Compare and contrast the domestic and foreign policy goals during the reign of TWO American presidents (1920-2008). Which president was more successful in obtaining their specific domestic and foreign policy goals? Why? Provide specific historical examples. United States had it’s own share of good and bad presidents. Presidents that made a lasting impression on a history and presidents that should have never made the history. It would be an easy task to compare one of the most successful presidents to one of the worst presidents in the last century, but that would not be much of an argument. Instead, I decided to compare successes and failures of two presidents that in my eyes were remarkable – each in his own way: Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. In my opinion, Reagan wins in the department of foreign affairs. He was able to put a final end to Cold War. Clinton, on the other hand, was responsible for creating the biggest surplus in the history of the United States. Right from the start, these two presidents had different agendas in mind when it came to presidency. Clinton wanted to concentrate his efforts on domestic issues, while Reagan was more interested in restoring United States image as a superpower. He believed that “The Soviet Union underlies all the unrest in the world” (U.S. Narrative History, p. 670). When Reagan took office in 1981, he wanted to concentrate his efforts on supply-side economics to fix the crumbling economy. He proposed a 30% rate reduction plan in corporate as well as individual taxes and Congress ended up approving 25%. This strategy backfired on him, as critics later accused him that the tax cuts were implemented to benefit the wealthy. Reagan hoped that people in the highest tax brackets are more likely to use the tax break and invest in the crumbling economy. Reagan’s administration also made significant cuts in domestic spending. This decision negatively affected the poorest of Americans when budget cuts were made on Medicaid, low-income housing, food stamps, and financial aid in education. Even though Reagan was against government spending, he was quick to increase spending in one area: military. His goal was to rebuilt deteriorated armed forces. Soon after Reagan entered his presidency, United States entered the worst economic plunge since the Great Depression. The recession in early 1981/1982 resulted in rising interest rates, record unemployment, mounting federal deficit, bank failures, and home foreclosures. Reagan’s critics blamed the recession on "Reaganomics" – increased military spending, but significant reductions in social programs, as well as tax cuts. The president blamed it on excessive government spending by his predecessors. Critically thinking, Reagan could not have been responsible for this recession, as most of his policies didn’t get a chance to be implemented yet. However, he did very little to stop it. He focused on the inflation, instead of high interest rates, which contributed tremendously to the recession. Amer