EVIL EMPIRE

Ronald Wilson Reagan's Evil Empire Speech

Ronald Wilson Reagan's Evil Empire Speech

Introduction

In 1981 Ronald Wilson Reagan, the former Hollywood actor, became the fortieth president of the United States. Nicknamed 'The Great Communicator' for his supposedly outstanding skills as an orator, he served two terms of office, after surviving an assassination attempt in 1981. Reagan campaigned on a platform of economic reform, and on taking office immediately initiated policies designed to reduce taxes and government spending. His foreign policy commitments centered upon a desire to take a firm stand against the Soviet Union, a country he once famously described as the 'evil empire'. To this end he dramatically increased the defense budget, and became a strong advocate of the Strategic Defense Initiative, which he announced in 1983. His second term in office was rocked by the Iran-Contra affair, which started in 1985, in which anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles were sold to Iran in exchange for Iran's help in securing the release of American hostages in Lebanon. Despite such controversy, Reagan's personal popularity remained high, and his ability to weather any criticism led to him being dubbed 'The Teflon President'.

The speech of Ronald Reagan 's March 8th of 1983 at the U.S. National Association of Evangelicals in the city of Orlando ( Florida ) is the first officially recorded use of the phrase "evil empire" (Evil Empire) by the president. .

The phrase evil empire was used for the first time on March 8 of 1983 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to refer specifically to the then Soviet Union of Yuri Andropov, while the government headed by the former assumed an aggressive or hard line towards the Soviet Union, which favored the idea that the United States should not only meet but exceed the strategic and global military capabilities of the Soviets. According to the words of the president during the speech in which he mentioned the phrase "evil empire" for the first time.

Speech was given by President Ronald Reagan on March 8, 1983.. Reagan began by discussing a number of issues on which he and the members of the conservative religious group were in complete agreement: opposition to federally funded clinics providing birth control to teenagers without parental consent, support for prayer in public schools, and condemnation of abortion and the "infanticide" of handicapped infants.

Discussion

The most controversial speech Ronald Reagan delivered during his eight years in office was his address in Orlando, Florida, to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983. The speech focused on issues important to religious conservatives, including prayer in school, abortion, and parental consent requirements for teenagers using contraceptives. The president also shared with his audience his belief that "there is sin and evil in the world" and that "our nation … has a legacy of evil with which it must deal," a reference to slavery and the struggle of African Americans for equal rights. But the passages that ignited a firestorm in the American media and overseas appeared in the closing paragraphs, when Reagan ...