Ronald Reagan, the 40th president (1981-1989) of the United States of America, is `one of the highly recognized presidents especially for his policies. Reagan was a staunch advocate for control of money supply which would result to reduction in inflation and an increase in economic growth through tax reduction.
During his two terms in the presidency, he was mainly focused on restructuring the foreign matters, which this paper is going to dwell on and the U.S economy. Against this background, I would like to make a research about his political and economic initiatives dubbed ‘Reganomics’ (Busch 45; Hudson and Gareth 156).
Reagan was an anti-communist and publicly called the Soviet Union an ‘evil empire’ and showed his distaste by providing support for anti-communist activities worldwide. We will focus on the strategies he employed such as the strategy of détente where he ordered considerable buildup of military in the arms race against the Soviet Union.
The paper will also look into and discuss the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) of 1987 signed by him and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, which was to address purging of both intermediate and short range missiles in both countries (Kengor 67).
The Cold War (1979-1985) was a major contributing factor to shaping Reagan’s policies on arms and his subsequent action in building up America’s military in anticipation of a war breaking out between the U.S and the Soviet Union, therefore this paper is going to focus on this and bring out the reasons behind the arms race (Marples 63; Langley 154).
Reagan was a critic of arms control and termed the arms race as a cold war symptom thus resulting to a race in buildup of arms arguing that arms control negotiations could not end the deadlock, he was concerned with how the Soviet Union was way ahead of the United States in the nuclear race and becoming vulnerable to Soviet attack (Hilton 208).
Form this, the paper will try and explain how this situation affected Reagan’s political career, campaigns, and decisions. Consequently, we will look at the role he played in bringing an end to the Cold War, and the Iran-Contra affair revelation.
We will also look at the treaty Reagan signed before he left office which was a contrast to what he believed in and campaigned on. The paper will also determine whether the diplomatic ties initiated by Reagan are still in place and whether the INF treaty signed in 1987 was effective and if yes, to what extent. If not, then what are the consequences? (Smith, Gwendolyn and USAF Institute for National Security Studies 82; Reagan 64).
The research paper will use both primary and secondary sources of data. The secondary sources will include books on Ronald Reagan to determine his policies and ideologies and what shaped them.
We will also use books on the Soviet Union to try and link the fall of the soviet with Reagan’s military buildup in the U.S. a list has been provided at the end of this memo detailing the specific sources of references that will be used in this research paper. Apart from books other resources will include scholarly publications, and internet sources (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (b) 106; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (a) 136).
In conclusion, the main purpose of this research paper will to be to find out and shed light on Ronald Reagan’s ideologies, perceptions, thoughts, and legacies especially where they bordered on politics, the cold war and the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union and optimistically all this issues will be addressed.
Works Cited
Busch, Andrew. Ronald Reagan and the politics of freedom, New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. Print.
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists July 1987: 10, 25-27, 45-47, 49-52. Print.
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Aug. 1981: 10, 5-7, 49-60. Print.
Hilton, Ronald. “The Collapse of the Soviet Union and Ronald Reagan.” Stanford.edu, Webmaster, n.d. Web.
Hudson, Cheryl and Gareth, Davies. Ronald Reagan and the 1980s: perceptions, policies, legacies, New York Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.
Kengor, Paul. The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, New York: HarperCollins, 2007. Print.
Langley, Andrew. The Collapse of the Soviet Union: The End of an Empire, Massachusetts: Compass Point Books, 2006. Print.
Marples, David. The collapse of the Soviet Union, 1985-1991, Boston: Pearson, 2004. Print.
Smith James, Gwendolyn Hall, and USAF Institute for National Security Studies. Milestones in strategic arms control, 1945-2000: United States Air Force roles and outcomes, Collingdale: DIANE Publishing, 2002. Print.
Reagan, Ronald. An American Life. New York: Free Press, A Division of Simon & Schuster, 2003.