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Revision as of 02:55, 28 September 2001 by Don bright (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Ronald Wilson Reagan (R) was the 40th president of the United States, from 1981-1989. Longest-lived president at age 90 (as of 2001).
Ronald Reagan first rose to fame as a Hollywood actor, most famously as "the Gipper", a nickname which he retained for the rest of his life.
Ronald Reagan began his political life as a staunch New Deal / Franklin D. Roosevelt supporter. He gradually became a staunch anti-Communist. He was elected governor of California and elected president in 1980 and 1984.
He was:
- anti-Communist
- in favor of tax cuts
- in favor of smaller non-military government
- in favor of removing regulations on corporations
- supportive of business interests, both small and large
- supportive of (some) individual liberties
- tough on crime
- a draft dodger
- a big fan of jellybeans
He is credited with:
- building up the military
- lowering taxes
- creating the Earned Income Credit - so that his tax cut would be passed
- multiplying the deficit to several trillion dollars (The Democrat-controlled Congress passed the necessary spending and tax cut bills)
- closing many public mental health institutions
- greatly escalating the "war on drugs"
- removing the solar panels from the White House roof and cutting alternative energy spending
- beginning "Star Wars" antimissile defense research
- allowing AIDS to spread by ignoring the CDC requests for funding
He was the first divorced person to be elected president.
During his administration, there was a major scandal and investigation of what came to be known as the Iran-Contra Affair.
Reagan currently suffers from Alzheimers disease.
Major Legislation Signed
Major Legislation Vetoed
Supreme court Appointments
- Sandra Day O'Connor - 1981
- William Rehnquist - Chief Justice, 1986 (an associate justice since 1972)
- Antonin Scalia - 1986
- Anthony M. Kennedy - 1988
Inaugural Addresses:
/Talk
See also:
- Previous President: Jimmy Carter
- Next President: George Bush