The Life and Career of Ronald Reagan

well most of us know Ronald Reagan as the 40th President of the United States did you know he actually spent much more of his life invested in the movie industry starting his career in 1937 Reagan made over 50 films throughout his nearly 30-year career as an actor he even served in an army film unit in Los Angeles during World War II acting out the stereotypical good guy in the mid 1900s Ronald Reagan was a well-known face even before he stepped into politics and influenced the world for from a completely different direction Ronald Reagan is one

of the most famous presidents in modern American history although some of his actions remain politically controversial today his economic choices and conservative political leanings continue to impact the American government today influencing how people think the government should be the United States changed dramatically under President Ronald Reagan it's time to look back over his life and career to see how he became so influential by examining how he became the president in the 1980 and then looking at his policy changes during his new career we can see glimpses of how President Reagan's Legacy continues to play a

role in the American government impacting how the United States runs the country and interacts with the rest of the world who was Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan was born on February 6th 1911 and spent his teenage years in Dixon Illinois he attended Eureka College where he was active in the drama soci soety and on the football team once Reagan graduated in 1932 he combined his passions as a radio broadcaster starting as the sports caster of Davenport Iowa station WOC he soon moved to station wh in De Mo Iowa he gained his initial popularity by broadcasting the

Chicago Cubs games even though station wh couldn't afford to send him to Wrigley Field in 1937 Reagan agreed to follow the Chicago Cubs to Southern California for their spring training but he had an ulterior motive Ronald Reagan wanted to try movie acting he screen tested with Warner Brothers and soon started his career as a film actor he also served in an army film unit during World War II making training films and helping Warner Brothers create a promotional image of a real Soldier even though he never saw combat Nancy Davis held conservative political views a sharp

contrast to Reagan who had grown up in a democratic household both NY and influence and Ronald Reagan's work as the president of the Screen Actors Guild gradually turned him towards the Republican Party he pushed back against communism in the guild from 1947 to 1952 when he served as the Guild's president and began unofficially supporting the Republican Party in the 1950s at the same time Reagan's acting career began to slow down so he turned his attention to the General Electric Theater a television drama series needing a host he also served as the spokesman for General Electric

until 1962 when he became too controversial for the company however leaving the acting community did not dampen Ronald Reagan's drive to help America this Focus quickly led him into politics where he used his talent as a public speaker to support various Republican presidential candidates such as Dwight D Eisenhower and Richard Nixon these speeches though were only the beginning of Reagan's subsequent career how did Ronald Reagan's political career impact the United States Ronald Reagan did not begin his career by running for president instead he gained his first political experience as a campaigner a role he actively

played for Richard Nixon during his 1962 Run for the California governorship he was so successful he instantly became a figure in National politics and gained great popularity amongst the Republican party however he didn't step into Politics as a candidate until 1966 when he ran for the California governorship Governor Edmund G Brown a democrat attempted to turn people away from Reagan by pointing out his lack of traditional government experience Reagan took that attack and made it one of his main appeals to the public he crafted an image as a regular person who wanted to change in

inefficient government for the people and people gravitated to his charm and genuiness he won the governorship by nearly a million votes and served two terms from 1967 to 1975 Reagan established his leadership style during this time which followed him into the presidency although he made a few attempts at the presidency he did not become a strong Contender for the Republican party until 1980 after winning the primaries Reagan took George Bush as his vice president and began campaigning against President Jimmy Carter although Reagan advocated for tax cuts defense spending and a constitutional amendment against abortion these

weren't his only campaign tools the 1970s were brutal on the United States the people suffered through the end of the Vietnam War and two oil crises President Jimmy Carter tried to improve the American economy but it wasn't enough to save him the election unemployment was up and inflation had doubled since he took office leaving the American people unsatisfied in addition Carter's inability to handle the Iran hostage crisis effectively reflected poorly on his administration the Iran hostage crisis began on November 4th 1979 when a group of Iranian students took the United States Embassy in tran hostage

Iran was going through a revolution at the time and the American Embassy had been attacked several times between 1978 and 1979 the former sha had been friendly with the United States so the revolutionary leaders were leery of a continued American presence in Iran the United States have been decreasing the number of diplomats and staff in the embassy by November 1979 only about 70 people were left on November 4th a large group of students took around 70 Americans hostage at the embassy negotiation attempts quickly fell through as Iran's political revolution continued leaving the hostages trapped in

a stalemate between struggling Iranian political leaders it was over a year before the situation was over even President Carter's attempt to use military force in April 1980 failed to free the diplomats Carter appeared weak and Reagan used that perception to make himself appear more confident and capable of leading the country well President Carter lost the presidential election in a landslide to Reagan in 1980 Ronald Reagan made fixing the economy and strengthening the military the center points of his presidential campaign and people flocked to it giving him 489 of the Electoral College votes once in office

President Ronald Reagan began implementing his political and economic ideas Reagan's economic policies have become known as Reagan iics it focused on decreasing government spending cutting taxes and releasing numerous parts of the American economy from governmental control the economic Recovery Act of 1981 gave Americans one of the most significant tax cuts in history the idea came from Economist Arthur laer who stated people would spend and invest more money if they felt they had more cutting taxes was a way to get money back into people's hands to spur the economy sadly Reagan did not account for the

US Federal Reserve attempts to reduce inflation between the high interest rates and the low taxes the United States fell into the Reagan recession the worst recession since the Great Depression at that point thankfully the Reagan recession ended in 1982 and the economy recovered quickly seeing significant growth by 1984 when Reagan won the presidential election again Reaganomics remains one of Reagan's hotly debated legacies while the tax cuts did give Americans more money in their pockets they came with a large national debt and a sharp decrease in government programs thus after factoring in inflation many families actually

made less money at the end of the 1980s than they had at the beginning despite this people changed how they viewed the proper role of the government and that change influenced the government for years afterward as people called for a smaller government Reagan's economic choices were strongly influenced by his politically conservative leanings historians call Reagan group of Republican politicians the new right the new right was dissatisfied with the government's size believing pricey government programs like Medicaid and Medicare and an increasingly liberal culture were changing American society they wanted to return to a more conservative time

so many of Reagan's political choices reflected the leaning towards domestic conservatism he pulled funding from non-government groups providing abortion consultations to combat the 1973 Row versus Wade ruling Reagan also pushed the war on drugs to Greater levels the new right focused on domestic issues alongside it was another conservative philosophy called neoconservatism neoconservatism did want to improve the economy and reinstate traditional morality but it also focused on foreign policy believing America should guide the world into the Modern Age this guidance could use military force if necessary Reagan adopted neoconservatism to guide his foreign policy resulting in

in the Reagan Doctrine the Reagan Doctrine took the Cold War to the next level instead of merely containing communism the Reagan Doctrine sought to eliminate it by advocating peace through strength to stop the Soviet Union President Reagan sent military help to groups rebelling against the Soviets such as the Afghans and the angolans his work to support rebellions against the Soviet Union and halt communist uprisings around the globe mortally wounded the Soviet Union sending them into decline the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan was expensive President Reagan started the Strategic Defense Initiative to weaken the Soviet Union

further economically he began discussing a shield to block nuclear missiles in space which sent the Soviet Union into a panic as they attempted to create better weapons to break through the space Shield Reagan's shield never came to pass but the economic damage was done between the military complications and the economic downward spiral the Soviet Union would never recover although the Cold War officially ended under President Bush President Reagan's work made the end of the conflict possible the United States and the Soviet Union signed the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty in 1987 agreeing to destroy their

mid-range nuclear missiles and indicating the end of the Cold War what did Ronald Reagan do after retiring from the presidency Reagan served two terms as president and then campaigned for George Bush during his presidential run hisor Ians have argued Reagan's role in that campaign helped secure Bush's election because Reagan remained popular with the people Reagan retired in Los Angeles but soon re informed the American people he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease although he did not announce it until 1994 some believe he began struggling with the illness much earlier in the latter part of his

presidency Nazi helped run interference with reporters as he continued to deteriorate Reagan made fewer public appearances he finally passed away on June 5th 2004 at 993 years old Reagan's political career remains divisive today some strongly oppose his views and policies While others held them as vital he may not have answered many of the modern political questions still part of the government but President Reagan did help the United States regain its self-confidence he was essential to ending the Cold War and gave people a new way to view the government his natural charm and ability to appeal

to a crowd made him popular even through political scandals the Democrats did not attempt to oppose his ideas or programs when President Bill Clinton took office showing his influence lasted Beyond his presidency Ronald Reagan's life was varied and full of surprises lived by a Man Who Loved telling stories and helping people more than only the president or a famous actor Ronald Reagan's life and career remind us of all we can accomplish when we reach out and follow our dreams how would you like to get a deeper understanding of of History impress your friends and predict

the future more accurately based on past events if this sounds like something you might be into then check out the brand new captivating history book club by clicking the first link in the description to learn more about Ronald Reagan check out our book modern American history a captivating Guide to the Modern History of the United States of America it's available as an ebook paperback and audiobook if you found the video captivating please hit the like button and subscribe cribe for more videos like this