Politics and Economics

The eighties were a conservative era for Americans. Republican Ronald Wilson Reagan, an ex-movie star and a former California governor, became the nation's fortieth president in January 1981, after a record low voter turnout of 54 percent of registered voters. Serving two terms, Reagan implemented "supply-side" economic policies and trumpeted a major tax cut. The nation's first Republican-led Senate since 1948 supported Reagan's efforts. In retrospect, Reagan has become known for lowering personal income taxes on individuals, sustaining a low rate of inflation, increasing the government's expenditures on the military and defense, reducing social program funding, and forging a cooperative relationship with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Many Americans also still remember the assassination attempt on Reagan's life just sixty-nine days after he first took office. At the close of Reagan's term, the United States had enjoyed its longest peacetime prosperity; however, it faced both trade and budget deficits...