Download The Resurgence of Convservatism

The Resurgence of
Conservatism
1980-2000
“New Right” Movement
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Response to counter-cultural protests
of 1960s
Composed of evangelical Christian
groups
Less worried about economic concerns
than social concerns
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Denounced abortion, pornography,
homosexuality, feminism, affirmative
action
In Tehran, Islamic militants released
the hostages.
Republicans took control of the Senate
for the first time since 1954,
Reagan's economic and foreign
policies, with supply side economics
and strict opposition to Soviet
Communism
Election of Ronald Reagan, 1980
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Drew on ideas of
“neoconservatives”
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Championed free-market
capitalism liberated from
government restraints
took tough anti-Soviet views in
foreign policy
questioned liberal welfare
programs and affirmative-action
policies
Received 51% of popular vote
489 electoral votes to Carter’s 49
Map 41.1: Presidential Election of 1980 (with
electoral vote by state)
Reagan Revolution
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Goals
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New federal budget
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Reduce the size of the federal
government by shrinking the budget
Slashing taxes
Cuts of $35 billion, mostly in social
programs like food-stamps and jobtraining centers
Assassination attempt, March 6,
1981

John Hinkley
Battle of the Budget

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Congress approved Reagan’s budget
proposals
August 1981, Congress approved tax
reform
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Lowered individual rate taxes
Reduced federal estate taxes
Created new tax-free investment plans
“Supply-side economics”
(Reaganomics)

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Reduce Growth of Government spending.
Reduce Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
Reduce Government regulation.
Control the money supply to reduce inflation.
Economic Highs and Lows

1982 recession largest since 1930s,
with 11% unemployment
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Businesses folded and bank failures
jolted the financial systems
Democrats said that tax cuts favored
wealthy and penalized the poor
Economic recovery began in 1983

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Income gaps widened between rich
and poor
Recovery fueled more by military
expenditures than by budget cuts &
lower taxes
The Religious Right

Jerry Falwell, Moral Majority,
1979
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Evangelical fundamentalist
Southern Baptist pastor
Against sexual permissiveness,
abortion, feminism, spread of gay
rights
Reflection of 1960s radicalism

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Declared themselves as Christian
voters
Mirrored tactics of civil
disobedience (60s blocked
entrances to draft offices, 80s
blocked entrances to abortion
clinics)
Conservatism in the Courts

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1981: Sandra Day
O’Connor first female
justice
Ward’s Cove Packing v.
Antonia & Martin v.
Wilks—1989: made
difficult to prove
employer practiced
racial discrimination
and made easier
accusations of reverse
discrimination


Webster v. Reproductive
Health Services—1989:
approved Missouri law
that imposed
restrictions on abortion
Planned Parenthood v.
Casey—1992: ruled
states could restrict
access to abortion as
long as they didn’t
place “undue burden”
on women
Renewal of the Cold War

Strategy: by expanding US military
capabilities, he could threaten USSR
with new round of arms race

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Kremlin would come to bargaining
table to avoid economic ruin
March 1983: Strategic Defense
Initiative (SDI)

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“Star Wars” Plan: orbiting battle stations
in space that could fire laser beams to
vaporize ICBMs on liftoff
Most scientists considered it impossible
Others feared it would be costly,
unworkable, and destabilizing to
balance of power
Troubles Abroad

Israel, June 1982
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Nicaragua & El Salvador
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Invaded Lebanon to suppress
Palestinian power bases
October 23, 1983: suicide bomber
explodes Marines barracks in
Lebanon
Claims by admin. that Nicaraguan
leftists sending weapons to
revolutionary forces in El Salvador
Reagan sent “military advisors” to
prop up pro-US gov’t of El
Salvador
Invaded the island of Grenada
982
YouTube - Beirut bombing
25 years later_WMV V9.wmv
Map 41.3: Central America and the Caribbean
Round Two for Reagan 1984
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Economy rebounded
Anti-communist popularity
Democrats: Walter Mondale & vp Geraldine Ferraro
Republicans: Reagan & George Bush
Reagan won
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525 electoral votes to 13
Defrosting the Cold War
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March 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev
installed as chairman of Soviet
Communist Party
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Glasnost: “openness” aimed to open the
secretiveness of Soviet society
Perestroika: “restructuring” of economy to
adopting free-market practices of
capitalism
April 1985: USSR would cease to
deploy nuclear forces targeted on
Western Europe
December 1987: signed the INF treaty,
banning all intermediate-range
nuclear weapons from Europe
P984
Iran-Contra Imbroglio

Congress refused to give military
aid to contra rebels fighting against
Nicaraguan Sandinistas

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US diplomats secretly arranged arms
sales to Iranians
Money from payment of arms was
diverted to the contras
November 1986: secret broke into
public
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Reagan claimed innocence
Pinned on colonel Oliver North and
Admiral John Poindexter
Reagan’s Economic Legacy

Reaganomics promised that
lower taxes would increase gov’t
revenue by stimulating economy
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Tax reduction and increase in
military spending increased deficit
Congress mandated balanced
budget by 1991
Deficits made spending for social
programs practically and
politically impossible

Achieved containment of welfare
state
Figure 41.1: The National Debt, 1930–1999
Sources: Historical Statistics of the Unted States and Statistical Abstract of the United States, relevant years; 1996 and 1997 figures from
Economic Indicators, Council of Economic Advisors.
Share of Received Income by Families, by Quintile,
1970–1998
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2000
Referendum on Reaganism 1988

Falling oil prices in SW slashed real
estate values and undermined 100s of
savings-and-loan institutions
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More banks failing since Great Depression
“Black Monday”, October 19, 1987
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Stock market crashed 508 points
Democrats have weak candidates
Democratic Candidate: Michael
Dukakis
Republican Candidate: George Bush

Electoral count 426 to 111, favor of Bush
p989
YouTube - Willie Horton
1988 Attack Ad_WMV
V9.wmv
End of the Cold War

Tiananmen Square, Beijing,
spring 1989
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Poland, August 1989
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Prodemocracy movement
crushed by China’s autocratic
rulers
Solidarity movement toppled
communist government
Followed by Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, East Germany,
and Romania
Berlin Wall, December 1989
October 1990, two Germanys
reunited
1991: Soviet Union dissolves
Why Did the Cold War End?
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Ronald Reagan and the Arms Race
Unfulfilled promises in communist
countries
Better communications
Clearly democracies doing better
Communist no longer willing to use
forces
Afganistan
The Persian Gulf Crisis

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August 2, 1990: Saddam
Hussein invaded Kuwait for oil
August 3, 1990: UN Security
Council condemned the
invasion
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Economic embargo failed to
squeeze Iraq into compliance by
November
Ultimatum issued to leave Kuwait
by January 15, 1991
January 12: US Congress
approved use of force
Map 41.2: The Middle East
“Operation Desert Storm”
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January 16, 1991: air war against
Iraq began for 37 days
February 23, 1991: land war began
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Allied casualties light, while much of
Iraq’s army was captured or
destroyed
February 27, 1991: Saddam
accepted a cease-fire
Failed to dislodge Saddam from
power
Map 41.5:
Operation
Desert Storm:
The Ground
War, February
23–27, 1991
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
27
Bush on the Home Front

Americans with Disabilities Act
(1991)

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Prohibited discrimination against
US citizens with physical/mental
disabilities
Nominated Clarence Thomas
for Supreme Court

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Accused of sexual harassment by
Anita Hill
Narrowly accepted by Senate vote
Focused attention on growing
“gender gap”
The 1st Baby-Boomer President

Democrat: William Jefferson Clinton
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Republican: George Bush
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Platform: stimulate economy, reform
welfare system, overhaul health care
“It’s the economy stupid”
Platform: emphasized end of Cold War and
leadership in Persian Gulf
Ross Perot – Reform Party
Clinton won
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Electoral votes 370 to 168
Democrats also won majorities in Congress
False Start for Reform
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Stirred hornet’s nest by wanting to lift ban on
gays/lesbians in military
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Health-care system
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Complicated plan DOA to Congress
World Trade Center bombing, 1993
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Settled for “don’t ask, don’t tell”
Muslim radicals, killed 6 people
Oklahoma City Bombing, 1995
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168 deaths
Politics of Distrust
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1994: “Contract with America”
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1996: Clinton signed Welfare Reform Bill
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Promised assault on budget deficits and
reductions in welfare programs
Republicans had control of both houses
Made deep cuts in welfare grants and required
able-bodied recipients to find employment
end of 1995: government shut down for
several days until budget package agreed on
Election of 1996

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Republican candidate: Robert Dole
Democratic candidate: Bill Clinton
Electoral votes:
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Clinton, 379 to Dole, 159
Republicans remained in control of
Congress
Clinton, Again

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Proposition 209, CA: prohibited
affirmative-action preferences in gov’t and
higher edu., number of minority students
temporarily fell
Unemployment down to 4%
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North American Free Trade Agreement,
1993
Created free-trade zone w/Canada and
Mexico
World Trade Organization created, 1994
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Driven by new internet businesses and hightech companies
Protests at first meeting in Seattle
Campaign finance reform
1998 tobacco settlement
1999 shooting at Columbine High School,
CO
Figure 41.3: Deficits into Surpluses
Sources: Office Management and Budget and Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
Lewinski Scandal