Ronald Reagan and The Cold War During His First Term (jan 1, 1981 – jan 1, 1984)

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President Reagan believed that detente was not possible until the U.S. first achieved military supremacy over the USSR. Therefore, during his first term as president the U.S. adopted a very aggressive and interventionist policy against communism. Regan referred to the USSR as the evil empire and increased the military budget from157 billion in 1981 to 282 billion in 1988. The U.S. supported repressive regimes throughout the world regardless of their human rights record as long as they were not communist and were pro U.S. The U.S. ambassador to the U.S. described U.S. foreign policy as distinguishing between non-communist authoritarian nations which were acceptable and communist totalitarian nations which were not acceptable. The U.S. provided financial support to pro American repressive government in Central America, often through clandestine schemes designed by the CIA, such as the Iran Contra scheme. In addition, the U.S. invaded Grenada and installed a pro American government and ousted the leftist, USSR supported government.

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