On this day in 1981, Ronald Reagan, the oldest man elected to the office of the presidency (at 69), is sworn into office as the 40th President of the United States, and delivers his first inaugural address, which Reagan himself wrote. Reagan addressed the countrys economic malaise arguing: In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem. Ronald Reagans public image was closely tied to the American West, although he was raised in the solidly Midwestern state of Illinois. In the 1930s, Reagan moved to California, where he became a moderately successful Hollywood actor. Thereafter, he always considered himself a true westerner in spirit. Reagans film and TV career not only won him public-name recognition but also helped establish his enduring good-guy reputation. Reagans politics increasingly reflected the mythic western image of rugged independence and self-reliance. Although he had been a liberal New Deal Democrat as a young man, by the 1950s, Reagan had become a hard-line conservative. As president of the Screen Actors Guild (1947-52, 1959-60), he won national attention as an outspoken anticommunist, and he began to view even the mild federal socialism of the New Deal as destructive to individual initiative and freedom. Switching his allegiance to the Republican Party, Reagan won two terms as governor of California (1967-75), where he gained a devoted national following that helped him win the presidency. During his Presidency, Reagan pursued policies that reflected his personal belief in individual freedom, brought changes domestically, both to the U.S. economy and expanded military, and contributed to the end of the Cold War. Termed the Reagan Revolution, his presidency would reinvigorate American morale, reinvigorate the American economy and reduce American reliance upon government. As president, Reagan kept a series of diaries in which he commented on daily occurrences of his presidency and his views on the issues of the day. The diaries were published in May 2007 in the bestselling book, The Reagan Diaries. https://youtube/watch?v=hpPt7xGx4Xo
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 10:38:22 +0000
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