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In his first term he survived an assassination attempt, escalated the War on Drugs, and fought public-sector labor.
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His supply-side economic policies, dubbed " Reaganomics", advocated tax rate reduction to spur economic growth, control of the money supply to curb inflation, economic deregulation, and reduction in government spending. He twice ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nominations in 19 four years later, he easily won the nomination outright, going on to be elected the oldest President, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980.Įntering the presidency in 1981, Reagan implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives. As governor, Reagan raised taxes, turned a state budget deficit to a surplus, challenged the protesters at the University of California, ordered National Guard troops in during a period of protest movements in 1969, and was re-elected in 1970. Building a network of supporters, he was elected Governor of California in 1966. In 1964, Reagan's speech, " A Time for Choosing", in support of Barry Goldwater's floundering presidential campaign, earned him national attention as a new conservative spokesman. He became a conservative and in 1962 switched to the Republican Party. Having been a lifelong Democrat, his views changed. In the 1950s, he moved into television and was a motivational speaker at General Electric factories. Reagan was twice elected as President of the Screen Actors Guild, the labor union for actors, where he worked to root out Communist influence. After moving to Hollywood in 1937, he became an actor and starred in a few major productions.
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Raised in a poor family in small towns of northern Illinois, Ronald Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and worked as a sports announcer on several regional radio stations. Prior to his presidency, he was the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975, following a career as a Hollywood actor and union leader.
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Template:ReaganSeries Ronald Wilson Reagan ( / ˈ r ɒ n əl d ˈ w ɪ l s ən ˈ r eɪ ɡ ən/ February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
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