Download The 80s * 90s

American Pageant Chapter 40
The Resurgence of Conservatism
The Election of Ronald Reagan, 1980
• Reagan was a member of the New Right:
– Believed large government was a failure
• Advocated free markets, anti-Soviet foreign policy,
against government programs
• Election of 1980:
– Reagan (R) v. Carter (D)
– Reagan won 489 - 49
Reagan
The Election of 1980
• Background:
– Starts as a Hollywood Actor
– governor of CA 1966
– becomes the hero of a movement
called the New Right – promotes
a conservative agenda
• Reagan’s Platform
–
–
–
–
Strong Defense
Cut Taxes (read my lips)
Cut Spending
Balance the Budget (unless we
can build a space laser…)
• Conservative Agenda
The New Right &
Neo-Conservatism
• Starts w/ Eisenhower and ‘Modern
Republicanism’ and 64’ Barry
Goldwater conservative Senator
• Political Movement that helped
Reagan win the 1980 Election
– Promoted Strongly conservative
policies
– Opposed New Deal/ Great Society
Policies (ex: Social Security)
• Believe that overextension of what needs
gov’t could or should meet
• Opposed government activism
– Opposed Federal Civil Rights laws (not
necessarily local or state)Demand
military buildup to defend against
Soviet attack (refocus on Cold War)
“The Time Is Now for Strong
Leadership"
• 1980 REAGAN VS. CARTER VS. ANDERSON
Ronald Reagan’s television spots were not
particularly artful. The centerpiece of the
campaign was a conventional biographical
ad tracing Reagan’s career and crediting him
with reducing California’s deficit while
lowering taxes. The ad’s main purpose was to
show that Reagan—best known to the public
as a movie actor—was also an effective
governor. The rest of Reagan’s ads were simple
but effective variations on the central question
he put to voters: "Are you better off today
than you were four years ago?"
Discussion Questions:
1. How does the ad portray the
candidate? Can you identify any
bias?
2. What is the main point of the
campaign ad?
3. How successful do you think the ad
is at proving its point?
http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1980
Political Realignment
New Deal Coalition
Reagan Coalition
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Democratic South
African-Americans
Union members
Urban North
Immigrant/newer
ethnic groups
• Farmers
Midwest small towns
Wealthiest Americans
Hawks on foreign policy
Blue Collar in North and
Midwest (union and
non-union)
• White Southerners
• Evangelicals
• Yuppies
The Reagan Revolution
• Iran Hostage crisis ended on January 20, 1981
• “Government is not the solution to our problem.
Government is the problem.”
– Government spending increased between 1960 and
1980
– Money spent on entitlement programs increased
– Reagan proposed a budget that would cut $35 billion
Effect of Reagan on US Political Culture
Left
US
Pre-1981;
New Deal
and Great
Society
era
Right
Reagan era
Left-right defined as accepted level of government intervention
in the economy:
right = less intervention
left = more intervention
Reagan’s Presidency
Domestic
• Conservative Presidential
Agenda:
– Reduce the Federal
bureaucracy
Strategic
Defense certain
– Deregulate
Initiative
(SDI) =
industries
better known as
– Wars
Cut Taxes
Star
– Increase the(Neo-cons
defense
Neoconservatives
=
Dickbudget
Cheney, Don Rumsfeld,
Paul
Wolfowitz,conservative
Condoleeza
– Appoint
Rice,
Richard Armistead, Colin
judges
Powell, etc.)
– *Reaganomics
Foreign
• Reignite the Cold War
– Arms Race with USSR
• Iran Contra Scandal
• Selling arms (to Iran) for the
release of hostages to
support Nicaraguan Contras
• Covered up
• Reagan admitted covering
up
• No long term impact
• “Teflon” president.
The Iran Contra Scandal
Private US $
Iran
Contra
Foreign
Gov’t $Scandal
Contras
bank
•Selling arms (to Iran)Swiss
for
the release of hostages
accounts;
to support Nicaraguancontrolled
Contras
by North
•Covered up
•Reagan admitted covering
$$$ up
•No
long term impact
Iran
Hostages
•“Teflon” president.
weapons
Israel
US
weapons
Reagan Renews the Cold War
• Why did Reagan increase military spending?
– Belief that the Soviet Union could not compete, Soviet
leaders would favor peace talks
• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) (Star Wars)
– Reagan’s nuclear defense plan
– Space stations could use lasers to defend against nuclear
attacks
– Never occurred
• Increased tensions in the 1980s:
– Solidarity in Poland
– Korean airliner shot down by the Soviets
– Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Olympic Games in LA
The Battle of the Budget
• Supply-side economics (Reaganomics)
– Tax cuts for the wealthy
– In theory, the rich would use this money to invest and
spend money to improve the economy
– Very similar to Andrew Mellon’s tax policy from the
1920s
• Increase in military spending
– $2 trillion for the Pentagon in the 1980s
– Helps contribute to federal deficits
Supply-Side Economics a.k.a
“Reaganomics”
• Cut taxes to put more money
into the hands of businesses
• Cut taxes on the wealthiest
Americans
• Lower taxes = more investment
in the “supply side” of the
economy
• Would:
– promote and create new jobs
– encourage capital investment, and
– lead to stimulated industrial
growth
Political Interpretation of Laffer Curve
Recession
and
Recovery
Effects of Supply side Economics
Maximum
Revenue
•
1981 & 1982 = Nation suffered the worst recession since
the Great Depression.
•
Unemployment rose and government revenues fell.
•
Federal spending soared and the federal deficit
skyrocketed.
________________________________________________
•
1983 = Economic upturn sends consumers on spending
spree
•
Stock Market surged and GDP went up 10%
No revenue
0%
Tax Rates
100%
Troubles Abroad
• Sandinistas:
– Anti-American revolutionaries in Nicaragua
– Reagan believed they were an extension of the Soviet
Union; 1st of many Latin American countries to follow
• Reagan used covert aid in Latin America
– Nicaragua – aid to the Contras who were against the
Sandinistas
– El Salvador – sent the military to bolster the ProAmerican government
Reagan and the Cold
War
• Called Soviet Union the
“evil empire”
• Reagan - Cold Warrior
–
–
–
–
–
Lebanon
Libya
Grenada
El Salvador
Nicaragua (Contra rebels
supported by US)
*supported leaders that
aided our fight against
communism…
Round Two for Reagan
• Election of 1984:
– Reagan v. Mondale
– Reagan wins 525 – 13
• Mikhail Gorbachev “Gorby!”
– Glasnost – openness, allowed some freedoms for Soviet
citizens
– Perestroika – economic restructuring to improve the
Soviet economy
• The Soviet Union could not keep pace spending
with the US
• Reagan and Gorby signed treaties limiting weapons
The Iran-Contra Imbroglio
• Iran-Contra Affair
– American hostages were held in Lebanon
– Contras were rebels fighting the Sandinistas
1. The Reagan administration sold weapons to the Contras
2. That money was sent to Iran
3. Iran would then help free the hostages
• Why is this a problem?
– Congress forbid providing aid to the Contras
– Reagan stated he refused to negotiate with terrorists
• Effects of the scandal?
– Reagan claimed he was innocent
– Tarred his administration
Reagan’s Economic Legacy
• Reagan did not balance the budget
– Increase in military spending
• Spending on social programs was reduced
The Religious Right
• “Moral Majority” led by Reverend Jerry Falwell–
“against sexual permissiveness, abortion, feminism,
and the spread of gay rights.” (977)
• 1980s saw an increase in “right-to-life” movement
Conservatism in the Courts
• Sandra Day O’Connor – first woman named to the
Supreme Court
• The court reversed some affirmative action gains from
previous decades
• Webster v. Reproductive Health Services:
– Some restrictions were placed on Abortion
Referendum on Reaganism in 1988
• Black Monday – October 19, 1987:
– Dow Jones dropped over 500 points (22%)
• Election of 1988
– George H.W. Bush (R – Reagan VP) v. Michael Dukakis (D)
– Bush won 426 - 111
A New World Order
The Main Idea
In 1988 Reagan’s vice president,
George H.W. Bush, won election
to a term that saw dramatic
changes in the world.
Recession that began in late
1990 forced Bush to raise
taxes.
Unemployment & poverty rose
significantly
Despite his foreign-policy successes,
economic troubles at home proved to
be Bush’s political downfall.
George H.W. Bush and the End of The
Cold War
• Tiananmen Square Massacre
• 1989 and the Cold War
– Solidarity Movement:
• Toppled the Polish Communist government
– Fall of the Berlin Wall
• Germany was reunited in 1990
• The end of the Cold War saw cuts to the defense industry
The Persian Gulf Crisis
• August 2, 1990 – Saddam Hussein and Iraq invaded Kuwait
• US and UN allies used advanced technology to crush Iraq
• Saddam withdrew from Kuwait
– Scorched-earth policy
• “By God, we’ve licked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all”
The Cold War Ends
Russia’s Boris Yeltsin, the
leader of the Russian Republic,
helped foil a hard-liners’ coup
against Gorbachev in 1991.
Beginning in 1990, Soviet
republics started declaring
their independence.
Gorbachev resigned as
president and the Soviet Union
dissolved.
Yeltsin now led the much
weaker superpower.
Bush and Yeltsin signed arms
treaties in 1991 and 1993.
Chapter 32, Sec 2, 3 and 4 - The Cold War
Ends, The New World Order
The New World Order
• New concerns
New World Order???
– War on Drugs
– War on Terror
- US Involvement in Less Developed
– Technological
nations continue after the Fall of
the
USSR
advancements &
… but US motivations gets a bitthe
murkier.
impact of the
internet
– Impact
of
- The Cold War shifts to the War
on Drugs
Globalization
and War on Terror
War on Drugs
“America's public enemy number one in the United States is
drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary
to wage a new, all-out offensive.” – Richard Nixon 1971
Connections to the Cold War
Define
• Campaign of
prohibition of drugs,
military aid (and $),
and military
intervention with the
intention to reduce
illegal drug trade.
US give aid/ allows drug trafficking if the
administrations are Pro-US or assist in US foreign
policy goals
(Extension of Cold War policies – such as Truman)
• Ex: Noriega & Nicaragua
– The CIA supported Gen. Manuel Noriega, leader of
Panama, who gave assistance to Contra groups in
Nicaragua in return for the CIA leaving his drug
trafficking alone
– 89’ US invasion of Panama & capture of Noriega,
put him in jail in Miami
As part of the War on Drugs, the US spends
approximately $500 million per year on aid
for Colombia, largely used to combat guerrilla groups
such as FARC that are involved in the illegal drug trade
Impact
• Mandatory Minimum
Sentences & three
strike rule – increase of
the number of people
incarcerated
• Spending for the War
on drugs increases –
today US spends $51
billion yr.
• Prices for illicit drugs
rise but demand
doesn’t = rise of cartels
& violence
Bush on the Home Front
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
– Prohibited discrimination
“Readagainst
my individuals with
physical and/or mental
disabilities
lips, NO
NEW
• Clarence Thomas TAXES.”
– Conservative Supreme Court Justice appointed by Bush
– Confirmed by a vote of 52 – 48
• Pro-choice women began voting Democratic
• Bush campaigned in 1988 by saying “Read my lips.
No new taxes.”
– Too soon bro….
Quick Review
•
•
•
•
•
•
Iran Hostage Crisis
Supply-Side Economics, “Reaganomics”
Star Wars
Gorby
Iran Contra
Persian Gulf War
Bill Clinton: The First Baby-Boomer
President
• Clinton was a “New” Democrat:
– Movement towards the center politically
• Tougher on crime, pro-defense, welfare reform
• Election of 1992:
– George H. W. Bush (R), Bill Clinton (D), and Ross Perot
(Independent)
– “It’s the economy, stupid”
• Bad economy hurt Bush’s reelection bid
– Perot received nearly 20,000,000 votes
– Clinton won, Democrats controlled Congress
• Clinton’s appointments:
– Janet Reno – Attorney General, Ruth Bader Ginsburg – 2nd
female on the Supreme Court
A False Start For Reform
• Clinton advocated ending the ban on homosexuals in
the military
– Eventually settled on “don’t ask, don’t tell”
• Brady Bill:
– Gun-control law
• April 19, 1995:
– Oklahoma City bombing
– Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols
– 168 people were killed
• April 20, 1999:
– Columbine High School shooting
– Helped bring attention to weapons
The Politics of Distrust
• Newt Gingrich:
– Speaker of the House
• Other famous speakers of the House………
– “Contract with America”
• Promised reduction in deficits and welfare programs
• 1994 Midterm elections:
– All Republicans in Congress were re-elected, gained many more seats
– Republicans challenged “unfunded mandates”
• Welfare Reform:
– Massive cuts for benefits
– Cut benefits for immigrants
• Although Clinton alienated some in his party, he gained a lot of
support for moving towards the middle
• Election of 1996:
– Clinton (D), Dole (R), Perot (Independent)
– Clinton won 379 - 159
Clinton Again
• Setbacks for Affirmative Action:
– California Proposition 209
• Prohibited AA in government and higher education
– Clinton did not approve of the setbacks
• Economic Issues:
– Dot.com businesses boomed
– Stock market increased drastically
– The 1990s economy was unprecedented
• North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA):
– 1993 – eliminated tariffs between Canada, US, and Mexico
– Many argued it helped promote outsourcing
• World Trade Organization (WTO):
– Hoped to promote free trade throughout the world
– Protests in Seattle turned violent
• Clinton scandals:
– Allegations that individuals donated money in exchange for staying overnight at
the White House
Problems Abroad
• Somalia, October, 1993:
– 18 Americans were killed on a special mission
• Improved relations with China:
– Large market, Clinton wanted to improve trade relations
– May, 2000 China became a major trading partner of the US
• Serbia:
– “Ethnic Cleansing” by Slobodan Milosevic
– US and NATO led a bombing campaign
• Middle East, 1993:
– Clinton held a meeting with Yitzhak Rabin (Israel) and Yasir
Arafat (PLO)
– Sought to promote self-rule for Palestinians
Scandal And Impeachment
• Monica Lewinsky:
– White-House intern that had an affair with Clinton
– Clinton initially denied any wrongdoing under oath
– Later, he admitted he had an “inappropriate relationship”
• Kenneth Starr, a special prosecutor, provided 11
possible charges of impeachment
• The House impeached Clinton on two charges
– Obstruction of Justice, Perjury
• The House vote was partisan
• The Senate failed to convict Clinton, voted mostly down
party lines as well
While the Scandal was all the media
would cover for 2 years….
• America’s enemies where getting organized, even
as the Clinton Administration increased its budget
on combatting terrorism and bombed terrorist
installations in Asia and Africa overseen by
Osama Bin Laden.
• Cynics saw this not as a progressive foreign policy
for the 21st century, but as a way of distracting
people from the real story….that people had sex
in the White House and lied about it!!!
The Real Legacy of the 90’s
• HOLY CRAP THEY BALANCED A
BUDGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• And I was alive to see it. The 90’s ruled.
Clinton’s Legacy
• Budget surpluses during Clinton’s last years
– Debates between Republicans and Democrats over how to use surpluses
• R – tax cutes
• D – Medicare and Social Security
• 1990s saw a decrease in unemployment, poverty, and rise in
income
The Bush-Gore Presidential Battle
• Gore – Clinton’s VP
– Chose Joseph Lieberman – first Jewish person on a national ticket
– Wanted to use budget surpluses on debt, Social Security, and Medicare
• Bush – 2 time governor of Texas
– “restore dignity to the White House”
– Dick Cheney selected as his running mate
– Wanted to use budget surpluses on tax cuts
• Ralph Nader:
– Consumer advocate – Unsafe At Any Speed
The Controversial Election of 2000
• Issues in Florida:
– Vote was so close, automatic recount went into effect
– Ballots and voting machines may have caused confusion
• “hanging chads”
• BUSH v. Gore:
– Supreme Court stopped further recounts, declared Bush the
winner in Florida
– Bush won the electoral majority without winning the popular
majority
– Similar to Hayes-Tilden in 1876
Bush Begins
• Government changes under Bush:
– Cutback on stem cell research
– Did not enforce the Kyoto Treaty
My goodness…
• The spring and summer of 2001 was surreally
peaceful, until a spy plane crashed in China.
While the Chinese examined America’s spy
technology, the president went on vacation a lot.
• While the President asked the press to watch his
drive off the 13th tee, America tried to forget the
horror of the election in the hopes that the
Culture Wars that had crippled the nation for
decades would someday go away.
• Unfortunately, Americans would soon learn the
harsh realties of living in the world’s only
Superpower…
Terrorism Comes to America
• September 11, 2001:
– NYC, DC, and PA attacks
– Over 3,000 individuals died
• Al Qaeda
– Osama bin Laden, Islamic fundamentalist
– Resented Western presence in the Middle East
• PATRIOT Act:
– Passed in response to attacks
– Increased powers for the federal government
• More phone and email surveillance.
• Goodbye privacy!
• Hello darkness my old friend…
• Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
– Suspected terrorists have been held
Define
War on Terror
• Refers to the international
military, political, legal and
conceptual struggle against
organization designated as
terrorist & regimes accused
of supporting them.
Cold War vs. War on Terror
Similar but very Different:
http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/gerald-rford/videos/gerald-ford-cold-war-vs-war-on-terror
Connections to the Cold War
• Many assume the US is attacked
b/c the terrorist ‘hated our
freedom’ but Also connected to
the Cold War
– Involvement in Less Developed
nations during the Cold War due to
foreign policy from 50s – 90s
• Similar use of fear to drive policy
• Greater expansion of US
intervention and involvement
overseas
Bush Takes the Offensive Against Iraq
• Saddam Hussein in 1998:
– Kicked out UN weapons inspectors
• “Axis of Evil”
– Bush declared Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were a danger to American security
• March 19, 2003:
– US invaded Iraq
• Why did US invade Iraq?
– Bush argued Iraq had WMDs, was developing nuclear weapons, and had ties to
terrorism
• What do we know today?
– No WMDs have been found, no connection to Al Qaeda either
• 139 Americans died during the invasion, many more died during occupation
– 4,424 deaths, 31,952 casualties between 03-’10
– over 3,000 vets returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan and committed
suicide.
A Country In Conflict
• Corporate problems:
– Fraud at Enron and WorldCom
• California:
– Recalled Governor Davis, replaced with……
– Arnold Schwarzenegger
– What state made recall popular during the Progressive Era?
• Wisconsin – Robert La Follette
Reelecting George W. Bush
• No Child Left Behind – 2002:
– Provided for federal standards in schools
• Bush advocated an amendment banning gay marriage
• Election of 2004:
– John Kerry (D) v. Bush (R)
– Kerry came across as a “flip-flopper”
– Bush won, 286 – 252
• Gained support from the “Bible Belt”
US Foreign Policy Since WW1
Origins of the -War
on
Terror
Prior to
WW1
US is isolationists
Post WW1 US becomes world
economic power
• Truman Doctrine – Reagan Doctrine
- Post WW2 US 1 of the 2
– US will support any country that opposes
Communism
superpowers in the world
– US expands involvement world affairs-to Cold War prompts increase in
counter Soviet expansion
foreign involvement
– US involvement continues after fall of
Rise of international organization
USSR. (shift in foreign policy goals) (UN, etc.)
• Example:
– Soviet war in Afghanistan
- Fall of USSR leave US as sole
– US CIA trains rebels (Mujahideen fighter) superpower
in guerrilla warfare
- US becomes part of a multipolar
– Soviets leave & US pulls out causing bitter
resentment & extremist group the Taliban world & continues high level of
take control
involvement in foreign affairs
Cold War Policies
– Taliban seek to destroy ‘Western
influence’ & ‘preserve Islam’
-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC45TRP4lq0
Connections to Cold War
Globalization
Define
• Tendency of businesses,
technologies, or philosophies to
spread throughout the world
• Creates an increasing
interconnected economy, trade,
and communications
• Implies the opening of local and
nationalistic perspectives to a
broader outlook of an
interconnected and
interdependent world
• Technology has increased
the rate and distribution of
information & ideas
• Cold War spending spurred
technological growth &
innovation
2008 Economic Collapse
Just the worst…
•
•
•
•
•
After undoing Glass-Steagall
(Thanks Senator Dodd!), and
allowing excessive buying and
speculation on the housing
market and the major banks to
do the same, the bubble burst.
It led to the collapse of several
major banking institutions who
had put short term profit over
the long term stability of the
American financial sector.
8 million jobs lost, 6 million
homes lost. Practically
overnight.
See- Margin Call (2011)
The Big Short-(2015) Ryan
Gosling Jenga Scene especially
The Bail Out
• In the end, the American
people, through the actions
of congress and the
executive branch, bailed out
the banks and the car
industry between 2008 and
2010 to the tune of 50
Billllllllion Dollars.
America – The Story of US
• Major Topics:
– Technological advancements in
America
• How has technological innovation
impact the US?
– US Political and Social changes
• How has America continuously
reinvented itself throughout its
history?
• 9/11 and the War on Terror
• Reflection on the American
Experience…
Homework: Chapter 32, Sec 1
The Reagan Presidency and Neo-conservatism
Review Of America, The Story of US
Task: Reflect on the Entire Series by answering the following
questions. Give at least two examples for each questions. Your
examples can be taken from any time in American history:
• How has technological innovation impact the US
throughout it’s history?
• How has America continuously reinvented itself throughout
its history?
• What is the American Dream (according to this movie)?
And How has it changed throughout American History?
• Write a Review of the Story of US series. You can include
information on the following questions:
– What was your favorite aspect of this series?
– What was your least favorite aspect of the series?
– Would you recommend this series for students next year? Why
or why not?