Ronald Reagan: Conservative Visionary By : Su ra j reet S ingh
P H OTO BY P H 1 S AMMY P I E R C E / W I K I ME DIA CO M M O N S
“Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem” The race was between a former actor turned Republican icon against an unpopular Democratic nominee during a time of economic struggle, major foreign policy challenges in the Middle East and Asia and domestic strife at home. What comes to mind would be the 2016 contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, but instead, the year is 1980. Ronald Reagan, the popular Republican governor and staunch conservative, is facing off against Democrat President Jimmy Carter. Gallup polling in the week prior to the election had Reagan trailing Carter by 9 points, a seemingly insurmountable lead. However, on Election Day, the results were stunning. Reagan and the Republicans swept into power, carrying 44 states and 43 million votes against Carter’s 35 million, a dominating performance against the incumbent and the beginning of modern American conservatism. But how long before his name is torn down from buildings and his legacy expunged? Will history consider him a visionary or a villain? His entry in politics occurred when he was still an actor, testifying before Congress about the presence of communist sympathizers in the film industry and serving as an FBI informant in the mid 1940s. While initially a Democrat and supportive of left-wing causes, THE OBSERVER
he began a shift to the right in the 50s onward, supporting Republicans Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon in their presidential runs. When hired by General Electric in 1954 to host a weekly drama series, Reagan began speaking on issues that would form the foundation of modern American conservatism: support for the free market, limited government, lower taxes and the defense of values. He soon quit and registered as a Republican. After a strong speech in support of Barry Goldwater at the 1964 Republican Convention, Reagan’s political career had launched. He was tapped to be the Republican candidate for the governorship in California and won the race in the 1966 election. Reagan’s time as a governor was a preview of things to come, as he championed pro-life policies, lower taxes, limited government, gun rights and other issues. During this time, he stood as a bulwark against the infamous Berkeley campus protests that resulted in the death of a student, sending in the national guard to quell the protests. Instead of apologizing, he doubled down and laid the blame at the hands of university administrators and those who “let young people think they had the right to choose the laws they would obey, as long as they were doing it in the name of social protest.” This PAGE 6
