Download The Resurgence of Convservatism

The Resurgence of
Convservatism
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
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
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 job-training centers
Assassination attempt, March 6, 1981
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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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Combination of budgetary discipline & tax
reduction would stimulate new investment, boost
productivity, foster economic growth, reduce
federal deficit
Economic Highs and Lows
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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
Renewal of the Cold War
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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
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Israel, June 1982
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Invaded Lebanon to suppress Palestinian power
bases
October 23, 1983: suicide bomber explodes
Marines barracks in Lebanon
Nicaragua & El Salvador
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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
Round Two for Reagan
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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
Iran-Contra Imbroglio
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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
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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
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Achieved containment of welfare state
The Religious Right
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Jerry Falwell, Moral Majority, 1979
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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
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Webster v. Reproductive
Health Services—1989:
approved Missouri law
that imposed
restrictions on abortion
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Planned Parenthood v.
Casey—1992: ruled
states could restrict
access to abortion as
long as they didn’t
place “undue burden”
on women
Referendum on Reaganism
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Falling oil prices in SW slashed real estate
values and undermined 100s of savings-andloan 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
Democratic Candidate: Michael Dukakis
Republican Candidate: George Bush
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Electoral count 426 to 111, favor of Bush
End of the Cold War
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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
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
“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
Bush on the Home Front
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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
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Democrat: William Jefferson Clinton
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Republican: George Bush
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Platform: stimulate economy, reform welfare
system, overhaul health care
Platform: emphasized end of Cold War and
leadership in Persian Gulf
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 high-tech companies
Protests at first meeting in Seattle
Campaign finance reform
1998 tobacco settlement
1999 shooting at Columbine High School, CO
Problems Abroad