US Presidency
1986

And in so doing, they tapped a wellspring of hope and creativity that was to completely transform history. The history of these United States of America is indeed a history of individual achievement. It was their hard work that built our cities and farmed our prairies; their genius that continually pushed us beyond the boundaries of existing knowledge, reshaping our world with the steam engine, polio vaccine, and the silicon chip. It was their faith in freedom and love of country that sustained us through trials and hardships and through wars, and it was their courage and selflessness that enabled us to always prevail. But when our Founding Fathers designed this government, of, by, and for the people, they never imagined what we've come to know as the progressive income tax. When the income tax was first levied in 1913, the top rate was only 7 percent on people with incomes over $ 500,000. Now, that's the equivalent of multimillionaires today.