1980 POLITICS AND REAGAN

Answer

Ronald Reagan became the presidential nominee for the Republican Party after serving as the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 until 1975^[1]. He was to represent the party as a viable candidate in the 1980 presidential election. To win over the electorates, Reagan made several appeals and promises which enabled him to win over Jimmy Carter, who was the incumbent president. Guided by this understanding, this paper analyses Ronald Reagan’s appeal in the 1980’s presidential election. The paper provides details of the happenings, context and significance of the results.

In his 1980 campaign, Ronald Reagan appealed for presential votes from the Americans. Promises of a stronger Republican party backed his speeches calling for support. Reagan further promised tax cuts, deregulation of the economy, higher budget for defence spending, and a more robust military. According to Rossinow, Reagan's speeches appealed for improvement of family values and adherence to the conservative Judeo-Christian morality^[2]. As a result of these appeals which sought to strengthen difference segments of the society, the years during his reign as president are widely described as the Reagan Era. 

Because of his appeal to the public, he managed to propagate and instil in the Americans the conservative standards of life that encouraged social cohesion, economic dominance, and authoritative control of foreign affairs. Similarly, because of Reagans speeches appealing for improved social values, he continues to influence modern discussions on social issues facing the current USA such as gay marriages, gun control and abortion.

The context of these appeals by Ronald Reagan is set at a time when the USA was facing diverse challenges. As illustrated by Cooper, the USA had experienced an economic depression in the 1930s, which had led to many other social, economic, and political issues^[3]. For instance, workers had regrouped into labour unions, the democrats fell out with the republicans, and the economy was underperforming. In the 1940s, the USA encountered diplomatic challenges when it began opposing communism in China. The government started rolling out intervention programs that were feared to impose more government control on the people. 

In the 1950s debates on the dominance of liberalism and anti-communism persisted. In the 1960s, liberalism found a push after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In 1964, Reagan rose to become the leader of national conservatism movement after delivering the ‘A time for choosing’ televised address. The 1970s were marked with a shift towards political, environmental, and social conservatism while the 80s’ was marked by a rise in Christian rights following the Reagan Revolution. During his tenure, Reagan supported supply-side economics. This context explains why Reagan made the appealed for social, political, and economic conservatism.

The appeal by Reagan was significant since it continues to shape the modern concept of conservatism in the USA. For instance, his calls regarding cutting of tax continue to influence taxation policies in the USA through the Tax Reforms Act enacted in 1986^[4]. His ideologies on the financing of defence continue to change the budgetary allocation to the military.

In conclusion, this paper acknowledges Reagan's appeals during the 1980 election campaigns as having set a strong foundation for modern conservatism in the USA. Speeches made by Reagan sought to introduce progressive policies, namely tax reduction, deregulation of the economy, more significant budget for defence spending, and a stronger. He further advocated for more influential families and social ties founded on Christianity.

[1] Rossinow, Doug. The Reagan Era: A History of the 1980s. Columbia University Press, 2015.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Cooper, Melinda. Family values: Between neoliberalism and the new social conservatism. MIT Press, 2017.

[4] Jones, John M., and Robert C. Rowland. "Redefining the proper role of government: Ultimate definition in Reagan’s first inaugural." Rhetoric & Public Affairs 18, no. 4 (2015): 691-718.