Was President Ronald Reagan the reason for the Cold War’s conclusion?
Word Count: 1,634
Was President Ronald Reagan the reason for the Cold War’s conclusion?
A. Plan of Investigation
This investigation focuses on the impact that President Ronald Reagan had on ending the Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union during the 1980’s. The use of historian argumentation, primary sources, such as Ronald Reagan’s Address to the Nation on Defense and National Security, and analytical essays by well known professors, such as John Gaddis’s excerpt from Major Problems in American History Since 1945 – titled “Ronald Reagan’s Cold War Victory” – will be utilized. The origins, purposes, values, and limitations of those two pieces will be provided within the investigation. In order to analyze his impact, the psychological tactics of President Reagan are regarded. Finally, the investigation shows how Ronald Reagan is the ultimate reason for the conclusion of the Cold War.
B. Summary of Evidence
• Ronald Reagan showed political interest as an actor in Hollywood during the 1950’s – a skill important to his presidency.
• Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the fortieth president of the United States on January 20, 1981.
• Reagan aimed for fiscal fitness and a leaner federal government. o Ronald Reagan said his policy toward the Soviets was the following: "My idea of American policy toward the Soviet Union is simple, and some would say simplistic. It is this: We win and they lose. What do you think of that?" o Reagan faced a House of Representatives and a Senate looking to decrease the federal budget by making cuts to defense spending.
The United States fell far behind the Soviet Union in the strategic arms race of the 1960’s due to Vietnam, and the USSR continued its arsenal enhancement through the presidents up to, and including, Ronald Reagan.
• To make up for the gap between the United States’ and Soviet