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
USS Ronald Reagan island. "Ronald Reagan" was christened by Reagan's wife Nancy on 4 March 2001 at Newport News Shipbuilding, the crew moved aboard on 30 October 2002, and the ship was commissioned on 12 July 2003 at Naval Station Norfolk, with Captain J. W. Goodwin in command. Vice President Dick Cheney and Lynne Cheney were both present at the ceremony, as well as Nancy Reagan, who gave the ship's crew the traditional first order as an active unit of the Navy: "Man the ship and bring her to life." "Ronald Reagan" made her maiden voyage on 21 July 2003. President Reagan, who