FREE ESSAY ON RONALD REAGAN: DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

RONALD REAGAN: DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

Ronald Reagan:
Domestic and Foreign Affairs
I have decided to write my research paper on the topic of Ronald Reagan's Domestic and
Foreign Affairs. The reason that I choose this topic was because I have always been
personally interested in Ronald Reagan's time in office and the national crisis he had to
deal with. Reagan was awesome when it came to foreign policy because he knew how to
negotiate with foreign leaders and their countries to get what he wanted. There were
several instances during his time in office that he had the chance to use his ability to
get the country out of danger. Domestic Affairs is another part of Reagan's presidency
that was very important. He was able to take the country, which seemed to be in an
economic slump and turn their economic status around. The economic growth of the United
States is still holding true today. There is only one question that I wanted to answer
with this paper. Was Ronald Reagan an effective leader when it came to domestic and
foreign affairs? 
Domestic Affairs
From the day that Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States, in November
1980, he had a huge task ahead of him, to develop an economic plan or policy to implement
into the national economy. President Reagan felt that he needed to base his economic
program on the basis of supply side economics (Encyclopedia Britannica, Britannica.com,
2000). This theory is a very complex idea that President Reagan developed himself, so
many people gave it the name of Reaganomics (Encyclopedia American, gi.grolier.com ,
2000). The theory of Reaganomics called for a significant reduction in all forms of taxes
and an adequate cutback on governmental spending so there will be more money in the hands
of the American citizens. The main goal of the supply side economic theory is to give a
boost to the United States economy, which would cause the economy to expand. This
economic expansion and boost would occur through citizens who would spend the extra tax
money on products and services in their geographical region or who would invest money
into businesses in their area. The only problem for the government using this theory
would be the initial revenues that the government would lose from the tax cuts. In theory
the economic growth would eventually increase taxable incomes, this increase in taxable
incomes should cause the governmental revenues to grow in the long run. With the idea of
Reaganomics in mind President Reagan persuaded Congress to pass the Economic Recovery Tax
Act, which is the first major step in his plan. This Tax Act called for a 25 percent tax
cut that was implemented over a three-year period (David Mervin, 1990, 133-7). The only
problem with this tax cut is the fact that it mainly benefited the upper - income
taxpayers and large corporations. The reason that these groups were targeted is because
there is more of a chance that they will invest their money in business programs that
will promote economic growth. After this tax cut took effect the American people in the
lower - income tax brackets were not pleased with the results. They seemed to be faced
with an increase in their tax rates even though most of them were in the income
categories below the national average. On the other end of the spectrum the people that
were in the upper tax brackets were experiencing significant tax cuts. The largest tax
break that the upper class experienced was about 6 percent. The second part of Reagan's
plan was to cut government spending on a variety of different programs. I have listed
some of the most significant and recognizable programs: job training, college loans,
medical programs, child daycare centers, and nursing homes (Encyclopedia Britannica,
Britannica.com, 2000). The main reason that Reagan targeted these programs was because he
felt that they made individuals more dependent on governmental support and in turn was
weakening the structure of American families. 
President Reagan, after long speeches and deliberations, persuaded congress to lift some
of the many regulations that were placed on industries. The main objective of this
deregulation was to help the industries save money as well as time when it came to
complying and meeting the government's regulations. To go along with this deregulation
President Reagan also lifted environmental and safety standards. His reason for lifting
these regulations was due to the time and expense that the industries spent complying
with these regulations caused hardships for the American businesses. All these actions
seemed to reverse the growing trend of more governmental legislation and regulatory
bodies designed to help protect and improve the quality of the environment. Reagan then
appointed Anne Burford, a woman who opposes many regulations on air quality and the
disposal of toxic waste, to be the head of the EPA (Encyclopedia Britannica,
Britannica.com, 2000). The initial EPA stands for Environmental Protection Agency. Reagan
also had many people on his administrative staff that believed in little fewer government
regulation so the businesses will be able to flourish with will in-turn help the economy.

After all Reagan's policy and plans over tax cuts, deregulation, and relaxing of the
governments regulations on environment and safety standards were implemented the economy
flourished. This time of economic growth started a growth in the stock market that lasted
through the decade. The main reason for the stock market explosion was the fact that many
investors realized that they could make money by investing it into high-risk businesses.
This investment was not allowed under the old government regulations. The stock market
surge was intensified by billion dollar mergers and company takeovers (Encyclopedia
Britannica, Britannica.com, 2000). As a result of the Reagan Era many Americans
prospered, especially the upper class, who benefited the most from the tax cuts. Critics
charged the tax cuts and the fruits of economic growth benefited mainly the wealthy, and
that the gap between rich and poor grown wider (Encyclopedia Britannica, Britannica.com,
2000).
Iran Contra Affair
The last two years of Ronald Reagan's presidency were spent dealing with the Iran Contra
Affair. The Iran Contra Affair was an American political scandal, that took place in 1985
and 1986, where high-ranking officials in President Reagan's administration made secret
arrangements for the sale of arms to Iran. (Encyclopedia American, gi.grolier.com , 2000)
This sale of guns and supplies directly violated United States policy and law. This
scandal, in the public's eye, turned attention to the effectiveness of Reagan's
leadership style and severely damaged his reputation. The profits earned from the illegal
sale of arms went directly to the Nicaraguan right-wing guerrillas to help purchase
supplies and arms to use in the battle they were fighting against the leftist Sandinista
government (Encyclopedia American, gi.grolier.com , 2000). The action of supplying the
Nicaraguan guerrillas with funds is also a direct violation of U.S. policy. This policy
came about in 1979 and 1980 as a result of the Iranian hostage crisis. The U.S. Congress
labeled Iran as a terrorist country and then outlawed all sales of arms and supplies to
any Iranian governmental agency. The main person behind these sales was Lieutenant
Colonel Oliver North. He was a military aide to the National Security Council. Lieutenant
Colonel North did not come up with the plans himself; the Israeli government aided him in
his efforts. The sale of these weapons was initially expected to improve the relationship
between the United States and Iran. North thought that his improved relationship with
Iran would increase the chances of rescuing the American hostages that were initially
held in Lebanon by Iranian terrorists. Lieutenant North was very sneaky when it came to
setting up a system for providing the needed support to the contras, with the use of
their own ships, airplanes, airfields and secret bank accounts in their own name. 
In late November 1986, a Lebanese magazine and an American Newspaper printed that the
United States government had sold weapons to Iran in hopes it would help gain Iranian
support in releasing the U.S. hostages in Lebanon by Iran friendly Lebanese terrorists.
After the leak of this secret information, the U.S. Attorney General, Edwin Meese,
admitted that millions of dollars from these sales had been sent directly to the contras
in Nicaragua (George C Edwards III and Stephan J. Wayne, 1999, 160). These actions were
in direct violation of the Boland Amendment. Congress passed this Amendment in 1984 to
prevent the U.S. government or any U.S. military agency from directly or indirectly
aiding Iran in any way (David Mervin, 1990, 156-7). This particular incident was
detrimental to Ronald Reagan and his administration because they took a strong public
stand against governments that helped support terrorism and had been urging other
governments not to deal with nations that supported terrorists. As this scandal continued
to emerge the U.S. government started a series of congressional and legal investigations.
As these investigations continued President Reagan denied any knowledge of the diversion
of funds to the Contras, along with the claim that it did not involve negotiations over
hostages in Lebanon. Reagan claimed that the weapons deal with Iran was an attempt to
open a dialogue with modern elements in the Iranian Government. In February 1987 a
special group of investigators, headed by a former U.S. Senator John Tower, issued a
report attacking President Reagan and his advisers for their lack of control over the
National Security Councils actions. This committee was called the Towner Commission
(Encyclopedia Britannica, Britannica.com, 2000). This committee collected more than
300,000 documents, conducted 500 investigations and depositions, and listened to 28
witnesses in 40 days of public hearings. In November 1987 the Towner Commission reported
that President Reagan took the ultimate responsibility for the administrations actions
but they found no evidence that he knew of the diversions of funds to the contras. An
independent prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh, published a report on the investigation of the
Iran Contra Affair. Walsh's findings showed that there was absolutely no evidence that
President Reagan had broke the law in any way, but he did conclude that Reagan may have
participated in or knew about a cover up operation that took place. 
Involvement in the Middle East 
During Presidents Reagan's time in office, he dealt with a lot of problems in the Middle
East. Several of these times Reagan had to send troops to the aid of the people. In the
early 1980's a conflict broke out between a Muslim group and the Christian government. In
1982 Reagan sent U.S. marines to the Middle East in hopes to help improve the strength of
the Christian government. In late 1983 a bomb exploded at the Beirut headquarters that
killed around 250 marines and other American servicemen (Lou Cannon, 1991, 389-93). After
this incident President Reagan withdrew American troops from Lebanon, which left their
government in a bad situation. The bombing that took place at the Beirut headquarters
outraged the American citizens and this sparked a strong reaction against any terrorists
in the U.S., especially the Middle East based groups. 
In 1986 several American soldiers were killed in a bombing that took place in a West
German dance club. After the extensive investigation the United States concluded that
Libya was responsible for the bombing and other terrorists activities that were taking
place in that area during the same time. President Reagan and his administration decided
to take action by bombing several Libyan cities on April 15, 1986. They figured if they
did not take action the terrorist attacks would not stop. 
In 1987 the Kuwaiti government requested the United States naval presence so they could
insure that its shipping activities during this time of war would be safe. The American
government had a direct interest in the shipping of natural resources because several
billions of dollars of oil are shipped out of Kuwait to the United States every year. The
Reagan administrations main goal with this involvement was to help prevent Iran from
defeating Iraq. They feared that the defeat of Iraq would demolish the U.S. influence in
that area of the world. 
Conclusion
Ronald Reagan spent a very successful eight years in the white house. He was faced with
several national crises and he handled them with a calm and cool attitude. As we learned
in class every U.S. President has special powers that only he can exercise and some of
the include; Commander in Chief, Treaty making power, Judicial appointment power, and
Chief Administrator. He had to exercise a few of these special powers when it came down
to him dealing directly with foreign affairs and policy. Chief Administrator and the
judicial appointment powers are used in Domestic Affairs. The other major way that this
paper is related to class is the fact that Ronald Reagan was the 40th president in United
States history. This class, the books, and the lectures all dealt with the American
Presidents and how they handled their time in office. Ronald Reagan had a very high
approval rate from the American public. He handled his time in office and the issues that
came up while he was in office with great success. He is definitely one of the Greatest
American Presidents in history.