Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the united states, is best known for his folksy charm and appealing personality. Reagan is the only movie actor ever to become president, he had a remarkable skill that earned him the title “the Great Communicator.”
Ronald Reagan was the second child of John Edward Reagan, a struggling shoe salesman, and Nelle Wilson Reagan. Reagan’s nickname, Dutch, derived from his father’s habit of referring to his infant son as his “fat little Dutchman.” After several years of moving from town to town their family settled in Dixon, Illinois, in 1920. Despite their near poverty and his father’s drinking problem, Reagan later recalled his childhood in Dixon as the happiest period of his life. At Eureka College in Eureka, …show more content…
In 1961, Reagan made a series of speeches and recorded an album blasting the proposed creation of Medicare, which stated that "One of the traditional methods of imposing states or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project, most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can’t afford it. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project, most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can’t afford it." Reagan is well known for supply-side, "Reaganomics", an economic philosophy that suggests that reducing government spending, tax rates, and cutting regulation will result in increased economic growth. The main purpose of Reaganomics was to reduce the growth of government spending, reduce the federal income tax and capital gains tax, reduce government regulation, and tighten the money supply in order to reduce inflation. Reagan based his policies on the theory of supply …show more content…
He launched exactly one land war, against Grenada, whose army totaled 600 men. It lasted two days. And his only air war, the 1986 bombing of Libya, was even briefer. Compare that with George H.W. Bush, who launched two midsized ground operations, in Panama and Somalia, and one large war in the Persian Gulf. He took office eager to vanquish Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and its rebel allies in El Salvador, both of which were backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union. Reagan never seriously considered sending U.S. troops south of the border, despite demands. Nicaragua and El Salvador weren’t the only places where Reagan proved squeamish about using military force. Reagan’s political genius lay in recognizing that what Americans wanted was a president who exorcised the ghost of the Vietnam War without fighting another Vietnam. Although Americans enjoyed Reagan’s thunderous denunciations of Central American communism, 75 percent of them, according to a 1985 Louis Harris survey, opposed invading Nicaragua. A 1983 poll found that Americans opposed sending troops to El Salvador by almost 6-to-1, even if that meant letting the communists win. Reagan’s biographer Lou Cannon calls him "shameless" in using Grenada to revive America’s Vietnam-wounded pride. The war resulted in more medals per soldier than any military operation in U.S. history. When he bombed Libya in
Ronald Reagan was the second child of John Edward Reagan, a struggling shoe salesman, and Nelle Wilson Reagan. Reagan’s nickname, Dutch, derived from his father’s habit of referring to his infant son as his “fat little Dutchman.” After several years of moving from town to town their family settled in Dixon, Illinois, in 1920. Despite their near poverty and his father’s drinking problem, Reagan later recalled his childhood in Dixon as the happiest period of his life. At Eureka College in Eureka, …show more content…
In 1961, Reagan made a series of speeches and recorded an album blasting the proposed creation of Medicare, which stated that "One of the traditional methods of imposing states or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project, most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can’t afford it. It’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project, most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can’t afford it." Reagan is well known for supply-side, "Reaganomics", an economic philosophy that suggests that reducing government spending, tax rates, and cutting regulation will result in increased economic growth. The main purpose of Reaganomics was to reduce the growth of government spending, reduce the federal income tax and capital gains tax, reduce government regulation, and tighten the money supply in order to reduce inflation. Reagan based his policies on the theory of supply …show more content…
He launched exactly one land war, against Grenada, whose army totaled 600 men. It lasted two days. And his only air war, the 1986 bombing of Libya, was even briefer. Compare that with George H.W. Bush, who launched two midsized ground operations, in Panama and Somalia, and one large war in the Persian Gulf. He took office eager to vanquish Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and its rebel allies in El Salvador, both of which were backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union. Reagan never seriously considered sending U.S. troops south of the border, despite demands. Nicaragua and El Salvador weren’t the only places where Reagan proved squeamish about using military force. Reagan’s political genius lay in recognizing that what Americans wanted was a president who exorcised the ghost of the Vietnam War without fighting another Vietnam. Although Americans enjoyed Reagan’s thunderous denunciations of Central American communism, 75 percent of them, according to a 1985 Louis Harris survey, opposed invading Nicaragua. A 1983 poll found that Americans opposed sending troops to El Salvador by almost 6-to-1, even if that meant letting the communists win. Reagan’s biographer Lou Cannon calls him "shameless" in using Grenada to revive America’s Vietnam-wounded pride. The war resulted in more medals per soldier than any military operation in U.S. history. When he bombed Libya in