Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Ronald Reagan Essays - Conservatism In The United States

Ronald Reagan Truly, when Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, the world was changing; his presidency would be one that would set the tone for the coming decades. Reagan had high expectations for his term in office; his first, second, and third priorities were his economic plans. His presidency was a remarkable one, but scholars were and continue to be critical of his hands-off, macro-management of the government. President Reagan surrounded himself with some of the brightest minds in the country: James Baker III, George Shultz .. Often, these are the people who initiated these policy changes, while Reagan is the one who sold them to the country. But for all that he didnt participate in, Reagan had an extreme passion for foreign politics, despite being warned against it and the beginning of his term to focus on the economy and its continued downward slide. His passion showed in his dealings with the Soviet Union, especially after the rise. He was instrumental in the reduction of arms of the worlds s uperpowers and key in the resurgence, in the United States, of military spending. But, when it came to foreign policy, Reagan had very different views than his predecessors. Reagan did not believe in detente, he did not believe in appeasement, and he did not believe in the isolationist movement that had populated American thought for the better part of the 20th century. He believed that the United States had to defeat the Soviet Union on the grounds that communism was immoral and resulted in a freedomless society. The thawing of Soviet-American relations in the later Reagan years was due to a change in Soviet policy and Soviet leadership and not a drastic change in American policy under Reagan. Reagans views on the Soviet Union were in place long before he became president. He viewed the country as a true threat to the superiority of the United States in global politics and even as a threat to the autonomy of the country as a whole. There was a sense that the Soviet Union was on the move [from 1975 through 1979] and that the U.S. was at great risk if the momentum continued. Reagan felt that and communicated it. His speeches always conveyed this feeling; even before he was president. In 1962, as governor of California, Reagan described the Soviet Union as a single worldwide force dedicated to the destruction of free enterprise and the creation of a socialist state. Additionally, in a pre-election address to a club in London, he remarked, Status quo; thats Latin for the mess were in, referring to the current foreign relations strategy supported by the United States. Journalists called the speech a strong attack on Western weakness. The feeling was apparently mutual. The Soviets, before Mikhail Gorbachev, often refused to meet with the Reagan. In fact, the Kremlin viewed Reagan as a dangerously confrontational figure, whose deeply disturbing animus against all things Russian had created a solid front of hostility among Politburo leaders. Reagans firm stance against communism and those related to it is likely what caused this deep rift in Soviet/U.S. relations at the beginning of the Reagan administration. The Soviet ambassador called it the lowest point since World War II when he spoke to the President early in 1983. Reagan main defense of his opinion is that communism oppresses freedom; in his first inauguration speech, he laid the groundwork for his campaign against communism on that basis. Additionally, Reagan disagreed almost totally with the idea of detente, or at least he disagreed with the detente as it was . While he thought the idea of detente was possible, he believed that it was largely unsuccessful when dealing with the Soviets. Previous administrations had used economic aid and trade agreements with Russia to attempt to obtain concessions on limited arms. Under Reagan, virtually all aid was discontinued to Russia in the attempt of making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to continue increase its armament level. Reagan justified this change in strategy by pointing out the failure of the SALT II treaty proposed by his predecessor, Jimmy Carter. While the motives of the SALT II treaty were well-founded, Congress failed to ratify it. In addition to cutting off aid

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