describing the deal as "arms-for-hostages." The International Court of Justice, in its ruling on Nicaragua v. United States, found that the U.S. had been involved in the "unlawful use of force" in Nicaragua due to its treaty obligations and the customary obligations of international law not to intervene in the affairs of other states.

John Tower, Edmund Muskie and Brent Scowcroft made up the non-partisan, three-man "Tower Commission," appointed by Reagan, to review the scandal. In the end, ten officials in the Reagan Administration were convicted, and others were forced to resign.^[89] Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger was indicted for perjury and later received a presidential pardon from George H.W. Bush. In 2006, historians ranked the Iran-Contra affair as one of the ten worst mistakes by a U.S. president.^[90]

Today, many Central Americans criticize Reagan for his support of the Contras.^[91] Daniel Ortega, Sandinistan leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, said that he hoped God would forgive Reagan for his supposed "dirty war against Nicaragua."^[91]

Cold War

Further information: Cold War

Reagan escalated the Cold War, accelerating a reversal from the policy of détente which began in 1979 following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.^[92]The Reagan Administration implemented new policies towards the Soviet Union: reviving the B-1 bomber program that had been canceled by the Carter administration, and producing the MX "Peacekeeper" missile.^[93] In response to Soviet deployment of the SS-20, Reagan oversaw NATO's deployment of the Pershing II missile in West Germany.^[94]

One of Reagan's more controversial proposals was the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, a defense project.^[95] The program would use ground- and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles.^[96] Reagan believed that this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible,^[95][97] but the unlikelihood that the technology could ever work led opponents to dub SDI "Star Wars," and argue that the technological objective was unattainable.^[95]The Soviets became concerned about the possible effects SDI would have,^[98] and leader Yuri Andropov considered the possibility that Reagan was pushing to win the Cold War,^[99] saying it put "the entire world in jeopardy."^[99]

In a famous address on June 8, 1982 to the British Parliament, Reagan called the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire" that would be consigned to the "ash heap of history." On March 3, 1983, Reagan predicted that Communism would collapse, stating, "communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written."^[9] After Soviet fighters downed Korean Airlines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983, Reagan labeled the act a "massacre" and declared that the Soviets had turned "against the world and the moral precepts which guide human relations among people everywhere." ^[100] The Reagan administration responded to the incident by suspending all Soviet passenger air service to the United States, and dropped several agreements being negotiated with the Soviets, hurting them financially.^[100]

Reagan's foreign policies were criticized variously as aggressive, imperialistic, and were derided as "warmongering".^[98] All this was before a reformer, Mikhail Gorbachev, rose to power in the Soviet Union in 1985. To confront the Soviet Union's serious economic problems, Gorbachev implemented bold new policies for openness and reform called glasnost and perestroika.

End of the Cold War

By the late years of the Cold War, Moscow had built up a military which surpassed that of the United States.^[101]In the past, the United States had relied on the qualitative superiority of its weapons to essentially frighten the Soviets, but with Soviet technological advances in the 1980s, the gap between the two nations was narrowed.^[101] With the military buildup came large budget deficits, and as a result, Gorbachev offered major concessions to the United States on the levels of conventional forces, nuclear weapons, and policy in Eastern Europe.^[102]

Ronald Reagan recognized the change in the direction of the Soviet leadership with Gorbachev, and shifted to diplomacy, with a view to encourage the Soviet Leader to go further with his reforms. Gorbachev agreed to meet Reagan in four summit conferences around the world: the first in Geneva, Switzerland, the second in Reykjavík, Iceland, the third held in Washington, D.C., along with the fourth summit in Moscow, Russia.^[103] Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to look at the prosperous American economy, they would embrace free markets and a free society. Gorbachev, facing severe economic problems at home, was swayed.^[102]

Speaking at the Berlin Wall, on June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev to go further:

“

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

”

When Gorbachev visited Washington, D.C. for the third summit in 1987, he and Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty at the White House (they finalized it a year later), which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons.^[104]

When Reagan visited Moscow for the fourth summit in 1988, he was viewed as a celebrity by Russians. A journalist asked the president if he still considered the Soviet Union the evil empire. "No," he replied, "I was talking about another time, another era."^[105] At Gorbachev’s request, Reagan gave a speech on free markets at Moscow University.^[106]

In his autobiography An American Life, Reagan expressed his optimism about the new direction that they charted, his warm feelings for Gorbachev, and his concern for Gorbachev's safety because Gorbachev pushed reforms so hard: "I was concerned for his safety," Reagan wrote. "I've still worried about him. How hard and fast can he push reforms without risking his life?"^[107] Events would unravel far beyond what Gorbachev originally intended. In 1990, the Berlin Wall was torn down. A year later, the Soviet Union officially collapsed.

Close of the Reagan Era

In 1988, Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, was elected President of the United States. On January 11, 1989, Reagan addressed the nation for the last time on television from the Oval Office, nine days before handing over the presidency to George H. W. Bush. On the morning of January 20, 1989, Ronald and Nancy Reagan escorted the Bushes to the Capitol Building, where Bush took the Oath of Office. The Reagans then boarded a Presidential helicopter, and flew to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. There, they boarded the Presidential Jet (in this instance, it was not called Air Force One), and flew home to California – to their new home in the wealthy suburb of Bel Air in Los Angeles. Reagan was the oldest president to serve (at 77), surpassing Dwight Eisenhower, who was 70 when he left office in 1961.

Post-presidential years, 1989–2004

Ronald and Nancy Reagan would enjoy the private life for the next five years, traveling from their Bel-Air, California home to the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California every few months. Reagan made occasional appearances on behalf of the Republican Party, including a well-received speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention,^[108] in which he said:

“

Whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty's lamp guiding your steps and opportunity's arm steadying your way. My fondest hope for each one of you – and especially for the young people here – is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism.

”

He publicly spoke in favor of a line-item veto, a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, and repealing the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits a President from serving more than two terms.^[109]Reagan's final public speech was on February 3, 1994, during a tribute in Washington, D.C., and his last major public appearance was at the funeral of fellow Republican President Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994.

In 1992, President Reagan established the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. The award, the highest given by the Reagan Foundation, is presented on a regular basis to one person in the world who has "made monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom worldwide," and who "embodies President Reagan's lifelong belief that one man or woman truly can make a difference."^[110] The first recipient was former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the most recent was former United States President George H.W. Bush.^[111] When President Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, Nancy Reagan took on the role of presenting the award on behalf of her husband.^[110]

Presidential Library and Museum

Main article: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

On November 4, 1991, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was dedicated and opened to the public. At the dedication ceremonies, four former presidents, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Reagan, and the current president, George H. W. Bush, were all in attendance, as well as five former first ladies, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, and Nancy Reagan, plus the current First Lady, Barbara Bush. Currently, the library is the largest of all of the Presidential Libraries. Notable exhibits include ones on the Reagan's Ranch; a full-scale replica of the Oval Office; the limousine that President and Mrs. Reagan used while in the White House; and the actual Boeing 707, Air Force One, that served President Reagan during his eight years in office. On June 11, 2004, after a state funeral in Washington, D.C., President Reagan was interred on the property. On May 3, 2007, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation hosted the first 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates debate in the Air Force One Pavillion at the Library, with Mrs. Reagan in attendance.^[112]

Alzheimer's disease

On November 5, 1994, Reagan informed the nation via a hand-written letter that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. With his trademark optimism, he stated: "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you."^[113]

As the years went on, the disease slowly destroyed his mental capacity, and he and Nancy decided that he would live in quiet isolation. On February 6, 2001, Reagan reached the age of 90, becoming the third former President to do so – the other two being John Adams and Herbert Hoover. Just three weeks before, Reagan had undergone hip-replacement surgery; because of this and his Alzheimer's disease, his 90th birthday was a low-key celebration with his family at his home in Bel-Air. With the progression of the disease, Reagan's public apparences became much less frequent, and Nancy Reagan told CNN's Larry King that very few visitors were allowed access to her husband because she felt that "Ronnie would want people to remember him as he was."^[114] Since his diagnosis and his death, Mrs. Reagan has become a stem-cell research advocate, urging Congress and President George W. Bush to support embryonic stem-cell research, something he adamantly opposes. Mrs. Reagan has said that she believes that it could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's.^[115]

Religious beliefs and philosophy

Reagan was a Christian, attending Bel Air Presbyterian Church in his later years.^[116] His burial site is inscribed with the words he delivered at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library:

“

I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.[117]

”

According to Paul Kengor, author of God and Ronald Reagan, Reagan had a strong belief in personal reliance and a faith in the goodness of most people, stemming from the teachings of his mother, Nelle.^[118] Nelle Reagan, a member of the Disciples of Christ Church with an optimistic view of human nature, taught young Ronald a strong sense of personal responsibility, sobriety, Christian tolerance, and faith in the goodness of God's creation.^[119] He was against discrimination, recalling a time in Dixon when the local inn would not allow black people to stay there. Reagan brought them back to his house, where his mother invited them to stay the night, and have breakfast the next morning.^[120]

Death

Main article: Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan

Reagan died at his home in Bel Air, California, at 1:00 PM PDT on June 5, 2004. A short time after his death, Nancy Reagan released a statement saying: "My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has passed away after 10 years of Alzheimer's Disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyone's prayers." Reagan's body was taken to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica later in the day, where well-wishers paid tribute by laying flowers and American Flags in the grass.^[121] On June 7, Reagan's body was removed and taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where a brief family funeral service was held. His body lay in repose in the library lobby until June 9. In that amount of time, 108,000 people came to pay their respects to President Reagan.

Later that day, Reagan's casket was removed, and flown to Washington D.C., where he became the 10th United States President to lie in state. In the thirty-four hours that it lay there, 105,000 people filed past the coffin, paying their respects.

On June 11, a state funeral was conducted in the Washington National Cathedral, and presided over by President George W. Bush. Eulogies included those from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and both Presidents Bush. The service drew leaders and dignitaries from around the world including former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and interim presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq.

After the funeral service, the Reagan entourage was flown back to California—to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library—where another service was held, and President Ronald Reagan was interred. He is the second longest-lived president in U.S. history, 45 days behind Gerald Ford, and was the first United States president to die in the 21st century. Reagan's state funeral was the first since that of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973.

Legacy

The noted biographer Richard Reeves summarized in President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination that Reagan understood

“

...how to be President, who knows that the job is not to manage the government but to lead a nation. In many ways, a quarter century later, he is still leading. As his vice president, George H.W. Bush, said after Reagan was shot and hospitalized in 1981: 'We will act as if he were here.' He is a heroic figure if not always a hero. He did not destroy communism, as his champions claim, but he knew it would self-destruct and hastened the collapse. No small thing. He believed the Soviet Union was evil and he had contempt for the established American policies of containment and détente. Asked about his own Cold War strategy, he answered: 'We win. They lose!' Like one of his heroes, Franklin D. Roosevelt, he has become larger than life.[122]

”

When Ronald Reagan died in June 2004, he was eulogized by some as one of the greatest Presidents in United States history.^[123] President George W. Bush, who presided over the state funeral, called Reagan "a modest son of America" and said "Ronald Reagan always told us the best was yet to come.... We know that's true for him, too. His work is done."^[124] Vice President Dick Cheney said at Reagan's memorial service, "In this national vigil of mourning, we show how much America loved this good man, and how greatly we will miss him."^[125] President Bill Clinton stated, "it is fitting that a piece of the Berlin Wall adorns the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington," and Senator Ted Kennedy said that the 40th President "will be honored as the president who won the Cold War."^[126]

Ronald Reagan's Approval Ratings
Date	Event	Approval (%)	Disapproval (%)
March 30, 1981	Shot by Hinckley	73	19
January 22, 1983	High unemployment	42	54
April 26, 1986	Libya bombing	70	26
February 26, 1987	Iran-Contra affair	44	51
January 20, 1989	End of presidency	–
n/a	Career Average	57	39
July 30, 2001	(Retrospective)[127]	64	27

Reagan's supporters believe that much of America's success today can be attributed to Ronald Reagan, including a more efficient and more prosperous economy;^[3][128] a peaceful end to the Cold War; and a world safer from the threat of nuclear war.^[129] Critics argue that his economic policies caused huge budget deficits, tripling the United States national debt, and hostility towards the disadvantaged, and that the internal disintegration of the Soviet Union had many contributing factors.^{[130] [131]}

Today, Ronald Reagan is one of America's most popular presidents. In several recent ratings of American presidents, Ronald Reagan ranked high. The Gallup Organization took a poll in February 2007 asking respondents to name the greatest president in U.S. history; Reagan came in second, after Abraham Lincoln.^[132] He ranked fifth in an ABC poll of the public in 2000. He was named the greatest president since World War II by a Quinnipiac poll of the public in 2006, and he ranked sixth in a C-SPAN poll of viewers in 1999. However, in surveys limited to scholars, Reagan is rarely considered among the top ten. ^[133] On June 26, 2005, the Discovery Channel asked Americans to vote for The Greatest American; Reagan received the honorary title.^[134] Reagan has even been made into a comic book character in several fictional tales.^[135]

Honors

Further information: List of things named after Ronald Reagan

As a very popular former president, Reagan is honored by many monuments and objects named in his likeness. On February 6, 1998, Washington National Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport by a bill signed into law by President Clinton. Three years later, the USS Ronald Reagan was christened by Nancy Reagan and the United States Navy. It is one of few ships christened in honor of a living person, and the first to be named in honor of a living former President.^[136]

On May 5, 1998, President Bill Clinton dedicated the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.'s Federal Triangle. The building hosts large events in the Washington, D.C. area.^[137]

In 1999, in San Antonio, Texas, a new high school was named after him, Ronald Reagan High School, and in 2002, Congress authorized the creation of Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site in Dixon, Illinois, pending federal purchase of the property. In 2004, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority voted to rename Interstate 88, which was formerly called the East-West Tollway, in his memory. In 2006, a new high school in Doral, Florida was named after him. Its full name is Ronald W. Reagan High.

In 2005, Reagan was given three posthumous honors. The President Ronald Reagan commemorative postage stamp was made available on February 9, and issued by the United States Postal Service. An unveiling of the stamp's image had taken place in a ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library four months earlier, with Nancy Reagan in attendance.^[138] On May 14, CNN, along with the editors of TIME magazine, named him the "most fascinating person" of the network's first 25 years.^[139] TIME also named Reagan one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.^[140] In Gallup's List of Widely Admired People, Reagan was ranked the 15th most admired person in the 20th century.

Reagan received a number of awards, both in his pre and post presidential years. After he was elected president, Reagan received a lifetime "Gold" membership in the Screen Actors Guild, as well as the United States Military Academy's Sylvanus Thayer Award.^[141] In 1989, Reagan received an honorary British knighthood, The Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. This entitled him to the use of the post-nominal letters GCB, but did not entitle him to be known as "Sir Ronald Reagan". He, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and George H.W. Bush are the only American Presidents to have received the honor.^[142] While in England, he was named an honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford. Also in 1989, the nation of Japan awarded Reagan the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, Reagan being the only American President to receive such an award.^[143] The highest honor that the United States can give, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was awarded to Ronald Reagan in 1993, by then-President George H.W. Bush.^[144] Reagan was also awarded the Republican Senatorial Medal of Freedom, which is the highest honor bestowed by the Republican members of the Senate.^[145] On May 16, 2002, Nancy Reagan accepted the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress, on behalf of the President and herself.^[146]

Footnotes

References

• Appleby, Joyce; Alan Brinkley, James M. McPherson (2003). The American Journey. Woodland Hills, California: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. 0078241294. 
• Beschloss, Michael (2007). Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How they Changed America 1789-1989. Simon & Schuster. 
• Cannon, Lou (2000). President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime. New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 1891620916. 
• Cannon, Lou; Michael Beschloss (2001). Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio: A History Illustrated from the Collection of the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum. PublicAffairs. ISBN 1891620843. 
• Diggins, John Patrick (2007). Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History. New York: W. W. Norton. 
• Freidel, Frank; Hugh Sidey (1995). The Presidents of the United States of America. Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association. ISBN 0912308575. 
• Gaddis, John Lewis (2005). The Cold War: A New History. The Penguin Press. 
• Hertsgaard, Mark. (1988) On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency. New York, New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux.
• LaFeber, Walter (2002). America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-1971. New York: Wiley. 
• Matlock, Jack (2004). Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended. New York: Random House. ISBN 0679463232. 
• Morris, Edmund (1999). Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan. Random House.  includes fictional material
• Reagan, Nancy (1989). My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan. New York: Harper Collins. 
• Reagan, Ronald (1990). An American Life. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0743400259. 
• Reeves, Richard (2005). President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743230221. 
• Regan, Donald (1988). For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington. New York: Harcourt. ISBN 0151639663. 
• Walsh, Kenneth (1997). Ronald Reagan. New York: Random House Value Publishing, Inc.. ISBN 0517200783. 

Further reading

Further information: Ronald Reagan Bibliography

External links

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• White House biography
• RonaldReagan.com
• The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
• Extensive essay on Ronald Reagan and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
• Full audio of 14 Reagan speeches via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)
• Extensive collection of Oral History Transcripts on the Reagan Administration from the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)
• Biography and gubernatorial inaugural addresses from the CA governors office
• Video & Audio clips
• BBC historic figures
• CNN Biography with speeches
• A Memorial Site outlining Reagan's death
• Ronald Reagan at the Internet Movie Database
• Ronald Reagan at the Notable Names Database
• Ronald Reagan Memorial at Find A Grave

Preceded by Robert Montgomery	President of Screen Actors Guild 1947–1952	Succeeded by Walter Pidgeon
Preceded by Howard Keel	President of Screen Actors Guild 1959–1960	Succeeded by George Chandler
Preceded by Pat Brown	Governor of California 1967–1975	Succeeded by Jerry Brown
Preceded by Gerald Ford	U.S. Republican Party Presidential Nominee 1980 (won), 1984 (won)	Succeeded by George H. W. Bush
Preceded by Jimmy Carter	President of the United States January 20, 1981–January 20, 1989
Preceded by François Mitterrand	Chair of the G8 1983	Succeeded by Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by Richard Nixon	Oldest U.S. President still living January 20, 1981–June 5, 2004	Succeeded by Gerald Ford
Preceded by John Gibson and Jacob Chestnut	Persons who have lain in state or honor in the United States Capitol rotunda June 9–June 11, 2004	Succeeded by Rosa Parks

v • d • e The Cold War
Participants: NATO · Warsaw Pact · Non-Aligned Movement · People's Republic of China
1940s	Yalta Conference • Potsdam Conference • Gouzenko Affair • Iran crisis • Chinese Civil War • Greek Civil War • Truman Doctrine • Marshall Plan • Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia • Tito-Stalin split • Berlin Blockade
1950s	Korean War • First Indochina War • Iranian Coup • Guatemalan Coup • Uprising of 1953 in East Germany • First Taiwan Strait Crisis • Poznań 1956 protests • Hungarian Revolution of 1956 • Suez Crisis • Sputnik crisis • Second Taiwan Strait Crisis • Cuban Revolution
1960s	Congo Crisis • Sino-Soviet split • U-2 Crisis of 1960 • Bay of Pigs Invasion • Cuban Missile Crisis • Berlin Wall • Vietnam War • U.S. Invasion of Dominican Republic • South African Border War • Overthrow of Sukarno • Bangkok Declaration • Laotian Civil War • Greek military junta of 1967-1974 • Prague Spring • Détente • Sino-Soviet border conflict
1970s	Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty • Cambodian Civil War • Ping Pong Diplomacy • Four Power Agreement on Berlin • 1972 Nixon visit to China • Chilean coup of 1973 • Yom Kippur War • Strategic Arms Limitation Talks • Angolan Civil War • Mozambican Civil War • Ogaden War • Sino-Vietnamese War • Iranian Revolution
1980s	Soviet war in Afghanistan • Polish Solidarity Movement • Central American Crisis • Able Archer 83 • Strategic Defense Initiative • Invasion of Grenada • Fall of the Berlin Wall • Revolutions of 1989
1990s	Dissolution of the USSR
See also	Bricker Amendment • Glasnost • Iron Curtain • McCarthyism • Operation Condor • Operation Gladio • Perestroika • Soviet espionage in US
Establishments	Central Intelligence Agency • Comecon • European Community • KGB • Stasi
Races	Arms race • Nuclear arms race • Space Race
Ideologies	Capitalism • Communism • Stalinism • Maoism
Foreign policy	Brezhnev Doctrine • Ulbricht Doctrine • Carter Doctrine • Containment • Domino Theory • Eisenhower Doctrine • Johnson Doctrine • Kennedy Doctrine • Nixon Doctrine • Ostpolitik • Peaceful coexistence • Reagan Doctrine • Rollback • Truman Doctrine • Marshall Plan
Timeline of events · Portal · Category

Persondata
NAME	Reagan, Ronald Wilson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ronald Reagan
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American actor and politician, 33rd Governor of California, 40th President of the United States
DATE OF BIRTH	6 February 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tampico, Illinois, United States
DATE OF DEATH	5 June 2004
PLACE OF DEATH	Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, United States