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Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in the early stages of Reagan’s first term in office to help sustain the communist government there against the Islamic Mujahedeen. In a maneuver to flip the government, Reagan armed the Islamists in order to fight the Soviet Union. -
Economic Recovery Tax Act
The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 was the crux of Reaganomics and cut both individual and corporate tax rates by 30%. While it had mixed results, it contributed to the largest peacetime economic expansion in American history, allowing Reagan to fund his large military buildup. -
Korean Airliner
The Soviet Union shot down a Korean airliner as it “violated their airspace”. Reagan used this event to cast the Soviets as animals who had no regard for human life, damaging the Soviet’s reputation abroad. -
Beruit Bombings
After a bombing of a barracks in Beirut, Reagan sent marines to the country as a retaliatory measure, furthering his credibility as someone who follows through on his aggressive rhetoric. -
Invasion of Grenada
Fears that Grenada would fall to communism prompted the Reagan administration to invade the island to maintain capitalist, democratic government. This is another example of the Reagan doctrine and its preemptiveness. -
Reagan Wins Second Term
Ronald Reagan won a second term in a landslide election, beating Democratic challenger Mondale by 18 percentage points, allowing Reagan to continue his brand of conservative republicanism for four more years. -
Iran-Contra Affair
Due to his passive management style, Reagan’s advisors convinced Reagan to approve a secret mission that involved selling arms to Iran in exchange for releasing hostages in Beirut and then the United States using the profits of the arms sales to fund the anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua. This scandal deeply damaged his popularity and threatened to undermine his foreign policy agenda. -
Reykjavik Summit
Ronald Reagan and Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev met in Iceland to discuss mutual nuclear arms reductions. However, the summit quickly fell apart over disagreements on SDI. Reagan’s adherence to SDI is credited as one of the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet governing system. -
Tear Down This Wall Speech
Reagan called for Gorbachev to demolish the Berlin Wall, the physical barrier that separated east and west Berlin. This speech was largely credited for inspiring reform in the Soviet Union and laying the foundation for revolutionary fervor that would come to undermine the Soviet government. -
INF Treaty
Reagan and Gorbachev met in DC to sign an agreement that would ban the proliferation of nuclear weapons within their two countries, the closet Ronald Reagan got to a reduction of nuclear arms during the cold war.
