Reagan Revolution
The Reagan Revolution refers to the transformative political and economic policies implemented during Ronald Reagan's presidency from 1981 to 1989. Stemming from a backdrop of national discontent due to issues such as the Vietnam War, economic challenges, and political scandals, Reagan's campaign focused on optimism through economic recovery and military strength. His administration pursued a series of conservative policies known as Reaganomics, which emphasized lower tax rates, reduced government spending, and deregulation, aiming to foster free-market prosperity and promote a smaller government.
In parallel, Reagan's military strategies included a significant buildup of U.S. armed forces and new weapon systems, reflecting a more aggressive stance toward the Soviet Union, marked by efforts to initiate an arms race. Domestically, his administration pursued what was termed New Federalism, emphasizing the reduction of certain social programs while advocating for private property rights and strengthening executive power. The outcomes of the Reagan Revolution were substantial, resulting in a shift towards conservative politics, a slowdown of socialist-inspired policies, and contributing to the weakening of the Soviet Union, which ultimately led to the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe by 1989. This period solidified the United States' status as a dominant global superpower for decades.
Reagan Revolution
The Event A new set of federal priorities and initiatives inspired by conservative and neoconservative principles redirects U.S. foreign and domestic policies
The Reagan Revolution was a major realignment of U.S. federal governmental policy along lines that were generally politically, economically, and socially conservative. Underlying policy successes during Reagan’s two terms, this conservative trend continued to influence U.S. policy and politics into the twenty-first century.
By the 1980 election cycle, the American electorate had grown weary of pessimism engendered by defeat in Vietnam, the failures of the Great Society programs of the 1960’s, the federal scandals of the 1970’s, fear of the Soviet Union, and disastrous foreign and economic policies of the Jimmy Carter administration. Ronald Reagan ran on two optimistic principles—economic recovery and revitalization of U.S. military strength—and handily defeated Carter. Reagan’s young administration quickly began reshaping U.S. policies. Economic growth meant lowering tax rates and reducing government spending and regulation, both conservative goals that would create free market prosperity and lead to “smaller government,” a program often called Reaganomics .
Simultaneously, however, Reagan required an expensive military buildup that increased troop strength, developed new weapons systems (the stealth bomber and Strategic Defense Initiative), and generally increased the aggressive stance of the United States toward the Soviet Union and its satellites. Ultimately, Reagan sought the elimination of all nuclear weapons, but, distrusting Soviet good faith, he sought this goal by starting an arms race in which, he gambled, the weaker economy of the Soviet Union could not compete. This anticommunist stance also led to a successful incursion into Grenada and domestically scandalous support for the anti-Sandinista Contras in Nicaragua.
Domestically, the Reagan White House exercised what it called New Federalism. It sought to limit abortion rights, civil rights programs such as affirmative action, and the funding of certain social programs while protecting private property rights, espousing victims’ rights over those of criminals, and strengthening the prerogatives of the executive branch that had been attenuated in the wake of Watergate.
Impact
The successes of the Reagan Revolution galvanized conservative politics in the United States, slowed the advance of leftist statism and socialist-inspired social programming, seriously weakened the Soviet Union, and established the United States’ position as the unrivaled world superpower for the remainder of the twentieth century.
Subsequent Events
Arguably the most significant subsequent event was the disintegration of communist regimes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe beginning in 1989. Domestically, the solid Republican victories in the House and Senate in 1994, which held until 2006, also stemmed from the Reagan Revolution.
Bibliography
Reagan, Ronald. An American Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Schwab, Larry M. The Illusion of a Conservative Reagan Revolution. Somerset, N.J.: Transaction, 1991.
Thornton, Richard C. The Reagan Revolution. 2 vols. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford, 2006.