How did conservative beliefs affect Reagan's policies? How did they affect Bush's policies?
1 Answer
See below
Explanation:
Reagan and Bush were influenced by NeoConservatism which is different from PaleoConservatism(both Isolationist and anti-state with a strong respect of the Constitution). They believed in a strong involvement of the USA abroad militarily speaking(to end the Cold War for Reagan and to pursue the New World Order agenda for Bush).
They anti-state and anti-taxes rhetoric but violated their promises(Bush is famous for referring to Eastwood "read my lips" in New Orleans promising no additional taxes). They both grew deficits and taxes(deficit was the main regret of Reagan).
Regarding Foreign Policy, Reagan increased the military budget to confront the Soviet Union and became more cooperative after Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union in 1985. He had the US army involved in multiple escalations in South America. Bush started the largest escalation since the Vietnam War with the Persian Gulf War.
He believed the end of communism did not justify the end of American imperialism and express his views in his speech "New World Order" on Sept 11th 1990 while defending the attack on Iraq, the country that had occupied Kuwait.
