Although, people spend a lot of time and resources to clinch presidency, the position comes with a lot of ups and downs. The burdens of millions of the citizens are placed on presidency. In this paper I will look on the challenges that Regan, Clinton and Bush the 43 had to deal with in their administrations. Reagan had to face economic disparity, Clinton was fighting skyrocketing national debt and Bush was faced with terrorism.
Several factors contributed to the increase of economic inequality during the Reagan era. These includes; Regan’s deregulation of the financial market, factories shifting production overseas and tax cuts on the upper brackets. The deregulation of the financial industry enabled the wealthy to invest in high risk projects and investments with high yield. This made the stock market to grow upward due to speculation. The policy also allowed saving and loans associations to involve themselves in risky loans and investments. At the end of the day consumers and investors lost their savings and investments as those deals failed terribly.
The interest rates that were raised to make lending expensive pushed the economy to a recession. The dollar became valuable and its price went up compared to other currencies. This made the exports to be expensive and imports to be cheaper. As a result, factories found themselves in a dilemma since their products could not get market. They chose to shift their production to other nations, triggering unemployment. The factory workers lost their jobs and Regan had already subdued growth of labor unions that would have aired their grievances. The tax cuts on the upper brackets also contributed in economic disparity. The upper income earners were left with more disposable income than the lower earners. But, this did not last for long as social security payroll and excise taxes we increased.
Former president Bill Clinton was able to lessen the national debt which had a shortfall to a surplus despite growth in social programs because of the economic measures he put in place. These measures included; fiscal discipline, low interest rates, encouraging private investment, investing in areas that promised growth like research and education and opening foreign markets for American labor (The White House, nd). The make these measures effective Clinton lowered the federal government spending, lowered taxes for middle income earners, created college tax credits, opened technological advancement, among other things.
George W. Bush first term in the office was majorly shaped by the terrorism attack of September 11, 2001. The attack left more than 3,000 Americans dead. To put the nation at easiness Bush declared war on terrorism which posed a threat to America as a nation and to its citizens, and went ahead to fight nations and groups that supported terrorism. The first response was invasion of Afghanistan, one of the nation that was alleged to be housing Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda and mastermind of the 9/11 occurrences (History.com, 2019).
Several factors contributed to the increase of economic inequality during the Reagan era. These includes; Regan’s deregulation of the financial market, factories shifting production overseas and tax cuts on the upper brackets. The deregulation of the financial industry enabled the wealthy to invest in high risk projects and investments with high yield. This made the stock market to grow upward due to speculation. The policy also allowed saving and loans associations to involve themselves in risky loans and investments. At the end of the day consumers and investors lost their savings and investments as those deals failed terribly.
The interest rates that were raised to make lending expensive pushed the economy to a recession. The dollar became valuable and its price went up compared to other currencies. This made the exports to be expensive and imports to be cheaper. As a result, factories found themselves in a dilemma since their products could not get market. They chose to shift their production to other nations, triggering unemployment. The factory workers lost their jobs and Regan had already subdued growth of labor unions that would have aired their grievances. The tax cuts on the upper brackets also contributed in economic disparity. The upper income earners were left with more disposable income than the lower earners. But, this did not last for long as social security payroll and excise taxes we increased.
Former president Bill Clinton was able to lessen the national debt which had a shortfall to a surplus despite growth in social programs because of the economic measures he put in place. These measures included; fiscal discipline, low interest rates, encouraging private investment, investing in areas that promised growth like research and education and opening foreign markets for American labor (The White House, nd). The make these measures effective Clinton lowered the federal government spending, lowered taxes for middle income earners, created college tax credits, opened technological advancement, among other things.
George W. Bush first term in the office was majorly shaped by the terrorism attack of September 11, 2001. The attack left more than 3,000 Americans dead. To put the nation at easiness Bush declared war on terrorism which posed a threat to America as a nation and to its citizens, and went ahead to fight nations and groups that supported terrorism. The first response was invasion of Afghanistan, one of the nation that was alleged to be housing Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda and mastermind of the 9/11 occurrences (History.com, 2019).
The Taliban rule in Afghanistan was tumbled but Osama and his group were not captured, they had fled to Pakistan territory. The next thing that Bush did was to establish Department of homeland security by signing Patriotic Act. The primary mission being to avert terrorist attacks inside the United States and deal with future terrorism activities. Bush also authorized attack of Iraq with an intention of overthrowing Sadaam Hussein, whose administration was blamed of assisting global terror groups and being in possession of weapons of mass destruction. Although, Sadaam was seized the weapons he was alleged to hold were not discovered.
In conclusion, the three president’s actions are felt to date. No one can deny the existence of income inequality in the American society, especially among upper and working class. Though, Clinton claimed to have balanced the national debt and left a surplus, the nation is still in billions of debts. And, terrorism is still a threat to America despite the wars fought so far to curb it. All in all, the trio did their best to make America great!
In conclusion, the three president’s actions are felt to date. No one can deny the existence of income inequality in the American society, especially among upper and working class. Though, Clinton claimed to have balanced the national debt and left a surplus, the nation is still in billions of debts. And, terrorism is still a threat to America despite the wars fought so far to curb it. All in all, the trio did their best to make America great!
