US History › Section P · From the Reagan era to today › Topic P.1
The Reagan Revolution
Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980 by arguing that the federal government had grown too large and too costly. His tax cuts, defence build-up and fight against inflation reshaped American politics for a generation, and historians still debate who gained and who paid.
In this topic
- A nation looking for a change
- From Hollywood to Sacramento
- The 1980 coalition
- Supply-side economics
- Cutting taxes
- Spending, Social Security and the deficit
- Breaking inflation, at a price
- Unions and deregulation
- Worked example: reading Reagan's words in context
- Worked example: weighing the record
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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