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In his 1989 "Farewell Address to the Nation", President Ronald Reagan refers to the United States as a "shining city upon a hill", a phrase first used by John Winthrop in the 1630s to describe the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Reagan believed that during his eight years as president, he helped make the "city" a more secure place, with expanded opportunities for those within it. Reagan left office with a 50-percent approval rating - the highest of any...
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In 1983, President Ronald Reagan charged that a military buildup on the Caribbean island of Grenada was evidence that the nation had become a "satellite" of the communist regime in Cuba. Declaring that the national security of the United States was at stake, President Reagan approved an invasion of the island on October 25, 1983. The invasion, while successful, drew worldwide protests.
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While on a visit to Berlin in 1987, President Ronald Reagan famously challenged Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall as a symbol of reform within the Soviet Union. The wall, built in 1961 to separate Communist East Berlin from West Berlin, was eventually dismantled in 1989, the same year that the Soviet Union collapsed.
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A well-known actor before he entered politics, Ronald Reagan's film career had faded by the 1950s. In 1954 he was hired by General Electric to host its sponsored television program, the General Electric Theater. Reagan acted in half-hour television plays and advertised GE's new products, but most notably he used the show as a soapbox for his political views. His tenure as host of GE's program arguably increased his public audience and contributed...
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In November 1985, President Ronald Reagan met with Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev for the first time. At the summit, which was held in Geneva, Reagan and Gorbachev discussed the arms race. After returning to the United States, President Reagan gave his Geneva Summit Address to Congress. Although he portrayed Gorbachev and the summit in a generally positive way, he defended his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or "Star Wars", ominously asserting...
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Between 1938 and 1958 Congress investigated allegations of widespread communism in the American motion picture industry. Several notable screenwriters and actors, including future president Ronald Reagan, testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee regarding their knowledge of Communist sympathies within the industry. Those actors and writers who were identified as having Communist connections were often blacklisted from working in...
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Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba in 1959. In 1960, the Soviet Union began providing aid to Cuba; by 1961 the United States had severed all economic and political ties with Cuba. From the 1960s to the 1980s, U.S. relations with Cuba continued to be tense. As the threat of the cold war spread to the Western Hemisphere, Reagan warned that Cuba, working with the Soviet Union, was attempting to spread communism throughout Latin America.
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During his administration, President Ronald Reagan appointed nearly half of the nation's federal judges. Administration officials considered these appointments to be a top priority, and felt that they amounted to institutionalizing Reagan's conservative revolution within the federal government.
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On March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan delivered a nationally televised speech in which he argued that the nation needed to update and increase its nuclear arsenal to ensure its safety against the Soviet Union. The centerpiece of his plan was the Strategic Defense Initiative, a theoretical system that would allow the U.S. military to shoot down an incoming Soviet missile. Critics dubbed the program "Star Wars" and argued that the costly plan would...
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In his 1989 "Farewell Address to the Nation", President Ronald Reagan discusses the decline of patriotism. Through the 1960s, he says, children absorbed the concepts of patriotism through films and television shows. On the verge of the 1990s, however, popular culture no longer embraced "democratic values". Reagan believed teaching American history and "civic ritual" in schools would help reintroduce the concepts of national pride to children.
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When he campaigned for office, President Ronald Reagan argued that the lack of a balanced federal budget was responsible for inflation and the nation's recession. Once in office, he again argued for a balanced budget. During his years in office, however, the federal deficit rose to $79 billion to $3 trillion as a result of increased defense spending and an adherence to supply-side economics.
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When he took office, President Ronald Reagan began advocating for a massive buildup of national defense spending. In a nationally televised speech on March 23, 1983, Reagan defended the need to build up the nation's nuclear arsenal against the threat of the Soviet Union. He also proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative, a theoretical system that would allow the U.S. military to shoot down an incoming enemy missile.
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During his administration Ronald Reagan was criticized for the negative effect his policies had on African Americans. Reagan opposed the creation of a federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the extension of the Voting Rights Act, and vetoed the Civil Rights Restoration Act.
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During the 1980 presidential campaign, Republican nominee Ronald Reagan positioned himself as a optimist who would restore the country's confidence in itself. During campaign advertisements, he criticized the policies of President Jimmy Carter and held him responsible for the nation's economic inflation and stagnant unemployment.
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Before entering public office, Ronald Reagan, then a popular actor, appeared in a number of commercials to solicit donations for Radio Free Europe. The broadcast service was maintained by the U.S. government and utilized powerful transmitters in Western Europe to send news and propaganda to listeners in the Soviet Union.