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In his early years, Ronald Reagan was an actor for over two decades, appearing in 53 feature films. When 1966 rolled around, he was elected the 33rd Governor of California. In 1980, he was made the 40th President of the United States and went on to serve two terms.

Even after leaving the office, his legacy lived on, and many people wanted to add his face to the U.S currency and Mount Rushmore. In 1987, Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev in his famous Berlin speech to tear down the Berlin Wall, and only two years later, the wall, which had separated East and West Berlin for approximately 28 years, was finally torn down. Ronald Reagan deserves to be on Mount Rushmore for bringing all those separated people together.

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Ronald Reagan was a Republican from California.  

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Ronald Reagan understood that the government was working above us Americans; he declared that "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." His goal was to make the government smaller to help the Americans and to try and solve the severe nation's economic crisis.

Reagan's main objective in office was to increase military spending, cut taxes for the American people, and reduce non-military federal spending. Having a strong military around this time was very important because the Cold War was still happening.

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The famous speech in Berlin ("Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!")

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Massive buildup of U.S. weapons and troops during his first term in office.

Created the Reagan Doctrine, under which America helped aid to anticommunist movements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Make the (SDI) Strategic Defense Initiative to avoid nuclear Armageddon with the Soviet Union.

Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev (the new leader of the Soviet Union) forged a polite relationship and signed a document that eliminated intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

Reagan made his famous speech in Berlin and challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall by saying, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (1987) Two years later, the Berlin Wall was torn down.

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https://www.history.com/articles/ronald-reagan

https://www.britannica.com/procon/Ronald-Reagan-debate

https://millercenter.org/president/reagan

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Ronald Reagan served as the 40th President of the United States from Jan. 20, 1981, to Jan. 19, 1989. He won the 1980 presidential election, beating Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter with 50.7% of the votes and won his second term by a landslide of 58.8% of the votes.[2][49]

Reagan's proponents point to his accomplishments, including stimulating economic growth, strengthening national defense, revitalizing the Republican Party, and ending the global Cold War, as evidence of his good presidency.

His opponents contend that Reagan's poor policies, such as bloating the national defense, drastically cutting social services, and making illegal arms-for-hostages deals led the country into record deficits and global embarrassment.

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on Feb. 6, 1911, in Tampico, Illinois. He graduated in 1932 from Eureka College with a BA in social sciences and economics and moved to Iowa to become a radio sports announcer. A screen test in 1937 won him a contract in Hollywood and, over two decades, he appeared in 53 films. In 1949 Ronald Reagan divorced his first wife, Jane Wyman, and married Nancy Davis in 1952. He was then the only president to have been divorced. After six years as president of the Screen Actors Guild, serving intermittently between 1947 and 1960, Reagan was elected governor of California on Nov. 5, 1966, and reelected on Nov. 5, 1970. [2][

At the age of 69 in 1981 and 73 in 1985, Reagan was then the oldest man ever elected president. [1]

On Mar. 30, 1981, 69 days after Reagan's inauguration on Jan. 20, John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assassinate the president outside the Washington Hilton hotel. Reagan was shot under the left arm, the bullet lodged in his lung, and missed his heart by less than an inch. The 25-year-old Hinckley's assassination attempt stemmed from his obsession with actress Jodie Foster and the movie Taxi Driver in which Foster played a role. Hinckley believed an "historical deed," such as assassinating the president, would impress the actress. Hinckley's trial in 1982 ended in a not-guilty verdict by reason of insanity. [2]

When Ronald Reagan took office the US economy had 9% inflation with 20% interest rates. [50] To combat these effects Reagan established what came to be known as " Reaganomics," economic policies that included increased defense spending, lower personal income taxes, reduced spending on social services, and decreased business regulation. [51]

The President and his cabinet emphasized supply-side economics, believing that slashing taxes will stimulate economic growth. They passed legislation such as the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, which included the largest tax cuts in the postwar period, the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, and the Tax Reform Act of 1986. As a result, the top marginal tax rate on individual income was reduced from 70% to 28% and the overall tax code was restructured. [37][52]

Some 13,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) walked off the job in a nationwide strike on Aug. 3, 1981. Two days later, Reagan announced that they were in violation of legislation prohibiting strikes by government employees because of public safety and, if they did not report to work within 48 hours, their jobs would be terminated. Only 1,300 returned to their jobs. [42] It was an event that changed the landscape of US labor relations - major strikes plummeted from an average of 300 each year in the decades before to fewer than 30 in 2006.[20]

On Aug. 19, 1981, Ronald Reagan fulfilled his campaign pledge to appoint the first woman to the Supreme Court by nominating Sandra Day O'Connor to replace Justice Potter Stewart. Congress confirmed O'Connor's appointment on Sept. 21, 1981 by a vote of 99-0. [3]

In the fall of 1981, the US economy took a turn for the worse, experiencing its worst recession since the Great Depression. The Federal Reserve increased interest rates to combat the 14% inflation rate. By Nov. 1982, unemployment reached 10.8%, thousands of businesses failed, farmers lost their land, and many sick, elderly, and poor became homeless. [2] The official unemployment rate reached 11.5 million in Jan. 1983, and Reagan's disapproval rating rose to 50%, from a low of 18% in early 1981.[53][54]

On March 8, 1983, Reagan gave what came to be known as his "Evil Empire Speech," that warned against ignoring "the aggressive impulses of an evil empire," the Soviet Union. [55] That same month, on March 23, President Reagan announced the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), nicknamed "Star Wars," a space-based defense system intended to deter an attack on the US by intercepting Soviet nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles ( ICBMs). [56]

In Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 23, 1983, a suicide bomber drove his truck into a US Marine barracks, killing 241 Marines. This tragedy caused the US to reconsider Reagan's placement of the Marines as peacekeepers of a cease-fire during the Lebanese civil war. US troops left Lebanon in Feb. 1984. [57] In that same month, on Oct. 25, 1,900 US Marines invaded the small island nation of Grenada. The invasion was partly over safety concerns for American medical students in the country and partly to weaken a recent Marxist coup; it emphasized Reagan's drive to undermine any spread of communism. The move was both denounced by the United Nations and supported by many Americans. [6][58] The US accomplished its military objectives in Grenada: the students came home unharmed and the Marxist government was deposed. [2]

Reagan won a second term in 1984 by a landslide, receiving 58.8% of the popular vote. He also won a record 525 of a possible 538 electoral college votes, the highest in US history (as of Oct. 11, 2010). Reagan won every state but Minnesota, the home state of his opponent Walter Mondale. [49]

Between Nov. 19, 1985, and Dec. 8, 1987, President Reagan met with Mikhail Gorbachev, Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, at four summits to discuss their countries' bilateral arms race. The meetings culminated in their Dec. 8, 1987 signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a bilateral treaty which required the elimination of all intermediate range ground-launched missiles.[2][59][66]

On Nov. 25, 1986, Attorney General Edwin Meese publicly confirmed that $10-$30 million of profits from the sale of US arms to Iran had been diverted to the anti-communist guerrilla Nicaraguan Contras. National Security Adviser John Poindexter resigned and National Security Aide Col. Oliver North was fired, both for their involvement in what came to be known as the " Iran-Contra" affair. President Reagan claimed that he did not learn of the Iran-Contra diversion until Meese told him about it on Nov. 24, 1986. [63] The Feb. 26, 1987, Tower Commission's Report, a study by an independent commission appointed by Reagan, found no evidence linking Reagan to the fund diversion. However, the report did determine that Reagan's disengagement from the management of the White House led to the actions of his administration. [2]

On June 12, 1987, Reagan delivered a famous address in West Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate which had separated communist East Berlin from democratic West Berlin since 1961. In his speech, the president questioned whether reforms in the Soviet Union were profound or "token gestures," and challenged Gorbachev to prove his efforts at openness: "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"[15]

In his two terms in office, Reagan continually tried to balance the budget by cutting federal spending. He cut the budgets of many federal departments, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development (by 40%), the Department of Transportation (by 18%), the Department of Education (by 19%), the Department of Commerce (by 32%), and the Department of Agriculture (by 24%). Reagan never cut the budgets for the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, or State. [4]

President Reagan also presided over the biggest peacetime defense buildup in history. Reagan expanded defense spending from $178 billion in 1981 to $283 billion by 1988, an increase of 58.9%. [5]

During Reagan's presidency, total national debt increased from $994 billion in 1981 to $2.9 trillion in 1988.[36] The deficit grew from $74 billion in 1980 to $155 billion in 1988, and unemployment was at a 14-year low, 5.5%, by mid-1988. [60] [2] On Jan. 20, 1989, Ronald Reagan left the White House with the highest approval rating, 68%, of any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt. [61]

In 1993, Reagan experienced recurring episodes of confusion and forgetfulness and was diagnosed as having Alzheimer Diseasee. He disclosed his condition in a Nov. 5, 1994 letter to the American people hoping to "promote greater awareness of this condition." [62] Ronald Reagan died in California on June 5, 2004 at the age of 93. [2]

Pros and Cons at a Glance

Pro 10: Science and Technology:

Reagan was a big supporter of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA). In his 1984 State of the Union Address, Reagan announced plans for what came to be the International Space Station.[64] On Jan. 30, 1987, Reagan also announced that he planned to fund the building of the Superconducting Super Collider, a $4.5 billion dollar particle accelerator used for high energy physics research. [21][22]

Pro 11: Social Policy

To "finally break the poverty trap," as Reagan stated in his 1987 State of the Union Address, he signed the Family Support Act on Oct. 12, 1988. [5] The Act required states to establish and operate a Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program (JOBS) to assure needy families with children3obtain the training and employment necessary to avoid long-term welfare.[23] Reagan also helped save Social Security by passing the Social Security Reform Act of 1983. It provided extra revenue dedicated to securing the solvent future of Social Security. [24]

Pro Quotes

Dr. Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at the Heritage Foundation, in an Apr. 29, 2016, article for the Daily Signal titled "Sorry, Hollywood: Reagan's Second Term Was Incredibly Successful," wrote:

"There is also the remarkable Reagan record of the second term that includes his three summits with Mikhail Gorbachev that produced the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and set in motion the forces that ended the Cold War without a shot, in Margaret Thatcher's memorable phrase; his dramatic challenge at the Brandenberg Gate 'to tear down this wall!' which came tumbling down some 18 months later; his 1986 tax reform that lowered the top marginal rate from 50 percent to 33 percent, simplified the number of tax brackets, and eliminated hundreds of special interest provisions such as the 'three martini' lunch; his leaving office with a final approval rating of 63 percent, the highest of any president to that point ...

'We the people,' said Reagan, 'tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us.' The idea of 'we the people,' he explained, was the underlying basis for everything he had tried to do as president.

And then, having restored Americans' confidence in themselves and their future, having ignited an unprecedented period of prosperity with his economic reforms, and having ended the Cold War with a treaty and not a nuclear holocaust, he went home, having done his duty and served his country as few presidents have in our history."

- Apr. 29, 2016

Ben T. Elliott, Director of White House Speechwriting under President Ronald Reagan, in a June 5, 2015, article for National Review titled "Why Ronald Reagan's Example Is Still Relevant for America Today," wrote:

"[Reagan] transformed a sputtering U.S. economy into a rocket of growth that led to a generation of prosperity. He restored a neglected U.S. military and its alliances, engineering the eventual defeat of the Soviet empire, without starting a war and without firing a shot. Through it all, he revived America's spirit, restored our hopes, and strengthened our faith ...

[H]e cut taxes deeply and equally for everyone, eventually dropping the top rate all the way from 70 percent to 28 percent, while providing enterprises strong incentives to compete and restoring a dollar as good as gold. He fought hard against ever expanding, encroaching bureaucracy, reduced non-defense spending, and eliminated subsidies and price controls... A strong dollar slew double-digit inflation and restored confidence. Lower tax rates encouraged women to enter the workforce in large numbers, many of them starting up new businesses, while minority employment and enterprises also grew. The rising tide of growth gave birth to new industries, propelling America's technology boom in the 1990s. In short, the American people unleashed the most powerful postwar recovery in history, reducing poverty, raising incomes, and creating a prosperity that benefited every income group, rejuvenated our communities, and lifted up the entire global economy."

- June 5, 2015

Glenn Beck, radio host and political commentator, in a June 14, 2016 series on the life of Ronald Reagan, a transcript of which is available on his website under the title "Ronald Reagan: The Five-Part Series," stated:

"They said Reagan was too simple to become a great president, but that's what we loved about him. He was like our father or our grandfather.... Reagan inspired us to believe in the power of the individual, in the small business owner, in the strength of our military and the humility of those who live it ...

During his administration, the nation added over 16 million jobs. He cut the tax rate across-the-board, including the top rate from a ridiculous 70 percent income tax to 28. His policies lowered the inflation rate from 13.5 percent in 1980, to 1.9 in 1986. Real GDP growth under Reagan averaged 3.5 percent, and it was nearly 5 percent following the recession ...

[T]hanks in large part to his heroic efforts rebuilding the United States military, opposing communism at every turn, remaining steadfast, not to mention his Star Wars defensive system... the [Berlin] wall began coming down on November 9th, 1989, just over two years after the [Brandenburg Gate] speech. The Soviet Union, the evil empire, collapsed."

- June 14, 2016

UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, as stated in her June 11, 2004, "Eulogy for President Reagan":

"We have lost a great president, a great American, and a great man, and I have lost a dear friend.

In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism... His policies had a freshness and optimism that won converts from every class and every nation, and ultimately, from the very heart of the 'evil empire.'

He won the Cold War, not only without firing a shot, but also by inviting enemies out of their fortress and turning them into friends."

- June 11, 2004

William F. Buckley Jr., founder and former editor-at-large of National Review, in a Mar.-Apr. 1997 Policy Review article titled "'There You Go Again': Liberal Historians and the 'New York Times' Deny Ronald Reagan His Due" by Alvin Felzenberg:

"Reagan had the best intuitive sense of priorities of any president in the postwar period, when it became a constant struggle to know what to pay attention to. His designation of the Soviet Union as an 'evil empire' froze the blood of international diplomacy, but agitated the moral imagination and did more to advance U.S. national objectives than a year's Pentagon spending. Speaking of which, Reagan was exactly correct in knowing that the resources of the U.S. could not be matched by those of the enemy. His willingness to install theater weapons in Europe, to explore anti-missile technology, and to commit great sums to defense effectively disarmed the potential aggressor. And then who, more resonantly than he, made the case against Big Government? Could he have known that a Democratic president, seven years after Reagan left office, would serve as an echo chamber on the matter of an end to Big Government?

Reagan belongs on Mount Rushmore, and he'll be there, after the carpers die off."

- Mar.-Apr. 1997

Peggy Noonan, author and former Special Assistant and Speechwriter for President Reagan, wrote in a June 5, 2004, article titled "As President, Reagan Was a Giant" on msnbc.com:

"Ronald Reagan was a great communicator not because he said things in an unusual way but because he said great things - things that were true and needed saying. Those on the left in his day always thought Reagan had some magical way of expressing himself. He didn't. It was what he said that was important, not how he said it...

Reagan brought a constellation of virtues to the office of the presidency - guts, compassion, humor, a lack of pretension, a willingness to face the world and tell the truth, a willingness to make decisions and stand by them - and his leadership changed the world, and for the better. As president, he was a giant."

- June 5, 2004

George H. Nash, Senior Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, in a Mar.-Apr. 1997 Policy Review article titled "'There You Go Again': Liberal Historians and the 'New York Times' Deny Ronald Reagan His Due" by Alvin Felzenberg:

"As the 1980s recede into history, three achievements of Ronald Reagan loom larger. In a time of dangerous drift and malaise, he restored Americans' sense of self-confidence and greatness. He transmuted American conservatism from theory to practice, undermined the intellectual pretensions of long-regnant liberalism, and decisively shifted the paradigm of political discourse for the rest of the 20th century. Above all, he mobilized the resources - rhetorical, military, and diplomatic - that put Soviet communism on the road to extinction. As time passes, Reagan's stature rises - a sure sign that he will be remembered as one of our most successful and important presidents."

- Mar.-Apr. 1997

John P. Diggins, former Distinguished Professor of the Graduate Center of History at the City University of New York (CUNY), in his 2007 book Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History:

"My belated respect for [Reagan] grew from appreciating his boldness in dealing with the three miseries of the modern era - one terrifying, the other crippling, the third inhibiting.

The first abomination was a suicidal nuclear arms race of such potential massive destruction that it threatened the world with extinction; the second, an expanding welfare state that had made the poor helplessly dependent, reduced them to debilitating objects of pity, and destroyed any hope for self-esteem; the third, a joyless religious inheritance that told people their kingdom was not of this world and they needed to be careful about pursuing happiness in case they came to enjoy it. Reagan, it is now clear, delivered America from fear and loathing. He stood for freedom, peace, disarmament, self-reliance, eartlhy happiness, the dreams of the imagination and the desires of the heart."

John P. Diggins, former Distinguished Professor of the Graduate Center of History at the City University of New York (CUNY), in his 2007 book Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History:

"My belated respect for [Reagan] grew from appreciating his boldness in dealing with the three miseries of the modern era - one terrifying, the other crippling, the third inhibiting.

The first abomination was a suicidal nuclear arms race of such potential massive destruction that it threatened the world with extinction; the second, an expanding welfare state that had made the poor helplessly dependent, reduced them to debilitating objects of pity, and destroyed any hope for self-esteem; the third, a joyless religious inheritance that told people their kingdom was not of this world and they needed to be careful about pursuing happiness in case they came to enjoy it. Reagan, it is now clear, delivered America from fear and loathing. He stood for freedom, peace, disarmament, self-reliance, eartlhy happiness, the dreams of the imagination and the desires of the heart."

Richard Reeves, Senior Lecturer at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication, in the 2003 book The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to Bill Clinton by Stephen Skowronek:

"Reagan had come into the oval office at a time when the man in it ... was declaring political bankruptcy and important voices outside it, in the press and the academy, were decrying the end of leadership. They were wrong. The new President made the system work....The leader was an extraordinary man."

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, former US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, in a Mar.-Apr. 1997 Policy Review article titled "'There You Go Again': Liberal Historians and the 'New York Times' Deny Ronald Reagan His Due" by Alvin Felzenberg:

"Nothing but liberal prejudice can prevent some distinguished Democrats (which most historians are) from discerning the extraordinary achievements of Ronald Reagan. I mention just two: his crucial role in rebuilding American and Western military strength after a period of Western decline and Soviet expansion, and his great success in demonstrating the superiority of free markets and free societies over socialism - especially, but not only, Marxist socialism. His leadership in these achievements strengthened peace and expanded freedom.

This is a president whose deliberate policies produced seven years of economic growth...after Democratic economists said that was impossible."

- Mar.-Apr. 1997

Jack Wheeler, editor-in-chief of To the Point, wrote in a June 8, 2004, Washington Times article titled "The 'Great-Souled Man'; Reagan Was a Classic":

"Five years ago, in February 1999, I wrote the following tribute to this extraordinary man.

'This coming Sunday, Feb. 6, will be the 88th birthday of the greatest president of the 20th century: Ronald Reagan. That Reagan's achievements exceed those of any president since Washington and Jefferson will unquestionably be the judgment of future historians ...

[H]e was an extraordinarily loveable, likeable, good and decent human being, a man whom Aristotle would have said possessed a 'great soul.' Take the time this Sunday to reflect on the achievements of Ronald Reagan, on how much you and all Americans owe him a debt of thankfulness and gratitude.

America was truly blessed to have a man such as him to come to her rescue and to raise her from despairing depths to the pinnacle of historic success we all stand upon today.'"

- June 8, 2004

Con 2: Crime

In a Sept. 28, 1981, speech to the International Chiefs of Police, Reagan claimed that people who commit violent crimes "are not desperate people seeking bread for their families; crime is the way they've chosen to live."[30] This attitude failed to address the stark realities underlying crime, namely the national culture of poverty and discrimination. Violent crime nationwide increased 21% from 1981-1989.[31] The "War on Drugs" wasted billions of dollars and escalated drug-related crime. [32][33]

Con 12: Taxes

Reagan's "voodoo" economic policy, where tax cuts were believed to somehow generate tax revenues, failed to account for his administration's excessive spending which increased from $591 billion in 1980 to $1.2 trillion in 1990.[45][46] Reagan both increased and cut taxes. In 1980, middle-income families with children paid 8.2% in income taxes and 9.5% in payroll taxes. By 1988 their income tax was down to 6.6%, but payroll tax was up to 11.8%, a combined increase in taxes. [24] Reagan pushed through Social Security tax increases of $165 billion over seven years. [47]

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Ronald Reagan | Pros, Cons, Arguments, Debate, Elections, Presidential accomplishments, & Controversies | Britannica

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Was Ronald Reagan a good U.S. president?

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Ronald Reagan had great character and charm, which the people liked. Reagan was a great communicator through all of his speeches and actions. He was confident and had a way of inspiring the American people. He was skilled in public speaking, for he connected well with audiences and because of being an actor back in the day his speaking helped give a clear vision and had more impact on those listening.

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Reagan deserves to be on Mount Rushmore because he did a great job as president during both of his terms. Ronald Reagan went into office in 1980 when the country was in economic collapse. Because of Reaganomics, Reagan cut taxes, reduced government regulations, and tightened the money supply, turning the economic collapse completely around.

Then again, with his famous Berlin Speech and his challenge to Gorbachev, the Berlin people were finally reunited as a city, really as a country again, because of Reagan.