If you’re asking who was president of US in 1987, the answer is Ronald Reagan. He was right in the middle of his second term. It was a weird, pivotal year. Reagan was seventy-six years old. People called him "The Great Communicator," but 1987 was the year that title really got put to the test.
He wasn't just a face on a coin or a name in a history book back then. He was a polarizing, charismatic, and sometimes controversial figure who was steering the country through the tail end of the Cold War.
The Man in the Oval Office
Ronald Wilson Reagan. That’s the name. By 1987, he had already survived an assassination attempt and was pushing his "Reaganomics" platform hard. You have to understand the vibe of the country at the time. The 80s were loud. Big hair, neon lights, and a massive focus on wealth. Reagan fit that "Morning in America" optimism, even when things started getting messy behind the scenes.
He was a former actor. People forget how much that influenced his presidency. He knew how to deliver a line. When he spoke, he sounded like your grandfather—if your grandfather was incredibly polished and ran a superpower. But 1987 wasn't all sunshine and jelly beans.
1987: A Year of Massive Shifts
If you think about who was president of US in 1987, you have to think about the Berlin Wall. This was the year of the famous speech. Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin on June 12. He looked at the cameras and said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Most people think the wall fell the next day. It didn't. It took two more years. But Reagan’s rhetoric defined the era. He was aggressive toward the Soviet Union, calling them an "evil empire," yet he was also the guy sitting down with Mikhail Gorbachev to sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty later that December. It was a strange contradiction. He was a hawk who wanted peace.
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The Iran-Contra Shadow
Honestly, 1987 was almost the year Reagan’s presidency fell apart. Have you heard of the Iran-Contra affair? It was a mess. Basically, some people in his administration were secretly selling weapons to Iran. They used that money to fund "Contras"—rebel groups in Nicaragua. The problem? Congress had specifically said no to funding the Contras.
Reagan went on TV in March 1987 to address it. He said his heart told him he hadn't traded arms for hostages, but the facts told him he had. It was a bizarre moment of political theater. Oliver North became a household name during the televised hearings that summer. For a while, people really wondered if Reagan would be impeached. He survived it, mostly because he stayed popular with his "everyman" charm, but it definitely left a mark on his legacy.
Economics and the "Black Monday" Scare
Reagan’s economic policy was simple: cut taxes, deregulate, and spend a lot on the military. By 1987, the economy had been growing for a few years, but then October happened.
October 19, 1987. Black Monday.
The stock market didn't just dip; it plummeted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 22.6% in a single day. It was chaos. People were terrified we were heading into another Great Depression. Reagan had to project calm while the financial world was screaming. Luckily, the economy bounced back relatively quickly, but it was a massive reality check for the "greed is good" mentality of the decade.
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The Supreme Court Battle
Reagan also spent 1987 trying to reshape the judicial system. This was the year he nominated Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. It turned into a total firestorm. The Senate rejected Bork after a brutal confirmation process. It was so intense that "to bork" became a verb in the dictionary, meaning to obstruct someone through systematic defamation or vilification.
Eventually, after another nominee (Douglas Ginsburg) withdrew because of a controversy involving marijuana use, Reagan nominated Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy was confirmed in early 1988, but the whole 1987 fight changed how Supreme Court nominations work forever. It became a blood sport.
Life Under the 40th President
What was it actually like in the US in 1987? Reagan was the face of a country that was feeling its oats but also dealing with deep internal cracks.
- The AIDS crisis was reaching a fever pitch, and many critics lambasted Reagan for not addressing it sooner or more forcefully.
- The "War on Drugs" was in full swing.
- Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- The Simpsons made their first appearance on The Tracey Ullman Show.
Reagan was a grandfatherly figure to some and a dangerous ideologue to others. There wasn't much middle ground. He loved his ranch in California. He loved his wife, Nancy. And he was obsessed with the idea of a "Star Wars" defense system (the Strategic Defense Initiative), which many scientists thought was total science fiction.
The Vice President in the Wings
While Reagan was the star, his Vice President, George H.W. Bush, was quietly preparing for his own run. By 1987, the "shadow" of the vice presidency was starting to lift as the 1988 election cycle began to heat up. Bush had to distance himself from Iran-Contra while still riding Reagan’s coattails. It was a delicate balance.
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Why 1987 Matters Today
When we look back at who was president of US in 1987, we aren't just looking at a date. We are looking at the foundation of modern American politics. The INF Treaty paved the way for the end of the Cold War. The Robert Bork hearings set the stage for the hyper-partisan court battles we see now. The Iran-Contra hearings changed how we view executive power.
Reagan’s 1987 was a bridge. It bridged the gap between the post-Vietnam malaise and the unipolar world of the 1990s.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you want to dive deeper into this specific slice of history, don't just read a textbook. Textbooks are dry. They miss the flavor of the era.
First, go watch the "Tear Down This Wall" speech on YouTube. Look at the crowd. Look at Reagan's face. It gives you a sense of his presence that text never will. Second, check out the Tower Commission Report if you want the gritty details of the Iran-Contra scandal. It's the primary source that actually looked into what the White House knew.
Lastly, look at the cultural output of 1987. Movies like Wall Street or Fatal Attraction tell you a lot about the anxieties of the Reagan era. They show a country obsessed with status but terrified of losing control.
Understanding Ronald Reagan in 1987 is about understanding the American psyche at a crossroads. He was a man of his time, for better or worse. He left office in 1989 with high approval ratings, but the debates about his policies haven't stopped since. They probably never will.
To get a full picture of Reagan's impact, compare the 1987 federal budget with the 1980 budget. The explosion in defense spending is eye-opening. Also, look into the 1987 Fairness Doctrine repeal by the FCC—it’s a huge reason why modern talk radio and polarized news exist today. History isn't just a list of names; it's a series of dominoes. Reagan knocked over some big ones in 1987.