A Cape May spouter is correct: Ronald Regan was a great leader. Sworn in as governor of California in 1967, Reagan immediately approved tax hikes to balance the budget, and it worked. As president, Reagan raised taxes every year from 1981 to 1987. These increases included an increase in 1982 (the largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history at the time), the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, a higher gasoline levy, and a 1986 tax reform deal, including the largest corporate tax increase in American history. Reagan’s tax increases brought in needed revenue and shrank the unemployment rate.