Download Chapter 33: The Conservative Tide

Chapter 33: The Conservative Tide
Section 1: A Conservative Movement Emerges
-Conservatism reached a high point with the election in 1980 of President Reagan and
Vice President Bush.
The Conservative Movement Builds
*Entitlement Programs- a government program such as Social Security, Medicare, or
Medicaid that guarantees and provides benefits to a specific group.
*The New Right- a late 20th century alliance of conservative special-interest groups
concerned with cultural, social, and moral issues.
-Right-wing grassroots groups.
-Focused its energy on controversial issues, such as opposing abortion, blocking the
Equal Rights Amendment, and evading court ordered busing.
-It also called for a return of school prayer, which was outlawed by the Supreme Court in
1962.
-Many criticized the policy of *Affirmative action- which required employers and
education institutions to give special consideration to women, African Americans, and
other minority groups, even though these people were not necessarily better qualified.
-Many considered it as a form of *Reverse discrimination- favoring one group over
another on the basis of race on gender.
*Conservative Coalition- an alliance formed in the mid-1960s of right wing groups
opposed to big government.
*Moral Majority- a political alliance of religious groups, consisting mainly of evangelical
and fundamentalists Christians, that was active in the 1970’s and 80’s, condemning
liberal attitudes and behavior and raising money for conservative candidates. (Jerry
Falwell and Pat Robertson)
Goals of the Conservative Movement
-Shrink government and reduce spending.
-Promote family values and patriotic ideals.
-Stimulate business by reducing government regulations and lowering taxes.
-Strengthen the national defense.
-In 1976, *Ronald Reagan- lost the republic nomination to the incumbent, Gerald Ford.
-In 1980, Reagan won the nomination, and chose George H.W. Bush as his running
mate.
-Reagan was a New Deal democrat that had become a conservative Republican during
the 1980’s.
-1966 and 1970, Reagan was elected governor of California.
-In 1980 he was elected president. He was a true believer in less government, lower
taxes, and traditional values; Reagan worked to translate the conservative agenda into
public policy.
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Section 2: Conservative Policies under Reagan and Bush
-President Reagan and Bush pursued a conservative agenda that included tax cuts;
budget cuts, and increased defense spending.
“Reaganomics” Takes Over
-Reagan’s strategy for downsizing the federal government included deep cuts in
government spending on social programs.
*Supply-Side economics- the idea that a reduction of tax rates will lead to increases in
jobs, savings, and investments, and therefore to an increase in government revenue.
-Congress lowered income taxes by 25% over 3 years.
-At the same time, he authorized increases in military spending that more than offset
cuts in social programs, doubling the defense department budget.
*Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)- a proposed defense system popularly known as Star
Wars intended to protect the US against missile attacks.
-July 1981-November 1982- was the most severe recession since the Great Depression.
-Early 1983 an economic upturn began as consumers went on a spending spree.
-The stock market boom lasted until 1987, when it crashed losing 508 points in one day.
-Despite large reductions in parts of the budget, federal spending still outstripped federal
revenue.
-By the end of his first term, the national debt had almost doubled.
*Sandra Day O’Connor- was the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court.
-Reagan also nominated Justice William Rehnquist- the most conservative justice on the
court at the time.
-Reagan and Bush appointments to the Supreme Courts ended the liberal control over
the court that had begun under Franklin Roosevelt.
*Deregulation- the cutting back of federal regulation of industry.
-One of the positive results of this was that it increased competition & often resulted in
lower prices for consumers.
-Reagan also cut the budget of the EPA. (fights pollution & conserves resources)
-Reagan Democrats- agreed w/ Reagan on limiting fed govt & thought that the
Democratic Party had drifted too far to the left.
-1984- Reagan & Bush won reelection over democrat Walter Mondale.
*Geraldine Ferraro- ran for VP with Mondale. She was the 1st woman on a presidential
ticket.
-1988 elections- George Bush wins over democrat Michael Dukakis.
-Bush promised “No New taxes”.
Section 3: Social Concerns in 1980’s
-Beneath the surge of prosperity that marked the conservation era of the 1980’s lay
serious social problems.
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Health, Education, & Cities in Crisis
-1980’s attention was on issues such as AIDS, drugs abuse, abortion, & education.
*AIDS- acquired immune deficiency syndrome spread rapidly though out the world.
-AIDS weakens the body so that it is prone to infections & rare cancers.
-It is transmitted though bodily fluids & most early victims were either homosexual men
or intravenous drug users who shared needles.
-Abortion, drug abuse (Nancy Reagan “Just say No”) & increasing education were also
major concerns before the turn of the century.
-The crisis in education was closely connected to the crisis in the cities.
-In the early 1980’s, women’s rights activists worked to obtain ratification of the *Equal
Rights Amendment (ERA)- although congress passed it in 1972, it had not yet been
ratified by ¾ of the states.
-When voted on, only 35 of 38 states that needed to ratify it were obtained. The ERA
did not become law.
-This led to an increase I women running for office with the goal of equality.
*Pay equity- the basing of an employee’s salary on the requirements of his/her job rather
than on traditional pay scales that favored men.
-Cuts in govt programs & the backlash against civil rights initiatives, such as affirmative
action, affected other group as well.
*L. Douglas Wilder- (1990) of VA became the nation’s first African American governor.
*Reverend Jesse Jackson- ran for the democratic presidential nomination in 1984 &
1988.
-Latinos became the fastest growing minority during the 1980’s. They will soon become
the nations largest minority group.
-Latinos would see many gains during this time.
Section 4: Foreign Policy after the Cold War
-The end of the Cold War marked by the break up of the USSR in 1991and led to a
redirection of many US goals & policies.
*Mikhail Gorbachev- 1985, becomes the general secretary of the communist party in the
Soviet Union.
Reform: *Glasnost- (Russian for “openness”) a policy where he allowed open criticism of
the govt & took steps towards freedom of the press.
*Perestroika- his plan for restructuring the Soviet Society.
-Called for less govt control of the economy, the introduction of some private enterprise,
& steps towards establishing a democratic govt.
-This action reflected the failure of communism.
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*INF Treaty- (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty) Dec 1987 -which eliminated
two classes of weapons systems in EU & allowed each nation to make on-site inspection
of the others military installations.
-The pressures of completing Gorbachev’s changes were overwhelming. Dec. 1991, 14
non-Russian republics declared their independence from the Soviet Union.
-A loose federation known as the *Commonwealth of Independent States (US) took the
place of the Soviet Union.
-Feb 1992, Bush & Russian President *Boris Yeltsin issued a formal statement
announcing that the Cold War was over.
-Jan 1993, Bush and Yeltsin signed the *START II PACT- designed to cut both nations’
nuclear arsenals by 75%.
-Berlin Wall- came down in 1989 after 28 years.
-The USSR began to break apart.
Communism continues in China
-Chinese govt began to loosen its grip on business & eliminated some price controls.
-Students in China began to demand freedom of speech & a great voice in govt.
*Tiananmen Square- April 1989, University students in China held marches that quickly
grew into large demonstrations in Beijing & on the streets of other cities.
-The military was ordered to crush the protesters.
-Troops rushed into the Square, slaughtering unarmed students as the world’s
democratic countries watched these events in horror on the TV.
*Nicaragua- The US had had a presence there ever since 1912, in order to protect
American investments.
-US troops left in 1933 after we helped the dictator Anastasio Somoza came into power.
-A civil war raged on from 1977-1979 between Somoza’s National Guard & the
*Sandinistas- rebels who took their name from a rebel leader named Sandino who was
killed in 1934.
-The Sandinistas toppled the dictatorship govt in 1979, Carter recognized the new
regime & sent aid.
-When Reagan came into office, he charged that the Sandinistas were teaming up with
the Soviets so he cut all aid to them.
-Reagan then threw his support to guerrilla forces known as the *Contras because they
were “against” communism.
-1990 a contra was elected president.
*Grenada- after seeing that the island was developing ties to Communist Cuba, Reagan
sent about 2,000 troops there in 1983.
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-They overthrew the Pro-Cuban govt, which was replaced by one friendlier to the US.
*Panama- 1989, Bush Sr. sent more than 20,000 troops to Panama to overthrow &
arrest *General Manuel Antonio Noriega on charges of drug trafficking.
-Her was sentenced to 40 years in jail.
*The Iran-Contra Scandal- 1983, terrorist groups loyal to Iran took a number of
Americans hostage in Lebanon.
-Reagan denounced Iran & urged US Allies not to sell arms to them for its war against
Iraq.
-In 1985, Reagan declared the “America will never make concessions to terrorists.”
-In 1986, Reagan secretly sold arms to Iran in exchange for 7 American hostages.
-Members of Reagan’s staff sent part of the profits from these illegal arms sales to the
Contras in Nicaragua…in violation of a congressional amendment.
*Lt. Col. Oliver North- a member of the National Security Council staff who played a key
role in providing aid to the Contras.
-He asserted that he thought he was carrying out the President’s wishes.
*The Persian Gulf War
-After a prolonged war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980’s, *Saddam Hussein had to
deal with a large debt.
-Hussein had always proclaimed that Kuwait, an oil-rich nation, was part of Iraq.
-Aug 1990- Iraq’s troops invaded a disputed area claimed by Kuwait, then headed
toward Saudi Arabia & its oil fields.
-If Iraq would have conquered Saudi Arabia & Kuwait; it would control ½ of the world’s
known oil resources, which would severely threaten US oil supplies.
*Operation Desert Storm (Jan 1991-Feb 1991)- a launch by President G.H. Bush to
liberate Kuwait from Iraqi control.
-Bush was forced to raise taxes, despite his campaign pledge. As a result, 12 years of
republican leadership would come to an end.
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