His nickname was “the Great Communicator” (CNN). Ronald Reagan accomplished an all-American life as a lifeguard, a football star, a soldier, an actor, a governor, and then a two-term president. Even though he was a man of many accomplishments, he stayed humble. He not only affected the United States, but other countries as well. Reagan affected communism (globally), the United States economy, and foreign affairs. He definitely put effort into making his mark in history.
Ronald Reagan was probably one of the most anti-communist people in the United States during his lifetime. During World War II, he served as a movie maker on the battle front, making him an American patriot. Anti-communist feelings started to arise as he entered the world of Hollywood and even accused some actors of being “communist thinkers”. Still, he made an effort to spread anti-communism through his movies. Since his presidency was during the Cold War, he made sure to warn people of the problem of communism at hand. The world started to respond and began to disrespect the communist Soviet Union. Throughout the Cold War, the United States helped anti-communist rebels fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and other countries. Then on June 12 1987 Reagan made his famous speech at the Berlin Wall and said, “Mr. Gorbachev (General Secretary of the Soviet Union), tear down this wall!” (CNN). The wall was a symbol of the Soviet Union’s ways and communism, and ended up being torn down two years later. This brought hope to many people under the Soviet Union’s rule. Later that year, Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, reducing nuclear missiles for both the United States and the Soviet Union. Due to Reagan’s movement to prevent communism, there are only a few nations that have the communist form of government.
It is a president’s duty to keep an eye on the country’s money, and know how and when to spend it. Reagan took this responsibility very seriously and made many changes. Today we are probably still experiencing some economic misfortune that occurred during his presidency. When he first started his presidency, the United States was undergoing some high inflation. Reagan’s goal was to cut taxes and government spending in order to build up the nation’s military and defense. The tax cut ended up to be “25% spread over 3 years,” says Patriot Post. The United States’ inflation did drop however, so much that the country went into a deep recession. This caused a large tax increase, “$39 billion of budget cuts, and a 10% unemployment rate.” (Patriot Post). Although there was an increase of cuts, there was also an increase of spending in a particular area- the military. According to CNN, defensive spending increased a whole 35% during his presidency. Reagan started the Strategic Defensive Initiative to help defensive systems and their technology. Even today the country puts much financial support into its military. Luckily, the economy rebounded before the 1987 stock market crash, which might have some effect in the stock market crash of last year. The 1987 crash took a while to recover, and the 2008 crash might take the same length of time.
At the time of Reagan’s inauguration there were American hostages in Iran. This turned out to be his first conflict in foreign affairs. An action to repel, he ordered naval escorts in the Persian Gulf to maintain the flow of oil during the Iraq-Iran war (“Gulf War”). Even today there are still conflicts between the two and there is United States military stationed and deployed in both countries. Another feud was between the United States against the communist Soviet Union (Cold War). Being the anti-communist he was, Reagan wanted to weaken the Soviet Union and its ideas. So to help bring in money for the country, Reagan signed agreements with Canada and other countries to open foreign markets to U.S. goods. The “calling out” of Gorbachev by Reagan at the Berlin Wall led to a treaty that not only lessened nuclear missiles but strengthened the peace throughout the world. During the Cold War the United States helped other struggling countries as well. Reagan helped Contras against the communist Nicaraguan government, El Salvador against guerilla forces, and defend invasion of Grenada when it was falling under Cuban domination. Due to 1986 bombing on Libya because of terrorist attacks on U.S. soldiers, more enemies were made too. However, toward the end of his presidency, Reagan created the Reagan Doctrine which gave support to anti-communist groups in Central America, Asia, and Africa.
“The Great Communicator” lived up to his name. He spread the idea of anti-communism across the globe. Although his effects in the United States economy may or may not have been entirely beneficial, he wanted to build up our military in order to help other countries with their government problems. Numerous buildings such as air ports and schools have been named in President Ronald Reagan’s honor. Luckily, Reagan lived to see many of his favors, and saw how he might have affected the current world. Yet, he stayed humble up until his death in 2004. Reagan definitely left his mark.
