Monday, April 27, 2020

The Reagan Revolution and Victory in the Cold War

As demonstrated through the Cuban Missile Crisis during the JFK administration, nuclear weapons changed strategic thinking. Now the mere presence of the weapons in a particular area like Cuba, represented an aggressive and unacceptable change in the status quo. But aside from the danger inherent in the crisis itself, both sides came away with a resolve to improve communication. The "hot line" was installed between the White House and the Kremlin. Kennedy and Khrushchev signed a limited nuclear test ban treaty in the fall of 1963, shortly before Kennedy was assassinated.

The Kennedy assassination kicked off a downward spiral of unrest stemming from social conflict over civil rights, protests over the expanding war in Vietnam (started by Kennedy), and the subsequent assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson also began a series of spending programs designed to "wage war on poverty". These well intentioned government programs, along with a continuing war effort in Vietnam was causing the US government to run a larger deficit and accumulate significant debt. Meanwhile, large labor unions were demanding higher and higher wages for their workers resulting in strikes and lost productivity while postwar Europe and Asia were beginning to boom.

Scandal in the form of the break-in at the Watergate hotel led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon and combined with the failure of US policy in Vietnam and the high level of social discord with respect to the direction of the country, Americans were for the first time uncertain that the future would be better then the past.

The election of Jimmy Carter did little to change the state of affairs, as the President seemed mired in more problems. See the link below for a review of the election.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_United_States_presidential_election
Meanwhile, Leonid Brezhnev was steadily moving forward with the Soviet plan for the spread of communism. American failure in Vietnam and discord at home encouraged him to move while the US seemed distracted and divided. His invasion of Afghanistan during the Carter presidency was clear evidence of his confidence and conviction to take aggressive action. Carter called the invasion the greatest threat to world peace since 1945. He increased military spending in the last part of his presidency. However, he had lost the confidence of the American public and was soundly beaten by California Governor and film actor Ronald Reagan. While all would agree that Reagan would take a harder, tougher line with the Soviet Union, no one could have foreseen the consequential result of Reagan's policies --- the end of the Cold War.


Ronald Reagan seemed an unlikely candidate for president, let alone equipped to be the pivotal leader who at once restored America's sense of optimism and confidence in the future and ultimately won the Cold War. Reagan was criticized as an intellectual lightweight who would be in over his head as president. However, in the end Reagan made the presidency seem almost too easy. He became known as "the Great Communicator" for his skill in taking complex issues and boiling them down to an essence that could at once be conveyed to the American people. Throughout his time as president, this skill carried him and the country through turbulent times.

Carter and his supporters tried to paint Reagan as a simpleton who was trigger happy and would plunge the US into nuclear war. Reagan disarmed the public by his debate performance. While he attacked Carter directly on his policies, Reagan was seen as positive and affable; hardly the wide-eyed extremist that his adversaries had made him out to be. Ultimately, Reagan largely won the support of the American people by asking a simple question at the end of the televised debate with Jimmy Carter.


Two pivotal clips from the 1980 debate. "There you go again, Mr. President," and... the question, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px7aRIhUkHY

According to President Carter's Press Secretary Jody Powell's memoirs, internal tracking polls showed the President's tiny lead turning into a major Reagan landslide over the final weekend.

Election Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsDe-8cOSYY&feature=related

Ronald Reagan explained supply-side economics or "Reaganomics" as it became popularly known by a single phrase, "A rising tide lifts all boats." It was a powerful image and it made good sense to the American people - tax cuts were desirable for all Americans including the wealthy because those extra dollars would be spent, giving the economy a much needed shot in the arm. Reagan arrived as president during a deep recession and double digit interest rates. He left office as the man who presided over the greatest peacetime period of economic growth in American history.

His approach to the Cold War was no different. He had simple goals, "We win, they lose. How do you like that?" He asked a key advisor when explaining his strategy concerning the Soviet Union. Indeed, Reagan re staked the moral high ground for Americans in the Cold War. In his famous "Evil Empire" speech, Reagan reminded Americans of the fundamental differences which separated the superpowers.


"So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride - the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.

I ask you to resist the attempts of those who would have you withhold your support for our efforts, this administration's efforts, to keep America strong and free, while we negotiate real and verifiable reductions in the world's nuclear arsenals and one day, with God's help, their total elimination.

While America's military strength is important, let me add here that I've always maintained that the struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.

I believe we shall rise to the challenge. I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written. I believe this because the source of our strength in the quest for human freedom is not material, but spiritual. And because it knows no limitation, it must terrify and ultimately triumph over those who would enslave their fellow man. For in the words of Isaiah: "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increased strength . . . But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary . . .

Yes, change your world. One of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Paine, said, "We have it within our power to begin the world over again." We can do it, doing together what no one church could do by itself.

God bless you, and thank you very much."

In his discussions with General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, Reagan wanted to clearly communicate his willingness to discuss arms reductions so long as the Soviet Union was prepared to accept UN inspections to ensure agreements were kept. To do so, Reagan learned a Russian phrase, "Doveryai no Proveryai" - trust but verify. After Reagan used the phrase at the signing of the INF Treaty, Gorbachev responded: "You repeat that at every meeting," to which Reagan answered "I like it."

Part of Reagan's persuasive power came from his skill in front of the television cameras. Below you will find various points in his presidency where this power came to the fore:


Reagan Distinguishes Himself From Bush - Viewed as Republican Uniter

Feb 23, 1980.

In the New Hampshire primary, a single symbolic act dramatized the debut of Reagan's new image as a candidate and the demise of Bush's presidential hopes. It occurred during what was scheduled to be a two-person debate between Bush and Reagan in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Feburary 23, the Saturday before balloting. As it turned out, Bush crumpled under pressure orchestrated by Reagan's camp.

Initially, both Reagan and Bush had seen advantages in a two-person debate sponsored by a local newspaper. When the FEC ruled that newspaper sponsorship of the debate amounted to an illegal campaign contribution and when Bush refused to pay half of the debate's cost, Reagan agreed to underwrite it himself.

Reagan then moved to include the other five contenders - a move that identified him both as a candidate and a unifier. When the other candidates showed up on stage, Bush froze.

As Reagan made his case for inclusion of the other candidates, the moderator ordered Reagan's mike turned off. Reagan responded, "I'm paying for this microphone, Mr. Green." The fact that the moderator's name was Breen seemed to matter little. The crowd cheered. When neither newspaper hosting the debate nor Bush would accede to the inclusion of the others, the other candidates left the stage. Reagan's prospects had been boosted, Bush's buried. Reagan carried New Hampshire 50% to Bush's 23%.

(Excerpted from "Packaging The Presidency: A History and Criticism of Presidential Campaign" by Kathleen Hall Jamieson)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO2_49TycdE

A Time for Choosing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJGb_gg4Cuw&feature=related

Reagan on the Tonight Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHoT561u1zY

First Inaugural

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8dkM-iZITo

Breaking the Air Traffic Controllers Strike


Reagan Announces Air Strikes Against Libya


Reagan In Memory of the Crew of the Challenger


The Bear in the Woods Ad


The Evil Empire Speech


Reagan at the Berlin Wall



Reagan's Political Persuasion By Humor
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