Question

In a self-checked, one-page essay, weigh whether there was a Reagan Revolution. Did the election of Reagan indicate a change in political party alignment? Did Reagan’s actions change how the United States approaches foreign relations? Were his economic policies and desire for smaller government successful?

Answer 1

Although many of his movie roles and the persona he created for himself seemed to represent traditional values, Reagan’s rise to the presidency was an unusual transition from pop cultural significance to political success. Born and raised in the Midwest, he moved to California in 1937 to become a Hollywood actor. He also became a reserve officer in the U.S. Army that same year, but when the country entered World War II, he was excluded from active duty overseas because of poor eyesight and spent the war in the army’s First Motion Picture Unit. After the war, he resumed his film career; rose to leadership in the Screen Actors Guild, a Hollywood union; and became a spokesman for General Electric and the host of a television series that the company sponsored. As a young man, he identified politically as a liberal Democrat, but his distaste for communism, along with the influence of the social conservative values of his second wife, actress Nancy Davis, edged him closer to conservative Republicanism. By 1962, he had formally switched political parties, and in 1964, he actively campaigned for the Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater.

Answer 2

Answer:

Yes, there was definitely a Reagan Revolution.

Explanation:

Ronald Reagan was a hugely influential president of the United States. When he came to power, he made the Republican Party into what it is today: a party that is in favor of free market policies, that is against state intervention in the economy, that favors state by state policies instead of federal policies, that supports religious and social conservatism and opposes policies like gay marriage and abortion.

In a way, Ronald Reagan came to power to end many of the economic policies that were a legacy of the new deal: he reduced taxes on people and companies, he reduced the power of labor unions, and had a famous conflict with the air pilots union, which Reagan won, and he promoted free trade in general. While Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal were policies inspired by Keynesianism, the economic ideology of english economist John Maynard Keynes, Reagan's policies were inspired by liberal (or neoliberal) economic ideology, which by the time was represented by the Chicago University and its most famous economics professor, Milton Friedman.

His policies at first led to a recession, but by the end of his presidency, the economy of the United States was growing strong. However, his policies also lead to an increase in income inequality in the United States, which is still increasing to this day.

Regarding Foreign Relations, he sought to finally end the Soviet Union. Instead of following a policy of good relations with the Soviet Union, he became more vocal in his opposition to the Soviet Union and communism in general. He was helped by Margareth Thatcher in this purpose, who shared many of his political views and distate for the Soviet Union.

When Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union, he implemented the policies of Glasnot, which means transparency in Russian, which sought to increase freedom of expression, and Perestroika, which means reestructurarion in Russian, which sought to change the Soviet economy. These two policies led to demands for freedom in the Soviet Union, and with pressure from Reagan and Thatcher as well, the Soviet Union finally collapsed.

Many people attribute the collapse of the Soviet Union to Reagan and consider it to be his greatest achievement in foreign policy.