#20- Ronald Reagan  ronald reagan  Category: It’s Really
Complicated  Term in office: 40th president, 1981-1989
Political Party: Republican  Home State: California  “In the
1980s, Ronald Reagan restored the United States to its hegemonic
role in world affairs.  Calling the Soviet Union an “evil
empire” and admonishing Gorbachev at Berlin to “tear down this
wall,” the president drew clear lines in the Cold War sand after
the ineffectual diplomacy of Nixon, Ford, and Carter. 
Determined to win the Cold War rather than fight it out to a
draw, he re-invigorated the U.S. military, daring the Soviet
Union to catch up.  Of course, it could not, and the U.S.S.R.
collapsed under the financial strain of matching upkeep costs
with U.S. military spending.  Domestically, he brought the
nation back from Carter-era malaise with a bold series of tax
cuts, eliminating government waste along the way.  By restoring
business confidence, he facilitated an era of wide prosperity
ending the vicious cycle of high inflation and high