The US economy improved rapidly from 1933 to 1937, but then relapsed into a deep recession in 1937–38. Of course, he had opposition to his New Deal, both from his own Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that was formed in 1937 blocked all his proposals for major liberal legislation (apart from a minimum wage law), and abolished many of the relief programmes when unemployment practically vanished during World War II. However, most of the regulations on business continued until they ended between 1975–1985, except for the regulation of Wall Street by the still existing Security and Exchange Commission. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security and several smaller programmes which he established are still alive till today. FDR appointed powerful men to top positions but he made all the major decisions, regardless of delays, inefficiency or resentment.
On FDR’s administrative style, the historian James M. Burns concluded: “The president stayed in charge of his administration…by drawing fully on his formal and informal powers as Chief Executive; by raising goals, creating momentum, inspiring a personal loyalty, getting the best out of people…by deliberately fostering among his aides a sense of competition and a clash of wills that led to disarray, heartbreak, and anger but also set off pulses of executive energy and sparks of creativity…by handing out one job to several men and several jobs to one man, thus strengthening his own position as a court of appeals, as a depository of information, and as a tool of coordination; by ignoring or bypassing collective decision-making agencies, such as the Cabinet…and always by persuading, flattering, juggling, improvising, reshuffling, harmonizing, conciliating, manipulating.”
The second case is President Ronald Reagan who also implemented significant and enduring changes during his tenure as the 40th president of the United States (1981-1989). Amid a weak economy and the Iran hostage crisis that called for stronger leadership, Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party presidential candidate, defeated incumbent President Jimmy Carter of the Democratic Party in the US presidential election on November 4, 1980. Although Reagan did not use the “Change” mantra, it was clear from his campaign promises that he planned to turn things around when elected. In his campaign he stressed lower taxes to stimulate the economy, less government interference in people’s lives, states’ rights and a strong national defence. Desirous for a change, Americans voted massively for Reagan. He received 50.7 percent of the popular vote as against 41 percent for Carter, carried 44 states (out of 50), and secured 489 electoral colleges to 49 for Carter. The Republicans also captured the Senate for the first time since 1952, and gained 34 seats in the House of Representative which however remained under the control of the Democratic Party.
In his inaugural address, on January 20, 1981, Reagan dwelt on the country’s economic problems and argued that “in this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem”. Immediately he was sworn into office, he sprang into action to implement policies that reflected his belief in individual freedom, liberalized economy, expanded military, and termination of communism. He implemented several economic initiatives including the so-called supply-side economics, dubbed Reaganomics, which is based on tax rate reduction to spur economic growth, control of the money supply to curb inflation, economic deregulation, and reduced government spending. The economic policies led to a reduction of inflation from 12.5 percent to 4.4 percent, and an average annual GDP growth of 7.91 percent. During his presidency, federal income tax rates dropped significantly with the signing of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, which lowered the top marginal tax bracket from 70 percent to 50 percent and the lowest bracket from 14 percent to 11 percent. In 1982 he signed the Job Training Partnership Act in support of his job creation programme which initiated one of the first public-private partnerships in the United States resulting in the creation of 16 million new jobs. He also announced the “War on Drugs” in 1982 to curb the increasing “crack epidemic” in the US. He ended the price controls on domestic oil which had contributed to energy crises in the early 1970s. The price of oil subsequently dropped, and the 1980s did not see the fuel shortages that the 1970s had. His policy of “peace through strength” resulted in a record peacetime defence build-up including a 40 percent real increase in defence spending between 1981 and 1985.
In his famous address on June 8, 1982 to the British Parliament, Reagan said “the forward march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history”, and on March 3, 1983, he predicted the collapse of communism, stating that “Communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written”. The same month, he called the Soviet Union “an evil empire”.
During his re-election bid in 1984, Reagan campaigned on the notion that it was “Morning again in America” implying that more positive changes are in the offing. Because of his good performance and positive results of the changes introduced during his first term, he won a landslide with the largest electoral college victory in American history. Foreign affairs dominated his second term, including ending of the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union. Reagan recognized and took advantage of the change in the direction of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev, and shifted to diplomacy, to encourage the Soviet leader to pursue substantial arms agreements and persuade him to allow for more democracy and free speech that would lead to reform and the end of Communism. He reached a nuclear disarmament agreement with Gorbachev. Speaking at the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev, saying, “If you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Emmanuel Ojameruaye
