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| Birth Name(s) : Ronald Reagan |
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Full Ronald Reagan Biography
As president, Reagan implemented new political initiatives as well as economic policies, advocating a laissez-faire philosophy, but the extent to which these ideas were implemented is debatable. The policies, dubbed "Reaganomics," included substantial tax cuts implemented in 1981. After surviving an assassination attempt and ordering controversial military actions in Grenada and Libya, he was reelected in a landslide victory in 1984.
A registered Democrat and admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Reagan supported the New Deal, as well as the presidential candidacies of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956 and Richard Nixon in 1960. His political loyalties soon shifted to the Republican Party, however, for he thought that the Democrats had created a larger government. Following the election of John F. Kennedy, Reagan formally switched parties in 1962, saying "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me." During his work for General Electric, Reagan wrote his own speeches, laboring diligently and daily upon his prose. Although he had speechwriters later in the White House, he continued editing, and even occasionally writing, many of them.
California Republicans were impressed with Reagan's political views and charisma after his "Time for Choosing" speech, and nominated him for Governor of California in 1966. 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-establishment student protests at the University of California at Berkeley, "to clean up the mess at Berkeley". He was elected, defeating two-term governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, and was sworn in on January 3, 1967. In his first term, he froze government hiring and approved tax hikes to balance the budget.
Reagan's terms as governor helped to shape the policies he would pursue in his later political career as president. By campaigning on a platform of sending "the welfare bums back to work," he spoke out against the idea of the welfare state. He also strongly advocated the Republican ideal of less government regulation of the economy, including that of undue federal taxation.
On March 30, 1981, only 69 days into the new administration, Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, and two others were struck by gunfire from a deranged would-be assassin, John Hinckley, Jr. Missing Reagan’s heart by less than one inch (2.5 cm), the bullet instead pierced his left lung, which likely saved his life. In the operating room, Reagan joked to the surgeons, "I hope you're all Republicans!" Though they were not, Dr. Joseph Giordano replied, "Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans," and when Nancy Reagan came to see him, he famously told her, "Honey, I forgot to duck" (using defeated boxer Jack Dempsey's quip). Reagan was released from the hospital on April 11.
Reagan accepted the Republican nomination in Dallas, Texas, on a wave of positive feeling bolstered by the recovering economy and the dominating performance by the U.S. athletes at the Los Angeles Olympics that summer. He became the first American president to open a summer Olympic Games held in the United States.
Reagan's administration was criticized for its slow response to the HIV-AIDS epidemic, and for Reagan's controversial refusal to say the term "AIDS" in public for several years, until the illness of movie star and national icon Rock Hudson became public news in July 1985. By that time, over 10,000 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, and over 6,000 had died.
Ronald Reagan recognized the change in the direction of the Soviet leadership with Gorbachev, and shifted to diplomacy, with a view to encourage the Soviet Leader to go further with his reforms. Gorbachev agreed to meet Reagan in four summit conferences around the world: the first in Geneva, Switzerland, the second in Reykjavík, Iceland, the third held in Washington, D.C., along with the fourth summit in Moscow, Russia. 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.
For the next five years, the Reagans traveled from their Bel-Air home to the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara every few months. They regularly attended Bel Air Presbyterian Church and occasionally made appearances on behalf of the Republican Party, including a well-received speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention. He publicly spoke in favor of a line-item veto, a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, and the repeal of the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits a president from serving more than two terms. Reagan's final public speech was on February 3, 1994, during a tribute in Washington, D.C., and his last major public appearance was at the funeral of fellow Republican President Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994. |
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