Ronald Reagan — Person

About

Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989, having previously been Governor of California. A Republican and an iconic figure in modern conservatism and free-market economics, Reagan was a prominent conservative leader who led a conservative revolution emphasizing anti-communism. He pursued policies including supply-side economics, tax cuts, deregulation, military buildup, and a strong stance against communism during the Cold War. Reagan played a key role in escalating the Cold War initially and later challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, contributing to its end. He reappointed Paul Volcker as Federal Reserve Chair despite their policy differences, appointed numerous neoconservatives to significant defense roles, influenced conservative ideology and right-wing journalism, received the Private Sector Initiative Award, and participated in organizing a meeting to launch Jewish Heritage Week.

Key Relationships

Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism

reported_on

Ann Coulter

reported_on

Mentions challenge to Gorbachev

Mark Levin

employs

administration positions

Since 1981

Paul Volcker

appointed

President Ronald Reagan reappointed Paul Volcker as Federal Reserve Chairman in 1981 for a second term, bridging partisan lines. Reagan valued and endorsed Volcker's high-interest-rate, inflation-fighting policies, supporting continuity in those anti-inflation efforts and demonstrating bipartisan backing for his approach. This aggressive monetary tightening, which influenced Reagan's early administration, succeeded in taming double-digit inflation and laid the groundwork for the 1980s economic recovery, despite initially causing high unemployment and short-term recessionary pain amid an ongoing recession. This underscored bipartisan reliance on Volcker's independence.

Since 1983

Richard Pipes

appointed

Reagan personally selected and appointed Pipes as Director of East European and Soviet Affairs on the National Security Council in 1981, where Pipes played a key role in shaping Reagan's hardline policy toward the Soviet Union, including the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Since 1981

Richard Pipes

advisor

Richard Pipes served as a key foreign policy advisor to Ronald Reagan during his presidential campaign and early administration, providing hawkish anti-Soviet counsel that shaped U.S. strategy toward the USSR; this personal advisory role extended beyond his formal NSC position, influencing Reagan's confrontational approach.

Since 1980

Recent Events

Gave 'tear down this wall' speech in Berlin

his famous 1987 speech in Berlin challenging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to 'tear down this wall'

1/1/1987

Appointed: Ronald Reagan → William Bennett

President Reagan appointed Bennett as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1981, then as U.S. Secretary of Education in 1985. Bennett was a key figure in Reagan's domestic policy agenda, advocating for school choice, educational standards, and traditional values in public education.

1/1/1981

Moved to Washington, D.C.

President of the United States

1/1/1981

Became 40th President of the United States

become the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989)

1/1/1981

Began term as Governor of California

40th Governor; elected 1966, reelected 1970

1/3/1967

Key Facts

Career & Education

About

Key Relationships

Recent Events