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| | In 1987, Reagan insisted on visiting the Berlin Wall, despite obvious security risks of being in the range of communist East German sharpshooters. In preparing for his speech there, Reagan wrote into his draft remarks this demand: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" His advisors removed this phrase from the speech as being unrealistic, silly and confrontational. As the drafts of the speech went back in forth between Reagan and his advisors, Reagan kept inserting the phrase and his advisors kept removing it. But Reagan included the phrase in his spoken words, the world heard it, and within a few years (1989) the wall was miraculously torn down. Reagan is credited with ending communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, though it still remains in China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba. | | In 1987, Reagan insisted on visiting the Berlin Wall, despite obvious security risks of being in the range of communist East German sharpshooters. In preparing for his speech there, Reagan wrote into his draft remarks this demand: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" His advisors removed this phrase from the speech as being unrealistic, silly and confrontational. As the drafts of the speech went back in forth between Reagan and his advisors, Reagan kept inserting the phrase and his advisors kept removing it. But Reagan included the phrase in his spoken words, the world heard it, and within a few years (1989) the wall was miraculously torn down. Reagan is credited with ending communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, though it still remains in China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba. |
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| − | In 1988, Reagan struck a deal for free trade (no tariffs) with Canada. Reagan was also instrumental in enabling his Vice President, George H.W. Bush, to be elected president in 1988 in a close race. Mention Scalia, Bork. | + | In 1988, Reagan struck a deal for free trade (no tariffs) with Canada. Reagan was also instrumental in enabling his Vice President, George H.W. Bush, to be elected president in 1988 in a close race. |
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| − | women Sup. Ct. Justices 1981: 1st woman Supreme Court Justice was Sandra Day O'Connor; second was Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1993)
| + | Reagan could have done better in certain areas. His appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court were Sandra Day O'Connor (the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court), Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy, and only Scalia proved to be a consistently strong conservative. To Reagan's credit, he probably appointed O'Connor on the recommendation of conservative Justice (and future Chief Justice) William Rehnquist, who had been her law school classmate and friend. And Reagan's first pick for the seat filled by Kennedy was Robert Bork, a solid conservative, but he was not confirmed by the Senate. |
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| − | | + | Reagan also signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which made it a crime for an employer to hire an illegal alien (immigrant). This Act forced employers to have their employees complete the "I-9 form" to prove that they were here legally. The law imposed financial penalties on companies who caught employing illegal aliens, in the hope of discouraging illegal immigration. But the Act granted amnesty to most illegal aliens who arrived before 1982, and that made many think that future illegal aliens would receive amnesty also. Illegal immigration increased even more. |
| − | Immigration, from Nick:
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| − | 3. I think that the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, signed into law by President Ronald Regan, was a good idea, for the most part. This law made it a crime for an employer to hire an illegal immigrant. It also required that employers have their employees complete a form, called the I-9 form, which provided documentation that the employees were legally eligible to work in the United States. It imposed financial penalties for the companies who were employing illegal aliens. This law was passed in hopes of reducing illegal immigration.
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| − | While I believe that this law was a great idea, I disagree with a part of it. This Act granted amnesty to most illegal aliens who had come to the United States before 1982 and had lived there ever since. I understand why this was done, but I do not agree with it.
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| | == Gulf War == | | == Gulf War == |