Survival of an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. (1981)
Shot outside the Washington Hilton on 30 March 1981, weeks into his presidency
US Presidents · 20th century
Ronald Reagan
1911–2004 · American
Republican
In office: 1981–1989
Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, was a former Hollywood actor and Governor of California. Known as "the Great Communicator", he cut taxes and regulation under "Reaganomics", built up the military against the "evil empire" of the Soviet Union, and later negotiated arms reductions with Mikhail Gorbachev, while his second term was damaged by the Iran–Contra affair.
How to spot them
- ▸Former film actor; 'the Gipper'; 'the Great Communicator'
- ▸'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!'; the 'evil empire'
- ▸Reaganomics; the Strategic Defense Initiative ('Star Wars')
- ▸Shot by John Hinckley Jr. in 1981; the Iran–Contra affair
In office
Dismissal of striking air traffic controllers (1981)
Fired more than 11,000 members of the PATCO union
Appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor (1981)
First woman on the US Supreme Court
The 'evil empire' speech (1983)
Description of the Soviet Union in an address to evangelicals
The Strategic Defense Initiative ('Star Wars') (1983)
Proposed space-based missile defence system
The Iran–Contra affair (1985–1987)
Secret arms sales to Iran with proceeds diverted to Nicaraguan Contra rebels
'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!' (1987)
Speech at the Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty (1987)
Agreement with Gorbachev eliminating a whole class of nuclear missiles
Key ideas
- Reaganomics: supply-side tax cuts, deregulation and reduced domestic spending
- 'Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem' (first inaugural, 1981)
- The Reagan Doctrine of supporting anti-communist insurgencies
Quick-fire facts
- •40th president; born in Tampico, Illinois
- •Played George Gipp ('the Gipper') in Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
- •President of the Screen Actors Guild and Governor of California (1967–1975)
- •Won 49 states in 1984 against Walter Mondale; his campaign ad was known as 'Morning in America'
- •Congresswoman Pat Schroeder called him the 'Teflon president'
- •Ordered the invasion of Grenada (1983) and met Gorbachev at the Reykjavík summit (1986)
- •Addressed the nation after the Challenger disaster (1986), quoting 'slipped the surly bonds of earth'
- •Announced in 1994 that he had Alzheimer's disease; died on 5 June 2004
Drill it — 9 cards
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Sources
- Miller Center, University of Virginia — Ronald Reagan
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Ronald Reagan