Introduction
Ronald Reagan, who is regarded as the greatest communicator of all time, was the 40th president of the United States of America. An American president has a big significance in the world. It is widely known that the most powerful person on earth is the American President. Being the world’s superpower, America takes veto power in decision making in matters affecting the world. A decision made by an American president is binding and affects the whole world. In the American democracy, one can become a president through a party or as an independent candidate. There are two parties based on ideologies whereby, party members interested in presidency battle it out before being nominated to vie for presidency. Each party, the democrats and republicans field a candidate and the running mate to contest for presidency. The winning team takes over presidency and forms the government. America is a federal state with more than fifty states and territories. This simply means that America is a complex country that must have a bright and good communicator as the President.
The presidency always comes in with the zeal to make America a better place to live in and make the world a safe haven full of peace and free of terrorism activities. Each time a new president comes in, new hope is brought with life expected to be better. This is not always true, as (Gary 10) indicates that, “Each of the new presidents took office in aglow of enthusiasm and with a pledge of new solutions. Both the Congress and the opposition vowed cooperation. But each time, the glow faded, cooperation gave way to confrontation, the new solutions sank into confusion, and newly shattered hope swelled the tide of public cynicism.” One would then wonder if President Reagan’s government did the same thing as quoted above. Despite the fact that the American President is regarded as the most powerful person, he/she does not govern the country by him/herself. “The government of America is by cooperation, and the theory is that the executive, legislative, and judiciary should work together in harmony to formulate policy. The President has to seek cooperation, but he also has to be seen to be leading the nation.” (“History Learning …” 20)
Brief Background Information
The White House official site (12) indicates that “On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. He attended high school in nearby Dixon and then worked his way through Eureka College. Ronald studied Economics and sociology, played on the football team, and acted in school plays.” It is further recorded that he became a radio sports announcer then moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in well over fifty films within the two decades after his college education. Schneider and Schneider (321) indicate that “he was traumatized by a recent divorce from actress Jane Wyman. Nancy Davis and Ronald Reagan were married on March 4, 1952, at the Little Brown Church in the Valley in Los Angeles, California, with the actor William Holden and his wife as their attendants and only guests.”
Thus, Ronald Reagan had trouble with his marriages with the second marriage having problems because his two children were unable to adapt fully with the stepmother. It is also recorded that the second wife described Reagan as a man who lived in his own fantasies after failing to console her when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In this manner, one may argue that he failed in family life. However, another may also say that he was a hard-working husband who was failed by the women who came into her life. In fact, it is quoted that the first wife tricked him to marriage by threatening that she would kill herself. Perhaps that was the reason why they had problems after marriage.
His career in the film industry made him become embroiled in issues associated with communism in the film industry. It is here where he realized his political career by first being elected governor in California state. In fact, “Ronald Reagan won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1980 and chose as his running mate, former Texas Congressman and United Nations Ambassador George Bush” (Freidel 10). It is recorded that the Americans were troubled by inflation, and the Iran crisis swept the Republicans ticket into office with Ronald Reagan winning a landslide victory over President Jimmy Carter.
Reagan as President
President Ronald Reagan began his work earnestly on January 20, 1982, as a republican president. And only 69 days after he took office, a deranged man named John Hinckley shot and nearly assassinated him. Undeterred, Reagan summarized the goal of his administration and, at the same time, rallied his staff to action: “If we get the economy in shape, we’re going to able to do a lot of things. If we don’t, we’re not going to able to do anything” (Olson & Djupe, 354). Reagan was never put down with the plot to assassinate him. On the contrary, he made a strong speech that propelled him forward to work on the economy of the country. It is recorded that he was healed quickly, and the dangerous moment made him even more popular among the Americans and the world in general. According to Olabone (7), “Reagan was zealous in his work such that, he coordinated the congress with dexterity to enabling the legislation that stimulated economic growth, curbed inflation, increased employment, and strengthened national defense.”
His zeal and zest in his work as the President of the United States of America made him and George Bush recoup the presidency again in 1984. President Reagan then influenced the review of the income tax policy that saw many deductions exempted from people with low incomes. During this time, the country “was enjoying its longest recorded period of peace and prosperity without recession or depression (Lars 7).
The influential man he has helped him improve governance in America by bringing prosperity, peace, and stability. These are some of the things that have made him so outspoken even to date. Every American can remember Ronald Reagan as a zealous president of all time who narrowly escaped assassination. Most presidents who face assassination attempts turn out to be brutal and use the iron fist to rule (Olabone 7). However, to Ronald Reagan, that was part of the daily occurrences in life. In fact, this made him come out stronger and more popular.
The recently ousted colonel Gadhafi, the former Libyan leader, engaged America in terrorism. However, Reagan’s administration declared war against international terrorism and gave support to the anti-communist insurgencies in Central America, Asia, and Africa (84). The duo, Ronald Reagan and George Bush run the country well to the extent that the republicans were so popular, and if elections were held in any day, they would win the elections again and again. However, the constitution did not allow Ronald Reagan to contest for the presidency again in 1989; he was set to retire. He paved the way to George Bush, who was elected President for the period between 1989 and 1993. Ronald Reagan left a legacy in the history of the 44 American presidents (History Learning Site 8).
Famous Quotes by President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was a great communicator because, from his career, the greatest skill that was required was oral communication. One may wonder how Ronald Reagan was able to mobilize the Congress such that they could enact powerful laws that would see America experience extreme peace, prosperity, and good international relations. This is due to the fact is that he was a good communicator who was able to pass a strong message with simple words (Beschloss and Hugh 3. Here are some of the popular quotations he made.
- “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one that does the greatest things, but makes the people do the greatest things.”
- “Your dreams, hopes, and goals are going to be the dreams, hopes, and goals of my administration.”
- “Trust but Verify.”
- “As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it – now or ever.” First Inaugural Speech, January 20, 1981.
- “The glistering hope of the lamp is still ours. Every promise, every opportunity is still golden in this land. And through that golden door, our children can walk tomorrow with the knowledge that no one can be denied the promise that is America.” Acceptance speech, the Republican convention in Dallas, Texas, August 23, 1984 (Olabode 198).
These are some of the many quotes that are associated with him in the propelling of the country to prosperity. All said and done; the conclusion is that President Ronald Reagan left a legacy because it is in his tenure, America was in peace for the longest period and without recession or depression on its economy.
Works Cited
Beschloss, Michael and Sidey Hugh. The White House: The Presidents of the United States of America. 2009. Web.
Freidel, Frank. The Presidents of the United States of America. Washington, DC: DIANE Publishing, 1998. Print.
Gary, Rose. The American Presidency Under Siege. Albany, NY: State University of New York, 1997. Print.
History Learning Site. The Powers of the American President. n.d.
Lars, Johnson. Exploring American History Answer Key. Arlington Heights, IL: Christian Liberty Press, 2007. Print.
Olabone, Jubril. The New Rising Dawn – Barack Obama: The Messianic President. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing, 2009. Print.
Olson, Laura R., and Paul Djupe. Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2003. Print.
Schneider, Carl J., and Dorothy Schneider. First Ladies. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Print.