1980\'s When Ronald Reagan Served the Country,

¶ … 1980's when Ronald Reagan served the country, his administration and characteristics of his leadership will be discussed and analyzed in the paper along with the observation of the Hollywood cinema and its status in the Reagan's administration. The history and researches on this topic have declared the fact that in the 1980's Hollywood cinema became little more than a mouthpiece for the Reagan's administration. Discussion of this statement will be made in the paper so as to provide the readers with the complete background information and related evidences of the Reagan's administration and the Hollywood cinema.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON RONALD REAGAN AND HIS ADMINISTRATION:

In order to define the related terms and the evidences, the paper will present a short biography of Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Wilson Reagan was elected the 40th president of the United States on Nov. 4, 1980, and was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 1981. At the age of 69, he was the oldest man and the first movie actor ever sworn into that office. During his two terms in office the popular president helped raise the nation's spirits. He also oversaw the creation of large budget and trade deficits and ultimately affected a historic truce in the cold war with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Born on Feb. 6, 1911, in Tampico, Ill., Reagan had strong roots in small-town, middle America. He worked his way through Eureka College (B.A., 1932), had some success as a sportscaster, and began an acting career with Warner Bros. In 1937. He was to appear in about 53 films, with an interlude (194245) in the U.S. Army. Reagan married the actress Jane Wyman in 1940 (divorced 1948) and in 1952 wed Nancy Davis (see Reagan, Nancy). He moved into television in the 1950s and became the popular host of "Death Valley Days" (196265) and spokesman for the General Electric Company" http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0243360-0&templatename=/article/article.html

The information regarding Reagan states that Reagan was acting in the Hollywood film industry before his arrival in the government. Reagan became famous and renowned in the Hollywood cinema because of his acting and his personality. However, after attaining the presidency of the country he had to leave his acting profession and he had to fully concentrate on the duties of the president. Ronald Reagan possessed dynamic qualities and characteristics. He was a versatile actor as well and after becoming the presidency of the state he made use of all these qualities and was successfully able to manage the affairs of the government. There are numerous contributions of Reagan towards the state and just after attaining the leadership power he tried to dig out the problems of the state and finally was successful in deriving solutions for these problems. Although Reagan was new in this field yet he managed to maintain a strong leadership during the age of his presidency.

Reagan's first State of the Union address was his first major address following a failed assassination attempt on the president by John Hinckley outside Washington's Hilton Hotel. The speech is also noteworthy as a statement of the philosophy underpinning the Reagan's Administration's policy initiatives, which ultimately ended both the Cold War with the Soviet Union and the twin plagues of high inflation and high unemployment, which burdened the nation in the 1970s." http://www.nationalcenter.org/ReaganStateofUnion82.html

After attaining the presidency Ronald began his work and started making speeches regarding the policies and methodologies related to his government. Ronald publicly declared the methodologies, which he would follow throughout his presidency and he believed, on the fact that people of the state should know the actions and methodologies of the government so that they can have full confidence on the leader, which they have elected. Although, Reagan faced lot of problems in dealing with the affairs of the government but he managed to become a successful leader by the passage of time and his policies and strategies became successful in dealing with these affairs. Ronald Reagan's administration was successful in maintaining the political affairs and the affairs of the government but the researches have shown that Hollywood cinema became little more than a mouth piece in Reagan's administration. Mouthpiece is referred to as a spokesperson or a lawyer. Hence, it can be said that during the period of 1980 Hollywood cinema became more than a mouthpiece in the administration of Reagan.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON HOLLYWOOD CINEMA:

Hollywood was founded in 1857. Accounts of the name coming from imported English holly bushes are said to be incorrect. The name actually came about; the story goes, because the wife of Harvey Henderson Wilcox, a real-estate developer in the late 1880s, was traveling on a train when she met a woman whose home was called "Hollywood." When Mrs. Wilcox returned home she gave that name to her ranch. In the early 1900s, motion picture production companies from New York and New Jersey started moving to sunny California because of the good weather and longer days. Although electric lights existed at that time, none were powerful enough to adequately expose film; the best source of illumination for film production was natural sunlight. David Horsley for the Nestor Company founded the first movie studio in the Hollywood area in 1911. In the same year, another fifteen Independents settled there" http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Hollywood

The paper will present a brief history of Hollywood cinema so that the importance of cinema and its relative status in the year1980 can be analyzed and observed in the paper. Hollywood cinema has been an institution, which has given many actors and actresses. Hollywood cinema has always been a source of quality entertainment. Infact, Hollywood cinema is one of those institutions, which is producing many films a year and these films are then imitated in other countries. Hollywood cinema is the only institution, which produces the films based on original ideas and conceptions. According to the relative information and researches it has been noted that Ronald Reagan who was the 40th president of USA, was one of the finest actors in the Hollywood cinema and his works are still appreciated. But in the Reagan's administration Hollywood cinema became more than a mouth piece."It was Ronald Reagan who told his old Hollywood buddy Richard Widmark that being U.S. President was 'the best role I ever played.' So it's not surprising that under his administration, the military-movie relationship went into overdrive. Repeating a line from another Eastwood movie, President Reagan told the U.S. Congress when they tried to legislate a tax increase 'Go ahead. Make my day,' and a year later, when 39 U.S. hostages held in Lebanon by the Hizbullah group were released in 1985, the President recalled, 'Boy, I saw Rambo last night. Now I know what to do the next time this happens.' In fact Reagan was apparently completely unaware of the differences between 'reel' life and reality. The evidence of this confusion became apparent the moment the newly installed President took office in 1981" http://www.homecinemachoice.com/articles/frame.html?http://www.homecinemachoice.com/articles/miscarticles/200202War/200202War.php

Reagan was the one who appreciated and developed the Hollywood cinema after attaining the presidency and he also made use of his link with the Hollywood cinema. All in all, in Reagan's administration the Hollywood cinema became more than a mouth piece and he was the one who encouraged the growth of the cinema during the years of his presidency. Reagan encouraged the directors and the producers to make movies on leadership and movies on military. Reagan's administration raised the status of the Hollywood cinema and due to the encouragement from the president; the moviemakers became excited to make movies according to the Reagan's orders. The Hollywood cinema became more than a mouthpiece in Reagan's administration because "Reagan had a successful career in Hollywood as a second-rank leading man, as his face and body were as handsome as his voice. His first screen credit was the starring role the 1937 movie Love is On the Air. By the end of 1939, he had appeared in 19 films. In 1940 he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne All American, from which he acquired the nickname the Gipper, which he retained the rest of his life. Reagan himself considered that his best acting work was in Kings Row (1942). Other notable Reagan films include Hellcats of the Navy, This Is the Army, and the campy Bedtime for Bonzo. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6374 Reagan's policies included strong support of the U.S. military and the doctrine of "peace through strength." One of his more controversial proposals was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a missile defense system which he hoped would make the U.S. invulnerable to nuclear missile attack by the Soviet Union. SDI was dubbed "Star Wars" by opponents, connoting the fantastic or impractical.." http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Reagan-administration

Reagan's successful career in films shows that as an individual Reagan possessed an instinct of acting and he was also linked with the Hollywood cinema because of this instinct. Even after leaving his acting career he was linked with cinema in one way or another. After attaining the leadership powers and presidency Reagan remembered the cinema and therefore, he made every contribution to raise the status of the Hollywood cinema. Reagan's interests in the affairs of the cinema were of considerable importance and therefore, the investigators were worried as to why Reagan was still interested in the affairs of the Hollywood cinema even after attaining leadership powers. The researches were made and the investigators pointed out that Hollywood cinema became little more than mouthpiece for Reagan's administration. Historical evidences have shown that some of the people were against such practices of Reagan but majority was with him and therefore, Reagan was successful in his practices.

Much has been said about the importance of cinema to understanding the 1980s and 90s: that Ronald Reagan used films as templates for policies, that the Reagan administration affirmed that image was more powerful than logic, or that the policies of the Reagan era -- a muscular militarism, a denial of affirmative action, and an economy of the rich -- were reflected in Hollywood's blockbusters." http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/acatalog/__Flatlining_on_the_Field_of_Dreams_576.html

There were many anti-parties who raised protests against such actions of Reagan because Reagan was using films as templates for policies whereas none of the other presidents has ever used such strategies to promote their policies and objectives. Reagan was severely criticized because of such practices and actions, which were totally new. Reagan made use of his link with Hollywood cinema as a tool to promote his policies and strategies because according to him he followed the notion that images are more powerful; and affective than logic and therefore he made use of the Hollywood cinema and his movies to present his ideas and opinions through images.

Researches have also shown that such act of Reagan was given both negative and positive responses. The negative responses included criticisms on Reagan's policies and attempts where as positive responses appreciated the Reagan's administration because his administration gave importance to the cinema and movies. Therefore, during the Reagan's administration films and movies were made on the topics such as a muscular militarism, a denial of affirmative action, and an economy of the rich. These topics were taken as the themes of the movies and the movies based on these themes became successful in the Hollywood cinema.

THE ACTIVITIES OF REAGAN AND HIS ADMINISTRATION:

The magical effects of Reagan's performance began to dissipate with the departure of the performer and with the discovery that some rather costly "due bills" were left behind. Although the economy had revived between 1982 and 1990, the Reagan "boom" was followed by a prolonged recession, by some measures the longest since 1945. Nor has the refurbished myth/ideology of the Reagan Revolution functioned as a unifying or consensus-making tool. On the contrary, as the 1988 presidential campaign made clear, it has helped to polarize political discourse by reviving {in more polite form) the old symbols and codes of racial prejudice, anti-intellectualism, and red- baiting." http://www3.niu.edu/~td0raf1/history468/apr1804.htm

The evidences and related history shows that during the period of his presidency Ronald Reagan made much contribution towards the betterment of the state on the whole and therefore, after his presidency was over he was remembered for all the contributions which he had made for the best interest of the people. Reagan's administration became successful in maintaining a political and stable environment with in the country and therefore, his policies and others also followed strategies.

CONCLUSION:

The paper has taken into consideration the period of 1980 when Ronald Reagan was the president of the United States. The paper has provided relative information on the actions and practices of Reagan's administration and the analysis of the related facts have also been made in the paper. According to these facts it can be rightly said that Ronald Reagan was a successful actor and also a successful leader, his qualities and characteristics were unmatchable as a leader and as an actor too.

Reagan's vision for America was filled with an optimism intellectuals did not understand, but it was that faith in the American people that made the man great.How great a president was Ronald Reagan? And how significant were his two administrations to American history? Now that nearly a decade has passed since this extraordinary man left office, Americans are in a better position to evaluate his position among their presidents and to understand the role he played in setting a new and more conservative agenda for the country and bringing an end to the Cold War." http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000503669

The paper has emphasized on the fact that in the year 1980 the Hollywood cinema became more than a mouth piece for Reagan's administration. This statement is true because the researches have shown that Reagan made use of Hollywood cinema and its movies as atoll to present his views and opinions through his movies. During the year 1980 many movies were made on government and military issues and Regan was the one who encouraged the Hollywood cinema and its moviemakers. And he was severely criticized by some people but some of the people also encouraged Reagan's administration, which gave importance to the Hollywood cinema.