Ronald Reagan Part 1

Conservatism, in the most true sense of its political meaning, could have never emerged with such immense popularity in the US without a brilliant (political) actor like President Ronald Reagan. His career provides the whole political framework for conservative politicians today on how to frame issues to encourage popular support for cuts to government programs, reduced regulations, reduced gun control, and more tax cuts. Whether you are a fan of more conservative policies or not, Reagan’s polarizing embrace of such strongly conservative political values still has a foothold on the whole policy agenda of the modern Republican Party -- much in the same way as FDR for the Democratic Party.

In Part 1 of our conversation on President Ronald Reagan, we try to make sense of how he transitions from an admirer of FDR (even as one of the most influential actors in Hollywood) to campaigning for a candidate like Walter Mondale. As Reagan’s jump into the political arena comes at the height of the most progressive economic era in American history, what specifically motivates him to switch his party affiliation from a Democrat to a Republican? Much of Reagan’s political dominance can be attributed to his easy-going nature and confidence for public speaking and in engagement with American media, so why did he choose to use his talents to lift far-right conservatism out of irrelevance in American politics? We reason that Reagan could have been a successful politician without an extreme approach, and in doing so we explore the motivations behind Reagan’s transformation to wrap up Part 1.

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