Ronald Wilson Reagan

Birth-Death: (1911 -     ) Term: (1981-1989 )

President Reagan pushed the Reagan Revolution. His goal was to create a smaller government, hopefully making the public less dependent upon government. To do so, he cut taxes and reduced the federal budget.

Domestic Events of Ronald Reagan

    Ronald Reagan and Republican party leaders viewed the overwhelming 1980 victory as a mandate for conservative economic policies. The Republicans also got control of Congress for the first time in more than thirty years.

    One of Reagan's campaign promises was the reduction of inflation and the federal deficit, thus a major part of his presidency was his new economic policy. Reagan endorsed his theory of supply-side economics, which held that tax cuts to Americans with higher incomes would boost the economy. When he took office, Reagan started a war on the Federal Budget Deficit. While he did try to pass measures through Congress lowering the deficit, he drastically increased military spending. The result was the most unbalanced budget in the US history, more than $200 billion per year.

    Reagan was reelected in 1984 because he was very popular with the income tax cuts. The new simplified income system unveiled in 1986 was popular with the majority of the population, even though the richest people were paying a lesser percentage than some others. The culmination of events was the Stock Market Crash of 1987. The United States managed very well though, and by 1988 the economy was showing signs of growth. A year later, stocks had gone above the pre-crash level.