The UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher allowed the U.S. Air Force to use Britain's air bases to launch the attack, only if that the UK was supporting America's right to self-defense supported by the United Nations. The attack was done to stop Gaddafi's "ability to export terrorism", offering him "incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior". The president addressed the nation from the Oval Office after the attacks started, he said
Many countries and the United Nations did not like Reagan's decision to bomb Libya. The United Nations said that Reagan violated "the Charter of the United Nations and of international law".
Reagan's reputation was badly hurt by the political scandal Iran-Contra Affair. The government illegally sold weapons to Iran. It later used the profits to support a Nicaraguan terrorist group called the Contras. Reagan told the American people he didn't know anything about the scandal. Reagan funded the Contras to fight off the Communist regime of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, but when it became too expensive, Congress made it illegal to pay the Contras. As a result, the scandal at the center of the affair and the cover up was using illegal profits to break the law a second time by supporting terrorists.
His United States National Security Advisor John Poindexter was charged with multiple felonies and later resigned. Reagan later nominated former Ambassador Frank Carlucci to replace Poindexter. His Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger was thought to be guilty, but resigned before a trial could begin. Reagan later nominated Carlucci to serve as Defense Secretary for the rest of his term. Oliver North, a member of the United States National Security Council, resigned and was indicted for his involvement in the affair. In February 1987, White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan also resigned because of an ongoing feud between Regan and First Lady Reagan about his handling of the affair.
Soon, he told the American people that it was his fault. After Reagan told the truth, he became more popular. In his apology, Reagan said,
In the end, fourteen administration officials were indicted and eleven convictions resulted, some of which were vacated on appeal. The rest of those indicted or convicted were all pardoned by President George H. W. Bush, who had been Vice President at the time of the affair.
In the 1980s, apartheid in South Africa was becoming more violent and a global issue. The Democrats in the Senate tried to pass the Anti-Apartheid Act in September 1985, but could not overcome a Republican filibuster. Reagan saw it as an act to lower his authority to plan foreign policy. He created own set of sanctions, but Democrats saw them to be "watered down and ineffective".
The bill was re-introduced in 1986 and brought up for a vote despite Republican efforts to block it to give Reagan's sanctions time to work. It passed the House with Reagan publicly against it. Later the Senate approved of the bill with a 84-14 vote.
On September 26, 1986, Reagan vetoed the bill saying that it would cause an "economic war". Republican Senator Richard Lugar led the Senate of override Reagan's veto. The veto was reverse by Congress (by the Senate 78 to 21, the House by 313 to 83) on October 2. The veto override was the first one on a presidential foreign policy veto in the 20th century.
In response to the veto override, Reagan said:
In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded killing everyone on board. The entire country was shocked. Reagan postponed his 1986 State of the Union Address as a result of the tragedy. It was the first time that a President of the United States postponed a State of the Union Address. Afterwards, Reagan addressed the nation. Reagan famously said,
In November 1986, Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act. It helped some immigrants to get jobs and become legal citizens. In that same year, the Statue of Liberty was just re-opened after being renovated. Reagan was at the opening ceremony when he said,
During his 1980 campaign, Reagan promised that, if elected, he would nominate the first female Supreme Court Associate Justice. On July 7, 1981, he nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to replace the retiring Justice Potter Stewart. Reagan said of O'Connor:
O'Connor was confirmed by the United States Senate with a vote of 99–0.
In his second term in 1986, Reagan nominated William Rehnquist to replace Warren E. Burger as Chief Justice. He named Antonin Scalia to fill the empty seat left by Rehnquist.
After Associate Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. announced his retirement in June 1987, Reagan nominated conservative jurist Robert Bork to replace him in 1987. Senator Ted Kennedy was strongly against Bork. Kennedy accused Bork of not being strong on states', civil or women's rights. Kennedy said that if Bork was confirmed:
Bork's nomination was rejected by the United States Senate with a vote of 58–42. Reagan then nominated Douglas H. Ginsburg, but Ginsburg withdrew his name from consideration after it was revealed he used cannabis. Reagan later nominated Anthony Kennedy to replace Powell, Jr. and was confirmed with a vote of 97–0.
In 1987, Reagan travelled to Berlin to give a speech at the Berlin Wall. That is where he gave one of his greatest speeches of his presidency. Referring to the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Wall he said,
In January 1987, U.S. Representative Tom Foley introduced the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to Congress as a way to give reparation to Japanese-Americans who were interned by the United States during World War II. It passed the House in September 1987 and was sent to the Senate were it was passed in April 1988.
Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act into law on August 10, 1988 granting USD $20,000 with payments beginning in 1990. A total of 82,219 Japanese-Americans received checks.
During his term as president, Reagan saw the change in the direction of the Soviet leadership with Mikhail Gorbachev. Months after his Berlin Wall speech, Gorbachev announced his plans to work with Reagan for a big arms agreements. Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty which banned nuclear weapons being launched between the United States and the Soviet Union.
When Reagan visited Moscow for the fourth summit in 1988, he was seen as a celebrity by the Soviets. A journalist asked the president if he still considered the Soviet Union the evil empire. "No", he replied, "I was talking about another time, another era". In November 1989, ten months after Reagan left office, the Berlin Wall was torn down, the Cold War was officially declared over at the Malta Summit on December 3, 1989, and two years later, the Soviet Union collapsed.
Reagan left office with high rankings on January 20, 1989 when his Vice President George H. W. Bush became president. Reagan and his wife, Nancy, soon returned home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California. In the years after he left office, Reagan's time in office was seen as one of the best and is compared to that of Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
After leaving office, Reagan and his wife Nancy lived in Bel Air, Los Angeles. They also visited their ranch, Rancho del Cielo. Reagan gave a speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention giving his support for Bush's re-election campaign in the 1992 presidential election.
In November 1991, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was dedicated and opened to the public in Simi Valley, California.
In June 1989, Reagan was honored with Honorary Knighthood and received the Order of the Bath presented by Queen Elizabeth II. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993 by President George H. W. Bush. He was the first former living president to receive the honor. Soon afterwards the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation created the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award for people who made a big change for freedom.
In 1990, Reagan wrote an autobiography titled, "An American Life".