QUOTE: We must reject the
idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the
lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is
accountable for his actions. ("Excerpts of a Speech by Governor Ronald Reagan, Republican
National Convention, Platform Committee Meeting, Miami, Florida," July
31, 1968)
AUTHOR: Ronald Wilson
Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United
States (1981–1989), the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975), and prior to
that, a radio, film and television actor. Reagan was born in Tampico in
Whiteside County, Illinois, reared in Dixon in Lee County, Illinois, and
educated at Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, with a Bachelor of Arts degree
in economics and sociology. Upon his graduation, Reagan first moved to Iowa to
work as a radio broadcaster and then in 1937 to Los Angeles, California. He began
a career as an actor, first in films and later television, appearing in over 50
movie productions and earning enough success to become a famous, publicly
recognized figure. Some of his most notable roles are in Knute Rockne, All
American and Kings Row. Reagan served as president of the Screen Actors Guild,
and later spokesman for General Electric; his start in politics occurred during
his work for GE. Originally a member of the Democratic Party, he switched to
the Republican Party in 1962. After delivering a rousing speech in support of
Barry Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, he was persuaded to seek the
California governorship, winning two years later and again in 1970. He was
defeated in his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 as well
as 1976, but won both the nomination and election, defeating incumbent Jimmy
Carter in 1980. As president, Reagan implemented sweeping new political and
economic initiatives. His supply-side economic policies, dubbed
"Reaganomics", advocated reducing tax rates to spur economic growth,
controlling the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulation of the economy,
and reducing government spending. In his first term he survived an
assassination attempt, took a hard line against labor unions, and ordered an
invasion of Grenada. He was reelected in a landslide in 1984, proclaiming that
it was "Morning in America". His second term was primarily marked by
foreign matters, such as the ending of the Cold War, the 1986 bombing of Libya,
and the revelation of the Iran-Contra affair. Publicly describing the Soviet
Union as an "evil empire", he supported anti-communist movements
worldwide and spent his first term forgoing the strategy of détente by ordering
a massive military buildup in an arms race with the USSR. Reagan negotiated
with General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail
Gorbachev, culminating in the INF Treaty and the decrease of both countries'
nuclear arsenals. Reagan left office in 1989. In 1994, the former president
disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier in the
year; he died ten years later at the age of 93. Although a polarizing figure to
some on the American left, he often ranks highly in public opinion polls of
U.S. Presidents. Moreover, as a popular conservative icon, he is credited for
generating an ideological renaissance on the American political right.
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