The Ethical Nature of Ronald Reagan S Tenure As President Term Paper

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Leadership of President Ronald "Dutch" Reagan

Naturally gregarious and charismatic, even his critics admired Ronald Reagan's ability to cajole, persuade and otherwise convince others of the legitimacy of his ideas. While he frequently got his facts wrong, as the 40th U.S. president, Reagan was consistent in demonstrating the kind of leadership that the nation needed following the Iranian takeover of the U.S. Embassy and the taking of embassy staff as hostage and for confronting the monolithic Soviet Union's efforts to achieve European hegemony. To determine the facts about this leader, this paper provides a summary of the key details about Reagan, a description of his positions of progressive responsibilities culminating in two terms as U.S. president, and some important points concerning his life and times. An analyses concerning Reagan's alignment with the four universal principles of integrity, responsibility, compassion and forgiveness and the different bases of power he used, are followed by an assessment concerning his consistently demonstrated beliefs. In addition, an analysis concerning how Reagan affected the culture of the executive office is followed by an evaluation concerning which behaviors had a strong effect on the American public, his credibility and how his attitudes and actions influenced the federal government's ethical practices. Finally, an assessment concerning whether Reagan can be regarded as an ethical leader is followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning this leader in the conclusion.

Summary of the key details about Ronald Reagan

Born on February 6, 1911 at Tampico, Illinois, Ronald "Dutch" Reagan was student body president of his high school and he worked his way through Eureka College during the height of the Great Depression (Reagan biography, 2016). Following graduation from college, Reagan was a sports announcer for a short period of time before taking and passing a screen test for a part in a motion picture which began a career in acting that resulted in more than 50 movies (Reagan biography, 2016). After being elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan was elected to two terms as governor of California and then two terms as the U.S. presidency beginning in 1980 (Reagan biography, 2016).

In 1940, Reagan married his first wife, famous actress Jane Wyman, with whom he had two children and then divorced in 1948 (Maureen and adopted son Michael) (Reagan biography, 2016). Although he was ineligible for combat service in the military during World War II due to his eyesight, he served his country faithfully throughout the war by making training films with the rank of captain (Reagan biography, 2016). In 1954, Reagan became the host of a weekly television series, "The General Electric Theater," a position that required him to tour the country as General Electric's public relations representative (Reagan biography, 2016). It was during this period in this professional career that Reagan's political activism began in earnest, leading him to the highest office in the country (Reagan biography, 2016). On June 4, 2004, Reagan died at age 93 years following a bout with Alzheimer's disease and was the oldest president in U.S. history (Reagan biography, 2016).

Analysis of Reagan's alignment to the four universal principles

According to Streeter (2005), there are four universal human principles as follows: integrity, responsibility, compassion, forgiveness. An analysis concerning Reagan's alignment with these four principles is provided below.

Integrity. While he may have been enigmatic in other areas of his life, there is a general consensus that Reagan possessed personal integrity that helped guide his day-to-day actions, especially by the time he became president. In this regard, McCoy (2003) reports that, "The President had developed a deep consistency and integrity in who he was and what he said and how he said it. He knew who he was, and others could figure out who he was as well" (p. 59). Likewise, King (1999) argues that despite his other limitations, Reagan had the kind of integrity that set him apart from typical politicians: "He was not primarily a politician, but an honest man who believed in the integrity, honesty, and creativity of the American public and acted on it" (p. 2). Some indication of personal Reagan's views about the need for integrity can be discerned from his views about U.S. negotiations with the Soviets when he advised his staff to "trust but verify" (cited in Maccoby, 2003, p. 60).

Responsibility. Regardless of his other limitations, Reagan consistently demonstrated responsible leadership throughout his life. In this regard, Pemberton reports that Reagan "led Hollywood actors during the postwar Red Scare, established himself as the undisputed leader of the American conservative movement in the 1960s, served as governor of California for two terms, and won two terms as president of the United States, leaving office as one of the most popular chief executives in recent history" (1998, p. 4).

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Compassion. Perhaps it was due to his middle-class upbringing or being forced to work his way through college, but whatever its source, most biographers agree that Reagan was a highly compassionate individual based on his actions and statements during his presidency. For instance, Smith (2004) reports that, "Ronald Reagan understood clearly how crucial it is to value all people equally, regardless of their capacities or state of health" (p. 95). In support of this assertion, Smith cites the example of an opinion article written by Reagan in 1983 wherein he stated, "Regrettably, we live at a time when some persons do not value all human life. They want to pick and choose which individuals have value. Some have said that only those individuals with consciousness of self are human beings" (cited in Smith, 2004, p. 96). Likewise, Reagan's impassioned "tear down this wall" speech in Berlin was clear evidence of his compassion for the sufferings of others (Barnett, 2003).

Forgiveness. Although unapologetic concerning the validity of his own actions, Reagan was largely forgiving of mistakes by others (Morrell, 2011). This attribute may also be attributable to the modest circumstances of his early life. For example, one biographer points out that, "His father was a gifted raconteur with a drinking problem. His mother used the father's failings to teach lessons of forgiveness and God's grace, leaving the child with an inner confidence and optimism that lasted throughout his life" (Morrell, 2011, p. 4). This inner confidence and optimism would serve Reagan well during his tenure as U.S. president by helping him draw on different power bases to achieve his goals for the country as discussed below.

Analysis of Reagan's different power bases

In his capacity as the "Great Communicator," Reagan was able to mobilize power bases from different demographic segments of American society, including the rich through tax cuts, support for labor for the middle class and unwavering support for the nation's military that had previously been severely lacking among American presidents (Kuehl, 2012). For example, Kuehl reports that," Vietnam veterans needed a new narrative to explain their role in an unpopular war, and Reagan provided that narrative. Reagan consistently argued that 'the American government had betrayed the soldier in Vietnam,' displacing the blame from soldiers to the U.S. government" (2012, p. 407). These different power bases remained loyal to Reagan in large part because of his demonstrated beliefs concerning their legitimacy as noted below.

Analysis of Reagan's demonstrated beliefs

In many ways, Reagan's beliefs were transparent enough. In sum, he wanted to ensure the security and prosperity of his beloved nation more than anything. For example, during his debate with Jimmy Carter in 1980, Reagan made it clear that, "I'm only here to tell you that I believe with all my heart that our first priority must be world peace" (cited in Sandbrook, 2010, p. 22). Pinning him down on any particulars concerning his individual beliefs, though, was a challenging enterprise. For example, Pemberton points out that, "From 1937 when Ronald Wilson Reagan staffed in his first film in Hollywood until 1989 when he finished his second term as president, he remained a mystery even to his closest friends and associates" (1998, p. 3). In fact, even his official biography, Edmund Morris, told Reagan that "he remained an enigma" to which Reagan responded that he was "an open book" but Morris countered that, "Yes, Mr. President, but all your pages are blank" (cited in Pemberton, 1998, p. 3). While his demonstrated beliefs may be difficult to pin down, Reagan's effect on the culture of the federal government is more readily identified as discussed below.

Analysis concerning how Reagan affected the culture of the federal government

On the one hand, Reagan instilled an enhanced sense of purpose and responsibility throughout the federal government concerning the need to promote domestic growth while simultaneously containing the Communist threat abroad. On the other hand, though, his failure to adequately respond to charges that he was personally culpable in the so-called "Iran-Contra affair" resulted in a strong negative backlash, even among the president's most ardent supporters (Kuehl, 2012). Despite this setback, Reagan's other behaviors had a more positive effect on his followers as discussed below.

Behaviors that….....

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