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Ronald Reagan elected Screen Actors' Guild President
Reagan was elected SAG president after the end of WWII. He had held other lesser positions, but rose to prominence with this position. Reagan was president when HUAC hearings occurred, leading to one of the first major political involvements for Reagan. He was in a heavily political movement, and it was in the discovery that many aspects of the democratic party had communist sympathies that Reagan began his switch to the conservative party. He served as president for 6 years. -
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Ronald Reagan's Presidency
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Reagan delivers "A Time for Choosing" speech in favor of Barry Goldwater
Reagan springboarded himself into the mainstream Republican eye with this famous speech in 1964. He was seen as able to deliver passionate, charismatic speeches not typical of other politicians. This was attributed to his extensive previous acting career, and the fact that he had served in analogous positions within the Screen Actors Guild. -
Reagan serves as Governor of California from 1967 to 1975
Reagan, after a relatively close election would go on to serve in his first major purely political position. He made many changes and was considered as a largely popular governor of California, serving two terms, and declining to run for a third, despite high approval ratings leaving office. -
Reagan elected President of the United States
Reagan, after a successful career as California governor, went on to Run for President. He then won the nomination through his characteristic charisma and tough talk against the Soviet Union, promising a tougher stance on their activities and a re-checking of the terms to which they had agreed upon for the period of detente. His presidency would see the speeding up of the end of the Old-Guard soviet Union, and an ushering in of new Peace after a brief “second cold war”. -
American hostages released from Iran
Immediately following Reagan’s swearing in, the American hostages held in Iran were freed. This was because the hostage-takers refused to release the hostages as long as Carter was president. Reagan knew that Iran would most definitely pose a significant problem to the national security of the US because of the hatred for the asylum they had granted the leader they had installed in the country. -
Reagan is the victim of an attempted assassination
After a short time in office, Reagan had seemed a bit wary to fully go through with his plans, as well as suffering issues of a senate and house not fully on board with his ideas. That is until he became the victim of an attempted assassination, actually suffering a very close call, saved by the expediency with which he got to the hospital. This close call galvanized the nation, and saw bipartisan support for his policies immediately following his incident. -
Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 becomes effective
After many years of economic decline, Reagan finally brought in new ideas for politics - Supply-side theory brought about the end of Keynesian economics, and with it lowered taxes. While initially slow, the recovery from one of the worst economic situations since the great depression over 40 years previous was sped significantly. In fact, by the time he left office, increases in GDP and decreases in unemployment were occurring at a very promising pace. -
Reagan decides to send forces to Lebanon for the purposes of fighting in the Lebanese Civil War
Fearing escalation into a full-scale Arab-Israeli war, Reagan authorized forces to be sent to Lebanon after the Israeli invasion. While a full-scale war did not break out, a long series of terrorist attacks, lack of diplomatic progress, and widespread opposition to acting as world police led to the pulling out of the forces in 1984. -
Reagan publically announces the Strategic Defense Initiative
With no real defense against nuclear strikes besides retaliatory attack, Reagan decided that he wanted to begin an initiative to protect the US. However, the concept of MAD would be compromised, incentivizing a Soviet First Strike before SDI was fully operational. Also, the technological advancements that would be necessary for SDI were very scary to the Soviets, since countermeasures to a missile defense system would be easy to figure out for the US if they built their own system first. -
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shot down
A Korean Airlines flight in Russian airspace was intercepted by a russian fighter and shot down, killing all crew and passengers on board. Massive international outcry for the violations of human rights and the numerous other issues were heard worldwide. Reagan issued multiple rhetorical attacks on the Soviet Union for their actions. Air travel anywhere near the Soviet Union came to a halt for many for many weeks, often flights would have only one or two passengers other than the crew. -
Operation Urgent Fury: US forces invade Grenada
Following a 1979 coup in Grenada, which established an independent Marxist-Leninist government, Reagan ordered US forces to invade Grenada. A former appeal from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States led to the US's intervention. Several days of fighting followed the invasion, and it was the first major military operation since the Vietnam War. It ultimately led to a US victory, the appointment of a new government, and the withdrawal of US forces. -
Reagan re-elected as president
Although there were initially some doubts about Reagan's ability to be president due to his age and (true) rumors that he had Alzheimer's Disease, Reagan was re-elected with an overwhelming victory, winning 49 out of 50 states. Reagan was sworn in as president for the second time on January 20, 1985. In his second term, Reagan began the "War on Drugs" and also focused more intently on foreign affairs, especially with the Soviet Union. -
Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran-Contra Affair was a major political scandal in Reagan's second term. It was found that senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran. The goal of these sales was to secure the release of US hostages and to supply Contra rebels in Nicaragua. It is still unclear whether Reagan authorized the sale of weapons to the Contras in Nicaragua. -
Geneva Summit
A summit held in Geneva, Switzerland between Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. This was the first meeting of Reagan and Gorbachev. During the Summit, Gorbachev and Reagan discussed the arms race and international diplomatic relations. This was the first of many talks that were concerned with arms reduction. This was also tthe summit when SDI was first proposed by the US to the Soviet Union. This Summit was followed by others in later years. -
Libya Bombing
Also known as Operation El Dorado Canyon, this was the bombing of Libya through air strikes. The bombing of Libya was in response to a Libyan bombing of a Berlin discotheque. Libya was also alarming to the US due to Muammar Gaddafi's support of violent organizations, the country's Soviet ties, and its occupation of Chad, which was rich in resources for nuclear weapons. The stated aim of this bombing was to send a message to Libya and reduce Libya's ability to support and train terrorists. -
Reykjavik Summit
This was the second summit meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev. Although the talks failed at the last minute, but significant progress, especially towards the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. While Reagan wanted to discuss human rights, Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the emigration of Soviet Jews, Gorbachev wanted to focus solely on arms talks. Gorbachev proposed eliminating all nuclear weapons, as well as eliminating SDI. However, Reagan refused, and the Summit ended. -
Tax Reform Act of 1986 becomes effective
The aim of this act was to simplify the income tax code, broaden the tax base, and eliminate several tax shelters. The act increased tax revenue by 54.9 billion dollars. This was also the most major tax code reform. This was also known as the second of Reagan's two tax cuts. -
Iran-Contra Affair exposed
The Iran-Contra Affair consisted of the sale of arms to Iran, first for the return of hostages, then to supply Contra rebels in Nicaragua. After the affair was exposed, Reagan stated that although the transfers had occurred, weapons had not been exchanged for hostages. Large amounts of documents related to the affair were also destroyed or withheld by the Reagan administration, which impeded investigations. Later, Reagan took full responsibility for the affair. -
Reagan takes full responsibility for the Iran-Contra Affair
Reagan, in a nationally televised address, stated that he took full responsibility for any events that he was unaware of, and that the situation deteriorated into trading arms for hostages. The exposing of the affair was followed by multiple investigations undertaken by Reagan's Tower Commission and the US Congress. -
Brandenburg Gate Speech
This was Reagan's speech which contained the famous line, "Tear down this wall!" This was one of the speeches that Reagan made in opposition of the Berlin Wall, and called on Gorbachev to destroy it if he valued peace. Despite officials warning Reagan against the phrase, saying it could potentially damage US-Soviet relations, Reagan included it anyway. Reagan also made mention of the arms race during this speech. -
Washington Summit
This was the third notable meeting between Gorbachev and Reagan. During this summit, Reagan and Gorbachev discussed the Soviet war in Afghanistan, as well as conflicts in Central America and South Africa. The Washington Summit also continued the discussion of arms reduction and human rights. The time leading up to the summit was tense due to the Iran-Contra Affair and Gorbachev's reforms. One of the most important accomplishments at this summit was the signing of the INF Treaty. -
INF Treaty signed
Gorbachev and Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty during the Washington Summit. In May 1988, the US Senate ratified the treaty, and it came into effect in June. In the INF Treaty, Reagan and Gorbachev agreed to limit nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles, although it did not include sea-launched missiles. -
Moscow Summit
Reagan and Gorbachev met in Moscow for a summit meeting. The INF Treaty was finalized after the US Senate ratified it. They also discussed other international issues, including the Soviet Union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Gorbachev also updated Soviet history books, which was a significant result of this summit. Overall, both Gorbachev and Reagan were happy with the results of this summit.
