Ronal Reagan a High Performance Leader

Ronal Reagan a High Performance Leader

Introduction

Hollywood actor and president of the United States from 1981 to 1988, Reagan was arguably the most able propagandist ever to occupy the White House. Born in Illinois in 1911, Reagan formed his political views during the Republican domination of American politics following World War I. He worked as a sports announcer at a local radio station, where he invented the play-by-play commentary to match the wire description of baseball games in other cities. In 1937, while in Hollywood on a baseball assignment, he took a screen test at Warner Brothers and subsequently became a leading man for that studio. Although a number of Reagan's films fall into the category of propaganda—for example, the pro-British International Squadron (1941) and wartime shorts and informational films made for the U.S. military—far more significant than his film roles was his work as president of the Screen Actors Guild beginning in 1947 (Beschloss, 2008). In this capacity Reagan became a prominent anti-Communist voice, supporting the investigations of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). He also acted as corporate spokesman for the General Electric Company.

As A Leader

Reagan's ability to communicate with the American people allowed him to rise above partisan politics and political problems with his administration to become one of the most popular presidents in the twentieth century. While in office, Reagan actively worked to block gun control legislation, although after leaving office he endorsed the Brady Bill, which established criminal background checks on people trying to purchase weapons and placed other restrictions on gun ownership.

Reagan's marriage to actress Nancy Davis (1923-) in 1952 linked him to one of the most powerful political families in California's Republican Party. He first appeared nationally in 1964, rallying the party faithful to endorse Senator Barry Goldwater's (1909-1998) bid for president. In 1966 Reagan won the governorship of California (he served until 1975) and achieved a national reputation as a hard-line conservative by clamping down on student activism and the anti-Vietnam War movement. He became a perennial contender for the Republic presidential nomination, which he finally won in 1980. Reagan's blend of down-home charm and Cold War saber-rattling fitted the mood of the times, especially since former president Jimmy Carter (1924-) had appeared weak as a result of the Iranian hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 (Bumgarner, 1994). One TV ad featured a sinister Soviet bear crashing through the woods, while another asked pointedly: “Do you think the Soviets would have invaded Afghanistan if Ronald Reagan had been President?” Reagan excelled in the televised debates with Carter, demolishing the president with the perfectly timed dismissive line: “There you go again.”

Once in office, Reagan invested heavily in U.S. propaganda overseas, appointing his trusted friend Charles Z. Wick (1917-) to the directorship of the United States Information Agency (USIA) and endorsing such propaganda initiatives as Radio Martí broadcasts to Fidel Castro's (1926-) Cuba. Reagan's multimillion-dollar Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)—nicknamed “Star Wars” by the ...