Here is a comprehensive summary of the provided Wikipedia article about Ronald Reagan:

  • Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911–2004) served as the 40th U.S. President from 1981 to 1989, becoming a pivotal figure in the American conservative movement. Before his presidency, he built a successful career as a well-known film actor and twice served as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
  • His political rise began with his influential "A Time for Choosing" speech in 1964, leading to his election as Governor of California in 1966, where he turned a budget deficit into a surplus. He secured the presidency in 1980 with a landslide victory over Jimmy Carter, initiating the "Reagan era."
  • During his first term, Reagan implemented "Reaganomics," a policy of economic deregulation and tax cuts aimed at combating stagflation, and survived an assassination attempt in 1981. On the global stage, he escalated the arms race and ordered the 1983 invasion of Grenada.
  • Re-elected in 1984, his second term was dominated by foreign affairs, including the controversial Iran-Contra affair and landmark negotiations with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, which led to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
  • Upon leaving office in 1989, Reagan was credited with significant reductions in inflation and unemployment, and contributing to the end of the Cold War, although the national debt had nearly tripled. He remains an enduring icon of American conservatism, despite later being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994.