The Modern United States ~ Lesson 6 Reagan's Presidency
Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980. He ran against Jimmy Carter and won by a landslide.
Reagan had also been a popular movie star and radio commentator. He then became governor of California. Reagan promised to get America moving again.
Economic Recovery
One of the biggest problems Reagan had to face was the inflation rate. The economy actually worsened before it improved. In November 1982 over 11 million people were out of work. As inflation increased, so did the national debt. From 1975 to 1982 the national debt nearly doubled. By 1984, the unemployment rate dropped from 10% to 8%. The rate of inflation was slower as well.
Supreme Court
Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. She was the first woman to be on the court.
Central America
The U.S.S.R. and Cuba sent men and weapons to Central and South America to help rebels overthrow their government. Marxist revolutionists took over the government of Nicaragua in 1981. Then Nicaragua sent military to fight in El Salvador and Honduras. The United States opposed these revolutions because they took away rights of the people.
The United States helped El Salvador and Honduras fight the rebels. The U.S. also helped those who were trying to restore the old Nicaraguan government.
Decline of the Cold War
Reagan wanted to build more long-range missiles. The U.S.S.R. said this was a violation of the 1972 SALT pact. Reagan took a different approach to ending the Cold War. He built up peace by strengthening America's economic and military power. He wanted the Soviets to know they could not win if they chose to fight the United States. The Cold War was finally over when the U.S.S.R. ceased to exist on December 26, 1991.
Immigration Policy Change
The Immigration Reform and Control Act was passed on November 6, 1986. This act made several changes in the U.S. immigration law including:
Employers must show their employees' immigration status.
It is against the law to hire illegal immigrants.
Some seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants were legalized.
The act legalized illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. before January 1, 1982 if they had lived in the U.S. continuously and paid a fine and back taxes, admitted to being illegal, had not committed crimes, and had minimal knowledge of US history, government, and the English language.
About 3 million illegal immigrants were given legal status by this act.
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