Ronald Reagan's New Conservatism

Ronald Reagan became our 40th president of the United States, riding a wave of new conservatism support. The ineffectiveness and stagnation of the economy during the Carter presidency led many to be ready for change. Average Americans were fed up with the government and believed that change was needed. Discontented groups such as the "Moral Majority", a group of Christian evangelists, believed the country was racing toward a modern era which scared them. Many wished to return back to the country's roots and to maintain traditional values.
Out of power Republicans capitalized on this discontentment and voted Ronald Reagan as the presidential nomination. Ronald Reagan had a relatively easily election, becoming the president in 1881. After becoming president, Ronald Reagan began to quickly enact changers in economy, foreign policy, and military policy. Reagan lowered taxes for the rich and installed his controversial supply side economic policy. By lowering taxes and lowering government regulation, Reagan hoped to stimulate business. The more profitability of business was hoped to "trickle down" to the rest of the nation. The new profit was supposed to create more jobs and provide cheaper goods and services for all. This controversial new economic policy was mostly a failure, with big businesses failing to re distribute wealth to the lower class. The lower taxes were a way for the rich to stay richer.
Ronald Reagan promised a hard line on communism taking the country back to its post world war 2 roots. Reagan claimed the Soviet Union to be an "evil empire", taking the US back to the attitude of anti-communism seen during the height of the cold war. This resurgence of anti-communism is seen in Reagan and was part of his plan to get re-elected.
Reagan wanted to revamp the country's military, feeding on fears that the United States was falling behind the Soviet Union. Reagan wanted to build a new space based missile defense system nicknamed Star Wars. Star Wars was supposed to disable Nuclear missiles from space using a complicated tracking and interception system utilizing space based interceptors. His insistence on Star Wars hardened tensions between the US and USSR. Star Wars threatened the balance of Mutually Assured Destruction.
Ronald Reagan surge of new conservatism was an embodiment of the American people for change. They believed that the modern US was going to a place they did not want, and believed Reagan could take them back to traditional values. Reagan's election led to less taxes, more military, and a harsher relationship with the USSR.

Source: http://countrystudies.us/united-states/history-136.htm