Ronald Reagan’s domestic agenda passed through Congress in 1981 with the aid of conservative Southern Democrats. His budget included a ten percent tax cut in 1981 and 1982 and an additional five percent in 1983. These tax cuts were intended to boost the economy by keeping money in the private sector. However, the recession which Reagan inherited deepened during his first months in office. The budget deficit grew, and unemployment rose to levels not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Still, Reagan was unwilling to cut defense spending and increase domestic spending. Beginning in 1983, the economy began to improve; it was the beginning of a six year expansion of the economy which boosted Reagan’s popularity.

Reagan proved that inflation and interest rates could be controlled by the government. He reduced the growth in printing paper money, and from that time inflation has never been over five percent in one year. The double-digit interest rates fell as well, but not as low as Reagan hoped.

Among Reagan’s other accomplishments in his first term were the passage of provisions for the Individual Retirement Accounts to encourage workers to save money for retirement, the waging of a brief war to restore a pro-American government in Grenada, and the signing of a treaty with the Soviet Union to reduce the nuclear weapons arsenals of the two superpowers.

The Democrats had high hopes for the 1984 election. They had scored significant gains in the U.S. House du

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Ronald Reagan’s domestic agenda passed through Congress in 1981 with the aid of conservative Southern Democrats. His budget included a ten percent tax cut in 1981 and 1982 and an additional five percent in 1983. These tax cuts were intended to boost the economy by keeping money in the private sector. However, the recession which Reagan inherited deepened during his first months in office. The budget deficit grew, and unemployment rose to levels not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Still, Reagan was unwilling to cut defense spending and increase domestic spending. Beginning in 1983, the economy began to improve; it was the beginning of a six year expansion of the economy which boosted Reagan’s popularity.

Reagan proved that inflation and interest rates could be controlled by the government. He reduced the growth in printing paper money, and from that time inflation has never been over five percent in one year. The double-digit interest rates fell as well, but not as low as Reagan hoped.

Among Reagan’s other accomplishments in his first term were the passage of provisions for the Individual Retirement Accounts to encourage workers to save money for retirement, the waging of a brief war to restore a pro-American government in Grenada, and the signing of a treaty with the Soviet Union to reduce the nuclear weapons arsenals of the two superpowers.

The Democrats had high hopes for the 1984 election. They had scored significant gains in the U.S. House during the 1982 midterm elections, although in the Senate the Republicans actually gained a seat. The two leading Democratic contenders were former VP Walter Mondale of Minnesota and Sen. John Glenn of Ohio. Several more liberal Democrats ran as well. In the first caucus, Mondale placed first, far ahead of second-place Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado; Glenn’s campaign failed to deliver the showing he needed. Hart’s momentum continued into the New Hampshire primary, where he defeated Mondale by a 37–28 margin; Glenn was third with 12%. The first Super Tuesday primary in history was held on 3/13/1984; Hart won three of the five primaries and Mondale won two. Glenn’s best showing was his 21% showing in Alabama, where he placed second to Mondale. Glenn dropped out of the race, and the third candidate became Jesse Jackson, the first major black candidate for President since 1972. Jackson won 18% of the national primary vote.

The Republican Party was fairly united behind Reagan. Two unpledged slates of delegates received nine percent of the votes (Rhode Island and Tennessee), which was the most opposition Reagan encountered in the primaries. The moderates did not approve of the platform approved by the National Convention, but they voted to renominate Reagan.

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