Ka kammala wannan magana: Ba da daɗewa ba bayan ya zama shugaban kasa, Reagan ya fara aiwatar da sababbin manufofi na siyasa da tattalin arziki. Manufofinsa na tattalin arziki, wanda ake kira "Reaganomics", ya ba da shawarar rage yawan haraji don bunkasa ci gaban tattalin arziki, rage tattalin arziki, da kuma rage yawan kuɗin gwamnati. A wa'adinsa na farko, ya tsira daga
yunkurin kisan kai, ya haifar da Yaƙin kan Magunguna, ya mamaye Grenada, kuma ya yi yaƙi da ƙungiyoyin kwadago na jama'a. A cikin wa'adinsa biyu, tattalin arzikin ya ga raguwar hauhawar farashin kaya daga 12.5% zuwa 4.4% da kuma matsakaicin ainihin GDP na shekara-shekara na 3.6%. Reagan ya zartar da raguwa a cikin kasafin kuɗi na kasa, rage haraji, da kuma kara yawan kuɗin soja, wanda ya taimaka wajen kara yawan bashi na tarayya. Harkokin waje sun mamaye wa'adinsa na biyu, gami da harin bam na Libya, Iran-Iraq War, Iran-Contra affair, da kuma yakin Cold War da ke gudana. A watan Yunin 1987, shekaru hudu bayan da ya bayyana Tarayyar Soviet a fili a matsayin "daular mugunta", Reagan ya kalubalanci Sakatare Janar na Soviet Mikhail Gorbachev don "rushe wannan bango!", A lokacin jawabi a ƙofar Brandenburg. Ya sauya manufofin Cold War daga détente zuwa juyawa ta hanyar haɓaka tseren makamai tare da USSR yayin da yake tattaunawa da Gorbachev. Tattaunawar ta kai ga Yarjejeniyar INF, wanda ya rage makaman nukiliya na kasashen biyu. Reagan ya fara shugabancinsa a lokacin faduwar Tarayyar Soviet, wanda a karshe ya rushe kusan shekaru uku bayan ya bar ofis.