American Experience

Program Summary

In 1989, after two terms in office, Ronald Wilson Reagan left the White House one of the most popular presidents of the 20th century -- and one of the most controversial. A Democrat turned Republican and an actor turned politician, Reagan is a study in complexity. He believed in balanced budgets but never submitted one; feared a nuclear apocalypse but built a huge stockpile of weapons; preached family values while presiding over a dysfunctional family.

As president, Reagan unleashed a dramatic series of economic and political initiatives that became known as "the Reagan revolution." He invested in a massive military buildup, challenged the Soviet Union, called for tax cuts and less government. Supporters credit Reagan with winning the Cold War, as well as restoring America's self-confidence and rebuilding its economic and military strength. Detractors assert that the "prosperity" of the Reagan years was built on borrowed money, driving up the national debt and benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the poor. Reagan's legacy is still in dispute, but his impact on American life and politics is unmistakable.

Program Segments: The entire program has been produced for home video use in two video cassettes. The total viewing time is 4.5 hours. For your convenience, we have described the program in segments. You may want to use specific segments to focus classroom discussion and activities.

Tape One Part One -- Lifeguard

Segment 1 (begins at: 0 minutes, 0 seconds)
Length: approximately 4 minutes
Starting image: Ronald Reagan standing at podium

Overview of Reagan as an enigma: ideological yet his policies wavered at times; anti-Communist yet became friends with Gorbachev; proponent of family values yet presided over a dysfunctional family

Segment 2 (begins at: 4 minutes, 18 seconds)
Length: approximately 11 minutes
Starting image: Reagan exiting Air Force One

Born in 1911; grew up poor in Tampico, Illinois; alcoholic father; family settles in small town of Dixon, Illinois; mother becomes Reagan's "moral compass"; he adopts her fundamentalist Christian faith; in high school plays football, acts in plays, works as a lifeguard

Segment 3 (begins at: 15 minutes, 56 seconds)
Length: approximately 13 minutes
Starting image: photo of Eureka College sign

Reagan graduates Eureka College in 1932; hired as a radio announcer then sportscaster; moves to Hollywood in 1937 to pursue acting; makes 50 films; marries actress Jane Wyman in 1940; daughter Maureen is born; son Michael is adopted; Reagan's most famous role is as George Gipp in "Knute Rockne, All American," earning him the nickname "the Gipper"; elected Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) president; liberal Democrat becomes anti-Communist and an FBI informant; cooperates with McCarthy's HUAC; supports blacklisting of communists; Jane Wyman asks for a divorce

Segment 4 (begins at: 29 minutes, 35 seconds)
Length: approximately 7 minutes
Starting image: photo of Reagan seated with crutches

Reagan marries actress Nancy Davis in 1952; Patti born several months later; Ron, Jr., born in 1958; Reagan's movie career begins to fade; offered job as host of G.E. Theater on television; develops oratory and political skills; reducing size of government becomes his political mission; after 8 years with G.E., Reagan emerges as a conservative

Segment 5 (begins at: 36 minutes, 47 seconds)
Length: approximately 19 minutes
Starting image: film of Malibu ranch

Reagan switches from Democrat to Republican; becomes national figure after speech endorsing Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964; beats incumbent Pat Brown in race for governor of California in 1966; cultivates "American West" image and promotes a return to "traditional" values; Nancy's refusal to live in the governor's mansion draws sharp criticism; at 1968 Republican Convention conservatives back Reagan, but Nixon wins nomination

Segment 6 (begins at: 55 minutes, 41 seconds)
Length: approximately 11 minutes
Starting image: film of University of California at Berkeley strike

When Berkeley students revolt in 1968, Reagan sends in highway patrol; National Guard occupies the city for 17 days; Reagan is reelected as governor and begins cutting government spending; loses the 1976 Republican nomination to Gerald Ford

Segment 7 (begins at: 1 hour, 9 minutes)
Length: approximately 23 minutes
Starting image: film of Rancho del Cielo

U.S. experiences depressed economy, gas crisis, Iran hostage situation; Reagan wins 1980 presidential race on conservative platform (less government, stronger defense); administration concentrates on economic recovery via the "Reagan Revolution" (tax cuts, reductions in domestic spending, "supply-side economics"); Reagan also advocates military build-up; assassination attempt on March 30, 1981; attitude during the crisis makes him even more popular

Segment 8 (begins at: 1 hour, 32 minutes)
Length: approximately 18 minutes
Starting image: Sam Donaldson

Nancy orders aides to tighten security; Reagan becomes more isolated as contact with public diminishes; economic bill passes, creating the largest deficit in U.S. history; recession begins; Reagan criticized for his insensitivity toward the disadvantaged; Nancy criticized for her lavish spending; by 1982 "Reaganomics" is derided; Nuclear Freeze Demonstration in New York attracts thousands; Democrats win back 26 seats in the House; Reagan's popularity plummets to 35 percent by 1983

Tape Two Part Two -- An American Crusade

Segment 1 (begins at: 0 minutes, 0 seconds)
Length: approximately 3 minutes
Starting image: Reagan approaching a podium in Berlin

Overview of Reagan as rescuer and crusader; Reagan's belief that USSR is an "evil empire"; wants Soviets to relinquish their hold on Eastern Europe

Segment 2 (begins at: 2 minutes, 46 seconds)
Length: approximately 20 minutes
Starting image: crowds chanting Reagan's name

Reagan rejects détente; authorizes massive arms build-up; 1981 Polish Solidarity movement is supported by U.S. economic sanctions; covert U.S. operations back anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan and CIA-trained forces (the Contras) harass the Sandinistas in Nicaragua; Nuclear Freeze Movement gains momentum; "Survival Sunday" rally is spearheaded by Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis

Segment 3 (begins at: 22 minutes, 42 seconds)
Length: approximately 16 minutes
Starting image: pen-and-ink drawing of Armegeddon

Reagan challenges U.S. scientists to develop an impervious defense system -- Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI); Weinberger advocates "Zero Option" response to arms reduction talks; Reagan advocates for Pentecostals in the Soviet Union; strikes a secret deal for their release

Segment 4 (begins at: 38 minutes, 37 seconds)
Length: approximately 10 minutes
Starting image: Senator Percy striking his gavel

Korean airliner strays into Soviet airspace in 1983 and is shot down; arms talks continue with Soviets despite Weinberger's advice to the contrary; Yuri Andropov's health begins to fail; Soviet delegates walk out of arms control talks

Segment 5 (begins at: 48 minutes, 9 seconds)
Length: approximately 9 minutes
Starting image: film of a construction site

1984 presidential campaign TV ad, "Morning in America," captures spirit of Reagan's policy; Reagan regains the support of both blue-collar workers and middle class; Nancy rids the White House of any advisor who opposes dealing with the Soviets; Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko visits the White House; Nancy delighted that Reagan is seen as a peacemaker; meeting with Gromyko diffuses tensions between U.S. and Soviet Union; Reagan's age (73) becomes an issue during reelection campaign; wins the election by 57 percent of the vote

Segment 6 (begins at: 57 minutes, 20 seconds)
Length: approximately 9 minutes
Starting image: photograph of the White House in the snow

Reagan's "troika" of advisors (Deaver, Meese, and Baker) leave the White House; Don Regan becomes new chief-of-staff; Brezchnev dies in 1981, Andropov dies in 1983, Chernenko dies in 1985; reformer Gorbachev comes to power in the Soviet Union; terrorists hijack plane and kill U.S. passengers; seven other U.S. citizens kidnapped by followers of Ayatollah Khomeini and held hostage in Beirut; Reagan operated on for colon cancer; Reagan takes a firm stand against terrorists, yet secretly approves plan to court moderate leaders in Iran; Reagan sends weapons to Iran but later denies they are in exchange for hostages

Segment 7 (begins at: 1 hour, 6 minutes )
Length: approximately 13 minutes
Starting image: film of Ronald Reagan saddling up his horse

Summit with Soviets in 1985; Reagan and Gorbachev become friends; leaders discuss "building down" their arsenals, but when Reagan refuses to kill SDI they fail to reach an agreement; Reagan receives a warm welcome when he returns to the U.S. and his "trigger happy" image begins to fade

Tape Three

Segment 1 (begins at: 0 minutes, 0 seconds)
Length: approximately 5 minutes
Starting image: Ronald and Nancy Reagan preside over Fourth of July ceremonies

Reagan excels in the presidential role of "American Master of Ceremonies"; U.S. forces Soviets out of Afghanistan; Congress cuts off funding for Reagan's Nicaraguan operations and makes it illegal for the CIA to support the Contras; Reagan becomes forgetful and disinterested in his job

Segment 2 (begins at: 5 minutes, 24 seconds)
Length: approximately 3 minutes
Starting image: Air Force One arriving at Reykjavik, Iceland

Reagan and Gorbachev meet for a second arms summit in October, 1986; they agree for the first time that human rights would be a "legitimate recognized, regular item on [the] agenda" during negotiations between the Soviet Union and the U.S.

Segment 3 (begins at: 8 minutes, 47 seconds)
Length: approximately 7 minutes
Starting image: photograph of Gorbachev and Reagan

Reagan and Gorbachev hold a summit in Reykjavik; Gorbachev insists U.S. limit SDI but Reagan is unwilling and leaves without an agreement; summit is criticized as a failure, but Gorbachev later views it as a "breakthrough" in ending the Cold War

Segment 4 (begins at 16 minutes, 19 seconds)
Length: approximately 20 minutes
Starting image: rainbow over a military base

Iran-Contra scandal; Reagan continually denies involvement in arms- for-hostages deal; National Security Advisor Pointdexter, and aide Oliver North resign; Reagan undergoes prostate surgery; conflict between Nancy and Chief-of-Staff Don Regan; Regan resigns; new Chief-of-Staff Howard Baker disturbed by reports of Reagan's increasing forgetfulness and disinterest, but assures the public that Reagan is in control; Tower Committee finds that Reagan is responsible for a "lax management style and trading arms for hostages"; Reagan finally admits that there was an arms-for-hostages deal with Iran

Segment 5 (begins at: 36 minutes, 8 seconds)
Length: approximately 12 minutes
Starting image: photo of Don Regan

Don Regan publishes For the Record which exposes Nancy's use of an astrologer; "Black Monday" stock market crash occurs in October 1987; "Reagonomics" is scrutinized: national debt has tripled, gap between rich and poor wider than ever, homelessness is rampant; AIDS becomes an epidemic; Reagan's memory seems to be failing; Gorbachev accepts "Zero Option" treaty; Reagan visits Berlin Wall; Reagan visits the Soviet Union in 1988; states that he no longer views the USSR as an "evil empire"

Segment 6 (begins at: 48 minutes, 15 seconds)
Length: approximately 12 minutes
Starting image: photograph of Reagan and Gorbachev

Trip to Russia results in Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan; Berlin Wall is torn down in 1989; Sandinistas are voted out of power in Nicaragua in 1990; Gorbachev dissolves the Soviet Union in 1991; Reagan returns to California ranch at age 78; reconciles with daughter Patti; failing health becomes apparent at his 83rd birthday tribute; Reagan is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease