Reagan Hurt U.S., Soviet Economies

Newswise — "The legacy of Ronald Reagan is quite mixed. As a president, his policies were often failures. He did successfully bankrupt the Soviet Union but at a cost in our economy that we still have not recovered from," said Shirley Ann Warshaw, professor of political science at Gettysburg College, commenting on former President Ronald Reagan's legacy.

"Reagan brought back a sense of integrity, national pride in the presidency and dignity to the office of the president which has been consistently challenged throughout the Johnson and Nixon presidencies," Warshaw said. "Carter was caught in a failed economy in which interest rates soared and an energy crisis led to gas shortages. Reagan offered the American public a new beginning, by saying that he could put the economy in order, rebuild international prestige which had been damaged first by Vietnam and then by the Iranian hostage crisis, and effectively deal with the military escalation of the Soviet Union. To some extent Reagan did this.  He turned around the economy through massive tax cuts, which led to the greatest deficits in U.S. history.  He cut federal spending on social service programs, leading to increases in homelessness, unemployment, welfare, and other social service costs." 

"Perhaps the greatest failure of his administration came during Iran-contra, when he authorized funding for the Nicaguaran contras to fight the Sandistas, in spite of the Boland Amendments in Congress which forbade such spending," Warshaw said. "Oliver North, a member of the Reagan National Security Council staff, created the Enterprise, which was a complex scheme to fund the contras by selling arms to Iran - in spite of legislation forbidding such arms sales to Iran after the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979.  Congress held numerous hearings on the Iran-contra affair, even considering penalties such as censure or impeachment.  The crisis drove Donald Regan from his job as chief of staff, and Reagan then brought in Howard Baker, majority leader in the Senate to serve as chief of staff for damage control."

Shirley Ann Warshaw is an expert in the presidency and has served as a source for comments and opinions on the presidency throughout the nation. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a master's degree from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. Her fields of interest include American politics, the presidency, executive-legislative relations and public policy.

Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences. With approximately 2,500 students, it is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to Gettysburg National Military Park. The college was founded in 1832.