Presidency of Ronald Reagan as the ninth greatest president. A 2018 poll of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section also ranked Reagan as the ninth greatest president. A 2006 poll of historians ranked the Iran-Contra affair as the ninth-worst mistake made by a sitting president. Presidency of Ronald Reagan The presidency of Ronald Reagan began on January 20, 1981, when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican, took office following a landslide victory over Democratic incumbent President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election. Reagan was
Political positions of Ronald Reagan under his predecessor, President Jimmy Carter. This view stemmed from his less-government intervention views. He had pledged to abolish the department, but did not pursue that goal as President. As President, Reagan removed controls on oil prices, resulting in lower prices and an oil glut. He did not reduce U.S. dependency on oil by imposing an oil-importing fee because of his opposition to taxation. He trusted the free marketplace. Lower global oil prices had the effect of reducing the income that the Soviet Union could earn from its oil exports. Political positions of Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan was the 40th