Reagan

Ronald Reagan, the fortieth president of the United States of America, was arguably the best president the United States has ever had. Raised in rural Illinois, Reagan grew up as country boy, and kept his ideals and faith through his presidency. Reagan never faltered when he dealt with communism, dealt with a slipping economy, or in any other foreign affairs. His strong convictions led him to being one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States. (Thomas, 22)

Before he was officially in politics, President Reagan was still very involved in the political process. Reagan started his life as a Democrat. Reagan's father, a staunch Democrat, influenced Reagan politically. When Reagan cast his first presidential vote, he voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Throughout his life, Reagan supported Democrats for president, including Harry Truman. Soon, however, the shadow of Communism made Reagan lose connections with the Democratic Party, and he began supporting the candidate most opposed to Communism, generally Republicans. Soon, Reagan began supporting candidates like Nixon for office. In the fall of 1962, Reagan officially changed his party registration to Republican. (Reagan, 1)

Reagan first got into politics when he addressed the nation in support of Barry Goldwater for president in 1964. His famous speech from that address, A Time for Choosing, was used later on in his career.

This idea? That government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. (Reagan, 3)

This became one of the staples of President Reagan's policies. After this monumental speech, Reagan was approached by businessmen and asked to run for governor of California, to which he obliged. In 1966, Reagan ran against the incumbent governor, Edmund G. Brown, and won by a landslide. Reagan won by over a million votes. (Reagan, 1)

Then governor Reagan showed he was a very competent governor. By showing his economic knowledge, Reagan left office with a five hundred fifty million-dollar surplus. In May of 1969, Reagan called in the National Guard to suppress violence in Berkeley. This was not surprising due to the fact that Reagan was known for his policy against student uprisings. Reagan felt these uprisings were due to the antagonism of outside groups. Further investigations pointed out that Communist organizations were influencing the college students. In 1971, Reagan signed the California Welfare Reform act, which reformed California's welfare system into a more effective system. (Reagan Library)

Reagan attempted to run for president a few times before finally receiving the party nomination. In 1968 Reagan announced his candidacy for president during