The Great Communicator

Ronald Wilson Reagan was our 40th President – he left an indelible mark on the office of Presidency (1981-1989). When he entered his first term, this country was in trouble with double-digit inflation. His economic recovery plan, which coined a new word (Reaganomics), found a way to reduce the tax rates to encourage economic growth, control the money supply to put a halt to the inflation, reduce government spending and deregulate the economy. He also took a very tough position against the labor unions and survived an assassination attempt. He built up the military and took an aggressive stand against the USSR in the arms race, which resulted in the ending of the Cold War. He was a Renaissance Man – he had a degree in Economics and Sociology from Eureka College; he was an actor; President of the Screen Actors Guild; Spokesperson for General Electric; two-term governor for the State of California; and, of course, a very profound speaker. Following are some of Ronald Reagan’s more memorable quotes: “It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.” • “I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.” • “Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.” • “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” • “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” In 1994, the former president disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease earlier that year; he died ten years later at the age of 93. He always ranks highly in public opinion polls of U.S. Presidents and is credited for generating an ideological renaissance of the American political right.