7 Ronald W. Reagan 7takes in. He pushed through Congress a program of
increased defense spending and budget and tax cuts. A
severe recession in 1982–83 lessened the appeal of so-called
Reaganomics, but a strong economic recovery aided his
landslide reelection in 1984.
Foreign Affairs
When he entered office in 1980, Reagan believed that the
United States had grown weak militarily and had lost the
respect it once commanded in world affairs. Aiming to
restore the country to a position of moral, as well as mili-
tary, preeminence in the world, he called for massive
increases in the defense budget to expand and modernize
the military and urged a more aggressive approach to
combating Communism and related forms of leftist
totalitarianism.
Reagan took an early stand against the Soviet Union.
In March of 1983, he announced his Strategic Defense
Initiative, popularly called Star Wars. It was perceived by
the Soviets as a threat, but early in Reagan’s second term
they agreed to resume disarmament talks. Summits with
Soviet secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, 1986, and
1987 resulted in a treaty reducing intermediate-range
nuclear forces. In 1988 the two leaders met in Moscow for
initial discussions on the control of long-range arsenals.
In 1983 there were crises in Lebanon, where 241 U.S.
Marines were killed in a terrorist bombing, and Grenada,
where U.S. forces were sent to depose a Marxist regime.
In keeping with Reagan’s belief that the United States
should do more to prevent the spread of Communism, his
administration expanded military and economic assis-
tance to friendly Third World governments battling leftist
insurgencies. He also actively supported guerrilla move-
ments and other opposition forces in countries with leftist