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Trump: The Presidential Precedents

Trump: The Presidential Precedents: Episode 5: Ronald Reagan

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Episode 5: Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

BBC Radio 4 - Trump: The Presidential Precedents, Ronald Reagan

In 1980, Ronald Reagan won the White House by running against politics.

Adam Smith compares Trump's win to past presidents who divided America even as they promised radical change. In 1980, Ronald Reagan won the White House by running against politics.

Historian Adam Smith compares Trump's win to the victories of past Presidents who divided America even as they promised radical change.

When Ronald Reagan won in 1980, consternation swept parts of America. Here was a wayward 70 year old, running on an anti-politics, anti-Washington ticket - and known mainly, insisted his opponents, for his mix of onscreen entertaining and extremist views. Some feared giving him power over America's nuclear weapons could lead to catastrophe.

Yet today, Reagan is often cited as being rather more moderate than current Republicans. And many credit his approach to the communist bloc with contributing not to the end of the world but the end of the Cold War.

In this programme Adam considers the degree to which Trump has rebuilt the Reagan white working-class 'base' - and what actually happened to Reagan, his attitude to government and his radical policy platform once he was in power. Can this teach us anything about the possibilities for the age of President Trump?

Series features contributions from: HW Brands, Eric Foner, Eric Rauchway, Heather Richardson

Producer: Phil Tinline.

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Adam Smith on past presidents who divided America as they arrived promising radical change

Adam Smith compares Trump's win to past presidents who divided America even as they promised radical change.

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