Ronald Reagan's Foreign Policy

Having a handsome, charismatic actor go from a minor movie star to one of America’s most influential presidents is an almost unthinkable scenario. However, for the fortieth president, Ronald Reagan this was his reality. Reagan was an incredible speaker and was dubbed “The Great Communicator” for his powerful and well delivered speeches. An extremely conservative Republican was perhaps one of America’s most influential and well-liked presidents by the greater American public. His main platforms throughout his political career were pro-family and anti-communist. The latter idea essentially shaped his foreign policy for his time in office. Reagan was natural leader from his early days as class president, then as California’s governor, and finally

He increased military and naval resources to fight in the Arabian Gulf and helped the United Nations by sending a eight hundred marines to Lebanon. Two hundred and forty-one men were killed by a suicide bomber and two years later the rest left the country with the conflict unresolved. After that conflict he sent only a tank to protect Kuwait’s oil tankers from the Iran-Iraq war. The American public was hesitant after the Vietnam War to join any more conflicts that may not be resolved. This is known as the Vietnam Syndrome. It is highly believed that the way Reagan dealt with the Cold War ended the syndrome. Reagan was suspicious of the Soviet Union and put a lot of time into stopping the spread of communism through third world countries. He created the Reagan Doctrine to help this idea. The doctrine’s purpose was to, “"stand by all our democratic allies. And we must not break faith with those who are risking their lives—on every continent, from Afghanistan to Nicaragua—to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth” (Reagan). Under his doctrine he increased aid to the Salvadoran military and the public loved his action-filled, anti-communist plans he used. When his doctrine began to get the United States into too many conflicts, Ronald’s Secretary of Defense, Casper Weinberger created the Weinberger Doctrine. This plan stated “Military involvement must have vital interests, a determination to win, clear political & military objectives, public, and congressional support”