The Reagan Doctrine
In his eight years serving as president of The United States from 1981 to 1989, Ronald Reagan accomplished numerous monumental tasks for the country. He brought America back from a horrendous economy by implementing across-the-board tax cut, deregulation, and restraining domestic spending. He brought the U.S. military back to life after it was diminished by his predecessor. However, President Reagan’s greatest accomplishment as president was his tireless effort in ending The Cold War with The Soviet Unions. In order to achieve his objective of stopping the spread of communism, President Reagan orchestrated and implemented the Reagan Doctrine to provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist guerrillas and resistance movements in an effort to "roll back" Soviet-backed communist governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
After the Sandinista Revolution of 1979, Nicaraguans went from being ruled by a strict right-wing dictatorship to being controlled by left wing, idealistic revolutionaries. Tensions developed between the Sandinistas and the U.S. government. When the U.S. Congress delayed aids which was promised to Nicaragua, the Sandinistas turned to other nations, such as the communist influenced Cuba, for help. The United States was fearful that this new revolutionary government will eventually turn to the Soviet Union for assistant, thus give the communist party the opportunity to strengthen its power. Since 1980, Moscow has provided the Sandinistas with at least $500 million in military aid and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic assistance. As a result, Nicaragua managed to establish the largest military in Central America. President Ronald Reagan wrote in his personal diary, “Central America is really the world’s next hotspot. Nicaragua is an armed camp supplied by Cuba and threatening a communist takeover of all of Central America.” Reagan realized that in order to stop the Soviet Unions from influencing these Central American countries, something must be done to steer these government away from the communist regime.
In his State of the Union address, President Reagan stated that "Freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few; it is the universal right of all God's children." He continued by saying that America’s mission is to "nourish and defend freedom and democracy." He encouraged the American citizens to "… stand by our democratic allies and… must not break faith with those who are risking their lives—on every continent, from Afghanistan to Nicaragua—to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth." He concluded by saying that "Support for freedom fighters is self-defense." With these words, He initiated military assistance programs to covertly supporting the Contras in their attacks on the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua; the Afghan rebels in their fight against the Soviet occupiers; and anticommunist Angolan forces embroiled in that nation's civil war. President Reagan continued to defend his actions throughout his two terms in office.
The effects of the Reagan Doctrine are both positive and negative. The United States were successful in moving Chile away from communism, improving its relationship with the United States, and expanding the country’s economic growth by the mid-1990s. On the other hand, the Iran Contra Affair was not as well received. During his two terms, Reagan provided $19 million to the Central Intelligence Agency to train a counterrevolutionary army known as the Contras. The Contras by 1986 consisted of over 15,000 soldiers supported by the United States. During the period when a Democratic majority in Congress banned aid to the rebels, the administration used different methods to supply the money to the Contras illegally. This included illegally selling arms weapons to Iran.
During his farewell address in 1989, President Reagan gave his policy credit for weakening the Sandinista government, forcing the Soviets to withdraw from Afghanistan, and ending to the conflict in Angola. The administration’s supporters pointed out that his foreign policy helped to end the Cold War by stopping the Soviet Union from spreading its communist control over specific regions of the world. The policy’s philosophical justifications were to eliminate tyrannical governments and promote individual liberties, freedom, and democracy. The policy was successful because the United States financed these resistance movements with a relatively small amount of money, while the Soviet Union had to use more resources and suffered more losses of their military.
On contrary, Reagan’s critics argued that this foreign policy was not a complete success. The U.S.-backed contras in Nicaragua were found to engage in illegal activities, such as drug trafficking and violating basic human rights of people within the country. Others argue that the Reagan Doctrine was too far-reaching because the resources spent on supporting the overthrow of these governments outweighed the benefits gained. Regardless of one’s political alliance, one must give President Reagan’s policy the well deserved credit of tearing down the Berlin Wall and defeating the Soviet Unions.

References:
Krauthammer, Charles. "Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2013.

The United States of America. State Department. Office of the Historian. Milestone: 1981-1989.
N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2013.

"Understanding the Iran-Contra Affairs - The Iran-Contra Affairs." Understanding the Iran-Contra Affairs - The Iran-Contra Affairs. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2013.

"On This Day: Reagan Endorses CIA Support of Nicaraguan Contras." On This Day: Reagan Endorses CIA Support of Nicaraguan Contras. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2013.

Wilson, James Q., and John J. Dilulio, Jr. American Government. Ninth ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Print.