Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt as US president and set foreign policy standards.
Ronald Reagan
was initially a radio commentator and
actor
before joining the Republican Party
As an avowed
anti-communist
, he won the election as 40th US president
He survived an
assassination attempt
and won the arms race with the Soviet Union
Ronald Reagan
(* 6.2.1911, † 5.6.2004) was not the typical
American president
.
As a boy from a humble background, he first started a
career in radio and television
.
In the following years he turned to conservative politics and joined the Republican party.
As a
late entrant
in
politics
, he finally won the election for president.
The
40th President of the United States of America
led the United States for two terms.
During a turbulent presidency he survived an
assassination attempt
and set foreign policy standards.
He died of pneumonia at the age of 93.
The funeral took place in the presidential library built especially for him in California.
Ronald Reagan: Childhood and Career in Radio and Film
On February 6, 1911, a future
US President
saw
the light of day in Tampico.
As a descendant of Irish immigrants, he went to Eureka College after high school.
There he completed a degree in economics and theater.
In 1932 he left college after graduating.
In the 1930s he began his career at the
radio station WOC
, for which he commented on baseball games.
He happened to be doing a casting in
Hollywood
.
In 1937 his big day had come.
The Warner Brothers film studio gave him a
seven-year contract as an actor
.
After initially appearing in smaller films or taking on supporting roles in major films, Ronald Reagan established himself more and more on television.
As
president of the actors'
union, he was already showing political interest.
In his
acting career
he starred in over 30 films from 1937 to 1964.
A selection:
Love is on the Air (1937)
Dollar Rain (1940)
This is the Army (1943)
His Last Treason (1951)
Tropical Adventure (1952)
Hellhounds of the Pacific (1957)
The Death of a Killer (1964)
While working as an
actor
, he met his first wife.
He
divorced the
then film star
Jane Wyman
(* 5.1.1917, † 10.9.2007) after eight years of marriage.
He then married the
actress Nancy Reagan
(* July 6, 1921, † March 6, 2016), with whom he was married for over 50 years.
Ronald Reagan and his later entry into politics
It was only at an advanced age that
Ronald Reagan
turned to
politics.
By hosting a TV series, he got a job at the
industrial group General Electric
.
There he worked as a group representative for six years.
During this time his views changed.
From then on he referred to himself as a conservative.
Since the political involvement at
General Electric
did not cause any storms of enthusiasm, the collaboration ended.
In 1962 he joined the
Republican Party
and henceforth supported the Republican presidential candidates.
Ronald Reagan positioned himself liberally in domestic politics, while in foreign affairs he wanted to liberate the oppressed communism.
Governor and presidential candidate
In November
1966
, the former actor ran for
governor of California
.
He clearly won this election with 57% of the vote.
In 1967 he was sworn in as governor of California.
During his tenure, he passed a
liberal abortion law
.
Within the Republican Party, however, criticism of this law increased.
Over the years he distanced himself from the abortion law and was then anti-abortion.
The
economy
of California prospered during his tenure.
At the same time,
Republicans
first mentioned his name in connection with upcoming presidential elections.
In 1970 he successfully defended his position.
Now he got almost 53% of the Californian vote.
He sharply attacked the
increasing demonstrations against the
Vietnam War
.
Ronald Reagan was known for his negative attitude towards student protests.
After eight years as governor of California, he decided against running again, although the constitution at the time would have allowed this.
He presented himself to the public as a
successful politician at an
early stage
.
His
criticism of
the incumbent
President Gerald Ford
(* July 14, 1913, †
December
26, 2006) split the party into different camps.
Still, he
narrowly
lost
the Republican primary
by 1,187 to 1,070 votes.
In the subsequent presidential election, he loyally stood behind Gerald Ford, who, however, lost to the democratic challenger.
Ronald Reagan: United States President from 1981 to 1989
But the ambitious Republican did not give up.
Four years later, he ran again as
the Republican presidential candidate
.
As a favorite, he clearly prevailed and was allowed to run in the US presidential election in 1980.
Ronald Reagan was particularly well received by
business liberals, conservative Americans and evangelicals
.
This mixture was enough to clearly win against the incumbent Democrat.
With 489 against 49 electors, Reagan gave
incumbent President Jimmy Carter
(* October 1, 1924) no chance.
During his tenure, Ronald Reagan was considered a
master of communication
.
Together with his wife, he positioned himself close to the people and won the hearts of voters.
His nickname
"The Great Communicator"
testifies to the ability to build personal relationships with citizens.
These helped him during the presidency to successfully convey political concerns and to increase the acceptance of reforms.
Happy Thanksgiving!
---- # PresidentReagan carving the turkey at the Reagan family #Thanksgiving at Rancho Del Cielo 11/26/1981 pic.twitter.com/kiExD5Nvw9
- RonaldReaganLibrary (@Reagan_Library) November 26, 2020
Shortly after he took office, there was an
assassination attempt
on US President Ronald Reagan.
A mentally deranged assassin shot at Ronald Reagan's convoy.
He injured a police officer, a Secret Service agent, his press secretary and the US president.
None of the six shots hit him, but a projectile ricocheted off the bulletproof glass and injured his lungs.
A month later, Reagan returned to the White House in Washington DC, while the
perpetrator John Hinckley Jr.
(* May 29, 1955) was in a mental hospital.
He has been at large since September 10, 2016.
Economic and foreign policy priorities of the Ronald Reagan presidency
In terms of foreign policy, the former actor relied on
peace through strength
.
Ronald Reagan positioned himself as an
anti-communist
.
With all his might he wanted to push back the influence of the communist Soviet Union.
To do this, he increased
military spending
and forged alliances with every regime that opposed communism.
While he focused on
armament
in the first term
, there were some
disarmament
agreements in the second term
.
The economically troubled Soviet Union was quickly unable to follow the USA.
In terms of economic policy, the 40th US President also struggled with
high inflation
and
stagnating economic growth
.
With a
supply-oriented economic policy
, he tried to improve production conditions.
Its tax cuts mainly benefited companies.
As a result, they should grow faster, hire more Americans, and thus increase prosperity across the country.
Former US President's Awards
Former
US President Ronald Reagan
is one of the few American politicians after whom a
US Navy warship was
named
during her lifetime
.
There is also the
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
or the
Ronald Reagan Freeway
.
As early as 1989, the British Queen Elizabeth (* April 21, 1926) proposed Ronald Reagan as
Knight of the British Order of Merit
.
Only a year later he received the
Grand Cross of
the
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
.
Other awards for the work of the 40th US President were the following:
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Ronald Reagan statue in front of the US Embassy in London
Ronald Reagan statue on a terrace of the US Embassy in Berlin
Gold Medal of Honor of the US Congress
