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[[File:President Ronald Reagan addressing British Parliament in London, England.jpg|thumb|As the first U.S. president invited to speak before the [[British Parliament]] (June 8, 1982), Reagan predicted [[Marxism-Leninism]] would end up on the "[[ash heap of history]]"<ref>{{cite web|author=Reagan, Ronald.|date=June 8, 1982|url=http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/reagan-parliament.htm|title=Ronald Reagan Address to British Parliament|publisher=The History Place|access-date=April 19, 2006}}</ref>]]
Reagan escalated the Cold War, accelerating a reversal from the policy of détente which had begun in 1979 after the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet invasion]] of [[Afghanistan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.event_summary&event_id=12594|title=Towards an International History of the War in Afghanistan, 1979–89|access-date=May 16, 2007|year=2002|publisher=The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011144144/http://wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.event_summary&event_id=12594|archive-date=October 11, 2007 }}</ref> Reagan feared that the Soviet Union had gained a military advantage over the United States, and the Reagan administration hoped that heightened military spending would grant the U.S. military superiority and weaken the Soviet economy.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|pp=66–67}} Reagan ordered a massive buildup of the [[United States Armed Forces]], directing funding to the [[B-1 Lancer]] bomber, the [[Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit|B-2 Spirit bomber]], [[cruise missile]]s, the [[LGM-118 Peacekeeper|MX missile]], and the [[600-ship Navy]].{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=200}} In response to Soviet deployment of the [[SS-20]], Reagan oversaw [[NATO]]'s deployment of the [[Pershing missile]] in West Germany.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=205}} The president also strongly denounced the Soviet Union and Communism in moral terms,{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|p=67}} describing the Soviet Union as an "[[Evil Empire speech|evil empire]]."{{sfn|Cannon|
[[File:Reagan sitting with people from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region in February 1983.jpg|thumb|right|Meeting with leaders of the Afghan [[Mujahideen]] in the Oval Office, 1983]]
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The Reagan administration placed a high priority on the Central America and the [[Caribbean Sea]], which it saw as a key front in the Cold War. Reagan and his foreign policy team were particularly concerned about the potential influence of [[Cuba]] on countries such as [[Grenada]], [[Nicaragua]], and [[El Salvador]]. To counter the influence of Cuba and the Soviet Union, Reagan launched the [[Caribbean Basin Initiative]], an economic program designed to aid countries opposed to Communism. He also authorized covert measures, such as the arming of Nicaragua's [[Contras]], to minimize Cuban and Soviet influence in the region.{{sfn|Brands|2015|pp=350–357}} The administration provided support to right-wing governments throughout Latin America, disregarding humans rights abuses in countries like [[Argentina]] and El Salvador.{{sfn|Rossinow|2015|pp=73, 77–79}}
Tensions rose between the left-wing [[Grenada]]n government of [[Maurice Bishop]] and the U.S. because Cuban construction workers were building an airfield on the island. On October 16, 1983, pro-Communist forces of [[Hudson Austin]] led a coup against Bishop, who was subsequently arrested and executed. Reagan dispatched approximately 5,000 U.S. soldiers to [[United States invasion of Grenada|invade Grenada]] nine days after. After two days of fighting that resulted in the deaths of nineteen Americans, forty-five Grenadans, and twenty-four Cubans, Austin's government was overthrown.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=205–206}} Reagan then declared, "Our days of weakness are over. Our military forces are back on their feet and standing tall."<ref>{{cite news |last=Clines |first=Francis X. |date=December 13, 1983 |title=Military of U.S. 'Standing Tall,' Reagan Asserts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/13/nyregion/military-of-us-standing-tall-reagan-asserts.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=March 31, 2023}}</ref> While the invasion enjoyed public support in the United States and Grenada,<ref name=Magnuson>{{Cite news| last =Magnuson |first =Ed |title =Getting Back to Normal |newspaper=Time |date =November 21, 1983 |url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926318-1,00.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080214134050/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926318-1,00.html|archive-date = February 14, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980–1989|publisher=Crown Forum|isbn=978-1-4000-5357-5|
===Iran–Contra affair===
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[[File:Gallup Poll-Approval Rating-Ronald Reagan.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Graph of Reagan's approval ratings in [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] polls]]
Since Reagan left office in 1989, substantial debate has occurred among scholars, historians, and the general public surrounding his legacy.<ref>Andrew L. Johns, ed., ''A Companion to Ronald Reagan'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015).</ref> Supporters have pointed to a more efficient and prosperous economy as a result of Reagan's economic policies,{{sfn|Hayward|
Critics contend that Reagan's economic policies resulted in rising budget deficits,{{sfn|Cannon|Beschloss|2001|p=128}} a wider [[Wealth inequality in the United States|gap in wealth]], and an increase in [[homelessness]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/reagans-real-legacy/ |title=Reagan's Real Legacy |last=Dreier |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Dreier |date=February 4, 2011 |website=[[The Nation]] |language=en-US |access-date=April 7, 2018}}</ref> Liberals especially disapproved of Reagan's simultaneous tax cuts for the wealthy and benefit cuts for the poor.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=158}} Some critics assert that the Iran–Contra affair lowered American credibility.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gilman|first=Larry|url=http://www.espionageinfo.com/Int-Ke/Iran-Contra-Affair.html|title=Iran-Contra Affair|publisher=Advameg|access-date=August 23, 2007}}</ref> In his popular book, ''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers'', historian [[Paul Kennedy]] argued that Reagan's high level of defense would eventually lead to the decline of the United States as a [[great power]].{{sfn|Patterson|2005|p=202}} Reagan's leadership and understanding of issues has also been questioned, and even some members of the administration criticized Reagan's passive demeanor during meetings with staff and cabinet members.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=160–161}} [[Richard Pipes]], a member of the National Security Council, criticized Reagan as "really lost, out of his depth, uncomfortable" at NSC meetings.{{sfn|Leffler|
Despite the continuing debate surrounding his legacy, many conservative and liberal scholars agree that Reagan has been one of the most influential presidents since Franklin Roosevelt, leaving his imprint on American politics, diplomacy, culture, and economics through his effective communication, dedicated patriotism and pragmatic compromising.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://millercenter.org/president/reagan/essays/biography/8|title=American President|access-date=October 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011080053/http://millercenter.org/president/reagan/essays/biography/8|archive-date=October 11, 2014}}</ref> Since he left office, historians have reached a consensus,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Henry|first1=David|title=Ronald Reagan and the 1980s: Perceptions, Policies, Legacies. Ed. by Cheryl Hudson and Gareth Davies. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. xiv, 268 pp. $84.95, ISBN 978-0-230-60302-8.)|journal=[[The Journal of American History]]|date=December 2009|volume=96|issue=3|pages=933–934|doi=10.1093/jahist/96.3.933|jstor=25622627}}</ref> as summarized by British historian M. J. Heale, who finds that scholars now concur that Reagan rehabilitated conservatism, turned the nation to the right, practiced a considerably pragmatic conservatism that balanced ideology and the constraints of politics, revived faith in the presidency and in [[American exceptionalism]], and contributed to victory in the Cold War.<ref>Heale, M.J. in Cheryl Hudson and Gareth Davies, eds. ''Ronald Reagan and the 1980s: Perceptions, Policies, Legacies'' (2008) Palgrave Macmillan {{ISBN|0-230-60302-5}} p. 250</ref> [[Hugh Heclo]] argues that Reagan himself failed to roll back the [[welfare state]], but that he contributed to a shift in attitudes that led to the defeat of efforts to further expand the welfare state.{{sfn|Heclo|2008|pp=558–560}} Heclo further argues that Reagan's presidency made American voters and political leaders more tolerant of deficits and more opposed to taxation.{{sfn|Heclo|2008|pp=562–563}}
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* {{cite book|last = Beschloss|first=Michael|title=Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789–1989|url = https://archive.org/details/presidentialcour00besc|url-access = registration|year =2007|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=9780684857053}}
* {{cite book|last=Cannon|first=Lou|author-link=Lou Cannon|title=President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime|orig-year=1991|year=2000|publisher=Public Affairs|location=New York|isbn=1-891620-91-6|url=https://archive.org/details/presidentreagan000cann}}
* {{cite book | title = Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio: A History Illustrated from the Collection of the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum | first = Lou | last = Cannon | author-link = Lou Cannon |
* {{cite journal|last1=Heclo|first1=Hugh|title=The Mixed Legacies of Ronald Reagan|journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly|date=2008|volume=38|issue=4|pages=555–574|doi=10.1111/j.1741-5705.2008.02664.x|jstor=41219701}}
* {{cite book|last1=Herring|first1=George C.|title=From Colony to Superpower; U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-507822-0|url=https://archive.org/details/fromcolonytosupe00herr}}
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* Ehrman, John. ''The Eighties: America in the Age of Reagan.'' (2005)
* Graff, Henry F., ed. ''The presidents: A Reference History'' (3rd ed. 2002)
* Hertsgaard, Mark. (1988) ''On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency''. New York, New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux.
* Hill, Dilys M. and Raymond A. Moore, eds. ''The Reagan Presidency'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 1990) essays by scholars; 252pp.
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