Ronald Reagan Revolution Through Obama Exploratory Essay

Introduction

The United States of America is under the leadership of a president who is the holder of the highest and most powerful political office across the world. The first president of the US was sworn into office in the year 1789. Ronald Reagan was the 40^th president of the US and he served two terms as required by the constitution from the year 1981 to 1989.

He was a Republican, had a BA in Economics and Sociology, and he was well known for his economic policies, which would be later known as ‘Reaganomics’. The economic policies included the cutting down income taxes from 70% to 28% for the top income tax rate, restoring incentives for economic growth, and reducing government spending.

In a bid to achieve this goal, he hired the best available economists available in the country who came up with one of the most successful economic policies ever formulated in the world as the economy grew by one third in a period of seven years.

There is a similarity in both the governments of President Barrack Obama and Reagan as they both underscore the interest to come up with solutions to tackle the problem of economic recession facing the country. However, their economic policies are different as Obama is interested more in raising the taxes of every major Federal Tax as compared to Reagan who was committed to reducing the tax.

Historical turning points in the period of Reagan revolution through president Obama

The turning point is a moment where changes occur in the way things are done and it may have some negative or positive effects in the society. During Reagan’s time, one notable historical turning point was the ending of the Cold War. As Reagan took office, there was a cold war between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, which originated from the invasion of the Soviets to Afghans in the year 1979.

Through his Cold War policies, which aimed at spreading democracy and freedom worldwide, the president managed to stop the invasion of the Soviets. The Cold War policies involved expending many resources on the United States’ military and technological improvement (Fitzgerald, 2000).

This strategy weakened the economy of the Soviet Union as it tried to keep the pace to be recognized globally like the US, and in the process, the move stopped the advancement of the soviet communism. The United States also supported the anti-Soviet uprising around the world and this move aided in the collapse of the Soviet regime.

However, although the Cold War policies led to the total containment of the Soviet regime, the US economy was affected as more funds were directed to funding the military. Despite the demerits of the war, this process was advantageous to the nation, as it helped in maintaining and improving its super position for it had the best-equipped and modern military in the world.

In addition, the containment of Soviet communism benefits even the contemporary society as people become more independent rather than depending on the state for every aspect of their well-being (Kengor, 2006).

As the Cold War ended, the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union improved and this aspect led to the signing of new arms control treaties in 1987, which helped in regulating nuclear weapons. This treaty is of great importance as it curtails the possibility of a nuclear war, which can have catastrophic effects on people.

Another notable historical turning point in this period is the decision by the United States to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan. The nation had sent its troops to Afghanistan in 2001, but under the reign of Barrack Obama, he decided to withdraw the troops by the year 2014.

The first troops began returning home in 2011, which means that the military intervention in Afghanistan will end. The exit of the troops will have both negative and positive effects, as the Afghanistan will lose their foreign aid while the American economy will improve, as fewer funds will be set aside to fund the troops in Afghanistan.

AIDs epidemic in the United States

During the reign of Ronald Reagan, there was the discovery of one of the world’s most deadly diseases known as AIDs. The United States’ researchers discovered the disease in the early 1980s and up to date, it has killed millions of people as its cure is yet to be discovered. People associated with the disease are discriminated and considered as outcast even by their own family members.

As more people were infected and other died of AIDs, the then president advocated for abstinence and prevention of immigrants infected with the scourge. Since its discovery in 1980s, HIV/AIDs epidemic shook the confidence of the most powerful nation as statistics of people who have been affected by the virus worldwide especially in the African continent are overwhelming.

Though the US came up with antiretroviral drugs to prolong the lifespan of people affected by the disease, it has failed to come up with a lasting cure that would counter the disease. Due to this aspect, HIV/AIDs has affected the economic development of countries especially the developing countries with strained resources (Hunter, 2006).

Deregulation movement of Ronald Reagan era

The deregulation policies during the era of Ronald Reagan mainly aimed at liberalizing the economy of the country. The president believed that removing the restrictions in place and providing a free market would help the institutions to help economic growth in a better way.

However, Reagan failed to understand that the regulations’ existence was important, as the major aim was to prevent malpractices from big companies. Due to this move, the free market led to the crippling of the economy and the widening gap being experienced in the country between the rich and the poor coupled with the mortgage meltdown in the country currently.

United states War with Afghanistan and Iraq

In 2001, a terror group supposedly led by Osama bin Laden attacked the United States. The result of this attack was the loss of approximately 3000 lives and destruction of property worth millions of dollars. This attack forced the US to intensify its war on terrorism by invading Afghanistan, which is seen as the home for Taliban.

The US accused the Taliban of protecting the leader of Al-Qaeda who was responsible for the attacks and so the main aim of the attack was to remove Taliban from power and kill or capture Osama bin Laden. The United States also invaded Iraq on the pretext that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction (Keegan, 2005).

The response of the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq received mixed reactions from the international community with some condemning and others supporting the invasion. Given that even to date no single weapon of mass destruction has been found in Iraq (Keegan, 2005), the international community is skeptical of what informed the invasion.

Conclusion

The United States remains the world’s largest economy followed by china and this aspect hinges on the economic policies made from Reagan’s time as the president. It is also the most powerful nation and it has aided in curtailing terrorist activities around the world due to its advanced and sufficiently funded military as compared to other countries across the world.

Reference List

Fitzgerald, F. (2000). Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Stars Wars, and the End of the Cold War. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Hunter, S. (2006). AIDS in America. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Keegan, J. (2005). The Iraq War: The Military Offensive, from Victory in 21 Days to the Insurgent Aftermath. New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Kengor, P. (2006).The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the fall of Communism. New York, NY: Harper Collins publishers.