Editing Ronald Reagan (section)

== Presidency (1981–1989) ==
{{Main|Presidency of Ronald Reagan}}
{{for timeline|Timeline of the Ronald Reagan presidency}}
{{Further|Domestic policy of the Ronald Reagan administration|Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration}}

===First inauguration===
{{Main|First inauguration of Ronald Reagan}}{{Multiple image
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Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th president of the United States on January 20, 1981.{{sfn|Woodard|2012|p=xiv}} [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Warren E. Burger]] administered the [[Oath of office of the president of the United States|presidential oath of office]].<ref name="JCCIC">{{cite web |title=49TH INAUGURAL CEREMONIES |url=https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/49th-inaugural-ceremonies/ |access-date=June 15, 2021 |publisher=United States Senate}}</ref> In his {{ws2|Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address|inaugural address}}, Reagan commented on the country's economic malaise, arguing, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem".{{sfn|Woodard|2012|pp=116–117}} As a final insult to President Carter, Iran waited until Reagan had been sworn in before announcing the release of their American hostages.<ref>{{cite book |last=Moody |first=Sidney C. |url=https://archive.org/details/444daysamericanh0000mood |title=444 days : the American hostage story |publisher=Rutledge Press |year=1981 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=126}}

==="Reaganomics" and the economy===
{{Main|Reaganomics}}

Reagan advocated a ''[[laissez-faire]]'' philosophy,{{sfn|Karaagac|2002|p=113}} and promoted a set of [[neoliberal]] reforms dubbed "Reaganomics", which included [[monetarism]] and [[supply-side economics]].{{sfnm|1a1=Li|1y=2013|1p=221|2a1=Gerstle|2y=2022|2p=150|3a1=Roy|3y=2012|3p=155}}

====Taxation====
{{Missing information|section|analysis|date=November 2023}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan addresses the nation from the Oval Office on tax reduction legislation.jpg|thumb|alt=Reagan addressing the nation from the Oval Office on tax reduction legislation, 1981|Reagan outlining his plan for tax cuts, 1981]]

Reagan worked with the [[boll weevil Democrats]] to pass tax and budget legislation in a Congress led by [[Tip O'Neill]], a liberal who strongly criticized Reaganomics.{{sfnm|1a1=Cannon|1y=2001|1p=100|2a1=Pemberton|2y=1998|2pp=99–102}}{{efn|Despite their various disagreements, Reagan and O'Neill developed a friendship across party lines. O'Neill told Reagan that Republican opponents were friends "after six o'clock". Reagan would sometimes call O'Neill at any time and ask if it was after six o'clock to which O'Neill would invariably respond, "Absolutely, Mr. President".{{sfn|Cannon|2001|pp=100, 102}}}} He lifted federal oil and gasoline price controls on January 28, 1981,{{sfn|Graetz|2012|p=34}} and in August, he signed the [[Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981]]{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=103}} to dramatically lower federal [[income tax in the United States|income tax rates]] and require exemptions and brackets to be indexed for inflation starting in 1985.{{sfn|Steuerle|1992|p=42}} Amid growing concerns about [[National debt of the United States|the mounting federal debt]], Reagan signed the [[Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982]],{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|pp=127–128}} one of the eleven times Reagan raised taxes.{{sfn|Bartlett|2012|p=44}} The bill doubled [[Cigarette taxes in the United States|the federal cigarette tax]], rescinded a portion of the corporate tax cuts from the 1981 tax bill,{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|p=62}} and according to [[Paul Krugman]], "a third of the 1981 cut" overall.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/08/opinion/the-great-taxer.html |url-access=subscription |title=The Great Taxer |last=Krugman |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Krugman |date=June 8, 2004 |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=August 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220114428/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/08/opinion/the-great-taxer.html |archive-date=December 20, 2022}}</ref> Many of his supporters condemned the bill, but Reagan defended his preservation of cuts on individual income tax rates.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=128}} By 1983, the amount of federal tax had fallen for all or most taxpayers, with taxes for higher-income people decreasing the most.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|p=63}}

The [[Tax Reform Act of 1986]] reduced the number of tax brackets and top tax rate, and almost doubled [[personal exemption]]s.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998||p=145}}

To Reagan, [[Reagan tax cuts|the tax cuts]] would not have increased the deficit as long as there was enough economic growth and spending cuts. His policies proposed that economic growth would occur when the tax cuts spurred investments. This theoretical relationship has been illustrated by some with the controversial [[Laffer curve]].{{sfnm|1a1=Pemberton|1y=1998|1p=96|2a1=Woodard|2y=2012|2p=119}} Critics labeled this "[[trickle-down economics]]", the belief that tax policies that benefit the wealthy will spread to the poor.{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=222}} [[Milton Friedman]] and [[Robert Mundell]] argued that these policies invigorated America's economy and contributed to the [[1990s United States boom|economic boom of the 1990s]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2004-06-20/reagans-economic-legacy |url-access=subscription |title=Reagan's Economic Legacy |date=June 21, 2004 |website=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]] |access-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626061110/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_25/b3888032_mz011.htm |archive-date=June 26, 2012}}</ref>

====Inflation and unemployment====
[[File:1981–1989 monthly unemployment, inflation, and interest rates.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Line charts showing Bureau of Labor Statistics and Federal Reserve Economic Data information on the monthly unemployment, inflation, and interest rates from January 1981 to January 1989|Monthly unemployment, inflation, and interest rates from January 1981 to January 1989 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and [[Federal Reserve Economic Data]]]]

Reagan took office in the midst of [[stagflation]].{{sfn|Li|2013|p=221}} The economy briefly experienced growth before plunging into a recession in July 1981.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|p=90}} As Federal Reserve chairman, [[Paul Volcker]] fought inflation by pursuing [[Shock therapy (economics)|a tight money policy of high interest rates]],{{sfn|Brands|2015|p=318}} which restricted lending and investment, raised unemployment, and temporarily reduced economic growth.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|pp=89–90}} In December 1982, the [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] (BLS) measured the unemployment rate at 10.8 percent.{{sfn|DeGrasse|1983|p=14}} Around the same time, economic activity [[List of economic expansions in the United States|began to rise until its end in 1990]], setting the record for the (then) longest peacetime expansion.{{sfn|Sinai|1992|p=1}}{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=235}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Robert |year=2002 |title=More: The Politics of Economic Growth in Postwar America |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0195152630|page=211}}</ref> In 1983, the recession ended{{sfn|Brands|2015|p=452}} and Reagan nominated Volcker to a second term in fear of damaging confidence in the economic recovery.{{sfn|Brands|2015|p=668}}

Reagan appointed [[Alan Greenspan]] to succeed Volcker in 1987. Greenspan raised interest rates in another attempt to curb inflation, setting off the [[Black Monday (1987)|Black Monday]] stock market crash, although the markets eventually recovered.{{sfn|Brands|2015|pp=669–671}} By 1989, the BLS measured unemployment at 5.3 percent.{{sfn|Li|2013|p=219}} The inflation rate dropped from 12 percent during the 1980 election to under 5 percent in 1989. Likewise, the interest rate dropped from 15 percent to under 10 percent.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=206}} Yet, not all shared equally in the economic recovery, and both [[Income inequality in the United States|economic inequality]]{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=166–167}} and the number of [[Homelessness in the United States|homeless individuals]] increased during the 1980s.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|pp=144–145}} Critics have contended that a majority of the jobs created during this decade paid the minimum wage.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=207}}

====Government spending====
In 1981, in an effort to keep it solvent, Reagan approved a plan for cuts to Social Security. He later backed off due to public backlash.{{sfn|Brands|2015|pp=300–303}} He then created the [[Greenspan Commission]] to keep Social Security financially secure, and in 1983 he signed amendments to raise both the program's payroll taxes and retirement age for benefits.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=163–164}} He had signed the [[Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981]] to cut funding for [[federal assistance]] such as food stamps, [[unemployment benefits]], [[subsidized housing]] and the [[Aid to Families with Dependent Children]],{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=141}} and would discontinue the [[Comprehensive Employment and Training Act]].{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=157}} On the other side, defense spending doubled between 1981 and 1985.<ref name="Bowman 2004">{{cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.pentagon08jun08-story.html |title=Reagan guided huge buildup in arms race |last=Bowman |first=Tom |date=June 8, 2004 |website=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |access-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101051322/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.pentagon08jun08-story.html |archive-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref> During Reagan's presidency, [[Project Socrates]] operated within the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] to discover why the United States was unable to maintain its economic competitiveness. According to program director Michael Sekora, their findings helped the country surpass the Soviets in terms of missile defense technology.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/30/trump-wrong-china-tech-former-reagan-star-wars-beat-soviets.html |title=Trump taking wrong approach to China, says Reagan official who helped 'Star Wars' beat the Soviets |last=Shinal |first=John |date=July 1, 2017 |publisher=[[CNBC]] |access-date=January 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117212646/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/30/trump-wrong-china-tech-former-reagan-star-wars-beat-soviets.html |archive-date=January 17, 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Fialka|1999|p=8}}

====Deregulation====
Reagan sought to loosen federal regulation of economic activities, and he appointed key officials who shared this agenda. [[William Leuchtenburg]] writes that by 1986, the Reagan administration eliminated almost half of the federal regulations that had existed in 1981.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=602–604}} The 1982 [[Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act]] deregulated [[savings and loan association]]s by letting them make a variety of loans and investments outside of real estate.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=130}} After the bill's passage, savings and loans associations engaged in riskier activities, and the leaders of some institutions embezzled funds. The administration's inattentiveness toward the industry contributed to the [[savings and loan crisis]] and costly bailouts.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=175}}

====Deficits====
The deficits were exacerbated by the early 1980s recession, which cut into federal revenue.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg|2015|pp=605–606}} The national debt tripled between the fiscal years of 1980 and 1989, and the national debt as a percentage of the gross domestic product rose from 33 percent in 1981 to 53 percent by 1989. During his time in office, Reagan never fulfilled his 1980 campaign promise of submitting a [[balanced budget]]. The United States borrowed heavily to cover newly spawned federal budget deficits.{{sfnm|1a1=Patterson|1y=2005|1pp=158–159|2a1=Woodard|2y=2012|2p=132}} Reagan described the tripled debt the "greatest disappointment of his presidency".{{sfn|Cannon|2001|p=128}} [[Jeffrey Frankel]] opined that the deficits were a major reason why Reagan's successor, Bush, reneged on [[Read my lips: no new taxes|his campaign promise]] by raising taxes through the [[Budget Enforcement Act of 1990]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/11/george-hw-bush-donald-trump-budget-deficit-taxes |title=George HW Bush was fiscally responsible – unlike Donald Trump |last=Frankel |first=Jeffrey |author-link=Jeffrey Frankel |date=December 11, 2018 |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231035650/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/11/george-hw-bush-donald-trump-budget-deficit-taxes |archive-date=December 31, 2022}}</ref>

===Assassination attempt===
{{Main|Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan moments before he was shot in an assassination attempt 1981.jpg|thumb|alt=Ronald Reagan waves his hand as he walks out of the Washington Hilton. Surrounding him are secret service agents, policemen, press secretary James Brady, and aide Michael Deaver.|Reagan (center) waves just before he is shot on March 30, 1981]]

On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot by [[John Hinckley Jr.]] outside the [[Washington Hilton]]. Although "right on the margin of death" upon arrival at [[George Washington University Hospital]], Reagan underwent surgery and recovered quickly from a broken rib, punctured lung, and internal bleeding. Professor J. David Woodard says that the assassination attempt "created a bond between him and the American people that was never really broken".{{sfn|Woodard|2012|pp=120–123}} Later, Reagan came to believe that God had spared his life "for a chosen mission".{{sfn|Kengor|2004|p=210}}

===Supreme Court appointments===
{{Main|Ronald Reagan Supreme Court candidates}}

Reagan appointed three Associate Justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]: [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] in 1981, which fulfilled a campaign promise to name the first female justice to the Court, [[Antonin Scalia]] in 1986, and [[Anthony Kennedy]] in 1988. He also elevated [[William Rehnquist]] from Associate Justice to Chief Justice in 1986.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|pp=147–148}} The direction of the Supreme Court's reshaping has been described as conservative.{{sfn|Shull|1993|p=44}}{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=148}}

===Public sector labor union fights===
[[File:President Ronald Reagan making a statement to the press regarding the air traffic controllers strike.jpg|thumb|alt=Ronald Reagan speaks to the press in the Rose Garden about the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization strike.|Reagan making a statement to the press regarding the air traffic controllers strike, 1981]]

Early in August 1981, the [[Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968)|Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization]] (PATCO) [[1981 Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization strike|went on strike]], violating a federal law prohibiting government unions from striking.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|pp=85–86}} On August 3, Reagan said that he would fire air traffic controllers if they did not return to work within 48 hours; according to him, 38 percent did not return. On August 13, Reagan fired roughly 12,000 striking air traffic controllers who ignored his order.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=107}} He used military controllers{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=158}} and supervisors to handle the nation's commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|p=86}} The breaking of the PATCO strike demoralized organized labor, and the number of strikes fell greatly in the 1980s.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=158}} With the assent of Reagan's sympathetic [[National Labor Relations Board]] appointees, many companies also won wage and benefit cutbacks from unions, especially in the manufacturing sector.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|p=88}} During Reagan's presidency, the share of employees who were part of a labor union dropped from approximately one-fourth of the total workforce to approximately one-sixth of the total workforce.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=170}}

===Civil rights===
[[File:President Ronald Reagan at the Signing Ceremony for Martin Luther King Holiday Legislation.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Ronald Reagan at the signing ceremony for Martin Luther King Jr. Day legislation in the Rose Garden. Coretta Scott King, George H. W. Bush, Howard Baker, Bob Dole, Jack Kemp, Samuel Pierce, and Katie Hall looking on.|Reagan signing the Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 1983]]

Despite Reagan having opposed the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]],{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=458}} the bill was extended for 25 years in 1982.{{sfn|Keyssar|2009|p=213}} He initially opposed the establishment of [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/02/reagan-establishes-national-holiday-for-mlk-nov-2-1983-244328 |title=Reagan establishes national holiday for MLK, Nov. 2, 1983 |last=Glass |first=Andrew |date=November 2, 2017 |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=January 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105034714/https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/02/reagan-establishes-national-holiday-for-mlk-nov-2-1983-244328 |archive-date=January 5, 2023}}</ref> and alluded to [[Martin Luther King Jr.#Allegations of communism|claims that King was associated with communists]] during his career, but signed [[Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day|a bill to create the holiday in 1983]] after it passed both houses of Congress with veto-proof margins.{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=461}} In 1984, he signed legislation intended to impose fines for [[fair housing]] discrimination offenses.{{sfn|Shull|1993|pp=56–57}} In March 1988, Reagan vetoed the [[Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987]], but Congress overrode his veto. He had argued that the bill unreasonably increased the federal government's power and undermined the rights of churches and business owners.{{sfn|Cannon|2000|pp=462–463}} Later in September, legislation was passed to correct loopholes in the [[Fair Housing Act of 1968]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/09/13/Reagan-signs-Fair-Housing-extension-into-law/8310590126400/ |title=Reagan signs Fair Housing extension into law|last=Thomas |first=Helen |date=September 13, 1988 |work=[[United Press International]] |access-date=March 13, 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Shull|1993|p=14}}

Early in his presidency, Reagan appointed [[Clarence M. Pendleton Jr.]], known for his opposition to affirmative action and equal pay for men and women, as chair of the [[United States Commission on Civil Rights]]. Pendleton and Reagan's subsequent appointees greatly eroded the enforcement of civil rights law, arousing the ire of civil rights advocates.{{sfn|Shull|1993|pp=114–116}} In 1987, Reagan unsuccessfully [[Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination|nominated Robert Bork]] to the Supreme Court as a way to achieve his civil rights policy that could not be fulfilled during his presidency; his administration had opposed [[affirmative action]], particularly in education, federal assistance programs, housing and employment,{{sfn|Amaker|1988|pp=157–159}} but Reagan reluctantly continued these policies.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=171}} In housing, Reagan's administration saw considerably fewer fair housing cases filed than the three previous administrations.{{sfn|Amaker|1988|pp=92–95}}

===War on drugs===
{{Main|War on drugs}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan signing the Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986.jpg|thumb|alt=Ronald Reagan with Nancy Reagan, Paula Hawkins, Charles Rangel and Benjamin Gilman for the signing ceremony for the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 in the East Room, 1986|Reagan signing the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986]]

In response to concerns about the increasing [[crack epidemic]], Reagan intensified the war on drugs in 1982.{{sfn|Alexander|2010|p=5}} While the American public did not see drugs as an important issue then, the FBI, [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] and the [[United States Department of Defense]] all increased their [[anti-drug]] funding immensely.{{sfn|Alexander|2010|p=49}} Reagan's administration publicized the campaign to gain support after crack became widespread in 1985.{{sfn|Alexander|2010|p=52}} Reagan signed the [[Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986]] and [[Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988|1988]] to specify penalties for drug offenses.{{sfn|Alexander|2010|p=53}} Both bills have been criticized in the years since for promoting [[Race and the war on drugs|racial disparities]].{{sfn|Sirin|2011|pp=91–96}} Nancy Reagan founded the "[[Just Say No]]" campaign to discourage others from engaging in [[recreational drug use]] and raise awareness about the dangers of drugs.{{sfn|Woodard|2012|pp=163–164}} A 1988 study showed 39 percent of high school seniors using illegal drugs compared to 53 percent in 1980,{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=10}} but [[Scott Lilienfeld]] and Hal Arkowitz say that the success of these types of campaigns has not been affirmatively proven.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-just-say-no-doesnt-work/ |title=Why 'Just Say No' Doesn't Work |last1=Lilienfeld |first1=Scott |author-link=Scott Lilienfeld |last2=Arkowitz |first2=Hal |date=January 1, 2014 |website=[[Scientific American]] |access-date=January 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104150629/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-just-say-no-doesnt-work/ |archive-date=January 4, 2023}}</ref>

===Escalation of the Cold War===
{{further|Cold War (1979–1985)|Reagan Doctrine}}
[[File:Reagan sitting with people from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region in February 1983.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Reagan in the Oval Office, sitting with people from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, February 1983|Reagan meeting with [[Afghan mujahideen]] leaders, 1983]]
Reagan ordered a massive defense buildup;{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=4}} he revived the [[B-1 Lancer]] program that had been rejected by the [[Carter administration]],{{sfn|Herring|2008|p=868}} and deployed the [[MX missile]].{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=37}} In response to Soviet deployment of the [[SS-20]], he oversaw [[NATO]]'s deployment of the [[Pershing missile]] in Western Europe.{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=260}} In 1982, Reagan tried to cut off the Soviet Union's access to [[hard currency]] by impeding its proposed gas line to Western Europe. This hurt the Soviet economy, but also caused ill will among American allies in Europe who counted on the resulting revenue; he later retreated on this issue.{{sfn|Graebner|Burns|Siracusa|2008|pp=29–31}} In March 1983, Reagan introduced the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]] (SDI) to protect the United States from space intercontinental ballistic missiles. He believed that this defense shield could protect the country from nuclear destruction in a hypothetical nuclear war with the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=131}} There was much disbelief among the scientific community surrounding the program's scientific feasibility, leading opponents to dub the SDI "Star Wars",{{sfn|Brands|2015|p=418}} although Soviet leader [[Yuri Andropov]] said it would lead to "an extremely dangerous path".{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=132}}

[[File:President Ronald Reagan in Meeting with President Mohammad Zia Ul Haq of Pakistan in Oval Office.jpg|thumb|Reagan listening to Pakistani president [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq]], 1982]]
In a 1982 address to the [[British Parliament]], Reagan said, "the march of freedom and democracy... will leave [[Marxism–Leninism]] on the [[ash heap of history]]". Dismissed by the American press as "wishful thinking", [[Margaret Thatcher]] called the address a "triumph".{{sfn|Cannon|2000|pp=271–272}} [[David Cannadine]] says of Thatcher that "Reagan had been grateful for her interest in him at a time when the British establishment refused to take him seriously", with the two agreeing on "building up stronger defenses against Soviet Russia" and both believing in outfacing "what Reagan would later call '[[Evil Empire speech|the evil empire]]{{'"}},{{sfn|Cannadine|2017|p=38}} in reference to the Soviet Union, during a speech to the [[National Association of Evangelicals]] in March 1983.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=130}} After Soviet fighters downed [[Korean Air Lines Flight 007]] in September, which included Congressman [[Larry McDonald]] and 61 other Americans, Reagan expressed outrage towards the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Brands|2015|pp=420–421}} The next day, reports suggested that the Soviets had fired on the plane by mistake.{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=133}} In spite of the harsh, discordant rhetoric,<ref>G. Thomas Goodnight, "Ronald Reagan's re‐formulation of the rhetoric of war: Analysis of the 'zero option,' 'evil empire,' and 'star wars' addresses." ''Quarterly Journal of Speech'' 72.4 (1986): 390–414.</ref> Reagan's administration continued discussions with the Soviet Union on [[START I|{{nowrap|START I}}]].{{sfn|Herring|2008|pp=868–869}}

[[File:President_Ronald_Reagan_Meeting_with_President_Hosni_Mubarak_of_Egypt_in_The_Oval_Office.jpg|alt=President Ronald Reagan Meeting with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in The Oval Office|thumb|Reagan meeting Egyptian President [[Hosni Mubarak]] in the [[Oval Office]], September 1983]]
Although the Reagan administration agreed with the communist government in China to [[Three Communiqués|reduce the sale of arms to Taiwan]] in 1982,{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=270}} Reagan himself was the first president to reject [[containment]] and ''détente'', and to put into practice the concept that the Soviet Union could be defeated rather than simply negotiated with.<ref name="Knopf" /> His [[Operation Cyclone|covert aid]] to [[Afghan mujahideen]] forces through Pakistan against the Soviets has been given credit for assisting in ending the [[Soviet occupation of Afghanistan]].{{Sfn|Bergen|2001|p=68}} However, the United States was subjected [[blowback (intelligence)|to blowback]] in the form of the [[Taliban]] that opposed them in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|the war in Afghanistan]].{{sfn|Herring|2008|pp=883–884}} In his [[1985 State of the Union Address]], Reagan proclaimed, "Support for [[freedom fighter]]s is self-defense."{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=320}} Through the [[Reagan Doctrine]], his administration supported [[anti-communist]] movements that fought against groups backed by the Soviet Union in an effort to [[rollback]] Soviet-backed communist governments and reduce Soviet influence across the world.{{sfnm|1a1=Kanet|1y=2006|1p=340|2a1=Pach|2y=2006|2p=78}} The Reagan administration ignored [[human rights violations]] in the countries they backed and held a narrow definition of [[human rights]].{{sfnm|1a1=Wawro|1y=2010|1p=381|2a1=Søndergaard|2y=2020|2p=4}} Other human rights concerns include the [[Genocide under Ríos Montt|genocide in Guatemala]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Gunson |first=Phil |date=April 2, 2018 |title=Gen Efraín Ríos Montt obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/02/gen-efrain-rios-montt-obituary |work=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104150256/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/02/gen-efrain-rios-montt-obituary |archive-date=January 4, 2023 |access-date=January 4, 2023}}</ref> as well as [[Truth Commission (Chad)|mass killing]]s in [[Chad]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maclean |first1=Ruth |last2=Camara |first2=Mady |date=August 24, 2021 |title=Hissène Habré, Ex-President of Chad Jailed for War Crimes, Dies at 79 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/24/world/africa/hissene-habre-dead.html |url-access=subscription |work=[[The New York Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104145936/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/24/world/africa/hissene-habre-dead.html |archive-date=January 4, 2023 |access-date=January 4, 2023}}</ref>

===Invasion of Grenada===
{{main|United States invasion of Grenada}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan discusses the situation in Grenada with a group of bipartisan members of Congress.jpg|thumb|alt=Reagan in the White House to discuss the Grenada situation with a bipartisan group of members of Congress, October 1983|Reagan discussing the Grenada situation with a bipartisan group of members of Congress, 1983]]

On October 19, 1983, [[Maurice Bishop]] was overthrown and murdered by one of his colleagues. Several days later, Reagan ordered American forces to invade Grenada. Reagan cited a regional threat posed by a Soviet-Cuban military build-up and concern for the safety of hundreds of American medical students at [[St. George's University]]. Two days of fighting commenced, resulting in an American victory.{{sfn|Cannon|2001|pp=187–188}} While the invasion enjoyed public support in the United States, it was criticized internationally, with the [[United Nations General Assembly]] voting to censure the American government.{{sfn|Brands|2015|p=403}} Cannon later noted that throughout Reagan's 1984 presidential campaign, the invasion overshadowed the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombings]],{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=393}} which killed 241 Americans taking part in [[Multinational Force in Lebanon|an international peacekeeping operation]] during the [[Lebanese Civil War]].{{sfn|Lawrence|2021|p=176}}

===1984 election===
{{Main|Ronald Reagan 1984 presidential campaign|1984 United States presidential election}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1984.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|alt=Results for the 1984 United States presidential election|1984 electoral vote results. Reagan won 525–13.]]

Reagan announced his reelection campaign on January 29, 1984, declaring, "America is back and standing tall".{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=141}} In February, his administration reversed the unpopular decision to send the [[United States Marine Corps]] to Lebanon, thus eliminating a political liability for him. Reagan faced minimal opposition in the Republican primaries,{{sfn|Cannon|2001|pp=188–191}} and he and Bush accepted the nomination at [[1984 Republican National Convention|the Dallas convention]] in August.{{sfn|Boller|2004|p=369}} In the general election, his campaign ran the commercial, "[[Morning in America]]".{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=452}} At a time when the American economy was already recovering,{{sfn|Brands|2015|p=452}} former vice president [[Walter Mondale]]{{sfn|Brands|2015|p=186}} was attacked by Reagan's campaign as a "tax-and-spend Democrat", while Mondale criticized the deficit, the SDI, and Reagan's civil rights policy. However, Reagan's age induced his campaign managers to minimize his public appearances. Mondale's campaign believed that Reagan's age and mental health were issues before [[1984 United States presidential debates|the October presidential debates]].{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|pp=141–142}}

Following Reagan's performance in the first debate where he struggled to recall statistics, his age was brought up by the media in negative fashion. Reagan's campaign changed his tactics for the second debate where he quipped, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience". This remark generated applause and laughter,{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|pp=142–143}} even from Mondale. At that point, Broder suggested that age was no longer a liability for Reagan,{{sfn|Cannon|2001|p=196}} and Mondale's campaign felt that "the election was over".{{sfn|Pemberton|1998|p=144}} In November, Reagan won a landslide reelection victory with 59 percent of the popular vote and 525 electoral votes from 49 states. Mondale won 41 percent of the popular vote and 13 electoral votes from the District of Columbia and his home state of Minnesota.{{sfnm|1a1=Boller|1y=2004|1p=373|2a1=Cannon|2y=2003|2p=434}}

===Response to the AIDS epidemic===
{{main|Ronald Reagan and AIDS}}
[[File:NYC 1987 let the record show.png|thumb|upright=0.85|alt=A 1987 ACT UP art installation quoting Reagan on AIDS with a blank slate to represent silence|Reagan has been criticized for his delayed and muted response to the AIDS epidemic. This 1987 art installation by [[ACT UP]] quotes Reagan on AIDS with a blank slate, representing total silence.]]

The [[AIDS epidemic]] began to unfold in 1981,{{sfn|Gellin|1992|p=24}} and AIDS was initially difficult to understand for physicians and the public.{{sfn|Kazanjian|2014|p=353}} As the epidemic advanced, according to White House physician and later physician to the president, brigadier general John Hutton, Reagan thought of AIDS as though "it was the measles and would go away". The October 1985 death of the President's friend [[Rock Hudson]] affected Reagan's view; Reagan approached Hutton for more information on the disease. Still, between September 18, 1985, and February 4, 1986, Reagan did not mention AIDS in public.{{sfn|Cannon|2000|p=731}}

In 1986, Reagan asked [[C. Everett Koop]] to develop a report on AIDS. Koop angered many evangelical conservatives, both in and out of the Reagan administration, by stressing the importance of sex education including condom usage in schools.{{sfn|Cannon|2000|pp=731–733}} A year later, Reagan, who reportedly had not read the report,{{sfn|Koop|1991|p=224}} gave his first speech on the epidemic when 36,058 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, and 20,849 had died of it.{{sfn|Shilts|2000|p=596}} Reagan called for increased testing (including routine testing for marriage applicants) and mandatory testing of select groups (including federal prisoners).<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Reagan Urges Wide AIDS Testing But Does Not Call for Compulsion|first=Phillip M.|last=Boffey|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/01/us/reagan-urges-wide-aids-testing-but-does-not-call-for-compulsion.html|date=June 1, 1987}}</ref> Even after this speech, however, Reagan remained reluctant to publicly address AIDS.{{sfn|Cannon|2000|loc=chapter 22}}

Scholars and AIDS activists have argued that the Reagan administration largely ignored the [[AIDS crisis]].{{sfn|Lucas|2009|pp=478–479}}{{sfn|Francis|2012|p=290}}{{sfn|Kim|Shin|2017|pp=518–519}} [[Randy Shilts]] and [[Michael Bronski]] said that AIDS research was chronically underfunded during Reagan's administration, and Bronski added that requests for more funding by doctors at the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] were routinely denied.{{sfn|Shilts|2000|p=xxii}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://forward.com/news/7046/rewriting-the-script-on-reagan-why-the-president |title=Rewriting the Script on Reagan: Why the President Ignored AIDS |last=Bronski |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Bronski |date=November 14, 2003 |website=[[The Forward]] |access-date=March 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116112651/https://forward.com/news/7046/rewriting-the-script-on-reagan-why-the-president/ |archive-date=January 16, 2023}}</ref> In a September 1985 press conference (soon after Hollywood celebrity Rock Hudson had announced his AIDS diagnosis) Reagan called a government AIDS research program a "top priority", but also cited budgetary constraints.{{sfn|Brands|2015|pp=654, 656}} Between the fiscal years of 1984 and 1989, federal spending on AIDS totaled $5.6&nbsp;billion. The Reagan administration proposed $2.8&nbsp;billion during this time period, but pressure from congressional Democrats resulted in the larger amount.<ref>{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Robert |year=2007 |title=Transforming America: Politics and Culture During the Reagan Years |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-12400-3|page=138}}</ref>

===Addressing apartheid===
[[File:Reagan with Desmond TutuC26199-10.jpg|thumb|alt=Reagan and Desmond Tutu shaking hands in the Oval Office, 1984|Shortly after the 1984 election, Reagan met [[Desmond Tutu]], who described Reagan's administration as "an unmitigated disaster for us blacks",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gish |first=Steven |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/55208501 |title=Desmond Tutu : a biography |date=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=0-313-32860-9 |location=Westport, Conn. |oclc=55208501}}</ref> and Reagan himself as "a racist pure and simple".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=John |title=Rabble-rouser for peace : the authorized biography of Desmond Tutu |publisher=Rider |date=2006 |isbn=1-84413-571-3 |location=London |oclc=70672522 |page=255}}</ref>]]

Popular opposition to [[apartheid]] increased during Reagan's first term in office and the [[disinvestment from South Africa]] movement achieved critical mass after decades of growing momentum. Criticism of apartheid was particularly strong on college campuses and among [[mainline Protestant]] denominations.<ref>{{cite news| title=Divestment Was Just One Weapon in Battle Against Apartheid| last=Counte| first=Cecelie| date=January 27, 2013| url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/27/is-divestment-an-effective-means-of-protest/divestment-was-just-one-weapon-in-battle-against-apartheid| website=The New York Times| access-date=August 13, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Berger| first=Joseph| title=Protestants Seek More Divestment| date=June 10, 1986| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/10/us/protestants-seek-more-divestment.html| work=The New York Times| location=New York City|access-date=August 13, 2019| via=The Times's print archive}}</ref> President Reagan was opposed to divestiture because he personally thought, as he wrote in a letter to [[Sammy Davis Jr.]], it "would hurt the very people we are trying to help and would leave us no contact within South Africa to try and bring influence to bear on the government". He also noted the fact that the "American-owned industries there employ more than 80,000 blacks" and that their employment practices were "very different from the normal South African customs".<ref>{{cite book| editor1-last=Skinner| editor1-first=Kiron K.| editor2-last=Anderson| editor2-first=Annelise| editor3-last=Anderson| editor3-first= Martin| title=Reagan: A Life In Letters| year=2004| publisher=Free Press| location=New York City| isbn=978-0743219679| pages=520–521}}</ref>

The Reagan administration developed [[constructive engagement]]{{sfn|Thomson|2008|p=113}} with the South African government as a means of encouraging it to gradually move away from apartheid and to give up its nuclear weapons [[South Africa and weapons of mass destruction|program]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Van Wyk |first1=Martha |date=August 7, 2009 |title=Sunset over Atomic Apartheid: United States–South African nuclear relations, 1981–93 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682740902764569 |journal=[[Cold War History (journal)|Cold War History]] |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=51–79 |doi=10.1080/14682740902764569 |s2cid=218575117 |access-date=February 19, 2024}}</ref> It was part of a larger initiative designed to foster peaceful economic development and political change throughout southern Africa.<ref name=AT2008SApolicy>Thomson, pp. 106–123</ref> This policy, however, engendered much public criticism, and renewed calls for the imposition of stringent sanctions.<ref name=UngerVale>{{cite journal| last1=Ungar| first1=Sanford J.| last2=Vale| first2=Peter| title=South Africa: Why Constructive Engagement Failed | journal=Foreign Affairs| date=Winter 1985–86| volume=64| issue=2| url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-africa/1985-12-01/south-africa-why-constructive-engagement-failed| pages=234–258| doi=10.2307/20042571| jstor=20042571}}</ref> In response, Reagan announced the imposition of new sanctions on the South African government, including an [[arms embargo]] in late 1985.<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Smith| first=William E.| title=South Africa Reagan's Abrupt Reversal| url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959843,00.html| date=September 16, 1985| magazine=Time | volume=126| issue=11 |access-date=August 13, 2019}}</ref> These sanctions were seen as weak by anti-apartheid activists and as insufficient by the president's opponents in Congress.<ref name=UngerVale/> In 1986, Congress approved the [[Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act]], which included tougher sanctions; Reagan's veto was overridden by Congress. Afterward, he remained opposed to apartheid and unsure of "how best to oppose it". Several European countries, as well as Japan, also imposed their sanctions on South Africa soon after.<ref>{{cite web| last=Glass| first=Andrew| title=House overrides Reagan apartheid veto, Sept. 29, 1986| date=September 27, 2017| url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/29/house-overrides-reagan-apartheid-veto-sept-29-1986-243169| work=Politico| access-date=August 13, 2019}}</ref>

===Libya bombing===
{{Main|1986 United States bombing of Libya}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan being briefed by the National Security Council staff.jpg|thumb|alt=Reagan being briefed by the National Security Council Staff on the 1986 Libya air strike in the White House Situation Room. Seated with Reagan is George Shultz, William Casey, Don Regan, and Charles Gabriel.|Reagan receiving a briefing on the Libya bombing, 1986]]

Contentious relations between Libya and the United States under President Reagan were revived in the [[West Berlin discotheque bombing]] that killed an American soldier and injured dozens of others on April 5, 1986. Stating that there was irrefutable evidence that Libya had a direct role in the bombing, Reagan authorized the use of force against the country. On April 14, the United States launched a series of [[airstrike]]s on ground targets in Libya.{{sfnm|1a1=Brands|1y=2015|1pp=530–531|2a1=Woodard|2y=2012|2p=161}} Thatcher allowed the [[United States Air Force]] to use Britain's air bases to launch the attack, on the justification that the United Kingdom was supporting America's right to self-defense under Article 51 of the [[Charter of the United Nations]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/15/newsid_3975000/3975455.stm|title=1986:US Launches air-strike on Libya|access-date=April 19, 2008|date=April 15, 2008|work=BBC News }}</ref> The attack was, according to Reagan, designed to halt [[Muammar Gaddafi]]'s "ability to export terrorism", offering him "incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior".<ref>{{citation|first=Dennis|last=Piszkiewicz|series=Praeger Security International|title=Terrorism's War with America: A History|year=2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-97952-2|page=66}}</ref> The attack was condemned by many countries; by an overwhelming vote, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to condemn the attack and deem it a violation of the Charter and international law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/41/a41r038.htm |title=A/RES/41/38 November 20, 1986 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=April 14, 2014}}</ref>

===Iran–Contra affair===
{{Main|Iran–Contra affair}}
[[File:Photograph of President Reagan receiving the Tower Commission Report in the Cabinet Room - NARA - 198581.jpg|thumb|alt=Reagan in the Cabinet Room to receive the Tower Commission Report on the Iran–Contra affair, February 1987|Reagan receiving the [[Tower Commission]] on the [[Iran–Contra affair]], 1987]]

Reagan authorized [[William J. Casey]] to arm the [[Contras]], fearing that Communists would take over Nicaragua if it remained under the leadership of the [[Sandinistas]]. Congress passed the 1982 [[Boland Amendment]], prohibiting the CIA and Department of Defense from using their budgets to provide aid to the Contras. Still, the Reagan administration raised funds for the Contras from private donors and foreign governments.<ref>Weisberg, pp. 128–129</ref> When Congress learned that the CIA had secretly placed [[naval mine]]s in Nicaraguan harbors, Congress passed a second Boland Amendment that barred granting any assistance to the Contras.<ref>Patterson, pp. 208–209</ref> By mid-1985, [[Hezbollah]] began to [[Lebanon hostage crisis|take American hostages in Lebanon]], holding seven of them in reaction to the United States' support of Israel.{{sfn|Brands|2015|pp=488–491}}

Reagan procured the release of seven American hostages held by Hezbollah by selling American arms to Iran, then engaged in the Iran–Iraq War, in hopes that Iran would pressure Hezbollah to release the hostages.<ref name="weisberg129134"/> The Reagan administration sold over 2,000 missiles to Iran without informing Congress; Hezbollah released four hostages but captured an additional six Americans. On [[Oliver North]]'s initiative, the administration redirected the proceeds from the missile sales to the Contras.<ref name="weisberg129134">Weisberg, pp. 129–134</ref> The transactions were exposed by ''[[Ash-Shiraa]]'' in early November 1986. Reagan initially denied any wrongdoing, but on November 25, he announced that [[John Poindexter]] and North had left the administration and that he would form the [[Tower Commission]] to investigate the transactions. A few weeks later, Reagan asked a panel of federal judges to appoint [[United States Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel|a special prosecutor]] who would conduct a separate investigation.<ref>Patterson, pp. 210–211</ref>

The Tower Commission released a report in February 1987 confirming that the administration had traded arms for hostages and sent the proceeds of the weapons sales to the Contras. The report laid most of the blame on North, Poindexter, and [[Robert McFarlane (American politician)|Robert McFarlane]], but it was also critical of [[Donald Regan]] and other White House staffers.<ref>Brands, pp. 646–649</ref> Investigators did not find conclusive proof that Reagan had known about the aid provided to the Contras, but the report noted that Reagan had "created the conditions which made possible the crimes committed by others" and had "knowingly participated or acquiesced in covering up the scandal".<ref>Patterson, pp. 211–212</ref> The affair damaged the administration and raised questions about Reagan's competency and the wisdom of conservative policies.<ref>Rossinow, pp. 202–204</ref> The administration's credibility was also badly damaged on the international stage as it had violated its own arms embargo on Iran.<ref>Brands, pp. 653, 674</ref>

===The USS ''Stark'' incident===
In the context of the [[Tanker War]] on May 17, 1987, an Iraqi fighter jet hit the {{USS|Stark}} with two [[Exocet missiles]], killing 37 sailors.<ref name="usni3">{{cite news |last=LaGrone |first=Sam |date=May 17, 2017 |title=The Attack on USS Stark at 30 |url=https://news.usni.org/2017/05/17/the-attack-uss-stark-at-30 |work=USNI News}}</ref><ref name="nhhc1">{{cite news |title=Stark (FFG-31) |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/stark--ffg-31-.html |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |date=March 16, 2017}}</ref> Three days later, [[President Reagan]] declared a "policy of self-defense" would now be ordered, as he accepted Iraq's official apology:<ref name="ct2">{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/05/20/reagan-accepts-iraq-apology/ |title=Reagan Accepts Iraq Apology |date=May 20, 1987 }}</ref> "Our ships are deployed in the Persian Gulf in order to protect U.S. interests and maintain free access and maintain [[freedom of navigation]] and access to the area's oil supplies. It is a vital mission, but our ships need to protect themselves and they will. [From now on] if aircraft approach any of our ships in a way that appears hostile, there is one order of battle. Defend yourselves. Defend American lives.. We're going to do what has to be done to keep the Persian Gulf open. It's international waters. No country there has a right to try and close it off and take it for itself. And the villain in the piece really is Iran. And so they're delighted with what has just happened."<ref name="crim1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1987/5/20/reagan-declares-policy-of-self-defense-pwashington-president/|title=Reagan Declares Policy of Self-Defense &#124; News &#124; The Harvard Crimson|website=www.thecrimson.com}}</ref>

===Soviet decline and thaw in relations===
{{Further|Cold War (1985–1991)}}
[[File:Reagan and Gorbachev signing.jpg|thumb|alt=Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in the East Room, December 1987|Mikhail Gorbachev and Reagan signing the [[INF Treaty]], 1987]]

Although the Soviets did not accelerate military spending in response to Reagan's military buildup,{{sfn|Fischer|2019|p=8}} their enormous military expenses, in combination with [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivized agriculture]] and inefficient [[planned economy|planned manufacturing]], were a heavy burden for the [[Soviet economy]]. At the same time, the prices of oil, the primary source of Soviet export revenues, fell to one third of the previous level in 1985. These factors contributed to a stagnant economy during the tenure of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] as Soviet leader.<ref name="Gaidar">{{Cite book|last=Gaidar|first=Yegor|title=Collapse of an Empire: Lessons for Modern Russia|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|year=2007|pages=190–205}}</ref>
[[File:President Ronald Reagan giving a speech at Moscow State University in the USSR.jpg|left|thumb|President Ronald Reagan giving a speech at [[Moscow State University]] in the [[USSR]], 1988]]
Reagan's foreign policy towards the Soviets wavered between [[brinkmanship]] and cooperation.<ref>{{Citation|last=Miles|first=Simon|title=Peace Through Strength and Quiet Diplomacy|year=2021|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/before-and-after-the-fall/peace-through-strength-and-quiet-diplomacy/1F3C268659B85F9A905828845EB582A0|work=Before and After the Fall: World Politics and the End of the Cold War|pages=62–77|editor-last=Bartel|editor-first=Fritz|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/9781108910194.005|isbn=978-1-108-90677-7|s2cid=244861159|editor2-last=Monteiro|editor2-first=Nuno P.}}</ref> Reagan appreciated Gorbachev's revolutionary change in the direction of the Soviet policy and shifted to diplomacy, intending to encourage him to pursue substantial arms agreements.<ref name="Knopf">{{Cite journal |last=Knopf |first=Jeffery W. |year=2004 |title=Did Reagan Win the Cold War? |url=https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=444565 |journal=Strategic Insights |volume=III |issue=8 |access-date=August 10, 2019}}</ref> They held [[List of Soviet Union–United States summits#Cold War (1985–1991)|four summit conferences between 1985 and 1988]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lawrence|first=Mark Atwood|year=2008|title=The Era of Epic Summitry|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/255737|journal=Reviews in American History|volume=36|issue=4|pages=616–623|doi=10.1353/rah.0.0047|s2cid=144382902|issn=1080-6628}}</ref> Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, this would lead to reform and the end of communism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1982reagan1.html|title=Modern History Sourcebook: Ronald Reagan: Evil Empire Speech, June 8, 1982|access-date=November 15, 2007|publisher=Fordham University|date=May 1998}}</ref> The critical summit was in [[Reykjavík Summit|Reykjavík in 1986]], where they agreed to abolish all nuclear weapons. However, Gorbachev added the condition that SDI research must be confined to laboratories during the ten-year period when disarmament would take place. Reagan refused, stating that it was defensive only and that he would share the secrets with the Soviets, thus failing to reach a deal.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Lewis Gaddis|title=The Cold War: A New History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=62VjS6A6-q0C&pg=PA31|year=2006|page=31|publisher=Penguin |isbn=9781440684500}}</ref>

In June 1987, Reagan addressed Gorbachev during a speech at the [[Berlin Wall]], demanding that he "[[tear down this wall]]". The remark was ignored at the time, but after the wall [[Fall of the Berlin Wall|fell in November 1989]], it was retroactively recast as a soaring achievement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fisher |first=Marc |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/06/12/tear-down-this-wall-how-reagans-forgotten-line-became-a-defining-presidential-moment/ |title='Tear down this wall': How Reagan's forgotten line became a defining moment |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 2017 |access-date=November 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>[[Andreas Daum]], ''Kennedy in Berlin'' (2008), pp. 207‒13.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-myths-berlin-wall-fall-reagan-east-west-perspec-1102-20141031-story.html |title= Untangling 5 myths about the Berlin Wall |work= [[Chicago Tribune]] |date= October 31, 2014 |access-date= January 2, 2022}}</ref> In December, Reagan and Gorbachev met again at [[Washington Summit (1987)|the Washington Summit]]<ref>Rossinow, pp. 234–235</ref> to sign the [[Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty]], committing to the total abolition of their respective short-range and medium-range missile stockpiles.<ref>Patterson, p. 215</ref> The treaty established an inspections regime designed to ensure that both parties honored the agreement.<ref>Rossinow, p. 236</ref> In May 1988, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the treaty,<ref>Patterson, p. 216</ref> providing a major boost to Reagan's popularity in the aftermath of the Iran–Contra affair. A new era of trade and openness between the two powers commenced, and the United States and Soviet Union cooperated on international issues such as the Iran–Iraq War.<ref>Herring, pp. 897–898</ref>