1980's Government and Politics | Reagan, Ronald 1911-2004

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1981-1989

"The Great Communicator."

Promising to cut taxes, reduce government regulation and bureaucracy, shrink the federal deficit, and combat Soviet influence anywhere in the world, conservative Republican Ronald Reagan won a landslide victory in the 1980 presidential election and was reelected by an even larger margin in 1984. His appeal to voters was based less on specific policies than on his ability to communicate a vision of an America where a return to "old-fashioned" values such as patriotism, religion, hard work, self-reliance, and family togetherness would miraculously eradicate the nation's pressing economic and social woes and bolster its sagging reputation abroad. He so successfully wrapped himself in the flag that he co-opted "patriotism" for himself and his party, leaving the Democrats to sputter ineffectually about the large number of Americans who were left out of the...