Ronald Reagan

**Ronald Wilson Reagan** was the 39th president of the United States, serving two terms from 1977 to 1985.

## History

A former Hollywood actor, Reagan first entered politics as a conservative Republican, serving as Governor of California from 1967 to 1975. In the 1976 presidential election, he defeated incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy, whose reputation had been tarnished by an extramarital affairW and a scandal at NASA. His vice president was Richard Schweiker and his secretary of state George ShultzW. Reagan was succeeded by Democrat Gary Hart in 1985.

During his presidency, Reagan pursued a hawkish foreign policy, contributing to heightened Cold War tensions between the US and the USSR. In the Middle East, he resolved the Iran hostage crisisW by freeing the captives in a military strike, though he failed to resolve the conflict between IsraelW and EgyptW at Camp DavidW.

In the western hemisphere, Reagan maintained the American presence in the Panama Canal Zone over the protests of Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos, who aligned himself with the Soviets. He won a second term in the 1980 election by a narrow margin of victory against Democratic nominee Senator Robert Money.

In 1983, Reagan's Department of Defense pursued a strategy of militarization of space, including the arming of the newest Space Shuttle '*Pathfinder* and, eventually, the deployment of American military forces to the Jamestown base on the Moon. This precipitated a crisis which nearly brought the world to nuclear war, something that was only avoided with Edward Baldwin's destruction of Sea Dragon 17 (preventing a lunar skirmish between *Pathfinder* and *Buran*) and the success of the Apollo-Soyuz peace mission. After the handshake in space, Reagan rerouted Airforce OneW to Moscow to meet with Soviet leader Yuri Andropov.

In 1984, Reagan and Andropov signed the Lunar Peace Treaty, that divided the Moon into US and Soviet zones. However, to get this done, the Rogers Commission Report, charged with investigating what caused the nuclear reactor on Jamestown to go into meltdown, covered up the secret second reactor that was brought there to create weapons grade plutonium.

## Gallery

Reagan after winning presidencyReagan at inaugurationReagan with British Premier ThatcherReagan visits the first US Space Shuttle, 1981Reagan during the solar flare event 1983Reagan after the KAL 007 incident, September 1983Reagan with Ellen Wilson on TVReagan in a video call to JSCRonald & Nancy Reagan land in Moscow after Apollo-SoyuzReagan & Andropov handshake on TVReagan & Andropov signing Moon TreatyReagan with Margo MadisonReagan on *People's* front page covering Alzheimer's, 1995
## Behind the scenes

In OTL, Reagan served as the 40th President from 1981 to 1989. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1976 (with Schweiker as his running mate) but was narrowly defeated by the incumbent president Gerald FordW.

## See also

* Richard Nixon
* Ted Kennedy
* Gary Hart
* Ellen Wilson

## References

1. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2, Episode 1: "Every Little Thing" (Press review)
2. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2
3. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2, Episode 10: "The Grey"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 1: "Polaris" (Press review)