the country was in the middle of some really hard times when he first got elected. > worst economy since the great depression > high poverty rates > crime was out of control > cities were run down trash holes full of crime, junkies, and adult businesses > 11% inflation > forget home ownership, nobody could afford that unless they were a drug dealer > soviet spies were stealing everything in terms of industrial and national defense secrets that weren't nailed down things were way better when reagan left office even though some problems like high crime still existed (although that would be conquered by the clinton years). the economy was strong at the end of the '80s, middle class prosperity had returned, and the cold war was just about over.
United States