Ronald Reagan He also strongly advocated the Republican ideal of less government regulation of the economy, including that of undue federal taxation. Reagan did not seek re-election to a third term as governor in 1974; he was succeeded by the Secretary of State, Democrat Jerry Brown, who took office on January 6, 1975. In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan soon established himself as the conservative candidate with the support of like-minded organizations such as the American Conservative Union, which became key components of his political base, while Ford
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