Happy Birthday Gipper
Today is the 102nd anniversary of the birth of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. He served two terms as President from 1981 to 1989. Prior to that, he was a radio, film and television actor who later served as the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975.
Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois, and raised in Dixon, Illinois. He attended Eureka College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology. After graduating, Reagan moved to Iowa to work as a radio broadcaster. In 1937, he moved to Los Angeles where he began a career as an actor, first in films and later in television. Some of his most notable films include Knute Rockne, All American (in 1940), Kings Row (in 1942), and Bedtime for Bonzo (in 1951, see userpic).
Reagan served as President of the Screen Actors Guild and later as a spokesman for General Electric. It was during his gig with GE that he got his start in politics. He was a member of the Democratic Party originally, but his positions began shifting to the right in the 1950s, and he joined to the Republican Party in 1962. Reagan gave a memorable speech in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, following which he was persuaded to run for Governor of California. He was elected to two consecutive terms. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 and in 1976, but the third time was the charm as he won both the nomination and general election in 1980, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter. Reagan was inaugurated less than a month before his 70th birthday.
As president, Reagan implemented new political and economic policies. He pushed for supply-side economic policies, called "Reaganomics", which called for lower tax rates to spur economic growth, controlling the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulation of the economy, and reduced government spending. In his first term he survived an assassination attempt, and took a firm stand against labor unions, threatening to fire air traffic controllers who planned to strike. He also ordered an invasion of Grenada.
Reagan was re-elected in a landslide in 1984. His campaign proclaimed that it was "Morning in America". His second term was primarily marked by foreign matters, such as the ending of the Cold War, the 1986 bombing of Libya, and a "weapons for hostages" scandal known as the Iran-Contra affair. Reagan called the Soviet Union the "evil empire" in a state of the union speech, and he generally supported anti-communist movements worldwide. In his first term he ordered a massive military buildup in an arms race with the USSR, which weakened the Soviets economically. In his second term Reagan negotiated with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, culminating in the INF Treaty and the decrease of both countries' nuclear arsenals.
Reagan left office in 1989. In 1994, he disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier in the year, informing the public in a letter addressed to them. As the disease progressed, he withdrew from the public eye. Ronald Reagan died on June 4, 2004 at the age of 93.
To this day Reagan remains a conservative icon. He ranks highly in public opinion polls of U.S. Presidents. His critics blame him for increased government debt, while his supporters credit him for ending the cold war, and rescuing the nation from the high interest rates that originated during his predecessor's term.
Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois, and raised in Dixon, Illinois. He attended Eureka College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology. After graduating, Reagan moved to Iowa to work as a radio broadcaster. In 1937, he moved to Los Angeles where he began a career as an actor, first in films and later in television. Some of his most notable films include Knute Rockne, All American (in 1940), Kings Row (in 1942), and Bedtime for Bonzo (in 1951, see userpic).
Reagan served as President of the Screen Actors Guild and later as a spokesman for General Electric. It was during his gig with GE that he got his start in politics. He was a member of the Democratic Party originally, but his positions began shifting to the right in the 1950s, and he joined to the Republican Party in 1962. Reagan gave a memorable speech in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, following which he was persuaded to run for Governor of California. He was elected to two consecutive terms. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 and in 1976, but the third time was the charm as he won both the nomination and general election in 1980, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter. Reagan was inaugurated less than a month before his 70th birthday.
As president, Reagan implemented new political and economic policies. He pushed for supply-side economic policies, called "Reaganomics", which called for lower tax rates to spur economic growth, controlling the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulation of the economy, and reduced government spending. In his first term he survived an assassination attempt, and took a firm stand against labor unions, threatening to fire air traffic controllers who planned to strike. He also ordered an invasion of Grenada.
Reagan was re-elected in a landslide in 1984. His campaign proclaimed that it was "Morning in America". His second term was primarily marked by foreign matters, such as the ending of the Cold War, the 1986 bombing of Libya, and a "weapons for hostages" scandal known as the Iran-Contra affair. Reagan called the Soviet Union the "evil empire" in a state of the union speech, and he generally supported anti-communist movements worldwide. In his first term he ordered a massive military buildup in an arms race with the USSR, which weakened the Soviets economically. In his second term Reagan negotiated with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, culminating in the INF Treaty and the decrease of both countries' nuclear arsenals.
Reagan left office in 1989. In 1994, he disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier in the year, informing the public in a letter addressed to them. As the disease progressed, he withdrew from the public eye. Ronald Reagan died on June 4, 2004 at the age of 93.
To this day Reagan remains a conservative icon. He ranks highly in public opinion polls of U.S. Presidents. His critics blame him for increased government debt, while his supporters credit him for ending the cold war, and rescuing the nation from the high interest rates that originated during his predecessor's term.