Ronald Ron Reagan Pros And Cons

Republican Ronald Wilson Reagan stepped into office as the 40th president of the United States of America on January 20, 1981. At age 69 he began his two-term journey as one of the most charismatic presidents in history. His past as an actor, his great communication skills, and his inspirational and comforting whimsy led the public to form nicknames for President Reagan, such as The Great Communicator and The Gipper, that mimicked his inspirational nature. He was strong in his Conservative values for most implementations, and consistently attempted to carry out his belief that government is the problem, not the solution.
Reagan’s character and leadership was focused on the ideas of patriotism and the unification of America. Through his communication …show more content…
His charismatic charm came in handy when lobbying Congress, giving him a +37 lobbying yield. “The opposition party’s strength in the House greatly limited the Reagan administration’s ability to pass preferred legislation, though the fact that many of those Democrats were ideological moderates certainly helped.” (Beckmann) Reagan passed many programs and policies such as the bipartisan Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 that allowed tax cuts and pushed Reaganomics in the right direction, the Drug Enforcement Bill that gave a minimum punishment for drug offences, and the Immigration Reform and Control Act that named hiring illegal immigrants an illegal act. Along with these many successes came some failures. Reagan had nine vetoes overridden during his presidency. This would normally be concluded as the failure of a president to get programs passed through legislation, but given the fact that Reagan had to face an opposing party for two terms, nine overridden vetoes doesn’t seem too bad. Matthew N. Beckmann states in perfectly in his article, “President Reagan’s Legislative Touch,” “the fact that President Reagan’s legislative agenda experienced both historic success and frequent failures may seem incongruous at first blush, but upon further reflection, such is hardly a surprising pattern given the particular Congresses he faced.” I deem his ability …show more content…
He created many economic policies to eliminate extreme inflation and lower high interest rates. These policies, known as Reaganomics, attempted to “balance the federal budget, increase defense spending, and cut income taxes” (Reagan Library Archives, 2000). The main basis for these policies was the idea of trickle-down economics. Reagan created his policies on of the notion that “decreases in taxes, especially for corporations, is the best way to stimulate growth: the idea is that if the expenses of corporations are reduced, the savings will ‘trickle down’ to the rest of the economy, spurring growth” (Investopedia, 2016). The President hoped that these new free market policies would ease the previously distressed economy. Reaganomics was based on President Reagan’s philosophical ideals rather than any true economist ideals. His “theory that you don’t have to worry about the future” caused Regan’s policies to contain extreme rightness but lack realistic goals (Leon Panetta, History Channel Series). His attempts to reform the economy led to a great boom in the 80’s during his presidency and a fast decline in the 90’s when he stepped out of office. I applaud Reagan’s ideas of lower taxes, less government interaction, and a larger defense system and I admire his philosophical attempts; however I am disappointed