Highlights from Reagan’s presidency

  • Jan. 20, 1981: Inaugurated as Iran releases 52 U.S. hostages after 444 days in captivity.
  • March 30, 1981: Seriously wounded by would-be assassin John W. Hinckley Jr.
  • July 1981: Nominated first woman, Sandra Day O’Connor, to U.S. Supreme Court. Won passage by Congress of deep tax cuts, one month after winning deep spending cuts.
  • August 1981: Fired striking air traffic controllers.
  • Oct. 23, 1983: Terrorist bomb killed 237 Marines in Beirut, Lebanon.
  • Oct. 25, 1983: U.S. troops led invasion of Grenada.
  • June 1984: Celebrated 40th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France.
  • November 1984: Won landslide re-election, sweeping 49 states and defeating Democrat Walter Mondale.
  • Nov. 19, 1985: Met Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva for their first summit.
  • Jan. 26, 1986: Space shuttle Challenger exploded.

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  • April 14, 1986: United States bombed Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi in payback for terrorist bombing of Berlin discotheque frequented by U.S. soldiers.
  • Oct. 12, 1986: Second Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, explored deal to scrap all nuclear weapons, ended in impasse over Strategic Defense Initiative.
  • Oct. 22, 1986: Signed legislation overhauling U.S. tax code.
  • Nov. 6, 1986: Secret plan to sell U.S. arms to Iran disclosed.
  • Nov. 19, 1986: Denied trading arms for hostages.
  • March 4, 1987: Admitted trading arms for hostages, termed it “a mistake.”
  • Dec. 8, 1987: Third Reagan-Gorbachev summit, in Washington, yielded treaty to cut U.S. and Soviet strategic nuclear arsenals for first time.
  • May 29, 1988: Summit in Moscow. Reagan, Gorbachev exchange ratified texts of the INF treaty, discuss strategic and conventional arms and stroll in Red Square.