...Before becoming the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan was a famous actor and then became involved in politics not long after. This is a biography of Ronald Reagan’s term as President and his impact to the country. Becoming governor of California in 1966 and winning a second term in 1970, Reagan seemed to be a pretty good politician. His career, however didn’t end there. After his success as governor, Reagan tried for the presidency. In 1980, he ran for office and won as the Republican nomination. The future president George Bush would be his running mate. Reagan won by an crushing landslide to Jimmy Carter almost beating his vote count by 10 times. With this, Reagan took the office in January of 1981 and claimed the...
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...Reagan Analysis Paper Reagan Analysis Paper Introduction Ronald Wilson Reagan was the fortieth president of the United States. A two term president, he served from 1981-1989. President Reagan won a landslide victory over Jimmy Carter running on a political platform consisting of jump starting the economy and bringing inflation down. This was to be accomplished through lowering taxes and cutting government spending. Many people consider Reagan an outstanding president but this paper contends he was an overrated president. This is based on the management of three issues facing his presidency. These are: economic policies, ending the Cold War, and the Iran-Contra affair. Economic Policies Throughout Reagan’s campaign he assaulted the Carter administration’s free-spending (Moss & Thomas, 2013, pp-208-210). He made promises to cut spending, but ultimately spent more. The most common misconception is that Reagan saved our economy with his famous Reaganomics. This of course included the modern trickle-down theory or supply-side economics, which included major tax decreases, specifically on the wealthy. These tax decreases, coupled with high military spending, created a massive debt and led the country into one of the worst depressions since the Great Depression. When Reagan entered the presidency in 1981 the national debt was at $900 billion. By the time he left it had over tripled to $2.8 trillion. To top it off, many of the military projects the money was used...
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...been cleared by the appropriate military service or government agency. STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT •» BE THE REAGAN WAY: USING LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR STRATEGIC SUCCESS BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM E. COBURN United States Air Force Reserve DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for Public Release. Distribution is Unlimited. USAWC CLASS OF 2000 U.S. ARMY WAR COLLEGE, CARLISLE BARRACKS, PA 17013-5050 " ■ "■"" "" 20000320 086 USAWC STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT THE REAGAN WAY: USING LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR STRATEGIC SUCCESS by Lieutenant Colonel William E. Coburn U. S. Air Force Reserve Dr. Robert Murphy Project Advisor The views expressed in this academic research paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or any of its agencies. U.S. Army War College CARLISLE BARRACKS, PENNSYLVANIA 17013 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. ABSTRACT AUTHOR: TITLE: FORMAT: DATE: William E. Coburn The Reagan Way: Using Leadership Skills for Strategic Success Strategy Research Project 10 April 2000 PAGES: 22 CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified In spite of many critics who belittled his style and his presidency, Ronald Reagan is increasingly viewed as a heroic President who fulfilled his vision of restoring peace and prosperity at home and freedom abroad. The thesis of this paper is that Reagan used certain key leadership skills...
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...Ronald Reagan: America's Savior In a time when America was at an all time low, a retired actor from a small town in Illinois would rally Americans to stand together and overcome a crumbling economy, communism, growing foreign tensions with the middle east, and to wage war on the home front against the use and spread of drugs. To many all around the world , this man would become the savior of America. Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 to Jack and Nelle Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. The Reagan family moved to Dixon in 1920, where Ronald excelled in high school, earning an athletic scholarship to Eureka College. Ronald majored in economics and sociology without knowing how useful this decision would be in 1981. After graduating from Eureka in 1932 he got a job commentating football games and later became a Chicago Cubs play by play announcer. In 1937, on a trip with the Cubs to California he took a shot at acting and was hired by Warner Brothers. He was cast in a string of "B" rated movies. In fact by the end of his career Ronald had starred in over 70 films. During one of these films, Brother Rat, Ronald met actress Jane Wyman and on January 6, 1940 the two were married. They had a wonderful Hollywood marriage and had two biological children, Maureen in 1941 and Christine in 1947, they also adopted a son, Michael shortly after his birth in 1945. Sadly Christine only lived one day. In 1942, during WWII Ronald was ordered to active duty with the United...
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... The Cold War and the United States Diplomacy The Cold War was the state of military and political tension between Western countries, especially the United States, its NATO allies, and the communist nations, particularly the Soviet Union and other satellite states. The war began after World War II had got to an end. The Cold War was named so since it did not feature any form of military action. The countries in this war possessed nuclear weapons and any form of war would have led to serious destructions on both divides. The relative calm between these countries was sometimes followed by high tensions, which would have emanated into a war but did not (Gottfried & Reim, 2003). The following essay will look at what the U.S. did during that time, as well as summarize the situation that required U.S. diplomatic efforts during the president’s time in office. In addition, the essay will describe the effect of these diplomatic efforts for the U.S. and other countries as well as assess, in conclusion, the advantages and disadvantages of the particular doctrine that was followed. What the President Did During That Time During the cold war, the president was Ronald Reagan. He, together with members of his administration, came up with a strategy designed to oppose the influence that the Soviet Union had in the world. It came to be referred to as the Reagan Doctrine. This also came to be the showpiece of the United States foreign policy in the early 80s until...
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...The United States was undeniably the worlds greatest superpower following World War II. Finally getting back on their feet after the great depression, the United States economy was unmatched by any other nation. The only country able to compete with the United States in any way was the Soviet Union. During World War II both of these super powers fought alongside each other as allies. As the war came to an end so did their civil relationship. The Cold War was a prominent time of tension between the nations following World War II. The war was centered around the issue of communism. This period began in 1945 and lasted nearly 45 years. Over the course of this time period many U.S. presidents came in and out of the White House. Each had their own...
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...Which did more to cause the collapse of the Soviet Communism by 1991, developments inside or outside the USSR? 1991 marks the end of Soviet Communism. Leading to 1991, USSR started to lose support from the Eastern European as USSR was in a situation that provided them with undesirable economic situations, low living standards, political instability and lack of freedom. As a whole, the cause for these situations, thereby leading to the fall of Soviet Communism, can be categorized in two main reasons – developments inside of USSR, and developments outside the USSR. While the external developments such as role of Ronald Reagan & his policies, the Pope’s involvement, rise of non communist movements in Eastern Europe and price of oil and effects on USSR did played a significant role in breaking the Soviet Communism, it is still undeniable that the internal developments, mainly the USSR leaders’ (Brezhnev and Gorbachev) policies, made larger and more tangible impacts that raises the resentment and opposition to Soviet domination, causing it to fall apart. The developments inside the USSR therefore did more to cause the collapse of the Soviet Communism. To begin with, one of the early causes of the fall of communism is due to the stagnation period under Brezhnev where economy did not improve, or rather, declined (which can be seen from USSR’s continuous importing of grain from US). This stagnation was due to expanded military and neglected domestic economy. As a whole, this period...
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...economic issues. It was also during this time that President Ronald Reagan was tested. In his campaign against Jimmy Carter, he promised America that the government will implement strategies that will support the people. This earned him a landslide victory over Jimmy Carter. From stagflation to recession, the whole country had the worst economic period trailing the Great Depression. On his first term, President Reagan’s main objective was to address different economic problems through tax cut, decreased nondefense spending, increased defense spending and balanced budget. His policies brought success in stimulating the economy. He was able to improve the lives of the people and certain concerns during those times such as recession, unemployment and inflation. In 1985, while efforts have been made by President Reagan to uplift the economy, the US government was still beset by unbalanced budget due to deficits. Thus in his second term, he focused more in addressing this problem. However, the economic policies he implemented appeared to have created a setback in the country’s budget. In addition to the existing deficits prior to his term, deficits continued to increase. Objectives This paper aims to give an analysis on the cause and effect of the deficit problem Reagan faced in his second term and an analysis of the strategies he implemented in solving it. This paper also offers alternative strategies that would allow Reagan to reduce the deficits and balanced the budget. Analysis ...
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...what they did while in office. Three presidents that left a big legacy on America are Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt and each of them impacted, either good or bad, the country in some way. While each left a legacy, one president's legacy was more impactful, in a helpful way, to America’s development and growth. Before Ronald Reagan came into office in 1980, there was a major recession in the late 1970’s. This means that there was a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity were reduced. Reagan’s promise to the people was that he was going to restore the economy, but everyone's question was how he planned to do that. His plan was to provide tax breaks to the very wealthy people. The idea was that if the wealthy class had more money, they could provide more jobs and the money would make its way down to the other classes, this was called trickle down economics (Corvo, Lecture). Reagan’s...
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...Of all the options, the rescue mission was the riskiest that “could be taken militarily without engaging in an outright act of war.” Although this option had a low probability of success like sanctions, the retrieval of hostages was considered “paramount for personal, political, and international reasons.” At the time, those close to Carter perceived the mission as “more easily containable and less prone to uncontrollable escalation” than mining the harbors or conducting military strikes. The Carter Administration thus evaluated the mission as the only option with both the perfect balance of minimal political and military risks as well as the only option that would allow Carter to recover his losses and make additional gains. If successful, the hostages would return home, Carter’s approval ratings would improve in time for reelection, and America’s international prestige and the status quo would be restored. If unsuccessful, tensions would escalate with Iran and potentially place the lives of the hostages at risk. It was also possible that Carter’s image would be tainted internationally and he would lose the election. Using prospect theory, it is important to note that Carter advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, who strongly supported the mission, framed the decision based on his notion of the importance of the hostages’ safety in addition to preserving America’s national power and prestige. Unlike Vance,...
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...The Battle for Ethical Politics In America Each decade brings about important events that shaped and affected the political status in the United States. The exploration of the effects of McCarthyism on the Cold War shows the evolution of the political tone in the United States. The United States’ political control over Communist takeover was elevated until approximately midway through the Vietnam War. At which time, the United States’ involvement in Vietnam and the fight against communism was questioned. Following this period, the threat of socialism seemed to diminish, and Watergate caused many people to distrust political officials. When this scandal finally settled down, a new leadership brought about the biggest change in the Cold War since its inception, and a new respect for political power. Senator Joseph McCarthy: Fight Against Communism After World War II, the threat of Communist takeover was real. By 1949, Communists took control of Eastern Europe and Asia, and by 1950, China had succumbed to Communist rule (Davidson, Gienapp, Heyrman, Lytle, & Stoff, 2005, p. 812). The United States’ involvement in the fight to save China, led some Republicans to believe the Democrats let the Communists win (Davidson, Gienapp, Heyrman, Lytle, & Stoff, 2005, p. 813). To further complicate matters, in 1949, the trial of Alger Hiss, the man accused of selling secrets to the Russians in the 1930s, was convicted for lying about his association with known Communist, Whittaker...
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...The Federal Government’s Efforts to Improve the Economy Economic growth and employment are the basis for increased prosperity. Over the course of American history, there has been much debate regarding whether attaining that increased prosperity is (or is not) a direct reflection of imposed federal, state, and local tax policies. These tax policies are imposed for a variety of reasons, such as to reduce budget deficits, support war efforts, and strengthen the economy. It has become increasingly difficult, however, to ascertain which economic effects are true consequences of changes in tax policy. By reviewing the state of the U.S. economy over time and how growth and employment were affected by taxation, we can see how the Fed has engaged in economic policies. The Great Depression (1929 – 1939) The stock market crashed in 1929 and the Great Depression began. The United States economy spiraled downward as the government increased taxes (through the Tax Acts of 1932 and 1936 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal”) in order to compensate for lost revenue. During this time, public opinion had been that the wealthy were shirking their fiscal responsibilities through aggressive tax avoidance. In response, President Roosevelt’s New Deal tax laws were designed to increase statutory and effective rates on the nation’s wealthiest citizens. The rationale behind the tax increases was that increased government spending without raising taxes would weaken...
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...To have integrity means to be honest, honorable, righteous and incorruptible; Mikhail Gorbachev demonstrated all of these traits and many more while ruling the Soviet Union. Near the end of his ruling it seemed that many people were against him; however, he was still honored and admired in Europe and the U.S., and was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Gorbachev came from a poor background and worked hard to reach the levels he did. When in power, Gorbachev had many plans to change and advance the Soviet Union. When faced with hardship, he never backed down and followed through with what he believed in. No matter who was against him, or who supported him, Gorbachev stayed true to his beliefs and followed his plans through to the end, showing his commitment and integrity....
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...white officers, the majority relegated to often demeaning non-combat support roles. Their mistreatment at the hands of white officers and civilians alike was in some places so bad that it led to armed insurrection, as in Houston, Texas in August 1917. Here, they seized weapons and killed 17 civilians, whereupon the military sentenced 30 black soldiers to death and 41 others to life imprisonment.[1] Those African American troops who served in France, however, were shocked at the relative warmth of their reception. “The French government awarded the Croix de Guerre to the all-black 369th U.S. Infantry regiment, and 171 officers and enlisted men were cited individually for exceptional bravery.”[2] While this surely enlivened their hope and zeal for equality at home, it was just as surely a bitter reminder of their lack of same. As World War II approached, increased need for labor in the defense industry, combined with the mechanization of cotton harvesting, led to a migration of African Americans to cities in the North. Here, they were freed from the more overt segregation and oppression of the South, and in many cases able to vote.[3] The increased demand for labor did not immediately end the African Americans' unequal treatment, rather,...
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...HomelessnessHow to improve Homelessness IntroductionHomelessness is not new to our nation, and it has greatly increased over the past ten years. (Baum, 1-4) For growing numbers of people, work provides little, if any, protection against homelessness. Low national un-employment levels do not mean that all working people are well-off. (Baum, 21-24)What is homelessness? According to the definition stated by Stewart B. McKinney, for purposes of the 1987 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, “a homeless person (homelessness) is one who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence, or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings.” (Baum, 8) A rather deceptive definition when one considers the fact that homelessness is not a natural state, but one created and maintained by political agendas.Our government is not doing all that it can to combat our nation’s homelessness.In 1987, the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act was put into law. (Burger, 68-83) However, our government has moved away from the need to address the causes of homelessness. Instead our government has focused on the individual responsibility of those who become homeless, blaming their misfortune as their own fault. (Baum, 5-9) It is this belief that has helped to increase the homelessness of our nation, and it is this belief that will continue to do so if our government does not take a closer and more realistic look at...
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