Ronald Reag Foreign Policy - 2977 Words

Austin Ferguson April 16th, 2015 Mr. Smith APUSH Research Paper on the Presidents in the 80’s and 90’s Ronald Reagan: Foreign Policy President Reagan’s foreign policy took a sharp turn from his predecessors’ tactics of easing tensions and instead chose to escalate the cold war conflict, arguing the moral superiority of the U.S.’s governmental system and framing the Cold War as a fight between the good and free capitalist United States versus the evil communist regime. (â€Å"Reagan Doctrine at U.S. Department of State) This direct confrontal approach later became known as the â€Å"Reagan Doctrine†. In his pursuit of the USSR he implemented a new policy through the National Security Decisions Directive to diminish the resources of the Soviet†¦show more content†¦In a political snafu the Reagan administration sold arms to Iran so that they could secure the release of US hostages and also generate enough money to support Contra. This became known as the Iran-Contra Affair and steeply affected Reagan’s popularity with the people. (Mayer, Jane and Doyle McMan us) Reagan’s willingness to use violence alarmed many, especially when he took up the position of the Soviet Union being purely evil. After Gorbachev became a chairman representing many soviet political parties and took on a position of negotiator, Reagan became less militant and more open to discussion, seeing Gorbachev as a good man who came out of an evil system. A significant event during this period was Reagan’s speech at the berlin wall, which urged Gorbachev to bring down the wall and reunite berlin. As tensions rapidly declined the Soviets declared that they would no longer interfere in allied affairs. Domestic Policies Reagan’s domestic policies focused on conservative economic values, specifically his implementation of supply side economics and large tax cuts, which thereafter were dubbed â€Å"Reaganomics† Which lowered tax rates, reduced regulation, limited new currency, reduced the growth of government spending. When he entered the presidency Reagan faced an extremely high rate of inflation and high interest rates which he sought to limit by making large tax cuts and curbing social spending. This produced major results, expanding the economy and