Ronald Reagan's Domestic Affairs
Laurel Verdick Megan Gordon Connor Headding Lauren Burdick
Ronald Reagan's Presidency
Reagan was a Republican who was President from 1981-1989. He served two terms in Office as the 40th president with George H. Bush as Vice President. Before becoming president, Reagan was a popular actor who had won a Guilds Award.
Ronald Reagan TV Ad: "Its morning in america again"
Iran-Contra
From August 20, 1985 to March 4, 1987 President Reagan was involved with the Iran-Contra Scandal. This scandal was a large secretive deal between the Iran government and the U.S. government to free U.S. citizens who had been taken as hostages in exchange for military supplies. The money earned from this sale was given to the Nicaraguan contras, a rebel group fighting against their government. When news of this "Arms for Hostages Deal" had leaked, members of the National Security Council weer immediately implicated and televised court hearings were broadcasted. Reagan pled ignorance of any involvement which caused Americans to feel as if he was uninvolved in his own policies.
Air Traffic Control Strike of 1981
On August 3, 1981 over 12,00 air traffic controllers went on strike. They refused to work until Reagan met their demand of higher pay, better working conditions, and lesser hours. Since air traffic controllers are government employees, the strike was deemed as illegal and Reagan was furious. President Reagan gave an executive order that stated the employees must go back to work within 48 hours, if not, they would be fined or fired. Workers continued striking because they knew that their field of work was very difficult to be trained in quickly; thus, they hoped that things would go drastically wrong in the airline industry, so Reagan would be forced to to meet their requirements. However, airline services did not drop as PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) had expected and Regan fired over 11,000 members of PATCO and new workers were quickly hired. As a result, some saw Reagan as a tough President who means business, while others saw his actions as an act against public sector unionism.
The Challnger Disaster
On January 28,1986 the Challenger Spacecraft exploded seventy-three seconds after lift-off. All seven astronauts on board were killed, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who had been selected to learn about space. When she returned to Earth she was going to go around the country and teach kids about space. Although engineers warned their superiors that it was too cold to launch, they were given the O.K. for lift-off anyways. This event changed Americans' opinions on space endeavors.
CNN: Challenger Disaster Live on CNN
Nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor
During Reagan's presidency, the very first female was appointed to be Supreme Court Justice. Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor on August 19, 1981 because she was a very conservative Republican. No matter her political status, she considered every one of her cases very carefully and was involved in the court for 24 years. O'Connor was involved in large scale cases such as abortion rights and domestic controversies. During her term, she battled breast cancer and provided an image of what a strong woman is capable of to further motivate the female population of America.
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
In 1986, Reagan enacted the Immigration Reform and Control Act to curb undocumented immigration into the United States. The main objective of this act was to end the economic incentive of jobs to undocumented immigrants while still granting immigrants their legal status. The Immigration Reform and Control Act consisted of two major provisions. The first was legalization, or amnesty, which established a procedure for granting legal resident status to undocumented immigrants, and the second was creating employer sanctions which would prohibit employers from knowingly hiring or recruiting immigrants who were unauthorized to work in the United States. Ultimately, the employer sanctions failed to bring any improvement to the immigration issue, but legalization prevailed and allowed millions of immigrants to become naturalized citizens over the years.