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{{WPBiography
{{pp-semi-protected|expiry=2 weeks}}
|class=Stub
{{Infobox_President
|priority=
| name=Ronald Wilson Reagan
|auto=yes
| nationality=American
| image=Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981.jpg
| imagesize = 185px
| order=40th [[President of the United States]]
| vicepresident=[[George H. W. Bush]]
| term_start=[[January 20]] [[1981]]
| term_end=[[January 20]] [[1989]]
| predecessor=[[Jimmy Carter]]
| successor=[[George H. W. Bush]]
| order2=33rd [[Governor of California]]
| lieutenant2=[[Robert Finch]] <br>(1967&ndash;1969) <br> [[Ed Reinecke]] <br>(1969&ndash;1974) <br> [[John L. Harmer]] <br>(1974&ndash;1975)
| term_start2=[[3 January]] [[1967]]
| term_end2=[[7 January]] [[1975]]
| predecessor2=[[Pat Brown|Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr.]]
| successor2=[[Jerry Brown|Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr.]]
| birth_date=[[February 6]], [[1911]]
| birth_place={{flagicon|Illinois}} [[Tampico, Illinois]], [[United States|USA]]
| death_date={{death date and age|2004|06|5|1911|02|06}}
| death_place={{flagicon|California}} [[Bel Air, California|Bel Air]], [[California]]
| spouse=(1) [[Jane Wyman]] (married 1940, divorced 1948)<br/>(2) [[Nancy Reagan|Nancy Davis Reagan]] (married 1952)
| religion=[[Presbyterian]]
| signature=Ronald Reagan signature.gif
| party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
}}
 
'''Ronald Wilson Reagan''' ([[February 6]], [[1911]] &ndash; [[June 5]], [[2004]]) was the 40th [[President of the United States]] (1981 &ndash; 1989) and the 33rd [[Governor of California]] (1967 &ndash; 1975). Reagan was born and raised in [[Illinois]] and moved to [[California]] in the 1930s. Before entering politics, he was a Hollywood actor, President of the [[Screen Actors Guild]], and a spokesman for [[General Electric]]. Previously a [[New Deal]] [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], Reagan became a [[American conservatism|conservative]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] in 1962. During his work for ''General Electric Theatre'', he began to articulate the political themes that would carry him into the California Governorship, which he won in [[1966]], and the Presidency of the United States, which he narrowly lost a bid for in [[U.S. presidential election, 1976|1976]] before winning in [[U.S. presidential election, 1980|1980]].
 
Reagan stated that his two proudest achievements were expanding the economy and restoring American morale following a time of political setbacks and economic [[stagflation]].<ref name= "Ronald Reagan Farewell Address">{{cite web |url=http://www.ronaldreagan.com/sp_21.html|title= Ronald Reagan Farewell Address |accessdate= 2007-04-24|publisher= ronaldreagan.com}}</ref> Coined "[[Reaganomics]]," his economic policies consisted of [[supply side economics|large tax cuts]], moderate [[deregulation]], robust job creation, reductions in [[inflation]], but soaring budget deficits.<ref name="AndersonM">{{cite news | last =Anderson | first = Martin | publisher =New York Times | date = [[January 17]] [[1990]] |title= The Reagan Boom - Greatest Ever | accessdate= 2007-03-28 |url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE1DC153BF934A25752C0A966958260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=1}}</ref><ref name="Cato Institute"/> Reagan was [[United States presidential election, 1984|reelected by a landslide]] in 1984, after surviving an [[Reagan Assassination Attempt|assassination attempt]]. He experienced several [[Reagan administration scandals|scandals]] during his presidency, the most notable being the [[Iran-Contra Affair]] in 1986.
 
Reagan instituted his policy of "peace through strength" in an [[Cold War|arms race]] with the [[Soviet Union]]. He rejected [[détente]] and confronted [[Communism]], famously portraying the USSR as an "[[Evil Empire]]" and [[Reagan Doctrine|bolstering anti-Communist movements worldwide]].<ref name="Carpenter"> {{cite web| author = Carpenter, Ted Galen | url= http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa074.html | title= U.S. Aid to Anti-Communist Rebels: The 'Reagan Doctrine' and Its Pitfalls | accessdate= 2007-03-29 | publisher = [[Cato Institute]] | date = [[June 24]] [[1986]]}}</ref> Reagan negotiated with [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet Premier]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] to shrink both countries' nuclear arsenals and help bring a peaceful end to the [[Cold War]].<ref>Matlock (2004), p. ? </ref><ref>Gaddis (2005), p. ? </ref>
 
In [[1994]], five years after leaving office, Reagan disclosed that he had been afflicted with [[Alzheimer's Disease]], and died ten years later at the age of ninety-three.
 
==Early life==
[[Image:Ronald_Reagan_in_Dixon,_Illinois,_1920s.jpg|thumb|150 px|right|Ronald Reagan as a boy
Dixon, Illinois.]]
Reagan was born in a flat above the local bank building in [[Tampico, Illinois]]. During his youth, Reagan's family briefly lived in several small Illinois towns, and [[Chicago]]. In [[1920]], when Reagan was nine years old, his family settled in the small town of [[Dixon, Illinois]]. <ref>Cannon (2001), p. 2</ref> The Midwestern "small universe" made a lasting impression on Reagan "where I learned standards and values that would guide me the rest of my life," he said. "I learned that hard work is an essential part of life &ndash; that by and large, you don't get something for nothing &ndash; and that America was a place that offered unlimited opportunity to those who did work hard."<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 27</ref> 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 he worked there.<ref name="LA Times Obituary 2"/> 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.<ref>Cannon (2001), p. 9 </ref>
 
==Entertainment career==
===Radio and film===
In [[1932]], after graduating from Eureka, Reagan worked at radio stations [[WOC]] in [[Davenport, Iowa]], and then [[WHO (AM)|WHO]] in [[Des Moines]] as an announcer for [[Chicago Cubs]] [[baseball]] games.<ref name= "Innocents at Home">{{cite book |last= Wills |first= Garry |title= Reagan's America: Innocents at Home |origyear= 1987 | publisher= Doubleday |___location= Garden City, NY |pages= 109-110}}</ref> As an announcer, Reagan took a screen test that led to a seven-year contract with the [[Warner Bros.|Warner Brothers]] studio. Reagan secured roles in [[B movie|"B" films]] and later in more significant pictures. His first screen credit was the starring role in the 1937 movie ''[[Love Is on the Air]]''. By the end of [[1939]], he had appeared in nineteen films.<ref name="Reagan Films">{{cite web |url= http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/biography/hollywood_years.asp |title= Ronald Reagan Hollywood Years | publisher = The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation | accessdate=2007-03-28}}</ref> Before ''[[Santa Fe Trail (film)|Santa Fe Trail]]'' in [[1940]], he played the role of [[George Gipp|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.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 15 </ref> Reagan was viewed by his employers at the studios as a personable minor leading man with only modest acting ability, and they rarely gave him anything very interesting to do. The most memorable film that he ever appeared in was undoubtedly ''[[Kings Row]]'' ([[1942]]),<ref name= "Rest of Me"> {{cite book |last= Reagan |first= Ronald |title= Where's the Rest of Me? |year= 1965 |publisher= Duell, Sloan, and Pearce |___location= New York |isbn=}}</ref>. But he did not give a particularly good acting performance - one reviewer felt that Reagan had made "only casual acquaintance with the [character]"<ref>{{cite news | last = Crowther | first = Bosley | publisher = The New York Times | date = [[February 3]] [[1942]] | url= http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?res=9903E2DE143BE33BBC4B53DFB4668389659EDE | title= THE SCREEN; 'Kings Row,' With Ann Sheridan and Claude Rains, a Heavy, Rambling Film, Has Its First Showing Here at the Astor | accessdate=2007-03-29}}</ref> Other films in which Reagan was cast include ''[[Tennessee's Partner]]'', ''[[Hellcats of the Navy]]'', ''[[This Is the Army]]'', ''The Winning Team'', ''[[Bedtime for Bonzo]]'', ''Cattle Queen of Montana'', ''[[The Killers (1964 film)|The Killers]]'' (1964 remake), and Prisoner of War movie.
 
===World War II===
[[Image:Ronald Reagan in Cowboy From Brooklyn trailer.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Reagan starred in ''Cowboy From Brooklyn'' in 1938.]]
On [[May 25]], [[1937]], Reagan was appointed a [[second lieutenant]] in the Officers' Reserve Corps of the [[United States Cavalry|Cavalry]], serving with Troop B, 322nd Cavalry.<ref name= "ACR Homepage"> {{cite web |url= http://www.irwin.army.mil/Units/11TH+Armored+Cavalry+Regiment/11thACR/ | publisher= 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment | title = History of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment |accessdate= 2007-03-07}}</ref> After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], Reagan was prevented from serving overseas due to nearsightedness,<ref name="USSRR">{{cite web |url= http://www.reagan.navy.mil/about_reagan/ball_cap/ball_cap.htm |title= USS Ronald Reagan: Significance of Horse and Rider | publisher = U.S. Navy | accessdate=2007-03-07}} </ref> and remained in Hollywood for the duration of the war. At the request of the [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Force]], he applied for a transfer from the Cavalry to the Army Air Force.<ref name="USSRR" /> In June 1942, he was assigned to the [[First Motion Picture Unit]], which made training and education films for the war effort.<ref name="USSRR" />
 
===Television===
Reagan landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s, and moved to television as a host and frequent performer for ''[[General Electric Theater]]''. He went from host and program supervisor of ''General Electric Theater'' to producing and claiming an equity stake in the TV show itself. 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's final big-screen appearance came in the 1964 film ''[[The Killers (1964 film)|The Killers]]'', an inferior remake of a 1946 film, based on a short story by [[Ernest Hemingway]]. He was cast as a mob chieftain - a role played much more effectively by the sinister-looking Albert Dekker in the original film. This film was originally supposed to be the first made-for-TV movie, but was released to the theaters instead for being too violent.<ref name= "The Killers">{{cite web |url=http://www.tvparty.com/movreagan2.html|title= Ronald Reagan's Last Dramatic Role|accessdate=2007-04-18|publisher= www.tvparty.com}}</ref> Ronald Reagan has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], located at 6374 Hollywood Boulevard.
 
===SAG President===
[[Image:Reagan Boraxo.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Television star Ronald Reagan advertising [[borax]].]]
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.<ref name="SAG"> {{cite web| url= http://www.sag.org/history/presidents/reagan.html | title= Screen Actors Guild Presidents: Ronald Reagan | publisher = Screen Actors Guild | accessdate=2007-04-04}}</ref> 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.<ref name="SAG"/> In 1947, as SAG President, Reagan testified before HUAC regarding the influence of Communists in the motion picture industry. Although staunchly opposed to Communism, Reagan also reaffirmed his committment 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."<ref name="HUAC">[http://www.twcnet.edu/cschutz/history-page/Consensus/Reagan-huac-testimony.html House Un-American Activities Committee Testimony Ronald Reagan.] Tennessee Wesleyan College, ([[October 23]] [[1947]]) Retrieved on [[2007-04-09]]</ref> In conclusion, Reagan said, "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. I still think that democracy can do it."<ref name="HUAC"/>
 
==Marriages and children==
[[Image:Ronald and Nancy Reagan 1953.jpg|right|thumb|Ronald Reagan visiting Nancy Reagan on the set of her movie ''[[Donovan's Brain (film)|Donovan's Brain]]'' in 1953.]]
In 1938, Reagan co-starred in the film ''Brother Rat'' with actress [[Jane Wyman]]. They married on [[January 26]], [[1940]], at the Week Kirk O'Heather Church in Forest Lawn, California.<ref>Angelo, Bonnie. [http://books.google.com/books?id=4d-kGVP08CwC&pg=RA4-PA308&lpg=RA4-PA308&dq=kirk+%22o+heather%22+church&source=web&ots=qVpx89AEpF&sig=DkZ-9fga6P7lyMLfKN98zm1Ftcg First Mothers: The Women Who Shaped the Presidents.] </ref> Together they had three children: [[Maureen Reagan]] ([[1941]] &ndash; [[2001]]), [[Michael Reagan]] (b.[[1945]]), and Christine Reagan (born and died [[June 26]], [[1947]]). Reagan and Wyman divorced on [[June 28]], [[1948]] following arguments about Reagan's political ambitions.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 15 </ref> Reagan is the only United States President to have been divorced.
 
Reagan met actress [[Nancy Reagan|Nancy Davis]] in 1949, after Davis contacted Reagan (then President of the [[Screen Actors Guild]]) to help her with issues regarding her name appearing on a communist blacklist (Davis was mistaken for another Nancy Davis). They married on [[March 4]], [[1952]] at the Little Brown Church in the [[San Fernando Valley]], [[Los Angeles, California]].<ref name= "Little Brown Church">{{cite web |url= http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/golf/sns-ap-reagan-places,0,1844441.story?page=2|title= Noteworthy places in Reagan's life|accessdate=2007-04-11|date= 5|year= 2004|month= 6|publisher= The Baltimore Sun|pages= 2}}</ref> Ronald and Nancy Reagan had two children: [[Patti Davis]] (b.[[1952]]) and [[Ron Reagan]] (b.[[1958]])
 
From the very start of their marriage, Ronald and Nancy Reagan were "soul mates." He often called her "Mommy" and she called him "Ronnie".<ref name= "By Reagan's Side"> {{cite web | author = Berry, Deborah Barfield |
url= http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usnanc063835985jun06,0,3872519.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines |title= By Reagan's Side, but her own person | publisher = newsday.com | date = [[June 6]] [[2004]] | accessdate=2007-03-07}} </ref> This deep relationship was with the Reagans throughout all of their married life. While [[President of the United States|President]] and [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]], the Reagans frequently displayed their affection for each other in public, and in private. <ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 123</ref> Even when the President was debilitated by [[Alzheimer's Disease]], Nancy Reagan reaffirmed their love for each other, stating: "We were very much in love, and still are."<ref name= "Love Story">{{cite web |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/265714.stm |title= End of a Love Story | publisher = BBC News | date = [[5 June]] [[2004]] | accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref> President Reagan's death in June 2004 ended what [[Charlton Heston]] called "the greatest love affair in the history of the American Presidency."<ref name= "Love Story" />
 
==Early political career==
Reagan was originally a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], a supporter of the [[New Deal]], and was a lifelong admirer of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s leadership skills. In the late 1940s, Reagan was still a visible speaker defending President [[Harry S. Truman]], but his political loyalties soon shifted to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 132</ref>
 
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.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 29 </ref> In private he and his first wife, Jane Wyman, met with FBI agents in 1947 to name "suspected subversives." A 2002 [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] request<ref name= "Reagan, FBI">{{cite web |url= http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002/06/08/reagan.htm |title= Reagan, FBI to Quash Campus Unrest | publisher = USA Today | date = [[2002-06-08]] | accessdate=2004-06-08}}</ref> revealed that those he allegedly named included actors [[Larry Parks]], [[Howard Da Silva]], and [[Alexander Knox]], each of whom was later called before HUAC and subsequently blacklisted in Hollywood.
 
A staunch 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 [[Party switching in the United States|switched parties]], becoming a Republican in 1962 and joining the 1964 bandwagon 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."<ref name= "A Time for Choosing">{{cite press release |url= http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/40_reagan/psources/ps_choose64.html | title= A Time for Choosing | publisher = PBS | accessdate=2007-04-17}}</ref> The address soon became known as the "[[A Time for Choosing|Time for Choosing]]" speech, and it is considered the speech that launched Reagan's poitical career.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 36</ref>
 
"I didn't leave the Democratic Party", he claimed. "The party left me."<ref name="LA Times Obituary 2"/> Reagan explained in his autobiography ''An American Life'' that Franklin D. Roosevelt warned that welfare programs could destroy the work ethic like "a narcotic," and that Roosevelt liquidated the temporary welfare programs designed to aid the country through the Great Depression once the Depression had passed (though the programs would be revived after his death). Reagan implied that [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Woodrow Wilson]], and [[FDR]] would have also disapproved of the change in the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. <ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), pp. 134-135</ref>
 
==Governor of California, 1967–1975==
[[Image:GOVREAGAN.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Ronald and Nancy Reagan celebrate Reagan's gubernatorial victory at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California.]]
After Reagan's "Time for Choosing" speech, California Republicans became impressed with his political views and charisma.<ref name= "Governor of California">{{cite web |url= http://www.californiagovernors.ca.gov/h/biography/governor_33.html |title= Governor Ronald Reagan | | publisher = Governors of California | accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref> They nominated him for [[Governor of California]] in 1966, and he was elected, defeating two-term governor [[Pat Brown|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."<ref name="kahn">{{cite web | author = Kahn, Jeffery | publisher = UC Berkeley News | date = [[8 June]] [[2004]] | title= Ronald Reagan launched political career using the Berkeley campus as a target | accessdate=2007-03-30 | url= http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/06/08_reagan.shtml}}</ref> Reagan was sworn in as Governor on [[January 3]], [[1967]]. In his first term, he froze government hiring but also approved tax hikes to balance the budget.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 47 </ref>
 
Shortly thereafter, Reagan first tested the Presidential waters in 1968 as part of a "Stop Nixon" movement which included those from the party's left led by then-[[New York]] Governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]]. Reagan managed to win the pledges of some 600 delegates, but [[Richard Nixon]] quickly steamrolled to the nomination.
 
Reagan entered into high profile conflicts with the protest movements of the era. During the [[People's Park (Berkeley)#"Bloody Thursday" and Its Aftermath|People's Park protests]] at [[UC Berkeley]] in 1969, Reagan sent [[California Highway Patrol]] officers onto the campus to quell campus unrest.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 50 </ref> On [[May 15]] of that year, the riots increased, and the officers resorted to firearms, shooting and killing and a twenty five year old [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] man and injuring many others.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 50 </ref> Reagan then called out 2,200 [[United States National Guard|state National Guard]] troops to the university, to crack down on the anti-war protesters and rioters.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 50 </ref>
 
Early in 1967, the national debate on [[abortion]] was just 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.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 50</ref> The state Legislature sent the bill to Reagan's desk, and after many days of indecision, he reluctantly signed the bill.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 51</ref> 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.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 51</ref> Reagan had only been in office for four months when he signed the bill, and stated that had he been more experienced as governor, he would not have signed it. After he recognized what he called the "consequences" of signing the bill, he announced that he was pro-life.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 51</ref>
 
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]].<ref name= "Rest of Me"/> He had campaigned as a strong supporter; however, his efforts to enforce the state's laws in this area were thwarted when the [[Supreme Court of California]] issued its ''[[California v. Anderson|People v. Anderson]]'' decision, which invalidated all [[death sentence]]s issued in California prior to 1972. The decision was later overturned by a [[constitutional amendment]]. The only execution during Reagan's governorship was on [[April 12]], [[1967]], when Aaron Mitchell was killed by the state in [[San Quentin|San Quentin's]] gas chamber. There were no more executions in California until 1992: but as Governor he signed a new death penalty status in 1974.
 
===1976 presidential campaign===
[[Image:1976 Republican National Convention.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ronald Reagan shakes hands with [[Gerald Ford]] at the [[1976 Republican National Convention]], after Reagan narrowly lost the Presidential nomination. To Reagan's left are [[Bob Dole]] and [[Nancy Reagan]]; at his right are [[Nelson Rockefeller]], [[Susan Ford]], and [[Betty Ford]].]]
In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President [[Gerald Ford]] in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Ford was considered a comparatively centrist or moderate Republican.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gf38.html |title= Biography of Gerald R. Ford | publisher = The White House | accessdate= 2007-03-29}} at [[White House]].gov. Ford considered himself a "a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs."</ref> 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.<ref name="ACU">The ACU, a co-plaintiff in [[Buckley v. Valeo]], benefited from early knowledge of the changes in rules permitting [[PAC]]s 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. {{cite web|url= http://www.conservative.org/about/history01.asp | title= The American Conservative Union: A History | publisher = The American Conservative Union | accessdate= 2007-03-29}}</ref> He relied on a strategy crafted by campaign manager [[John Sears]] of winning a few primaries early to seriously damage the liftoff of Ford's campaign, but the strategy quickly disintegrated. Poor management of the campaign, and an ill-timed speech promising to shift responsibility for federal services to the states without identifying any clear funding mechanism, caused Reagan to lose [[New Hampshire]] and later [[Florida]].<ref name= "1976 Republican Results">{{cite web |url= http://www.politicallibrary.org/TallState/1976rep.html |title= 1976 New Hampshire Presidential Primary, February 24, 1976 Republican Results | publisher = New Hampshire Political Library |accessdate= 2007-03-30}}</ref> Reagan found himself cornered, desperately needing a win to stay in the race.<ref>Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. ? </ref>
 
Reagan's stand in the [[North Carolina]] primary was a do-or-die proposition. He attacked Ford about the [[Panama Canal]], [[détente]] with the Soviet Union, and [[Henry Kissinger]]'s performance as [[Secretary of State]], which led to him defeating Ford 53% to 47%. He used that bit of momentum to add the major states of [[Texas]] and [[California]], but then fell back from losing efforts in [[Ohio]], [[Tennessee]], [[Kentucky]], and [[Michigan]]. As the party's convention in Kansas City neared, Ford appeared close to victory, thanks to New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania delegates ostensibly under the control of Ford's liberal Vice President Rockefeller. Acknowledging the strength of his party's moderate and liberal wing, Reagan balanced his ticket by choosing as his running mate moderate Republican Senator [[Richard Schweiker]] of [[Pennsylvania]]. Nonetheless, Ford squeaked by with 1,187 delegates to Reagan's 1,070; the evident strength of the conservatives behind Reagan led Ford to drop the more [[American liberalism|liberal]] Vice President Nelson Rockefeller as running-mate in favor of [[Kansas]] Senator [[Bob Dole]].<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/analysis/back.time/9603/29/index.shtml Another Loss For the Gipper.] ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', [[March 29]] [[1976]]. Retrieved on [[2006-12-31]].</ref> Reagan's concession speech was a stirring exhortation, emphasizing the dangers of nuclear war and the moral 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]]."<ref>Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. ? </ref> Ford went on to lose the 1976 presidential election to the Democratic challenger [[Jimmy Carter]].
 
===1980 presidential campaign===
{{main|United States presidential election, 1980}}
[[Image:Reagan 1980 campaign.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Reagan campaigns with [[Nancy Reagan|Nancy]] in [[South Carolina]], 1980.]]
In 1980, Reagan won the Republican nomination for president, handily winning most of the primaries after an early defeat in the [[Iowa caucus]]es. During the 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. <ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 216</ref>
 
The 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 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, plus lackluster economic growth. Reagan hammered away at the theme that America's military had fallen behind the Soviet Union, and that détente was a failure. 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."<ref name= "Reagan Quotes">{{cite web |url=http://www.uncoverthenet.com/quotes/dir/559/1.php|title= Famous Ronald Reagan Quotes|accessdate=2007-04-02|year= 2007|publisher= UTN Enterprises Inc.|quote="A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his!"}}</ref>
 
Reagan's showing in the [[U.S. presidential debate|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: during a time of skyrocketing prices and high interest rates, he asked, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" (a phrase he would successfully reuse in the 1984 campaign).<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 221</ref>
 
Reagan swept to a landslide, carrying 44 states with 489 electoral to only 49 for Carter, representing 6 states and the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]]. Reagan won 50.7% of the popular vote while Carter took 41% and independent [[John Anderson]] (a liberal Republican) received 6.7%.<ref name= "1980 Results">{{cite web |url= http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1980 |title= 1980 Presidential Election Results | publisher = Dave Liep's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections | accessdate=2007-03-28}}</ref> [[Reagan Democrats]] were blue collar Democrats who voted for Reagan, helping him carry historic Democratic strongholds like [[Michigan]], [[New York]], and [[Massachusetts]]. Thanks in large part to the enthusiastic Republican campaign and Reagan's coattails, [[United States Senate elections, 1980|twelve Democrats were defeated in Senate races]], which the GOP captured for the first time since 1952, with the margin of 54-46. The GOP [[United States House elections, 1980|gained 34 House seats]], but the Democrats retained a majority of 242-192.
 
==Presidency, 1981–1989==
{{main|Reagan Administration}}
{| cellpadding="1" cellspacing="2" style="float: left; margin:1em 1em 1em 0; border:1px solid #000000;font-size:85%;" align="left"
!bgcolor="#dcdcdc" colspan="3"|The Reagan Cabinet
|-
|align="left"|'''OFFICE'''||align="left"|'''NAME'''||align="left"|'''TERM'''
|-
!bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3" |
|-
|align="left"|[[President of the United States|President]]||align="left" |'''Ronald Reagan'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]||align="left"|'''[[George H. W. Bush]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1989
|-
!bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"|
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of State|State]]||align="left"|'''[[Alexander M. Haig]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1982
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[George P. Shultz]]'''||align="left"|1982&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Treasury]]||align="left"|'''[[Donald Regan]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1985
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[James A. Baker III]]'''||align="left"|1985&ndash;1988
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Nicholas F. Brady]]'''||align="left"|1988&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of Defense|Defense]]||align="left"|'''[[Caspar Weinberger]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1987
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Frank C. Carlucci]]'''||align="left"|1987&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[Attorney General of the United States|Justice]]||align="left"|'''[[William French Smith|William F. Smith]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1985
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Edwin A. Meese III]]'''||align="left"|1985&ndash;1988
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Richard L. Thornburgh]]'''||align="left"|1988&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of the Interior|Interior]]||align="left"|'''[[James G. Watt]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1983
|-he was
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[William P. Clark, Jr.]]'''||align="left"|1983&ndash;1985
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Donald P. Hodel]]'''||align="left"|1985&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of Commerce|Commerce]]||align="left"|'''[[Howard M. Baldrige, Jr.|Malcolm Baldrige]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1987
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[C. William Verity, Jr.]]'''||align="left"|1987&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of Labor|Labor]]||align="left"|'''[[Raymond J. Donovan]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1985
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[William E. Brock]]'''||align="left"|1985&ndash;1987
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Ann Dore McLaughlin]]'''||align="left"|1987&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Agriculture]]||align="left"|'''[[John Rusling Block]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1986
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Richard E. Lyng]]'''||align="left"|1986&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of Health and Human Services|HHS]]||align="left"|'''[[Richard S. Schweiker]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1983
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Margaret Heckler]]'''||align="left"|1983&ndash;1985
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Otis R. Bowen]]'''||align="left"|1985&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of Education|Education]]||align="left"|'''[[Terrell Bell|Terrell H. Bell]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1984
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[William J. Bennett]]'''||align="left"|1985&ndash;1988
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Lauro Cavazos]]'''||align="left"|1988&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|HUD]]||align="left"|'''[[Samuel Pierce|Samuel R. Pierce, Jr.]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of Transportation|Transportation]]||align="left"|'''[[Drew Lewis]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1982
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Elizabeth Hanford Dole]]'''||align="left"|1983&ndash;1987
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[James H. Burnley IV]]'''||align="left"|1987&ndash;1989
|-
|align="left"|[[United States Secretary of Energy|Energy]]||align="left"|'''[[James B. Edwards]]'''||align="left"|1981&ndash;1982
|-]]''''''''']]</math></nowiki>]]]]]]]]]|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[Donald P. Hodel]]'''||align="left"|1982&ndash;1985
|-
|align="left"|&nbsp;||align="left"|'''[[John S. Herrington]]'''||align="left"|1985&ndash;1989
|}
 
===First term, 1981–1985===
[[Image:The Reagans waving from the limousine during the Inaugural Parade 1981.jpg|thumb|265px|right|The Reagans wave from the limousine taking them down [[Pennsylvania Avenue]], to the [[White House]], right after the President's inauguration.]]
During his Presidency, Ronald Reagan pursued policies that reflected his optimism in individual freedom, promoted individual liberty domestically, and pursued freedom abroad.<ref>Deaver (2001), p. ? </ref> Addressing the economic malaise he inherited, in his inaugural address he argued, "Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem." The Reagan Presidency began in a historic manner. The first major event happened just thirty minutes into the administration on [[January 20]], [[1981]]. As he was delivering his inaugural address, [[Iran Hostage Crisis|fifty-two American hostages, held by Iran for 444 days]], were set free.<ref>Cannon (2001), p. ? </ref>
 
====Assassination attempt====
{{main|Reagan assassination attempt}}
On March 30, 1981, only sixty-nine 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 one inch, the bullet instead pierced his left lung, which likely spared his life. In the operating room, Reagan joked to the surgeons, "I hope you're all Republicans!"<ref name= "March 30, 1981">{{cite web |url= http://www.ronaldreagan.com/march30.html |title= March 30, 1981 |accessdate=2007-03-29 |publisher= Techsure LLC}}</ref> 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]] escorted the President home from the hospital.<ref>Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. ? </ref>
 
====Federal air traffic controllers' strike====
''Main article: [[Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization|1981 Air Traffic Controllers' Strike]]''<br>
Only a short time into his administration, Federal air traffic controllers went on strike,<ref>Cannon (2001), p. ? </ref> violating a regulation prohibiting government unions from striking.<ref>Deaver (2001), p. ? </ref> 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 "did not return to work within forty-eight hours, they have forfeited their jobs, and will be terminated."<ref>Reeves (2005), p. ? </ref> On [[August 5]], [[1981]], Reagan fired 11,359 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored his order to return to work, one of the biggest setbacks to the power of organized labor in many years.
 
===="Reaganomics" and the economy====
[[Image:REAGANWH.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Ronald Reagan's Official Portrait that hangs in the White House.]]
{{main|Reaganomics}}
When Ronald Reagan entered office, the American economy faced the highest rate of [[inflation]] since [[1947]], and this was considered the nation's principal economic problem. When President Reagan returned from the hospital, he focused on reviving the economy which was exhibiting [[stagflation]] (a high rate of [[inflation]] combined with an [[economic recession]]). Partially based on [[supply-side economics]], his policies sought to stimulate the economy with large across-the-board [[tax cuts]].<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001) p. 99</ref> Reagan's expansionary fiscal policies soon became known as "[[Reaganomics]]".<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 99 </ref>
 
President Reagan's tenure marked a time of economic prosperity for most Americans in the United States. Tax rates were lowered significantly under Reagan, with the top personal tax bracket dropping from 70% to 28% in 7 years,<ref>Cannon (2001), p. ? </ref> and [[GDP]] growth recovered strongly after the 1982 recession. Unemployment peaked at over 11 percent in 1982, then dropped steadily, plus [[inflation]] significantly decreased.<ref name="Cato Institute"/> During Reagan's eight years in office, the economy grew at a robust annual rate of 3.8% per year.<ref name= "Cato Institute">{{cite web | author = Niskanen, William A. and Stephen Moore | url= http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-261.html |title= Supply Tax Cuts and the Truth About the Reagan Economic Record | publisher = Cato Institute | date = [[October 22]] [[1996]] | accessdate=2007-03-31}}</ref>
[[Image:RRNRREAGAN.jpg|thumb|left|The Reagans await the arrival of Australian Prime Minister [[Malcom Fraser]] at the North Portico at the White House.]]
 
He reappointed [[Chairman of the Federal Reserve|Fed Chairman]] [[Paul Volcker]] and steadfastly supported the Fed's anti-inflation actions,<ref>Reeves (2005), p. ? </ref> despite political risks from the ensuing recession, which ended the high inflation that damaged the economy under his predecessors. Reagan appointed the monetarist [[Alan Greenspan]] to succeed Volker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He preserved the core New Deal safeguards, such as the [[SEC]], [[FDIC]], [[GI Bill]] and [[Social Security]], while rolling back what he viewed as the excesses of 1960s and 1970s liberal policies.<ref>Morris (1999), p. ? </ref> He reformed [[Social Security]], to make it solvent many decades longer.<ref name= "Cato Institute"/>
 
Critics from the left charged that Reagan was unconcerned with income inequality and its effects, abandoning the egalitarian ideals that had come to be standard stated policy goals since the New Deal era.<ref name= "Historical Record">{{cite book |last= Danziger|first= S.H. |coauthors= D.H. Weinburg |title= "The Historical Record: Trends in Family Income, Inequality, and Poverty" in ''Confronting Poverty: Prescriptions for Change'' |year= 1994 |publisher= |___location= |isbn= }}</ref>They also stated that the combination of significant tax cuts and a massive increase in [[Cold War]] related defense expenditure caused large budget deficits, <ref name= "Trickle-Down Economics">{{cite web |url= http://www.faireconomy.org/research/TrickleDown.html |title= Trickle-Down Economics: Four Reasons why it Just Doesn't Work | author = Etebari, Mehrun |date = [[July 17]] [[2003]] | publisher = faireconomy.org | accessdate=2007-03-31}}</ref> and the U.S. trade deficit expanded.<ref name= "Trickle-Down Economics"/>
 
Reagan's efforts to cut [[Welfare (financial aid)|welfare]] and income taxes became common flash points for both critics and supporters. Opponents charged that this primarily benefited the wealthy in America, deriding these policies as "[[Trickle-down economics]]".<ref name= "Trickle-Down Economics"/> Reagan's former director of the [[Office of Management and Budget]], [[Image:REAGANMONEYSPEECH2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Reagan gives a televised address from the Oval Office, outlining his plan for Tax Reduction Legislation in July of 1981.]] [[David Stockman]], stated that Reagan was deliberately left "out of the loop" by cabinet members, when the true economic decisions were made. He believed that Reagan did not know where he stood on economic policy and said he was forced to coach him prior to speeches and press conferences on what to say.<ref name= "PBS Special Broadcasting">''[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/info/412.html The Disillusionment of David Stockman]''. Prod. by Sherry Jones. [[April 20]] [[1986]]. Videocassette. PBS, 1986.</ref> He later characterized the Reagan administration as giving "the greatest free lunch fiscal policy" to Americans through his economic policies.<ref name= "PBS Special Broadcasting"/> Stockman was fired by Reagan after a disagreement (unrelated to Stockman's claims), and many have speculated that this may have been his way of exacting revenge against the President. Stockman's claims are widely considered to be untrue. <ref>Reeves (2005), p. ? </ref> However, the Reagan administration's financial boss, Donald Regan, is recorded as saying that he never heard from the president what he wanted him to do with the economy. Ronald Reagan never pretended to be an economist. As in most areas of government, he let those whom he appointed get on with the work, while he concentrated on the role of front-man.
 
The [[deregulation]] of the banking industry before Reagan took office meant savings and loan associations were given the flexibility to invest their depositors' funds in commercial real estate. Many savings and loan associations began making risky investments.<ref name="The S&L Crisis">{{cite web |url= http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/s&l/ |title= The S&L Crisis: A Chrono-Bibliography | accessdate= 2007-04-08 |publisher= Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation}}</ref> As a result, the [[Federal Home Loan Bank Board]], the federal agency that regulates the industry, tried to clamp down on the trend. In so doing, however, the Board clashed with the policy of permitting the deregulation of many industries, including the thrift industry. The resulting savings and loan scandal bailout ultimately cost the government $150 billion.<ref name= "The S&L Crisis"/>
 
[[Image:REAGANSAIRFORCEONE2.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The Reagans wave from [[Air Force One]] as they arrive in [[Atlanta, Georgia]] in 1986.]] In order to cover new federal budget deficits, the [[United States]] borrowed heavily both domestically and abroad, and by the end of Reagan's second term the [[national debt]] rose from $700 billion dollars to $3 trillion dollars.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001) p. 128</ref> Reagan described the new debt as the "greatest disappiontment of his presidency."<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001) p. 128</ref>
 
Looking at Reaganomics from a beneficial point of view, many scholars agree that overall, Reagan's tax policies and emphasis on deregulation invigorated America's economy.<ref name= "Greg Kaza"> {{cite web |url= http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_comment/kaza200406151029.asp |title= Going to School on Reaganomics |accessdate=2007-03-31 |author= Kaza, Greg |date= [[2004-06-15]]| publisher= National Review}}</ref> According to the Cato Institute, the American Economy performed better during the Reagan years, than during the pre- and post- Reagan years,<ref name= "Cato Institute"/> and at the end of his administration, the United States was enjoying its longest recorded period of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression.<ref>Reeves (2005), p. ? </ref>
 
====War on Drugs====
Not long after being sworn into office, Reagan declared more militant policies in the "[[War on Drugs]]".<ref name= "War on Drugs">{{cite web |url= http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june01/drug_war.html |title= The War on Drugs | publisher = pbs.org | date = [[May 10]] [[2001]] | accessdate= 2007-04-04}}</ref><ref name= "Youth Trends">{{cite web |url= http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/HSYouthtrends.html | title= NIDA InfoFacts: High School and Youth Trends | publisher = National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH | accessdate=2007-04-04}}</ref> Reagan promised a "planned, concerted campaign" against all drugs,<ref name= "The Drug War">{{cite web |url= http://academic.udayton.edu/race/03justice/crime09.htm |title= The Drug War as Race War |accessdate= 2007-04-11 |author= Randall, Vernellia R |date= 18|year= 2006|month= April|publisher= The University of Dayton School of Law}}</ref> which eventually led to dramatic decreases in adolescent drug use in America.<ref name= "War on Drugs"/><ref name="Decline of Substance Use">{{cite web |author = Bachman, Gerald G. et al. | url= http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/jbbook/jbbook02.html |title= The Decline of Substance Use in Young Adulthood | publisher = The Regents of the University of Michigan | accessdate=2007-04-04}}</ref>
 
On [[October 27]], [[1986]], President Reagan signed an enormous omnibus drug bill into law, which granted $1.7 billion dollars to fight the crisis.<ref name="PBS Frontline"/> It ensured a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses, which was somwhat controversial. He was attacked, with critics saying that the minimum penalty promoted significant racial disparities in the prison population, because of the differences in sentencing for crack vs. powder cocaine.<ref name="PBS Frontline"/>
 
Many critics also charged that the 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.<ref name= "Stop the Drug War">{{cite web |url= http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/341/reagan.shtml | publisher = stopthedrugwar.org | title= The Reagan-Era Drug War Legacy | date = [[2004-06-11]] | accessdate= 2007-04-04}}</ref> Due to this policy, some critics regarded Reagan as indifferent to the needs of poor and minority citizens. Nevertheless, surveys showed that illegal drug use among Americans declined significantly during Reagan's presidency, leading supporters to argue that the policies were successful.<ref>Cannon (2000), p. ? </ref><ref name= "War on Drugs"/>
 
Reagan's [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]], [[Nancy Reagan|Nancy]], even took on the War on Drugs as her main cause, by founding the "[[Just Say No]]" anti-drug association. Still today, there are thousands of "Just Say No" clinics around the country, aimed at helping and rehabilitating kids and teens with drug problems.<ref name="PBS Frontline">{{cite web |url= http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/cron/ | title= Thirty Years of America's Drug War | publisher = pbs.org | accessdate=2007-04-04}}</ref><ref>Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. ? </ref>
 
====Judiciary====
[[Image:President Reagan and Sandra Day O'Connor.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Reagan meets with [[Sandra Day O'Connor]], the first female Supreme Court Justice, whom he appointed.]]
During his 1980 campaign, Reagan pledged that if given the opportunity, he would appoint the first female Supreme Court Justice. <ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 280</ref> 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 [[Potter Stewart|Justice Potter Stewart]]. In his second term, Reagan elevated [[William Rehnquist]] to succeed [[Warren Burger]] as [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]], and named [[Antonin Scalia]] to fill the vacant seat. All of these appointments were confirmed by the Senate with relative ease. However in 1987 Reagan lost a significant political battle when the Senate rejected the nomination of [[Robert Bork]]. [[Anthony Kennedy]] was eventually confirmed in his place.<ref>Cannon (2001), p. ? </ref>
 
Both his Supreme Court nominations and his lower court appointments were in line with Reagan's philosophy that judges should interpret law as enacted and not "legislate from the bench".<ref>Morris (1999), p. ? </ref> By the end of the 1980s, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court had put an end to the perceived "activist" trend begun under the leadership of [[Earl Warren]]. Critics pointed out that the conservatives justices were equally activist, but showed sympathy to corporate America. However, general adherence to the principle of ''[[stare decisis]]'' along with minority support, left most of the major landmark case decisions (such as ''[[Brown v. Board of Education|Brown]]'', ''[[Miranda v. Arizona|Miranda]]'', and ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'') of the previous three decades still standing as binding precedent.<ref>Reeves (2005), p. ? </ref>
 
====Lebanon and Grenada, 1983====
{{main|Invasion of Grenada}}
American peacekeeping forces in Beirut, with a multinational force during the [[Lebanese Civil War]], were attacked on [[October 22]], [[1983]]. The [[1983 Beirut barracks bombing|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 a "despicable act," pledged to keep a military force in Lebanon, and assembled his national security team with plans to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in [[Baalbek]], Lebanon, which housed Iranian Revolutionary Guards believed to be training [[Hezbollah]] fighters.<ref>{{cite paper
|title=Anne Dammarell et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran
|url=http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/01-2224.pdf
|author= Bates, John D. (Presiding)
|date=September 2003
|format= PDF
|___location= District of Columbia, U.S.
|publisher= The United States District Court for the District of Columbia
|accessdate = 2006-09-21 }}</ref><ref name= "Report of the DoD Comission"> {{cite web |url= http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/XX/MidEast/Lebanon-1982-1984/DOD-Report/Beirut-8.html |title= Report on the DoD Commission on Beirut International Airport Terrorist Act, October 23, 1983 | publisher = ibiblio.org | accessdate=2007-04-02}}</ref> 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.
 
Three days later, U.S. forces invaded [[Grenada]], where a 1979 [[coup d'état|''coup d’état'']] had established a [[Marxism-Leninism|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. 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,<ref name= "Invasion of Grenada">{{cite web |publisher = Defense Technical Information Center | url= http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/history/urgfury.pdf | format = PDF | title= Operation Agent Fury |accessdate=2007-03-09}}</ref> with 19 American fatalities and 116 wounded, 45 Grenadan military and at least 24 civilian deaths, and 358 soldiers wounded, and 25 [[Cuban]] soldiers killed in action, with 59 wounded and 638 mostly military engineers taken prisoner.<ref name= "Urgent Fury">{{cite web |author = Cooper, Tom | url= http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_159.shtml |title= Grenada, 1983: Operation 'Urgent Fury' | date = [[September 1]] [[2003]] | accessdate=2007-04-08 |publisher= Air Combat Information Group }}</ref>In mid-December, after a new government was appointed by the Governor-General, U.S. forces withdrew.<ref name="Invasion of Grenada"/>
 
In Lebanon, meanwhile, 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.
 
===1984 presidential campaign===
{{main|United States presidential election, 1984}}
[[Image:ElectoralCollege1984-Large.png|thumb|left|300px|1984 Presidential electoral votes by state. Reagan (red) won every state, with the exception of [[Minnesota]] and [[Washington, D.C.]] ]]
In the [[U.S. presidential election, 1984|1984 presidential election]], Reagan was re-elected over former Vice President [[Walter Mondale]], winning 49 of 50 states. Reagan's landslide victory saw Mondale carry only his home state of [[Minnesota]] (by 3800 votes) and the [[District of Columbia]]. Reagan received nearly 60 percent of the popular vote. His chances of winning were not harmed when, at the [[Democratic National Convention]], Mondale accepted the party nomination with a speech that was regarded as a self-inflicted mortal wound to his presidential aspirations. In it, Mondale remarked "Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did."<ref name= "Mondale Speech"> {{cite web |url= http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/chicago/facts/famous.speeches/mondale.84.shtml | title= Mondale's Acceptance Speech, 1984: Walter Mondale throws down gauntlet in run against Reagan | publisher = CNN | accessdate = 2007-04-09}} </ref>
 
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 [[1984 Summer Olympics|Los Angeles Olympics]] that summer. He became the first American President to open a summer Olympic Games held in the United States.<ref name= "LA Olympics">{{cite web |url= http://www.sok.se/inenglish/losangeles1984.4.18ea16851076df63622800011008.html |title= Los Angeles 1984 | publisher = Swedish Olympic Committee | accessdate=2007-03-07}} </ref>
 
Despite a weak performance in the first debate,<ref>Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. ? </ref> Reagan recovered in the second and was considerably ahead of Mondale in polls taken throughout much of the race. Reagan's landslide win in the 1984 presidential election is often attributed by political commentators to be a result of his conversion of the "[[Reagan Democrat]]s", the traditionally Democratic voters who voted for Reagan in that election.<ref>Reeves (2005), p. ? </ref>
 
===Second term, 1985–1989===
[[Image:President Reagan being sworn in for second term in the rotunda at the U.S. Capitol 1985.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Ronald Reagan is sworn in for a second term as President in the Capitol Rotunda.]]
Reagan was sworn in as President for the second time on [[January 21]], [[1985]], in the [[Capitol Rotunda|Rotunda]] of the [[United States Capitol Building]]. The 20th of January fell on a Sunday, so no public celebration was held until the next day, which was the coldest day on record in [[Washington, D.C.]] Because of that, inaugural celebrations were held inside the Capitol.<ref>Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. ? </ref>
 
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. On January 5, 1987, Reagan underwent surgery for prostate cancer which caused further worries about his health, but which significantly raised the public awareness of this "silent killer." <ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. ?</ref>
 
In [[1985]], Ronald and Nancy Reagan visited a cemetery in [[Bitburg|Bitburg, Germany]], where Reagan was to lay a wreath. Some Jewish leaders criticized him for deciding to visit the cemetery, after they discovered that 49 [[Waffen SS]] men were buried there, and for stating that the German soldiers buried there, who were drafted into services in the later years of the war, were victims, just as were the Jews murdered in Nazi concentration camps.<ref>Cannon (2001), p. ? </ref> 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"; he was in a film unit in Hollywood that processed raw footage they received from Europe for newsreels, but he was not in Europe itself during the war. This incident has often been used to describe Reagan as either confused or lying about his role in WWII, but no claims have been confirmed.<ref>Morris (1999), p. ? </ref>
 
Reagan was criticized for the slow response of his Administration to the [[HIV]]-[[AIDS]] epidemic, until after the illness of movie star and national icon [[Rock Hudson]] became public news in late July [[1985]], by which time 12,067 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, and 6,079 had died.<ref name= "Band Played On"> {{cite book |last= Shilts | first= Randy |title= And the Band Played On |year= 1987 |publisher= St. Martin's Press |___location= New York |isbn= | page = ?? }}</ref>{{Verify source|date=April 2007}} <!-- book source needs a page number --> The White House was accused of ignoring an epidemic that had primarily affected gay men; many believing that it took Hudson's death to legitimize the need for action.
 
====The Iran-Contra Affair====
{{main|Iran-Contra Affair}}
{{main|Reagan administration scandals}}
[[Image:C39273-16.jpg|thumb|right|275px|President Reagan receives the Tower Report in the Cabinet Room of the White House in 1987.]]
In 1986, the Reagan Administration was found to have illegally sold arms to Iran to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua. The Iran-Contra Affair was the largest [[American political scandals|political scandal]] in the [[United States]] during the [[1980s]].<ref>{{cite web
| last = Parry
| first = Robert
| title = NYT's apologies miss the point
| publisher = consortiumnews.com
| date = [[2004-06-02]]
| url = http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/060204.html | accessdate = 2007-04-01}}</ref> Large volumes of documents relating to the scandal were destroyed or withheld from investigators by [[Reagan Administration]] officials.<ref name="Iran-Contra Report">{{cite web
| title = Excerpts From the Iran-Contra Report: A Secret Foreign Policy
| publisher = New York Times Books
| date = [[January 19]] [[1994]]
| url = http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/06/29/reviews/iran-transcript.html | accessdate = 2007-04-09}}</ref> 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". Critics objected to his comparison of the Contras, who were responsible for murdering large numbers of women and children, to the Founding Fathers and to the French Resistance, which suggests that he viewed the Sandinistas as Communists who were akin to an occupying power. 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. The U.S. had not accepted the court's jurisdiction and did not argue the merits of its case, nor did the court accept the intervention on the behalf of the U.S. by [[El Salvador]], to whose defense the U.S. claimed it was coming by its actions in Nicaragua. Despite a [[United Nations General Assembly]] resolution<ref name>{{cite web |url= http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/41/a41r031.htm | title= Resolution A/RES/41/31 | publisher = United Nations General Assembly | date= [[1986-11-03]] | accessdate = 2007-04-09 }}</ref> demanding compliance, the U.S. never paid the required fine and since [[1991]], relations with Nicaragua were friendly.
 
Reagan appointed a non-partisan, three-man commission to review the scandal, called the Tower Commission. Headed by John Tower, the other two members were [[Edmund Muskie]] and [[Brent Scowcroft]]. In the end, ten officials in the Reagan Administration were convicted, and others were forced to resign.<ref name= "The Iran Contra Affair">{{cite web |author = Rockwell, Kara | publisher = answerpoint.org | url= http://www.answerpoint.org/columns2.asp?column_id=1165&column_type=feature |title= A Tale of Three Countries: The Iran Contra Affair | date = [[2005-03-10]] | accessdate=2007-03-09}} </ref> Secretary of Defense [[Casper Weinberger]] was indicted for perjury and later received a presidential pardon from George H.W. Bush, days before the trial was set to begin. In 2006, historians ranked the Iran-Contra affair as one of the ten worst mistakes by a U.S. president.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060218/presidential_errors_060218/20060218?hub=World | title = U.S. historians pick top 10 presidential errors | publisher = ctv.ca | work = [[Associated Press]] | date =[[February 18]] [[2006]] | accessdate = 2007-04-09}}</ref>
 
====The Cold War====
Reagan escalated the [[Cold War]] with the [[Soviet Union]], leaving behind the policy of [[détente]] used by his predecessors [[Richard Nixon]], [[Gerald Ford]], and [[Jimmy Carter]]. The Reagan Administration implemented a new policy towards the Soviet Union through NSDD-32 (National Security Decisions Directive) to confront the Soviets. NSDD was issued by President Reagan and his Assistants to the President for National Security Affairs to set forth official national security policy for the guidance of the defense, intelligence, and foreign policy establishments of the United States Government.<ref name= "NSDD">{{cite web |url= http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsdd/index.html|title= NSDD - National Security Decision Directives Reagan Administration |accessdate=2007-04-10 |author= Pike, John| date= 25|year=2003|month= February|publisher= Federation of American Scientists}}</ref>
 
The administration revived the B-1 bomber program that had been canceled by the [[Carter administration]] and began production of the MX "Peacekeeper" missile.<ref name= "Peacekeeper">{{cite web |url= http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/icbm/lgm-118.htm| title= LGM-118A Peacekeeper| accessdate=2007-04-10 |date=15 |year= 2000|month= August|publisher= Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> In response to Soviet deployment of the SS-20, Reagan oversaw NATO's deployment of the Pershing II missile in West Germany.<ref name= "Cold War Generals">{{cite web |url= http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/collections/coll_cmd/introduction.cfm?navinfo=14565 |title= Cold War Generals: The Warsaw Pact Committee of Defense Ministers, 1969-90, by Christian Nünlist |accessdate=2007-04-10 |accessmonthday= 10|accessdaymonth = 04|accessyear= 2007|year= 2000-2007|publisher= Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security (PHP) }}</ref> His position was that if the Soviets did not remove the SS-20 missiles without a concession from the U.S., America would simply introduce the Pershing II missiles for a stronger bargaining position, and both missiles would be eliminated.<ref>Matlock (2004), p. ? </ref> His proposed "zero-option" in 1981 to rid Europe of intermediate-range nuclear weapons was derided as "warmongering."<ref>Gaddis (2005), p. ? </ref>
 
[[Image:EESPEECH.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Reagan addresses the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom |British Parliament]] in [[London]]. In this speech, he famously called the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire."]]
 
One of Reagan's more controversial proposals was the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]], or SDI, a defense project.<ref>Reeves (2005), p. ? </ref> The program would essentially send missiles into space which could intercept missiles being fired anywhere in or to America.<ref name= "SDI"/> Reagan believed this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible,<ref name= "A Shield in Space?">{{cite web |url=http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft4q2nb3c4&chunk.id=d0e5097&toc.id=d0e5097&brand=eschol |title= Deploy or Perish: SDI and Domestic Politics |accessdate=2007-04-10 |publisher= Scholarship Editions}}</ref> but the unlikelihood that the technology could ever work led opponents to dub SDI "Star Wars," and argue that the technological objective was unattainable.<ref name= "A Shield in Space?"/> Indeed, Soviet leaders became genuinely concerned about SDI, and it ended up playing a major role in ending the Cold War. Today, however, the legacy of SDI can be seen with the development of the Patriot, THAD, and AEGIS missile systems&ndash;a layered approach to SDI, brought back into light by North Korea's development of nuclear missiles and threats against the [[United States]].<ref name= "SDI">{{cite web |author = Adelman, Ken | url= http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91361,00.html |title= SDI: The Next Generation | publisher = Fox News | date = [[July 8]] [[2003]] | accessdate=2007-03-15}}</ref>
 
Reagan's militant rhetoric inspired dissidents in the Soviet Union, but also startled allies and alarmed critics.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} In a famous address on [[June 8]], [[1982]], he called the Soviet Union an "evil empire" that would be consigned to the "ash heap of history." He elaborated on June 8, 1982, to the British Parliament, stating that the Soviet Union "runs against the tide of history by denying human freedom and human dignity to its citizens."<ref name= "LA Times Obituary 2" />After Soviet fighters downed Korean Airlines Flight 007 on [[September 1]], [[1983]], he labeled the act a "massacre" and issued a statement in which he declared that the Soviets had turned "against the world and the moral precepts which guide human relations among people everywhere." <ref name= "September 1, 1983">{{cite web |url= http://www.history.com/tdih.do?id=2777&action=tdihArticleCategory |title= 1983:Korean Airlines flight shot down by Soviet Union |accessdate=2007-04-10 |publisher= A&E Television Networks }}</ref> The Reagan admisitration responded to the incident by suspending all Soviet passenger air service to the United States, and dropped several agreements being negotiated with the Soviets.<ref name= "September 1, 1983"/>
 
On [[March 3]], [[1983]], Reagan predicted that Communism would collapse: "I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose — last pages even now are being written."<ref name= "LA Times Obituary 2">{{cite news |url= http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-reagan,1,4780792.story?page=6&coll=la-news-obituaries&ctrack=1&cset=true| title= Former President Reagan Dies at 93 | publisher = Los Angeles Times Obituaries | date = [[June 6]] [[2004]] | accessdate= 2007-03-07}}</ref>
 
Reagan's foreign policies were criticized variously as aggressive, imperialist, putting the world at risk of nuclear war, and (towards the end of his administration) as too conciliatory to the Soviet Union.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} In Britain, though Reagan had the strong support of [[Margaret Thatcher]], he was routinely attacked for his foreign policies. Left-wing critics denounced his opposition to [[Fidel Castro]]'s government in [[Cuba]] and complained that he was ignoring [[human rights]] in [[Central America]], [[South America]], and [[South Africa]].<ref name= "For the Record"> {{cite book |last= Regan |first= Donald T. |authorlink= Donald T. Regan |title= For the Record |year= |___location = San Diego | publisher = Harcourt Brace Jovanovich | date = 1988 |page = ?? | isbn=0151639663}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=April 2007}}<!-- needs page number -->
 
All this was before a reformer, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] rose to power in the Soviet Union in [[1985]]. Reagan later wrote in his autobiography ''An American Life'' that he did not see the profound changes that would occur in the Soviet Union after Gorbachev rose to power. 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====
[[Image:Reagan and Gorbachev hold discussions.jpg|thumb|250 px|right|Reagan and Gorbachev at their first (of four) summit meetings. They ended up becoming close friends, and peacefully ending the Cold War.]]
 
By the late years of the Cold War, Moscow had built up a military that consumed as much as twenty-five percent of the Soviet Union's gross national product at the expense of consumer goods and investment in civilian sectors.<ref>LaFeber (2002), p. ? </ref> Soviet spending on arms race commitments was a cause of the deep-seated structural problems in the Soviet system. As a result of the USSR's deteriorating economy, Gorbachev offered major concessions to the United States on the levels of conventional forces, nuclear weapons, and policy in Eastern Europe.<ref>Matlock (2004), p. ? </ref>
 
Many U.S.-Soviet experts and administration officials doubted that Gorbachev was serious about winding down the arms race,<ref>LaFeber (2002), p. ? </ref> but Ronald Reagan recognized the real change in the direction of the Soviet leadership, and Reagan shifted to skillful diplomacy, using his sincerity and charm to personally push Gorbachev further with his reforms.<ref>Matlock (2004), p. ? </ref> 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]].<ref>Morris (1999), p. ? </ref> 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.<ref>Cannon (2000), p. ? </ref>
[[Image:ReaganBerlinWall.jpg|thumb|225px|left|Ronald Reagan speaks at the [[Berlin Wall]], and challenges [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] to "[[tear down this wall|Tear Down This Wall]]!"]]
 
Speaking at the [[Berlin Wall]], on [[June 12]], [[1987]], Reagan pushed Gorbachev even further: {{cquote|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]]! <ref>Cannon (2000), p. ? </ref>}}
 
Reagan and Gorbachev built a close relationship. Gorbachev was awarded the first [[Ronald Reagan Freedom Award]], The [[Nobel Peace Prize]], and Time Magazine’s Man of the Year. When Gorbachev visited [[Washington, D.C.]] for the third summit, he and Reagan signed the [[Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty|Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty]] in [[1987]] at the [[White House]] (they finalized it a year later), which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons.<ref>Cannon (2001), p. ? </ref>
 
When Reagan visited [[Moscow]] for the fourth summit in 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."<ref name= "Gorby Had the Lead Role">{{cite web |author = Martin, Lawrence | publisher = globeandmail.com | date = 10/06/04 | url= http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040610/COMARTIN10/TPComment/TopStories |title= Gorby Had the Lead Role, Not Gipper |accessdate=2004-06-10 }} </ref> At Gorbachev’s request, Reagan gave a speech on free markets at [[Moscow University]].<ref>Gaddis (2005), p. ? </ref>
 
[[Image:Reagan and Gorbachev signing.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Reagan and Gorbachev sign the [[INF Treaty]] at the [[White House]] in [[1987]].]]
In his autobiography ''An American Life'', Reagan expressed his optimism about the new direction 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?"<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 720 </ref> 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.<ref>Matlock (2004), p. ? </ref>
 
====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]] &ndash; to their new home in the wealthy suburb of [[Bel Air, Los Angeles, California|Bel Air]] in [[Los Angeles]].<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. ? </ref> 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==
[[Image:REAGANLIBRARY94.jpg|thumb|left|250 px|The Reagans view the "Christmas Around the World" exhibit at the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library|Reagan Library]] shortly after Reagan announced he was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease in 1994.]]
Ronald and Nancy Reagan would enjoy the private life for the next five years, traveling from their [[Bel Air, Los Angeles, California|Bel-Air, California]] home, to the [[Rancho del Cielo|Reagan Ranch]] in Santa Barbara every few months. Reagan made occasional appearances on behalf of the Republican Party, including a well-received speech at the [[1992 Republican National Convention]].<ref name= "Speech by Ronald Reagan">{{cite web |url= http://65.126.3.86/reagan/html/reagan08_17_92.shtml |title= 1992 Republican National Convention, Houston | publisher = Heritage Foundation | date = [[August 17]] [[1992]] | accessdate= 2007-03-29 }}</ref> 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.<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 726 </ref> Reagan's final public speech was on [[February 3]], [[1994]], during a tribute in [[Washington, D.C.]] His last 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."<ref name= "Ronald Reagan Freedom Award">{{cite web | url= http://www.reaganfoundation.org/programs/cpa/awards.asp | title= The Ronald Reagan Freedom Award | publisher = The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation | accessdate=2007-03-23}}</ref> The first recipient was former leader of the [[Soviet Union]], [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], and the most recent was former [[President of the United States|United States President]] [[George H.W. Bush]].<ref name= "Bush Receives Reagan Award">{{cite news |first = Daisy | last Nguyen |url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/07/AR2007020700141.html | title= Ex-President Bush Receives Reagan Award | work = Associated Press | accessdate=2007-03-23 |date= [[2007-02-07]] | publisher= Washington Post}}</ref> When President Reagan was diagnosed with [[Alzheimer's Disease]], [[Nancy Reagan]] took on the role of presenting the award on behalf of her husband.<ref name= "Ronald Reagan Freedom Award"/>
 
===Presidential Library and Museum===
{{main|Ronald Reagan Presidential Library}}
On November 4, 1991, [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library|The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library]] was opened to the public. At the opening ceremonies, four former presidents, [[Richard Nixon]], [[Gerald Ford]], [[Jimmy Carter]], 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, and the actual Boeing 707, [[Air Force One]], that served President Reagan during his eight years in office. On [[June 11]], [[2004]], after a [[Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan|major state funeral]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], President Reagan was interred on the property.
 
===Alzheimer's disease===
[[Image:REAGAN1996.jpg|thumb|225px|right|Reagan sitting in his [[Century City, California]] office on [[July 3]] [[1996]], during a visit from [[Bob Dole|Bob]] and [[Elizabeth Dole]].]]
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."<ref name= "Alzheimer Letter"> {{cite web |url= http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/filmmore/reference/primary/alzheimers.html | title= The Alzheimer's Letter | publisher = pbs.org | accessdate=2007-03-07}} </ref>
 
As the years went on, the disease slowly destroyed his mental capacity, and he and Nancy decided he would live in quiet isolation. On [[February 6]], [[2001]], Reagan reached the age of 90, becoming the third former President to reach that age &ndash; 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]]. 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."<ref name= "Nancy Reagan Reflects">{{cite web |url= http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/04/lklw.00.html |title= Nancy Reagan Reflects on Ronald | publisher = CNN transcripts, Larry King Live Weekend | date = [[March 4]] [[2001]] | accessdate=2007-04-06}}</ref>
 
===Religious beliefs and philosophy===
Reagan was a [[Christian]], attending [[Bel Air Presbyterian Church]] in his later years. <ref name= "Agenting for God">{{Citation| last = Netburn| first = Deborah| title =Agenting for God | newspaper = Los Angeles Times| pages = | year = 2006| date = 24| url = http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-dorr52dec24,1,15290.story?coll=la-headlines-magazine}}</ref> His burial site is inscribed with the optimistic words he delivered at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: {{cquote|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.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.planbproductions.com/postnobills/reagan1.html | title= Ronald Reagan Library Opening | publisher = planbproductions.com | date = [[November 4]] [[1991]] | accessdate=2007-03-23}}</ref>}}
 
According to [[Paul Kengor]], author of ''God and Ronald Reagan'' and ''God and George Bush'', Reagan had a strong belief in personal reliance and an optimistic faith in the goodness of most people, stemming from the teachings of his mother, Nelle.<ref>Kengor, Paul (2004), p. 16 </ref> Nelle Reagan, a member of the [[Disciples of Christ|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.<ref>Kengor, Paul (2004), p. 10 </ref> He was appalled by discrimination, recalling a time in [[Dixon, Illinois|Dixon]] when the local inn would not allow black people to stay there. Young Reagan brought them back to his house, where his mother invited them to stay the night, and have breakfast the next morning.<ref>Kengor, Paul (2004), p. 15 </ref>
 
==Death==
{{main|Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan}}
[[Image:Ronald Reagan casket on caisson during funeral procession.jpg|thumb|left|225px|Ronald Reagan's casket, on a horse-drawn caisson, being pulled down [[Constitution Avenue]] to the [[United States Capitol Building|Capitol Building]].]]
Reagan died at his home in [[Bel Air, California]], at 1:00 PM PST on [[June 5]], [[2004]]. A few hours after his death, [[Nancy Reagan|Mrs. 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, California|Santa Monica]] later in the day, where well-wishers paid tribute by laying flowers and American Flags in the grass.<ref>{{cite news | last = Leigh | first = Andrew | date = [[June 07]] [[2004]] | url= http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/leigh200406071201.asp |title= Saying Goodbye in Santa Monica | publisher = National Review | accessdate=2007-03-09 |format= |work= }}</ref> 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 laid 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.
[[Image:AP04061107162.jpg|thumb|225px|right|[[Nancy Reagan]] cries over her husband's casket while being comforted by her family at the President's burial site at the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library|Reagan Library]].]]
 
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 twenty four hours it lay there, 105,000 people filed past the coffin, paying their respects.
 
On [[June 11]], a [[Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan|major 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 the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the former [[Soviet Union]], [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]], German Chancellor [[Gerhard Schröder]], Italian Prime Minister [[Silvio Berlusconi]], [[Hamid Karzai]] of Afghanistan, and [[Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer|Ghazi al-Yawer]] of Iraq.
 
After the funeral service, the Reagan entourage was flown back to [[California]]&mdash;to the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library]]&mdash;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]]. The state funeral was the first since that of [[LBJ]] in [[1973]], as [[Richard Nixon]], the last president to die, who presided over that funeral, did not have a state funeral on his family's wishes.
 
==Legacy==
The noted biographer Richard Reeves summarized in ''President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination'' that Reagan understood {{cquote|...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.<ref name="Richard Reeves Summary">{{cite web |url=http://www.richardreeves.com/books/president_reagan_triumph_of_imagination.html|title=President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination|accessdate=2007-04-21 |author= Richard Reeves |authorlink= Richard Reeves|publisher= Richard Reeves (richardreeves.com)}}</ref>}}
 
When Ronald Reagan died in June 2004, he left behind a nation revitalized and a world free from the threat of total nuclear war. He was eulogized as one of the greatest Presidents in United States history.<ref name = "America Mourns">{{cite web |url= http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,121899,00.html |title= America Mourns: Ronald Reagan dies at 93 |publisher = Fox News | date = [[June 07]] [[2004]] | accessdate=2007-03-19 }}</ref> President [[George W. Bush]], who presided over the [[Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan|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."<ref>{{cite web |publisher = Fox News | url= http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,122528,00.html | title= Reagan Laid to Rest |date = [[June 12]] [[2004]] | accessdate=2007-03-24}}</ref> 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."<ref name= "Reagan Eulogy-Dick Cheney">{{cite web |url= http://reagan2020.us/eulogies/cheney.asp |title= Reagan Eulogy - Dick Cheney, "A Providential Man":Dick Cheney on Ronald Reagan | publisher = Reagan2020.us | date = [[June 10]] [[2004]] |accessdate= 2007-03-19}}</ref> 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."<ref> Kengor, Paul (2004) p. 337, 338</ref>
 
Reagan's supporters, and even many who are not, believe that much of America's success today can be contributed to Ronald Reagan, including a more efficient and more prosperous economy, {{Fact|date=April 2007}} a peaceful end to the [[Cold War]] with a win for America and the world, {{Fact|date=April 2007}} a world safer from the threat of nuclear war, {{Fact|date=April 2007}} hastening the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]], {{Fact|date=April 2007}} and a reaffirmation of individual [[liberty]] as America's most fundamental principle.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} Critics argue that his economic policies caused huge budget deficits, tripling the United States national debt, increased pollution, {{Fact|date=April 2007}} widening the gap between the rich and poor, and creating a hostility towards the disadvantaged.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest_02/shostak062802.html |title= Supply-Side Gold Standard: A Critique |accessdate=2007-03-21 |author= von Mises, Ludwig|year= 2007 |publisher= Vronsky and Westerman}}</ref>
 
Today, Ronald Reagan is one of America's most popular presidents. In several recent [[Historical rankings of United States Presidents|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]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.pollingreport.com/wh-hstry.htm |title= Presidents and History | publisher = pollingreport.com | accessdate=2007-03-18 }}</ref> 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. On [[June 26]], [[2005]], the [[Discovery Channel]] asked Americans to vote for [[The Greatest American]]; Reagan received the honorary title.<ref>{{cite web | title= Greatest American | publisher = Discovery Channel |url= http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/greatestamerican/greatestamerican.html| accessdate= 2007-03-21}}</ref>
 
According to ABC News, by date:<ref>{{cite web| url= http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/poll_reagan010806.html | title= Improving With Age: Reagan Approval Grows Better in Retrospect| accessdate=2006-09-12| author = Sussman, Dalia | date= [[2001-08-06]] |publisher=ABCNEWS.com | accessdate = 2007-04-08}}</ref> [[Image:ReaganStamp37.jpg|right|thumb|The U.S. Postal Service commemorated Reagan with a [[postage stamp]] in [[2005]], and again in [[2006]].]]
{| class="prettytable"
|-
! | Date
! | Event
! | Approval (%)
! | Disapproval (%)
|-
| | [[March 30]] [[1981]]
| | Shot by Hinckley
| style="text-align: center" | 73
| style="text-align: center" | 19
|-
| | [[January 22]] [[1983]]
| | High unemployment
| style="text-align: center" | 42
| style="text-align: center" | 54
|-
| | [[April 26]] [[1986]]
| | Libya bombing
| style="text-align: center" | 70
| style="text-align: center" | 26
|-
| | [[February 26]] [[1987]]
| | Iran-Contra affair
| style="text-align: center" | 44
| style="text-align: center" | 51
|-
| | [[January 20]] [[1989]]
| | End of presidency
| style="text-align: center" | &ndash;
|-
! n/a
! '''Career Average'''
! '''57'''
! '''39'''
|-
| | [[July 30]] [[2001]]
| | (Retrospective)
| style="text-align: center" | 64
| style="text-align: center" | 27
|}
 
=== Honors ===
{{see|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. In a [[1995]] poll of 2,307 coin collectors by the Littleton Coin Company, Reagan was ranked as the figure most likely to appear on a future U.S. coin. 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.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.reagan.navy.mil/ |title= USS Ronald Reagan Official Site | publisher = U.S. Navy | accessdate=2007-03-20}}</ref>
[[Image:Uss ronald reagan cvn-76.jpg|thumb|left|The [[USS Ronald Reagan]].]]
 
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 [[Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway|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.
 
On [[May 5]], [[1998]], President [[Bill Clinton]] dedicated the [[Ronald Reagan Building|Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center]] in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington, D.C.'s]] [[Federal Triangle]]. The building hosts large events in the Washington, D.C. area.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.itcdc.com/ |title= Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center | publisher = U.S. General Services Administration | accessdate=2007-03-22}}</ref>
 
On [[FOX News]] Channel's show, ''Hannity's America'', (hosted by conservative [[Sean Hannity]]), there is a segment titled "What Would Reagan Do?" The segment looks at issues facing the world today, and compares them to the ones President Reagan faced during his Presidency.<ref>{{cite web |author = Sean Hannity | authorlink= Sean Hannity | url= http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256625,00.html |title= The State of America is One of Dangerous Doublespeak | publisher = Fox News | date = [[March 5]] [[2007]] | accessdate=2007-03-19}}</ref>
 
When Reagan died, a record number of people turned out to say their goodbyes to the late President. More than 200,000 people filed past Reagan's casket in both [[California]] and [[Washington, D.C.]] Even more lined the motorcade routes, holding signs and American flags, and waving to Nancy Reagan.<ref name= "America Mourns"/> [[Image:REAGANPMF2.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ronald Reagan receives the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the highest civilian honor given in the United States. It was awarded to him by President [[George H.W. Bush]] in 1993.]]
 
In 2005, Reagan was given two posthumous honors. On [[May 14]], [[CNN]], along with the editors of ''[[Time magazine|TIME]]'', named him the "most fascinating person" of the network's first 25 years.<ref name = "Top 25 Most Fascinating People">{{cite web |url= http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/02/cnn25.top.fascinating/index.html |title= Top 25: Fascinating People | publisher = CNN | date = [[June 19]] [[2005]] | accessdate=2005-06-19}}</ref> ''TIME'' also named Reagan one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.<ref name= "Time 100">{{cite web |url= http://www.time.com/time/time100/index_2000_time100.html| title= Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century | publisher = Time Magazine | accessdate=2007-03-07}}</ref> 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]].<ref name= "Association of Graduates USMA">{{cite web |url= http://www.aogusma.org/aog/awards/TA/awardees.htm | title= Association of Graduates USMA: Sylvanus Thayer Award Recipients | publisher = Association of Graduates, West Point, NY | accessdate= 2007-03-22}}</ref> In 1989, Reagan received an [[List of honorary British Knights|honorary]] British knighthood, [[Order of the Bath|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.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4883.asp | title= Order of the Bath |accessdate= 2007-03-22 |publisher = The Official Website of the British Monarchy}}</ref> While in England, he was named an honorary Fellow of [[Keble College, Oxford]]. Also in 1989, the nation of [[Japan]] awarded Reagan the [[Order of the Chrysanthemum|Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www8.cao.go.jp/english/decoration/kikka.html |title= Supreme Orders of the Crysanthemum | publisher = Cabinet Office, Government of Japan | accessdate=2007-03-22}}</ref> The highest honor the United States can give, the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], was awarded to Ronald Reagan in 1993, by then-President George H.W. Bush.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://medaloffreedom.com/1993Recipients.htm |title= 1993 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients | publisher = medaloffreedom.com | accessdate=2007-03-22 }}</ref> Reagan was also awarded the [[Republican Senatorial Medal of Freedom]], which is the highest honor bestowed by the Republican members of the Senate.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.nrsc.org/nrscweb/e-activists/medal_of_freedom.shtml |title= Republican Senatorial Medal of Freedom | accessdate=2007-03-22 |publisher= www.nrsc.org}}</ref> 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.<ref name= "Congressional Gold Medal Recipients">{{cite web | url= http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/goldMedal.html | publisher = Office of the Clerk: US House of Representatives | title= Congressional Gold Medal Recipients 1776 to present |accessdate=2007-03-22}}</ref>
 
==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}
 
==References==
[[Image:REAGANHAY.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Reagans attend a PBS Special Broadcasting Play in Santa Ynez, California.]]
* {{cite book |last= Cannon |first= Lou |authorlink= Lou Cannon |title= President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime |year= 2000 |publisher= Public Affairs |___location= New York |isbn= 1891620916 }}
* {{cite book | title = Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio: A History Illustrated from the Collection of the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum | first = Lou | last = Cannon | authorlink = Lou Cannon | coauthors = Michael Beschloss | publisher = PublicAffairs | isbn = 1891620843 | year = 2001}}
* {{cite book | last = Deaver | first = Michael | authorlink = Michael Deaver | year = 2001 | title = A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan | ___location = New York |publisher = Harper Collins | isbn = 0060197846}}
* {{cite book |last= Diggins |first= John Patrick |title= Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History | year= 2007| publisher= W. W. Norton |___location= New York|isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last= Gaddis | first= John Lewis | title= The Cold War: A New History |year= 2005 |publisher= The Penguin Press |___location= |isbn= }}
* {{cite book | last = LaFeber | first = Walter | title = America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-1971 | publisher = Wiley | ___location = New York | date = 2002 | isbn = }}
* {{cite book |last= Matlock |first= Jack |title= Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended |year= 2004 |publisher= Random House |___location= New York |isbn=0679463232 }}
* {{cite book | last = Morris | first = Edmund | title = Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan | year =1999 | publisher = Random House}} includes fictional material
* {{cite book |last= Reagan |first= Nancy |authorlink= Nancy Reagan |title= My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan | year= 1989| publisher= Harper Collins|___location= New York |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last= Reagan|first= Ronald |title= An American Life |year= 1990|publisher= Simon and Schuster|___location= New York|isbn= 0743400259}}
* {{cite book |last= Reeves |first= Richard |authorlink= Richard Reeves |title= President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination |year= 2005 |publisher= Simon & Schuster |___location= New York |isbn= 0743230221}} detailed analysis by historian
 
==Further reading==
{{See|Ronald Reagan Bibliography}}
 
==External links==
{{sisterlinks|Ronald Reagan}}
*[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/rr40.html White House biography]
*[http://www.ronaldreagan.com/index.php RonaldReagan.com]
*[http://www.reaganlibrary.com The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library]
*[http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/reagan Extensive essay on Ronald Reagan and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs]
*[http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/digitalarchive/speechDetail/32 Full audio of 14 Reagan speeches via the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)]
*[http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/digitalarchive/oralhistories/reagan Extensive collection of Oral History Transcripts on the Reagan Administration from the Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVa)]
*[http://www.governor.ca.gov/govsite/govsgallery/h/biography/governor_33.html Biography and gubernatorial inaugural addresses from the CA governors office]
*[http://ronaldreagan.hagbergmedia.com/video_and_audio Video & Audio clips]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/reagan_ronald_w.shtml BBC historic figures]
*[http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/reagan/ CNN Biography with speeches]
*[http://www.ronaldreaganmemorial.com A Memorial Site outlining Reagan's death]
*{{imdb name|id=0001654|name=Ronald Reagan}}
*{{nndb name|id=359|name=Ronald Reagan}}
 
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| title=[[Screen Actors Guild|President of Screen Actors Guild]]
| before=[[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]]|after=[[Walter Pidgeon]]
| years=1947–1952}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Screen Actors Guild|President of Screen Actors Guild]]
| before=[[Howard Keel]]
| after= [[George Chandler]]
| years=1959–1960}}
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| before=[[Pat Brown]]
| after=[[Jerry Brown]]
| years=1967–1975}}
{{succession box two to one | before1 = [[Gerald Ford]] | title1 = [[:Category:Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees|U.S. Republican Party Presidential Nominee]] | years1=[[U.S. presidential election, 1980|1980]] (won), [[U.S. presidential election, 1984|1984]] (won)| before2 = [[Jimmy Carter]] | title2 = [[President of the United States]] | years2=[[January 20]], [[1981]]–[[January 20]], [[1989]]|after = [[George H. W. Bush]]}}
{{succession box | before = [[François Mitterrand]]|title = [[Chair of the G8]] | years = 1983 | after = [[Margaret Thatcher]]}}
{{succession box | before = [[Richard Nixon]] | title = [[oldest living United States president|Oldest U.S. President still living]] | years = [[January 20]], [[1981]]–[[June 5]], [[2004]] | after = [[Gerald Ford]]}}
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{{Ronald Reagan}}
{{USpresidents}}
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{{CAGovernors}}
{{Cold War}}
 
{{Persondata
|NAME=Reagan, Ronald Wilson
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Ronald Reagan
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=[[United States|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|Bel-Air]], [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], [[United States]]
}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reagan, Ronald Wilson}}
{{Link FA|zh}}
 
[[Category:Ronald Reagan| ]]
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[[Category:Armigers|Ronald Reagan]]
 
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