...Running head: THE OVERRATED RONALD REAGAN The Overrated Ronald Reagan Kirston Gardner University of Phoenix Carole Lormand September 28, 2013 The Overrated Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan, the nation’s 40th president is one of the most overrated men in history. Americans did not forget all the broken promises and dishonesty they dealt with while Reagan was in office. For many reasons he would be considered a good President but there are many more reasons that he would not. Reagan’s ratings were higher than the averages of his three immediate predecessors, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon (Frank Newport, 2004). When rating Reagan, many factors show that he is indeed overrated, not only as a president but an individual as well. During Reagan’s term in office Americans faced recession, debt, high unemployment, questionable foreign policy and wasteful spending among other things. As Reagan was sworn, one of the first incidents, which were the release of the 51 hostages from the American Embassy in Tehran, occurred. It seemed as if the Iranians feared the win of future President Ronald Reagan. However, there were a few incidents that occurred prior to the inauguration of Reagan that actually set the stage for the emanate release of the hostages (United States History). The Shah of Iran died right before the presidential rae was over. Shah’s return, one of the requests in negotiations with the Iranians, was neutralized. The negotiations were now closer to closure...
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...Running head: THE OVERRATED RONALD REAGAN The Overrated Ronald Reagan University of Phoenix Carole Lormand September 28, 2013 The Overrated Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan, the nation’s 40th president is one of the most overrated men in history. Americans did not forget all the broken promises and dishonesty they dealt with while Reagan was in office. For many reasons he would be considered a good President but there are many more reasons that he would not. Reagan’s ratings were higher than the averages of his three immediate predecessors, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon (Frank Newport, 2004). When rating Reagan, many factors show that he is indeed overrated, not only as a president but an individual as well. During Reagan’s term in office Americans faced recession, debt, high unemployment, questionable foreign policy and wasteful spending among other things. As Reagan was sworn, one of the first incidents, which were the release of the 51 hostages from the American Embassy in Tehran, occurred. It seemed as if the Iranians feared the win of future President Ronald Reagan. However, there were a few incidents that occurred prior to the inauguration of Reagan that actually set the stage for the emanate release of the hostages (United States History). The Shah of Iran died right before the presidential rae was over. Shah’s return, one of the requests in negotiations with the Iranians, was neutralized. The negotiations were now closer to closure. Iraq then invaded...
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...Ronald Reagan an Overrated President Tami Arreguin HIS/145 July 15, 2013 Nancy Fraleigh Ronald Reagan an Overrated President Ronald Reagan, the nation's 40th president, only recently became one of the most revered men in history. Reagan's ratings were higher than the averages of his three immediate predecessors Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon (Newport, Jones, & Saad, 2004) . How and why would so many Americans too soon forget all of the dishonesty and broken promises that came out of the White House while Reagan was in office? It is clear that many factors came into play that goes to show that Ronald Reagan is highly overrated as not only the president, but also an individual. One of the first situations that occurred, as Reagan was sworn in, was the release of the 51 hostages from the American Embassy in Tehran. It seemed that the projected win of the future President Reagan triggered some fear in the Iranians. However, there were a few incidences that occurred, prior to the inauguration of Reagan, that actually set the stage for the emanate release of the hostages. (United States History, n.d.) In July, near the last leg of the presidential race, The Shah of Iran died. The return of the Shah, being one of the many requests in negotiations with the Iranian’s, was now neutralized. This brought the negotiations one step closer to closure (United States History, n.d.). Also, shortly after the death of the Shah, Iraq invaded Iran which created...
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...Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States. Ronald Reagan lost the republican nomination to Gerald Ford in 1976. Reagan won the 1980 nomination and chose George H. W. Bush. Reagan and Bush ran against Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. He was so great people began to ask if there was enough room for another face on Mount Rushmore. In 1985, the Iran-Contra Affair supplied weapons to a sworn enemy. The transactions that took place in the Iran-Contra Scandal were contrary to the legislation of the Democratic-dominated Congress and contrary to official Reagan administration policy. In 1985 Iran and Iraq were at war, Iran made a secret request to buy weapons from the United States. The scandal was almost the undoing of the Teflon President. Despite the damage to Reagan’s image, the president got off very easily. President Reagan came to the White House promising a major shift to conservative economic policies. His program included a supply-side revolution, a scaling down of wasteful government activity, lower taxes and less interference with the market economy. As a result, it was expected, the US economy would become more efficient, with faster growth and minimal inflation. Tax reductions would pay for themselves so that the budget would soon return to balance. Financial expansion did help bring down unemployment, but the administration soon learned that tax cuts led to trade and budget deficits. Though early dreams remain unfulfilled, the Reagan period...
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...Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States. Born in Illinois in 1911, he graduated from Eureka College before becoming a radio broadcaster in Iowa and then moving to Los Angeles in 1937 to pursue what became a successful acting career. Some of his most notable films include: Knute Rockne, All American; Kings Row; Bedtime for Bonzo. Ronald Reagan became the president of the Screen Actors Guild and a spokesman for GE. His stint with GE got him interested in politics. He had been a Democrat but changed his opinion on issues throughout the 50s before registering as a Republican in 1962. In 1964, Ronald Reagan gave a powerful speech in support of Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. His political acuity garnered a lot of attention and he was persuaded to run for Governor of California and won twice. He ran in the Republican Presidential primaries, losing twice before winning the nomination in 1980. He defeated incumbent Jimmy Carter in a landslide election. Ronald Reagan was known for his successful economic policies dubbed ‘Reaganomics‘ which promoted economic growth through reduced tax rates and slashed government spending. He even became the first President to survive an assassination attempt after John Hinckley, Jr. shot him. Ronald Reagan was a fierce anti-Communist and ordered an invasion of Grenada to defeat a bloody military coup. Ronald Reagan won reelection in another landslide in 1984 and dubbed his renewed era as ‘Morning in America‘....
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...Communicator The great communicator – is the phrase coined to describe Ronald Reagan by both his supporters and his critics. His approach to leadership was truly charismatic. John D Rockefeller said, “The ability to deal with people is as purchasable as a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for anything under the sun”. Reagan had the ability to get others to conform to his version of what a nation really should be. Ronald Reagan continually developed his leadership ability from his early years, while he was governor of California, and during his presidency. It was during his early years when Reagan first began to stand above his peers. He got his first taste of office when he became involved with his high school student body. By his senior year he had become the student council president. While he attended college, Reagan continued to hone his leadership abilities by getting involved in the student government, eventually working his way up to the student body president. However, it was after college while working for NBC as a play by play announcer that he was able to find his voice. With his new found fame, he was able to acquire a screen test with Warner Brothers, which he won and was signed to a seven-year contract. It was at some point during his movie carrier while acting as the president of the screen actor’s guild that Reagan got involved in politics. Reagan was convinced by a group of prominent business men to try to run for Governor...
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...Introduction Reagan, Ronald Wilson (1911- ),the 40th president of the United States (1981-1989), enforced the policies that reversed a general direction of movement toward greater government involvement in economic and social regulation. Reagan as the younger of two sons, was born in Tampico, Illinois and spent most of his childhood in Dixon, Illinois. After studying at Eureka College,a small Disciples of Christ college near Peoria, Illinois, he majored in economics, and became the president of the student body, a member of the football team, and captain of the swimming team. He had special drawings toward acting, but after the graduation in 1932 the only job available related to show business was as a local radio sportscaster. In 1936 he became a sportscaster for station WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. A year latter, Reagan went to Hollywood and began an acting career that spanned more than 25 years. He played in more than 50 films, including "Knute Rockne"-All American (1940), "King's Row" (1942), and "Bedtime for Bonzo" (1951). Early political career Reagan's first political activities were associated with his responsibilities as a union leader. As union president, Reagan tried to remove suspected Communists from the movie industry. When the U.S. House Committee. Began an investigation in 1947 on the influence of Communists in the film industry, Reagan took a strong anti-Communist stand testifying before the committee. Reagan emerged on the national political...
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...Though he never managed to formally command words, Reagan became one of the most distinguished communicators of modern times. He accomplished this through his ability to speak casually and directly to the people. As Kathleen Hall Jamieson notes in “Eloquence in the Electronic Age,” Reagan’s grasp of modern technology allowed him to capture the attention of the American audience. Reagan was a master of storytelling and manipulation of his audience, which can be attributed to his career as a Hollywood actor. He preferred the “story” over the facts, and was a “very straightforward, plain-spoken communicator.” This style of communicating is common with Republican leaders from former President George W. Bush to current President Donald Trump. One...
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...Ronald Reagan started his long career in politics as a long standing Hollywood actor turned Governor of the state of California, with his first term as Governor beginning in 1967, and was re-elected in 1971. Reagan declined to run for a third term as Governor of California in 1975 and began to focus his political career towards the presidency, where in 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected the 40th President of the United States of America, with his presidential term running from 1981 to 1989. Ronald Reagan left behind various legacies throughout his tenure as President, which included drastic reductions of taxes, and stricter control of government spending, allowing him to succeed in managing inflation and stimulate the growth of the American economy. Reagan was known as the president who implemented the modern war on drugs, pioneering the “just say no” campaign and enacting the greatest expansion of zero tolerance legislation in history. Reagan was also known for being harsh against labor unions, with the most significant act being in 1981 with the blanket termination of professional air traffic controller organization (PATCO) members, who despite federal law, walked off the job and refused to end their strike and return to work. But Reagan may be most notably remembered for being the president who ended the cold war. President Reagan adopted an economic strategy known as “stagflation” in which he implemented drastic cuts of income taxes from approximately 70% to 28%, which effected...
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...Ronald Wilson Reagan, born February 6, 1911, served the United States as the 40th president from 1981 to 1989. Reagan was the first and only movie actor elected to office. During his two-terms in office, Reagan had many accomplishments; cutting taxes, strengthened and increased national defense spending, and through foreign policy pursued “peace through strength.” (Freidel & Sidey, 2006). The primary strength Reagan possessed in office was his oratory skills, in which he was dubbed “The Great Communicator”. The presidency of Ronald Reagan corresponded with a “long period of dramatic economic growth and the beginning of a momentous change in international relations.” (Brinkley, 2002). Through legislation, Reagan stimulated the economic growth, curbed inflation, and increased U.S. employment. By cutting taxes and Government expenditures Reagan overhauled the income tax code. By which, he removed many deductions and made exempt millions of low-income people. As the end of his term neared, our nation enjoyed “its longest recorded period of peacetime prosperity without recession or depression.” (Freidel & Sidey, 2006). Another achievement of Reagan was his plan, Supply Side Economics. In a plan, he felt in order to improve the economy, the industries needed to be built up through “entrepreneurial skills” and the corporate wealth would “trickle down to the people.” (The 40th US President - Ronald Reagan). Raised in the small town of Dixon, Illinois, his parents Jack...
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...Ronald Reagan Rob Holmes HIS/145 November 14, 2013 Professor Pass Ronald Reagan Ronald W. Reagan was born February 6, 1911, and died June 5, 2004; Severed two terms as the 40th President of the United States of America from 1981 to 1989, succeeding President Jimmy Carter. Know as conservative Republican, hard-line anticommunist and skilled orator that earned him the nickname “the Great Communicator” (Ronald W. Reagan, 2013). Remembered for his foreign policies and is credited with the demise of the Soviet Union and ending the cold war and the Iran-Contra affair. Reagan is often credited with the release the remaining 51 American hostages that had been held captive in Iran for 444 days. During the Jimmy Carter administration on November 4, 1979 Islamic revolutionaries stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and captured 66 American hostages. The hostage crisis the most significant issue facing Americans in the final year of Carters final year as president and played a crucial roll in Carter not winning re-election (Iran hostage crisis. 2013). A political war was taking place in Iran with the left and right wing revolutionaries and their new leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini. The hostages were caught in the middle of the struggle. Iran issued the demand that as a condition of the hostage’s release, the shah who had entered the United States to seek medical treatment be extradited back to Iran. Iran also insisted that the United States stopped interfering in Iranian affairs...
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...Q 15DBQ 15: The Resurgence of Conservatism, 1964-2005 Liberals had dominated American society for most of the 1900s. The 1960s was widely known for being the age of counterculture, social reforms, and liberals. The era witnessed many advancements like racial equality such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a strong advancement in political liberalism, and a significant increase in the power and influence of government-funded social programs as a result of Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society reforms. Beginning with the election of Nixon, however, followed a gradual return to conservatism whether religiously, politically, or economically. The resurgence of conservatism in American politics and government in the years 1964-2005, was caused in reaction to 1960s liberal political, economic, and social policies as well as the rise of religious political groups and the controversy over the Vietnam War. The government's political and economic policies contributed to the rise of conservatism. Most notable of the federal reforms were initiated by liberal Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson and his Great Society schemes. His "War on Poverty" speech, delivered on March 16, 1964, called for a war on poverty to give people a second chance by spending millions on education, job training, housing, and healthcare. Johnson's intention was in some ways a conservative one. He wanted to give people a hand-up, not a hand-out and make them dependent on the money earned from taxing the more fortunate (Document...
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...truly in love with Jodie Foster and not the young Hollywood starlet’s movie persona. The most important information in the article are direct quotes from Foster, Hinckley and a few people who knew him. For example, in the shadow of the assassination attempt on President Reagan, Hinckley wrote to Foster, “I’m asking you to please look into your heart and at least give me the chance with this historical deed to gain your respect and love. I love you forever (signed) John Hinckley.” Ultimately, Hinckley failed at his attempt to assassinate President Reagan; However, he did gain the attention of Foster and the entire world. A high school friend said Hinckley was, “so normal he appeared to fade into the woodwork.” But as Wettach’s article explains, Hinckley was far from normal—but how far? Wettach summarizes that, “we should read all of these relentless reminders about the attempted assassination as being indicative of larger concerns, namely the way in which the nation has not yet come to terms with the cultural malaise that Foster continues to embody.” At his sentencing, Hinckley was granted the opportunity to make a statement. He declared that all he wanted was for Jodie Foster to return his love for her. Hinckley said, ‘‘My assassination attempt was an act of love. I’m sorry love has to be so painful.” Hinckley’s pains were enabled by an unrealistic star...
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...Ronald Wilson Reagan was born February 6, 1911 in a town called Tampico Illinois. His parents, Jack and Nelle Reagan were loving parents they were somewhat poor. His father worked as a shoe salesman, and they moved around during Ronald’s early years until they settled down in a town in Illinois called Dixon. As a child Ronald didn’t exactly like his name so he had the nickname “Dutch” that his father gave him for the reason that his dad said when he was born he looked like a small fat Dutchman. When he was in his high school years he was a lifeguard at a park by Rock River where he rescued 77 people. He ended up graduating from Dixon high school in 1928. He then found a job in Iowa where he was a sports announcer. He then got on with...
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...demonstrated priority to speak words of bereavement before other pressing national matters. Reagan’s words, “Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country,” (Zarefsky, 2017, p. 372) creates rhetoric that levels with fellow Americans, validating the intended audience, and even the omission of formal titles to bring a common human bond to the message. Carefully catering his word choice to connect with children and adults alike, Reagan’s plain style illustrates immense care in the selection of words, maintaining clear progression, and use of familiar terms without creating any sense of condescension. Avoiding the application of government jargon, Reagan recognizes that the wounds from previous shuttle mission losses are still fresh for some, but upholds these sacrifices as important steps in progressing humanity – much like 17th Century explorers before them. By focusing on the sacrifices not only of the lives lost, but of their family members, he acknowledges the character and bravery of the astronauts which ignites the child-like wonder in everyone....
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