Reagan,Ronald (1911–2004)

Abstract

Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911–2004) was the fortieth president of the United States, from 1981 to 1989. Praised and criticized for his social conservatism, appealing rhetorical style, and fervent anticommunism, Reagan's foreign policy witnessed both increased tension with the Soviet Union and the beginning of the peaceful demise of the Cold War. Thus, this brief entry focuses mainly on Reagan's role in the making of the so‐called “second Cold War,” the president's relationship with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the nuclear arms race, and the ending of the Cold War. Furthermore, this entry aims to offer a brief overview of the historiographical debate concerning the administration's renewed covert and overt interventionism in Central and Latin America, in part unveiled by the Iran–Contra scandal (1985–87) that threatened to bring down the administration in its second term (1984–89).