Reagan Revolution through President Obama - Research Paper Example

During one of his democratic campaigns in Nevada in 2008, President Barack Obama recognized the achievements of the Regan revolution. Major historical turning points in the Regan regime include the privatization of companies and groups to provide services previously provided by the government and the rebuilding of the military. These historical turning points impact current America's society, economy, politics, and culture. AIDs was first reported in the 1980s, initially, the American people lost confidence in the government because it refused to acknowledge it, but as time went by the confidence was restored as the government took measures to address it. Regan’s deregulation movement saw the privatization of transport and industrial sectors which benefit Americans to date. On current matters, the nation's decision to go to war with Afghanistan and Iraq after the 9/11 attacks were based on allegations by the Bush administration which did not receive support from the international community.

Reagan Revolution through President Obama

In his farewell speech, Ronald Regan talked of his experience as the United States president and how revolutionary those years were; hence the term Regan Revolution. His revolution has been in numerous debates with conservatives seeing him as a hero while liberals still complain about what he ruined and what he changed. Nonetheless, his legacy shaped and is still shaping American politics, culture, economics, and diplomacy. All US presidents after Regan have looked up to his model of presidential leadership. During one of his democratic campaigns in Nevada in 2008, current president, Barrack Obama recognized the achievements of the Regan revolution. This is a clear indication that Obama contemplated following in Regan’s footsteps in bringing change to America (Troy, 2004). This paper discusses how president Obama brought about the Regan revolution.

First, the significant historical turning points in the Regan regime discussed will be discussed. Secondly, the paper analyses the impact of these historical turning points on America's current society, economy, politics, and culture. Thirdly, it explains the ways in which the AIDS epidemic shook America's general confidence beginning in the 1980s when Regan was still in power. Fourthly, giving examples, the paper explains how the deregulation movement of the Reagan era affects Americans today. Lastly, it discusses the reasons behind the nation's decision to go to war with Afghanistan and Iraq, after the 9/11 attacks, as well as the response from the international community.

Discussion

There were significant historical turning points that occurred during the Regan regime. One is the privatization of companies and groups to provide services previously offered by the government. This was advantageous in that it reduced the governments’ size and direct influence on society. This also reduced expenses and bureaucracy in these aspects since private firms provide services at lower operational costs and increased efficiency than government agencies. The other historic turning point was the rebuilding of the weak military. The rebuilding of the military provided security for its people and made the US a reliable ally and a superpower that can neutralize Soviet aggression and expansion (Troy, 2004).

The AIDS epidemic was detected in the US in 1981 (Troy, 2004). Politicians did not respond to it and further associated it with homosexuals who they felt could be ignored. In 1981 Center for Disease Control published the first official document on the disease, but the government chose to ignore it and offered no support to the public. Medical breakthroughs occurred between 1986 and 1987, but people were frustrated over the length of time it took to improve access. Even with the availability of the drugs they were still not affordable. The signing of the HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of October 2009 brought an improvement in the quality and availability of care, especially for low-income earners. This was a move that made the citizen regain confidence in the government.

In the 1980s during the Regan years, deregulation was a way of reducing the government’s role in business. The effect of this movement is still felt throughout the nation and has been adopted by dozens of countries the world over. The transport industry was the first economic sector to experience deregulation. The first industries to be affected were the airline and the railroads through the Staggers Rail Act which allowed pricing flexibility in railroads. This implies that they offered cheaper services than government agencies, plus it was more efficient and responsive to the people’s needs. In the industrial sector, deregulation offered greater freedom that enabled industries to maintain a competitive edge with foreign companies who had limited restrictions on their activities (Troy, 2004).

            The devastating effects of 9/11 as the reasons for starting a war against Iraq are still ambiguous. This is so because Iraq was not involved in the attacks and Saddam Hussein operated his regime within his country. However, the Bush administration convinced people that Iraq posed a threat based that it possessed weapons of mass destruction, and was (the administration) convinced that they were cooperating with Al Qaeda. Since the allegations by the Bush administration were not certified and hence deemed speculative, they used self-defense as the reason to take the war in Iraq despite them not having the backing of the international community and the United Nations Security Council (Bluth, 2004).