Political positions of Ronald Reagan Political positions of Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). Reagan served as President during the later part of the Cold War, an era of political and ideological disagreement between the United States and the Soviet Union. Reagan labeled the Soviet Union an "evil empire" that would be consigned to the "ash heap of history" and he later predicted that communism would collapse. He reversed the policy of détente and massively built up the United States military. Through it, Reagan ordered production of the MX missile, the
Ronald Reagan and expanded military; and contributed to the end of the Cold War. Termed the "Reagan Revolution," his presidency would reinvigorate American morale, reinvigorate the U.S. economy and reduce reliance upon government. As president, Reagan kept a diary in which he commented on daily occurrences of his presidency and his views on the issues of the day. The diaries were published in May 2007 in the bestselling book, "The Reagan Diaries". Ronald Reagan was 69 years old when he sworn into office for his first term on January 20, 1981. In his inaugural address (which Reagan himself wrote), he addressed the