Forty years after Ronald Reagan's re-election, Republicans want Reaganism back

With everything else going on in U.S. politics, it's easy to forget the 40th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's landslide re-election in 1984.

But Donald Trump and his supporters seem interested in keeping Reagan's memory alive and building on his foundations. Project 2025 — the 920-page blueprint for a second Trump term from the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation — mentions Reagan 71 times. These references include those who worked for him and also contributed to the report, as well as examples of how the think tank successfully influenced the Reagan administration.

The Heritage Foundation claims it had massive influence in the 1980s, with 60% of its policy recommendations coming from Reagan, and hopes for the same under Trump with his “bold and bold plan.”

Reagan was known for his straightforward leadership style; Trump might also like others to fill in the details of his “Make America Great Again” promise.

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During the 2024 election campaign, comparisons were also made between “The Gipper” (Reagan) and Trump in terms of their leadership style and the blurring of status between politician and celebrity.

Reagan's landslide

So what is the Reaganism that Trump supporters want to reshape? The 1984 election was a pivotal moment for the Republican Party, as Reagan became only the sixth Republican president to win consecutive elections. Trump takes up Reagan's slogan from 1980 and wants to “Make America Great Again.”

Between 1984 and 2016, the Republicans were the party of Reagan. His supporters claimed that he reversed America's economic decline, restored national prestige, won the Cold War, and placed the family at the center of American politics. Reagan's rhetoric of small government and lower taxes inspired his successors in the Oval Office – George HW Bush and George W. Bush – and Republicans in Congress. In order to regain power, the Democrats were even forced to become “New Democrats” in response to Reaganism.

Culture Wars (again)

There are undoubtedly similarities between Reagan and Trump. For example, their appeal to working-class voters, their tax-cutting policies, their strong national defense, and what we would today call “culture war” rhetoric. Project 2025 recalls this history: “In 1979, the threats we faced were the Soviet Union, the socialism of the 1970s liberals, and the predatory deviance of the cultural elites. Reagan defeated these beasts by ignoring their tentacles and instead striking at their hearts.”

Reagan and Trump had both built careers on the screen before entering politics. The first president with an entertainment background, particularly during his time in Hollywood, Reagan was a master of the camera and earned the title “The Great Communicator.”

However, there are significant differences between the two leaders in both tone and policy. Reagan governed as a pragmatist and was polite to his opponents – be they Democrats or Republicans. His time as president of the Screen Actors Guild helped him understand the art of negotiation, but as president he used it against the unions. As his settlement of the air traffic controllers' strike showed, he became a tough dealmaker. But unlike Trump, Reagan often brought optimism to his campaigns, clearly informed by his Midwestern childhood and his years in Hollywood.

Trump's reality television fame and business empire allowed him to bypass traditional political routes to the White House. He definitely knows how to use his screen time in front of the camera and win over his audience. Still, Trump's style can be more combative and polarizing than Reagan's.

Reaganism vs. Trumpism

Two areas of public policy underscore the difference between Reagan and Trump. The former signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986, which granted amnesty to around three million undocumented immigrants so they could stay legally in what the president called the “shining city on a hill.”

In contrast, from the moment he announced his campaign, Trump has redefined the Republican Party, evolving into a party that supports the deportation of millions of immigrants. On cultural issues, Reagan was vocal in his support for prayer in public schools and opposition to abortion, but did not introduce legislative change on either issue.

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Trump is embraced by the religious right and readily takes credit for his Supreme Court appointments, which led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 and made access to abortion more difficult for many women in the United States.

Redesign government

Trump's previous time in office and continued conservative language led the Heritage Foundation to launch the 2025 project. This document calls for a redesign of the federal government and U.S. public policy along conservative lines, such as granting more power to the president and radical reforms to the civil service and even the FBI.

Trump and his supporters will seek to repeat the dramatic changes in domestic policy achieved in Reagan's first term. In his first year, Reagan introduced $39 billion (£30 billion) in legislative budget cuts, including a cut in social spending and a massive 25% tax cut. The government strongly supported free market economics and cutting federal regulation.

With Trump's first term limited by advice and coercion from his staff, the separation of powers in the U.S. Constitution, and perhaps the reluctance of some mainstream Republicans to join his administration, a possible second term could mean an emboldened Trump administration willing to do so take a more radical approach.

Reagan changed the Republicans so much that his vice president, George HW Bush, won essentially on the promise of a third Reagan term. The longevity of Trumpism may depend on whether the Grand Old Party, the Republicans' nickname, is now truly the Trump Party.