During his second term as govoner, he gave his forth rebate of state taxes to the people, which was also the biggest at $5 billion largely through property tax. While govoner Reagan used his line item veto 943 times and was never overridden by legislature (Reagan 191). He did not run for reelection again because he accomplished what he set out to do by making the state government less costly, smaller, and more businesslike. He was able to upgrade the quality of people attracted to government, and cut the governments growth to a rate at or below the level of California_s population. He made the bureaucracy more responsive to the public, and begun to return some of the power and taxing authority seized by the state from local communities back to where they belonged, at the local level (Meese 91).
In 1976 Reagan decided to run for President, however he ran short of delegates to Ford and started looking towards the 1980 campaign. On November 13,1979 he announced his decision to run at the New York Hilton Hotel. This time he had a strong showing in New Hampshire and all the canidiants besides Bush dropped out, and later in May he did too. Later Reagan asked Bush to run as Vice President and together they went after Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. The night of the election, two hours before the polls closed in California, Carter called Reagan telling him he conceded, and congratulated him (Reagan 222). It was then that Reagan realized he would become the fortieth President of the United States.
Reaganomics
When Reagan took office in 1980 inflation was at 13.5%, meaning that the value of the dollar was decreasing. Reagan felt that the size and cost of government was too high, and figured that a cut in this field would drop inflation. The result was that inflation dropped to 4.3% in 1984, and continued to drop to 4.1% in 1988 (Lowe 381). The Middle Class income for families earning between $20,000.00 and $50,000.00, enjoyed the fastest expansion in net worth during the Reagan boom, a 28% rise.
Another effect Reagan had on society was in the way of charitable donations. When Reagan took office in 1980, charitable donations where at an all time low, inflation was high and people did not want to give, but when inflation was starting to drop, the people came around. For example, the Greenpeace organization experienced a 44% increase in membership, along with the Wilderness Society increasing members by 35%, even the National Wildlife Federation experienced a 14% increase. But it did not stop there, over 53% of the families in the United States volunteered time for worthy causes, a sharp increase from just 36% while Carter held office (Evans 220).
With the cuts in government spending, and a drop in inflation, Reagan created an economic boom that resulted in creating more than 21 million new jobs. President Reagan didn_t create low paying “hamburger flipper” type jobs, but he created jobs for the middle class paying anywhere from $7,012.00 on up. For example, while Carter was in office, his main contribution to the job market was only that for jobs paying under $7,012 at 41.77%, while Reagan only increased that job market by 6.0%. Reagan however increased the job market for jobs paying between $7,012.00 and $28,048.00 by 46.2%, and increased the market for jobs paying over $28,048.00 by 46.1%, while Carter had a fall of -9.9% from the Nixon/Ford era (Evans 125).
Response
While I was doing this paper on Ronald Reagan I learned a lot of things about him and how he lived his life. Ronald Reagan was an inspiration to me, he grew up and put all of his faith in the Lord and did what he had to do to get by. He was always looking out for his family and making sure that they were okay, either by always sending them money or finding work for them. He never let down and hated to loose a battle. I guess what inspired me the most is how it seems our lives are so familiar in what we believe and hold closest to our hearts. It is my personal opinion that more people should study him and his way of life and they too would be inspired.
Conclusion
Ronald “Dutch” Reagan was the kind of person that believed in perseverance and hard work by doing what had to be done, even if it meant not having everyone_s approval. He demonstrated this from the time he was a child in school and church, work and play, and helping others. When he went into the radio business he never gave up and ended up with a good job. In Hollywood he didn_t always have the best roles, but he played them, and eventually the good ones came around. He even went as far with his relationships and there to he felt as though he had started a new life when he met Nancy. Reagan gave a 110% when he held office, he reestablished the welfare state in California and even gave four rebates to the citizens. When he was President he did a lot of things that others couldn_t do with a Democratic Congress, and he improved society as we know it. Ronald Reagan is one of the elite people in the United States for all that he has done and the life that he lived.
Works Cited
Davis, Patti. Angels Don_t Die: My Father_s Gift of Faith. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
Edwards, Anne. Early Reagan: The Rise to Power. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1987.
Evans, Rowland, Jr., and Robert D. Novak. The Reagan Revolution. New York: Elsevier-Dutton Pub., 1988.
Lowe, Carl, ed. Reaganomics: The New Federalism. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1989.
Meese, Edwin, III. With Reagan: The Inside Story. Washington, DC: Regnery Gateway, 1992.
Reagan, Ronald W. An American Life: The Autobiography/Ronald Reagan. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990.