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Ronald Reagan
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What is Ronald Reagan?

Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, is one of the most written-about political figures in American history. Students in history, political science, communications, and leadership courses frequently examine his presidency, rhetoric, and legacy. Reagan's two terms in office intersected with pivotal Cold War developments, debates over fiscal policy and taxation, and a distinctive governing philosophy that continues to generate scholarly discussion. His relationship with the Soviet Union, his stance on communism, and landmark moments such as the Brandenburg Gate speech and the "Evil Empire" speech make him a rich subject for academic analysis across multiple disciplines.

The papers archived on this topic reflect a wide range of approaches. Rhetorical analysis is especially prominent, with several essays applying frameworks such as Burke's Pentad to Reagan's speeches, including the "Evil Empire" address. Other papers take a broader historical approach, tracing the arc of his presidency and its consequences for American government and Cold War politics. Comparative and contextual angles also appear, with work examining Mario Cuomo's 1984 DNC keynote as a counterpoint to Reagan-era ideology, and papers exploring how initiatives like the Strategic Defense Initiative shaped national security policy. Leadership and ethics in governance round out the range of approaches represented.

A strong essay on Reagan benefits from a clearly scoped thesis that commits to a specific dimension of his presidency rather than attempting a general biography. Evidence drawn from primary sources — speeches, policy documents, and political responses — carries particular weight. The most common pitfall is allowing admiration or criticism to substitute for analysis; effective essays engage the complexity of Reagan's record and acknowledge competing interpretations without becoming advocacy pieces.

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Paper Doctorate

The First and Second Reconstructions: Civil Rights in America

There were two Reconstructions in American history, although the first one in 1865-77 ended with restoration of home rule and white supremacy in the South, rather than the equal citizenship and voting rights promised in the 14th and 15th Amendments. Black leaders like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King made a case that the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution did form a basis for extending the same natural rights to all human beings, even if that had not really been the intent of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Research Paper Doctorate

Ronald Reagan: From Actor to President of the United States

From the days of Abraham Lincoln, it is an instilled American belief that anyone, from any social status in life, can rise to the highest office of the country, that of President of the United States.

Paper Undergraduate

Book Review: The Economics of Privatization by Elliot Sclar

Elliot Sclar's influential book, You Don't Always Get What You Pay For: The Economics of Privatization examines the process of privatization. In a struggling economy it has become fashionable for communities to consider…

Paper Undergraduate

Political Corruption and Anti-Corruption Laws: Hong Kong

This research paper has to do with the anti-corruption practices of the government of Hong Kong and how those practices compare to other nations in the world. Because Hong Kong is a special case principality in the word, they have many of the same features of a Western democracy. This report found that Hong Kong can be very favorably compared to these same governments in its fight against governmental corruption.

Paper Undergraduate

Enron Leadership, Corporate Fraud, and Ethics Reform

Enron collapsed very quickly in November 2001, and its failure should have been a warning to serious dysfunctions in the entire corporate and financial system, but this did not happen. Its executives admitted that they had falsified its records going back for at least five years, although in reality they had been doing so since the 1980s. When the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy it laid off over 20,000 workers and at least $24 billion in pension assets, stocks and mutual funds also vanished (McLean and Elkind 2003). In addition, the Arthur Anderson accounting firm that had been complicit in covering up the fraud and embezzlement at Enron for many years, also went out of business. This catastrophe also demonstrated that Wall Street banks, stock analysts and ratings agencies had either been deceived or allowed themselves to be deceived by Enron when they continually painted a positive picture of the company and its future prospects. Later in the decade, the exact same problem would occur with the banks and investment firms that were marking ‘assets' of dubious values like subprime mortgages.

Research Paper Doctorate

Breaking the Cycle: Youth Justice Reform in Humes' No Matter How Loud I Shout

The juvenile justice system in Los Angeles was in total confusion and disarray when author Edward Homes wrote his book, "No Matter How Loud I Shout." The assignment for this paper was to suggest ways in which the cycle of kids being in juvenile justice incarceration until they become involved in much more serious crimes can be broken. There are three examples of ways in which the cycle could be (and should be) broken.

Thesis Doctorate

Neoliberalism and Globalization: Capitalism in the Modern Era

Globalization may be an overused word, although the new version of international capitalism is still so recent that the actual system on the ground has outrun the scientific and theoretical vocabulary that describes it. As a system, international capitalism is rapidly eliminating geographical and political boundaries, as Marx predicted in the 19th Century. In the global, postmodern economy, branding also involves relentless synergy and tie-ins between various diverse lines of products. Films and cartoons market their images to toy companies, fast-food restaurants and cereal manufacturers, generating billions of dollars of revenue annually, as does the commerce in seeds, genetic materials and even human body parts. Western science and technology have been synonymous with modernization and development in India and other Asian nations, even though this paradigm ignores the historical and cultural that has existed in many civilizations over the centuries.

Research Paper Doctorate

Dr. Seuss, WWII Cartoons, and Political Children's Books

The political themes exposed in the WWII political cartoons of Dr. Seuss, or Theodor Seuss Geisel, influenced a number of his later works of children's literature.

Research Paper Doctorate

Retirement Options: Social Security, 401(k) Plans, and IRAs

Almost one-third of American workers are failing to prepare themselves for a comfortable retirement, according to a new survey conducted by American Express. The national telephone survey of working adult men and women…

Paper Undergraduate

Presidential Scandal Speeches: Rhetoric and Responsibility

Presidential scandal speeches should be considered a unique form of discoursed that follow a common pattern and have similar elements. All of these may not be found in every single speech but most certainly will, including Richard Nixon's Second Watergate Speech (1973), Ronald Reagan's Iran-Contra Speech (1987), and Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky Speech (1998). All the presidents used strong, direct and active voice when making these speeches, with Clinton seeming to be particularly prone to narcissism and use of the first-person singular.

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