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'''Debate: Should President Ford have pardoned former President Nixon?'''

'''Debate: Should President Ford have pardoned former President Nixon?'''

== President Ronald Reagan ==

== President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) ==

Ronald Reagan, born to a poor family in Illinois, was taught to read by his mother at home.<ref>http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2007/spring/schoolhouse.html</ref>  Like his father, Ronald was unsuccessful at most things in life, but had a positive attitude instilled in him by his mother and the "Disciples of Christ" evangelical Christian faith.  He played sports but was not very good; took economics in college but did poorly; became a second-rate sports broadcaster; and then went on to a second-rate movie career.  But through it all his upbeat optimism about people and America continued.

Ronald Reagan, born to a poor family in Illinois, was taught to read by his mother at home.<ref>http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2007/spring/schoolhouse.html</ref>  Like his father, Ronald was unsuccessful at most things in life, but had a positive attitude instilled in him by his mother and the "Disciples of Christ" evangelical Christian faith.  He played sports but was not very good; took economics in college but did poorly; became a second-rate sports broadcaster; and then went on to a second-rate movie career.  But through it all his upbeat optimism about people and America continued.

After campaigning for the conservative Barry Goldwater for president in 1964 (Goldwater lost), Reagan ran for governor of California by emphasizing two points:  (1) "to send the welfare bums back to work," and (2) "to clean up the mess at Berkeley" (referring to the student and hippie protests).  Reagan won in a stunning upset.  Two years later, he showed up at the Republican National Convention in Miami in 1968, when Nixon was being nominated for president.  Your teacher's brothers went to shake Reagan's hand instead of Nixon's, and it turned out that Reagan would be much more influential than Nixon was.

After campaigning for the conservative Barry Goldwater for president in 1964 (Goldwater lost), Reagan ran for governor of California by emphasizing two points:  (1) "to send the welfare bums back to work," and (2) "to clean up the mess at Berkeley" (referring to the student and hippie protests).  Reagan won in a stunning upset.  Two years later, he showed up at the Republican National Convention in Miami in 1968, when Nixon was being nominated for president.  Your teacher's brothers went to shake Reagan's hand instead of Nixon's, and it turned out that Reagan would be much more influential than Nixon was.

Every president who has served since President Reagan has imitated him, or benefited from him.  Reagan served from 1980 to 1988, winning reelection in 1984 by a record landslide number of votes.  President George H.W. Bush won the presidency by riding on Reagan's coattails; President Clinton imitated the style (but not the substance) of Reagan, and Clinton even made a special personal pilgrimage to meet Reagan after Clinton won the presidency in 1992.  President George W. Bush imitated Reagan by giving a weekly radio addresses just as Reagan did.  Politicians, both Democratic and Republican, cite Ronald Reagan today to gain support for their ideas, and the airport in D.C. is now named after him (which Clinton approved).

Every president who has served since President Reagan has imitated him, or benefited from him.  Reagan was elected president in 1980 and served as president from 1981 to 1989, winning reelection in 1984 by a record landslide number of votes.  President George H.W. Bush won the presidency by riding on Reagan's coattails; President Clinton imitated the style (but not the substance) of Reagan, and Clinton even made a special personal pilgrimage to meet Reagan after Clinton won the presidency in 1992.  President George W. Bush imitated Reagan by giving a weekly radio addresses just as Reagan did.  Politicians, both Democratic and Republican, cite Ronald Reagan today to gain support for their ideas, and the airport in D.C. is now named after him (which Clinton approved).

President Reagan campaigned and governed based on all the conservative principles:  less government, lower taxes, less regulation, more morality, new federalism (returning power from the federal government to the states), and a strong national defense (particularly against the communists).  Every year of his presidency had a major achievement, so much so that bumper stickers afterward were entitled, "Eight Great Years" in reference to his Administration.  President Reagan was the only person who became ''more'' conservative the longer he was in power.

President Reagan campaigned and governed based on all the conservative principles:  less government, lower taxes, less regulation, more morality, new federalism (returning power from the federal government to the states), and a strong national defense (particularly against the communists).  Every year of his presidency had a major achievement, so much so that bumper stickers afterward were entitled, "Eight Great Years" in reference to his Administration.  President Reagan was the only person who became ''more'' conservative the longer he was in power.