Critical Analysis of Ronald Reagan
Overall, I would argue that Reagan was a subpar president but an adequate chief citizen. Reagans
core missions was to cut taxes, end the Iran hostage crisis, and end soviet communism. All of
these things did occur but to what degree were they a result of Reagan and his involvement is
questionable. He did cut taxes but that led to other considerably more detrimental issues. The tax
cut led to a drastic increase in the homeless population (200,000 to 700,000). Poverty also
increased from 11% to 15%. The ending of the Iran hostage crisis didn’t really have much to do
with him and his action as the hostages were released on his first day in office. Lastly, the end to
soviet communism also likely was arguably not due to his initiative. It is likely that given the
circumstances communism in the soviet union was going to fall regardless. However, he did
conduct many meetings regarding foreign affairs. On the other hand, he also flaunted the claim
that we were developing some sort of high tech star wars technology which was just a bluff.
Despite all of this most people look back and remember him positively. I would argue that this is
due to his effectiveness as a chief citizen. His ideals, for the most part, lined up well with the
American public. He wanted to cut taxes, fix the Iran hostage crisis, and end soviet communism.
He also gave a strong sense of hope to Americans everywhere.
Despite the general public remembering the likeable characteristics about Reagan the nastier
ones tend to get swept underneath the rug. He blatantly ignored the HIV epidemic and took
action in a delayed response. The biggest overlooked aspect of him was his involvement in the
Savings and Loan Crisis. Due to his deregulation of loans and another financial aspects, certain
individuals took advantage of a loophole which ended up costing the federal government over
three billion dollars. Overall, on the surface Reagan appeared as a great president due to his
hopeful message and how his ideals lined up with Americans but a lot of his political action
reflects him negatively.