Ronald Reagan Overview essays

Ronald Reagan Overview essays Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States of America. Reagan's political career consisted of two terms as the governor of California and two presidency terms. Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois, on February 6, 1911. His father's parents were Roman Catholic and born in Ireland. His mother was a protestant of Scottish-English ancestry. When he was nine Reagan's family moved to Dixon, Ill. Reagan first worked as a sports announcer for a radio station in Davenport, Iowa, and later on for several other stations. Reagan first starred in the movie Love is On The Air, starting a career of over 50 movies. Ronald Reagan first showed up in politics in 1964 with a television address intended to revive Senator Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. At the suggestion of a group of businessmen, afterwards Reagan ran for governor and won in 1966 by over a million votes. Reagan spent eight years as the governor of California. Reagan realized what could actually be accomplished. During six of his years as governor, however, Reagan was confronted by an unfriendly Democratic legislature. Reagan concentrated on three main points while in office as governor. The first point was taxes and government spending; during his eight years in office the state budget increased $5.6 billion from $4.6 billion to $10.2 billion. Reagan also lowered property taxes. Reagan proposed a 70-point reform package for welfare and Medi-Cal. The welfare recipients dropped and those still eligible recieved a 40% increase of benefits. Reagan decreased the university fund by 27% his first two years, however, by the end of the second term he had more than doubled the university funding compared to when he first came to office. Reagan had two unsuccesful presidential campaigns. The 1968 campaign was more of a spur-of-the-moment decision. In 1976 Reagan made a more serious effort for the presiden ...