The Reagan Years
1980-1988
As the Reagan Era began on January, 20, 1981, Iranian officials released the 52 American hostages that had been held for 444 days in Tehran, Iran. A month earlier, President Ronald Reagan had won a landslide victory over incumbent president Jimmy Carter. The new administration favored supply-side economics, policies that became known as Reaganomics. Reagan began his presidency as an ardent anti-communist, funding a missile defense system called Star Wars, to act as a shield against Soviet nuclear threat. As the Soviet Union began to dissolve, Reagan adjusted his approach and sought a closer relationship with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. They were able to sign a historic arms control treaty. Immigration reform was passed during his second term. During 8 years in office, President Reagan named four Supreme Court Justices, including the first woman appointed to the high court. He also named 368 judges to U.S. District Courts and U.S. Courts of Appeals, more than any other president. He left office with a 68% approval rating, matching that of Bill Clinton and Franklin Roosevelt.
A week prior to the November, 4 1980 election night, President Jimmy Carter and former California Governor Ronald Reagan met in Cleveland, Ohio for the final presidential debate. One lasting line from the debate came from Reagan when he asked, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” (Credit: Economist)
On January 20, 1981, Ronald Wilson Reagan was sworn in as the 40th President of the United States at the Capital in Washington D.C. (Photo credit: Bettmann/ Bettmann Archive)
As soon Reagan was sworn in as president, the 52 Americans hostage in Iran were released. Here the hostages and their relatives travel down Pennsylvania Ave on January 27, 1981, to the cheers of thousands of well-wishers. (CNN)
Only 96 days after entering office, President Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr, while leaving a speech at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. The President was nearly killed and three others were wounded. Hinkley was arrested and put into mental hospital for treatment. He was released in 2016.
At the second presidential debate of the 1984 election cycle (October 21), a 73-year-old President Reagan famously dealt with a question about age. He said, “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth, and inexperience.”
With the Brandenburg Gate in the background on June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan challenged his cold war adversary by demanding, “Mr. Gorbachev, bring down this wall!”. Nearly two years after the speech, the Berlin wall came down. (Credit: National Archives)
