Credibility of Ronald Reagan

Credibility of Ronald Reagan

“The Great Communicator.” This is the most well known name our 40th president of the United States of America, Ronald Wilson Reagan was called. However, all presidents have their critics and for some he was known as “The Dangerous cowboy, B-movie actor, Intellectual lightweight, and Heartless right-winger.” (USA Today-2004) Ronald Reagan is one of the most well respected presidents of the United States and became a very popular person. Reagan was “The Great Communicator”, an intelligent leader, and most of all a people’s person. Ronald Reagan knew how to win votes and how to run his loving country, The United States. Reagan was and is still known as “The Great Communicator.” Reagan was one who could go out and win a vote by telling the people what had to be done in the U.S. Reagan brought up the issues of building up the defense budget, cutting taxes and balancing the budget. This was a time that the United States was at a low and something needed to be changed. Reagan saw this and knew something had to be done. The people saw hope in Reagan because he was “one of them.” (MSNBC-2004) People saw Reagan as a normal citizen just like them that knew what had to happen in the U.S. Reagan promised economic growth and that deficits would not hurt in the long run. The economy was horrible and unemployment rate was too high. People needed jobs and Reagan promised he would work to drastically bring the unemployment rate down. This was also a time that America feared communism and terrorists. Reagan went out publically and stated, “America has made a decision about these terrorists: Instead of waiting for them to strike again in our midst, we will take this fight to the enemy.” (MSNBC-2004) Reagan knew the fear of the American people and knew he had to do something about it. Unlike Reagan, his opponent Jimmy Carter acted the complete opposite. He told the people to, “have hope to persuade the Soviet Union that one country cannot impose its system of society upon another.” The American citizens did not find this a solution and knew that acting on the Soviet Union was the only way to ease the American people and make things better. “The Great Communicator” was also known to many as an extremely intelligent leader and enforcer. Ronald Reagan graduated college at Eureka College with a major in economics. While going through college he supported himself, helped support his family, and even made money to send his brother through college. Reagan then became a very successful actor in over fifty movies. But, Reagan did not stop there. He then went on to be one of the best spokes people for one of the largest companies in the United States at the time, General Electric. He spoke not only to people in the United States but also around the entire world. Reagan became a well known and respected person through all of his success. He had enough votes to sweep the votes and win by a land slide. Reagan then found a way to tremendously cut taxes and spending costs. This made the American people extremely happy and relieved. However, later in his presidency the economy continued to drop and soon America was in a recession. Reagan, focusing mainly on the recession quickly turning the economy around and it continued to rise from there. Reagan’s first term was over, but once again was reelected by a landslide due to his economical turn around. Reagan, being the great speaker he was, was increasing at negotiating with other countries. He was able to convince the Soviet Union into tearing down the Berlin Wall. While Reagan accomplished all of this he also achieved one of the greatest things of all. Reagan was able to bring the unemployment rate down to nearly five percent. This made the people particularly happy and won the respect of many. Polls showed that Reagan had the highest approval rating of any President since Franklin Roosevelt, but Reagan quickly went down from there. His approval ratings stayed high but Reagan’s health quickly deteriorated. Five years after his presidency Reagan announced he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. (Millercenter.org-2009) Although he was suffering from this disease he still had the courage to go out and play one of his favorite sports, golf. With the respect that America had for Reagan, he knew he had to publically announce he was suffering from a horrible disease. During his speech he told the people of America, "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life." Quickly after that, his health went for a turn for the worst. He couldn’t remember his family, friends, or that he was even a president. He couldn’t even remember that he was an important individual in every person’s lives. Soon after that Reagan could not remember his name, his wife’s name, or his nurse’s name that was with him twenty four hours a day. Ronald Reagan’s intelligence, communication skills, and ability to please people made him a very credible person during his presidency. He pleased so many American people using his intelligence raising him to be one of the most popular and liked presidents ever. However, after Reagan’s presidency he became not credible. Ronald Reagan’s Alzheimer’s disease made him lose all the knowledge he had and he was unable to think. When he was in his later years he could not even go as far as remembering he was a president of the United States. Therefore, Ronald Reagan was entirely credible up until the time he sadly was infected with the deadly Alzheimer’s disease.

References http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/politics/2008/09/25/the-most-consequential-elections-in-history-ronald-reagan-and-the-election-of-1980.html?PageNr=2 http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-06-06-cannon_x.htm http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/reagan/essays/biography/1 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5151912/

References: http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/politics/2008/09/25/the-most-consequential-elections-in-history-ronald-reagan-and-the-election-of-1980.html?PageNr=2 http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-06-06-cannon_x.htm http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/reagan/essays/biography/1 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5151912/