The Presidency of Ronald Reagan

Running head: THE PRESIDENCY OF RONALD REAGAN

The Presidency of Ronald Reagan

Abstract

Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was sworn into office in 1981. Reagan, at 69 years old was the oldest person to ever be sworn into the presidency. His two terms were marked by innovative, and controversial, approaches to domestic policies. His foreign policy can be characterized as forceful. Reagan’s domestic policies are often criticized as voodoo economics or Reaganomics. His economic policies were based on deficit spending and tax cuts primarily for the wealthy. But they also provided for new mechanisms for adjusting economic activity on the national level.

No less controversial was the Iran-Contra affair where his administration was caught selling weapons to Iran and funneling the proceeds to the Contra movement against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Reagan’s two terms also saw the liberation of Granada, the loss of more them 200 Marines in Beirut, the bombing