When Ronald Reagan was in power, the Cold War was in place. The Cold War was a long period of tension between the democracies of the Western World and the communist countries of Eastern Europe. The west was led by the United States and Eastern Europe was led by the Soviet Union. These two countries became known as superpowers. Although the two superpowers never officially declared war on each other, they fought indirectly in proxy wars, the arms race, and the space race. It lasted for much of the second half of the 20th century which resulted in mutual suspicions, heightened tensions and a series of international incidents that brought the world’s superpowers to the brink of disaster.
The Cold War began not too long after World War II ended in 1945. Although, the Soviet Union was an important member of the Allied Powers, there was great distrust between the Soviet Union and the rest of the Allies. The Allies were concerned with the brutal leadership of Joseph Stalin as well as the spread of communism. Americans had been cautious of Soviet communism and are worried about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s rule of his own country. The Cold War heated up again under President Ronald Reagan. Like many leaders of his generation, Reagan believed that the spread of communism anywhere threatened freedom everywhere. As a result, he worked to provide financial and military aid to anticommunist governments and insurgencies around the world. This policy, particularly as it was applied in the developing world in places like Grenada and El Salvador, was known as the Reagan Doctrine.
Ronald Reagan wanted to become a leader because he felt his ideas in relation to taxes and the economy could help the country's financial state tremendously. Reagan thought that the government restrictions and taxation were the causes of erosion of individual freedom within the United States. He also publicly denounced about what he saw as the weakness of the U.S. go...