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52 hostages were taken by a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line. They were held for 444 days before being released. -
Reagan takes Oath of Office as the 40th President of the United States. -
Reagan proposed increased defense spending, decreased taxes, and domestic spending in a speech to Congress. -
John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Reagan. -
Reagan ended the Soviet grain embargo that Carter authorized during his presidency. -
The PATCO workers' refusal to return to work, the Reagan administration fired the 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order and banned them from federal service for life.
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Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman, to the highest court in the United States. -
Reagan initiated a large build-up of the American military with the intention of defeating the Soviet Union in an arms race. -
Reagan imposes economic sanctions on Poland following that government's imposition of martial law. -
President Ronald Reagan delivered his first state of the union address in a televised time speech. -
Reagan urges the development of the Strategic Defense Initiative, an attempt to create a high-technology anti-ballistic missile shield to protect the United States from nuclear attack. -
Reagan becomes the first U.S. President to address the combined Houses of Parliament, taking Britain's side in the Falkland Islands conflict with Argentina. -
Reagan signs the Tax Equity & Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA). It was designed to reduce the federal budget deficit through a combination of tax increases, spending cuts, and tax reform measures. -
President Reagan signs the Social Security Reform Bill into law. It provided for an increase in SSI benefit rates. -
U.S. Marines in the capital city of Lebanon, Beirut, are attacked by suicide bombers. -
U.S. forces invade the island nation of Grenada to overthrow the military government that had carried out a government coup days before. -
Farm credit crises pose a serious threat to U.S. agriculture. The Reagan administration eases rules on a loan-guarantee program but rejects provisions for additional funding. -
The Reagan administration announces a trade embargo against Nicaragua in an attempt to undermine the Sandinista government. This embargo was later found to be in violation of international law. -
Reagan and Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev hold a summit meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the first such meeting between the U.S and Soviet heads of state since 1979. -
Democrats won the national popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 7.7 percentage points, making a net gain of five seats. -
President Reagan gives a speech about the space shuttle explosion. -
The Reagan administration announces limited economic sanctions against South Africa after the South African government declares martial law. -
The Democrats win control of the Senate, the first time during Reagan's tenure that both houses of Congress are in Democratic hands. -
Reagan informs Congress that the United States secretly sold arms to Iran in violation of federal laws prohibiting arms deals with Iran. -
Congress overrides Reagan's veto of the Water Quality Control Act, allowing the EPA to regulate pollutants in U.S. waters. -
The Tower Commission releases its report, finding no criminal acts on the part of the White House but remaining critical of the administration. -
Raegan gave a speech about tearing down the Berlin wall which had become a symbol of Soviet oppression. -
Gorbachev and Reagan meet in Washington, D.C., and sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. -
Reagan prohibits federally funded family-planning centers from providing assistance to women seeking abortions. -
Reagan visits the Soviet Union for the first time. -
Reagan delivers his farewell address.