The First 100 Days: Reagan Pushed His Agenda of Tax Cuts and Less Government
What also helped Reagan was his powerful communication skills. As a former actor in the movies and on television, he was able to appeal directly to the public through frequent speeches and televised addresses from the Oval Office, and Americans quickly came to like him, even if many disagreed with his policies.
It took Reagan more than 100 days to get his program of tax cuts and less government through Congress, but he did succeed. And many historians say it was his first 100 days that paved the way, by enabling Reagan to bond with Middle America and show his determination to keep pushing until his program got through.
- Read more about George Washington's first 100 days.
- Read more about Franklin Roosevelt's first 100 days.
- Read more about Harry Truman's first 100 days.
- Read more about history.
Reader Comments
Add to my Recall Reagan comment
As Governor, Reagan cut numbers of inspectors on state projects. Men died when improperly supported trenches caved in on them. A young prisoner in a huge prison died because of Gov. Reagan's cuts. He was ordered to change a big glass bottle on a water cooler. The bottle broke. Pieces of glass cut an artery and he bled to death. There were no guards nearby and because of Reagan he died. Some of the freeway sections that collapsed in earthquakes were said to have weak concrete due to corruption not caught by inspectors. Gov. R. closed a lot of public health centers. His pals built their own and profited when they got Medicare and MediCal patients. The Far Right loved Reagan but he hurt a lot of people. I also helped recall him when his cuts to health care made a friend's boy wait for therapy. Time passed and the boy had to use a wheelchair instead of having a therapist exercise his body to be strong. She came to me crying, as time passed and Reagan's cuts damaged her boy's health and life.
I tried to recall Governor Reagan. Why we failed..
As Governor, Reagan was automatically a Regent of California's tax-constructed and operated Land Grant Colleges. He and other Regents, preferring church schools, imposed tuition for the first time. His banker pals made high interest student loans. We lack the skilled professionals who never attended because of him. Our recall failed because many notaries refused to notarize petitions free or charged up to $10 a page. Many of my carriers threw filled petitions away, being far from other notaries or not bothering to call me. Some county clerks closed offices to prevent petitions from being presented on time. Back then, every signature had to have the precinct number. Many didn't know it. At the last moment, we took thousands of petitions to county courthouses and filled in the numbers, but it was too late. A student borrowed my notes. His Masters dissertation led to making the precinct number not needed anymore. Reagan began privatizing and de-regulating. He did so much damage, it's impossible to say how horrific it was. Families with homes in foreclosure now are feeling effects of what that man did as governor & president, for his banker and corporate funders.
Christian Capitalist anti-Red Truman
FDR & Stalin were on friendly terms as WWII allies. FDR wanted peaceful coexistence. But Truman had anti-Red advisers & listened to them. He announced the Truman Doctrine, to "contain Communism." At the end of WWII., when Japan was already negotiating for peace, the Red Army obeyed the Yalta agreement to the letter and began to cross the Manchuria border to take Japan from its West. To prevent the USSR from having any say in post war Japan, Truman nuked two Japanese cities. That horrible act destroyed America's former good reputation. It opened the way for all phases of the Cold War. By the time Gorby took over, discipline maintained by Stalin was gone and religious advisers were influencing USSR policy--shifting it to capitalism. I haven't searched yet, but i think I''ll find Catholic or Orthodox Catholic advisers very close to those leading the "glasnost" movement. Reagan & the pope were on the cover of "Time," boasting they destroyed the USSR. it fell into the hands of the Russian Mafia who bought cheaply the vast amount of assets created by the planned economy. Americans must search to find information that is not revisionist about our former WWII ally.
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