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Before Ronald Reagan received the Republican Party nomination in 1980, he successfully won a campaign to become the Governor of California. He sought to increase his public and party persona through campaigning, and arrived in Janesville in January 1976. Reagan spoke at the Ramada Inn during their Annual Business Appreciation Breakfast. This was an ideal setting as his speech emphasized free enterprise and the decrease in government involvement in American businesses. These values undoubtedly carried over into his administration as President.

https://www.biography.com/people/ronald-reagan-9453198

https://www.biography.com/people/ronald-reagan-9453198

Janesville Gazette January 13 1976.

Janesville Gazette January 13 1976.

President Reagan`s first term was defined by tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, decreased spending on social programs, and higher Cold War tensions between the United States and the U.S.S.R. His second term in 1984 involved controversy over the Iran-Contra incident, as well as a negotiation with Mikhail Gorbachev to cease close range nuclear missiles. In 1989, President Reagan retired to California where he died in 2004 after battling Alzheimer's disease.