IN THE NEWS - Ronald Reagan's Political Legacy

IN THE NEWS - Ronald Reagan's Political Legacy
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Saturday, June 12, 2004

This is In the News in VOA Special English.

As America's fortieth president, Ronald Reagan promised the nation a hopeful future. This made him very popular. So did his warm ways with people.

 
President Bush during funeral services Friday for Ronald Reagan at the National Cathedral.
Mister Reagan was laid to rest Friday with a national funeral service in Washington. His body was then flown for burial in California, where he died last Saturday at the age of ninety-three.

Ronald Reagan was president from nineteen-eighty-one to nineteen-eighty-nine. This week's Economist¹ magazine calls him "the man who beat Communism." He worked hard for the defeat of the Soviet² Union which finally happened in nineteen-ninety-one.

Political experts say his policies also made the United States more conservative for years to come. Ronald Reagan said government cannot solve problems. He said government was the problem.

The former Democrat³ changed the Republican Party. He was the first Republican candidate for president in years to win the support of many labor⁴ union members. Religious conservatives also liked his positions on social issues.

Today Republicans control both the White House and Congress. Some in Congress now were first elected in the nineteen-eighties.

During his first term, Mister Reagan got Congress to reduce taxes in an effort to improve the economy. He said letting people keep more of what they earned would increase growth. But he also set records for defense⁵ spending. Budget deficits⁶ grew. Other programs were reduced.

Critics say his administration hurt the poor through cuts in social programs. His position on defense was also criticized. He called the Soviet Union an "evil empire." But many historians say his policies helped end the years of tension known as the Cold War. They say his military spending forced the Soviets⁷ to also spend more, until they had no more to spend.

To try to prevent war, Mister Reagan met five times with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. They agreed to reductions in nuclear missiles.

Mister Reagan's foreign policy also supported anti-Communist forces. Experts say this helped end the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. But several officials in his administration got into legal trouble for giving money secretly to rebels in Nicaragua. This went against the wishes of Congress.

The money came from secret sales of weapons to Iran. President Reagan had approved the sales as part of an effort to win the release of some American hostages in Lebanon. But he said he did not know the money went to Nicaraguan rebels known as the contras.

George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton followed Mister Reagan in office. Both also followed his example of using military force when they thought it was needed, as has the current President Bush.

For more about Ronald Reagan's life, listen on Sunday at this hour for PEOPLE IN AMERICA, in VOA Special English. In the News was written by Jerilyn Watson.

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

7 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。