Download The Reagan Revolution

The Reagan
Revolution
Section 23.2
Close-up of Reagan, our first actor President
What was the zeitgeist of America under
Jimmy Carter?
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•
•
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Economic struggles
Military humiliation
Lack of patriotism
America had lost
confidence in itself
Montage of
negative
1970s
images
Who was Ronald Reagan?
• ‘B’ movie actor
• President of Screen Actors Guild
– Aided HUAC in its
anticommunist investigations
• Governor of California (1967-1975)
• Known as “The Great
Communicator”
– Used TV to present his political
point of view brilliantly
• Extremely Optimistic
• Delegator of authority
• Very conservative
• Favored strong military
Above: early movie comic; below:
Reagan the smiling cowboy
Capture from clip on the Reagan presidency
Who were the neoconservatives?
• Reagan’s most ardent supporters
• Came from broad coalition of voters
• Economically
– Against government regulation, hated high
taxes
– Favored small government that stayed out
of people’s business
• Believed liberalism just wasted
taxpayer’s money on welfare programs
• Socially
– Against: abortion, gay rights,
communism, social experimentation
• Favored strong military and continued anticommunism
Above: Reagan at a parade;
below: protest outside
abortion clinic
What was the Religious Right?
• Evangelical Christians who
favored conservatism
• Agreed with neo-cons on
economic and foreign policy but
focus was on social
conservatism
• Moral Majority
– Political organization that
registered nearly 3 million voters
– Led by preacher Jerry Falwell
– Had major political influence on
Reagan and Republican Party
Above: Reagan and Falwell share a
laugh; below: Falwell on TV
Capture from clip on social conservatism
How did political allegiances shift in the
1980s?
• Great Lakes and Northeast
– “Reagan Democrats”
• Blue collar and ethnic voters
from traditionally democratic
states who supported Reagan
• Liked Reagan’s views on
communism, abortion, lower
taxes
• South
– Many voters joined religious right
– Former Democratic strongholds
supported Reagan and the
Republicans
• Elderly
– Believed Reagan at 69 understood
their issues better
Top: Reagan poster; above: the first
Reagan landslide
What is Reaganomics?
• Reagan’s economic policy of lowering taxes and
cutting ‘wasteful’ government programs
• Keynesian economic theory (Traditional)
– Government spending key to stimulating
economy
• Great Depression
• Reaganomics or Supply-side economics
– Lower taxes will stimulate investment which
would lead to business expansion and more jobs Above: Reagan’s Time
– More jobs means more products and therefore cover
lower prices for consumers
•George H.W.
• Economic Recovery Tax Act (1981)
Bush, in the
– Slashed taxes (especially for the wealthy)
primaries, had
– Cut social programs
called it ‘voodoo
• Welfare benefits, food stamps,
economics’
unemployment compensation
Capture from clip of Reagan speech
What were some of the negative effects of
Reaganomics?
• Initially a severe recession
– Factories and mines shut down
– Unemployment reached 10%
(1982)
– Farms foreclosed
• Had taken high interests loans
– Crime and poverty increased in
urban areas
– Deficit skyrocketed
• National Debt:
- Nearly $1 Trillion (1980)
- Nearly $2.5 Trillion (1987)
Below: chart shows debt as a
growing percentage of GDP in
1980s
Capture from clip on urban problems (effects of Reaganomics)
What were some of the positive effects of
Reaganomics?
• After 1983 the economy
boomed
– Interest rates fell greatly
– Companies invested again
– Lower inflation allowed
consumers to consume,
plan, invest
– 1984: GNP rose by 9%
• Most since 1951
• Set up second (larger)
Reagan landslide
Above: jubilant stock traders celebrate an up day
on Wall St.; below: the Merrill Lynch bull
Capture from clip on Wall Street in the 1980s
Describe Reagan’s policies regarding the
regulation of business?
• Laissez-Faire
• Presidential Taskforce on
Regulatory Relief
– Advised Reagan on loosening
rules for certain industries
– Eased demands for air bags,
fuel efficiency, fossil fuel
emissions, airline traffic
routes
– Opened up public lands for
oil drilling, mining, logging
Above: Reagan economic team; below:
oil rig in Texas
How did the Supreme Court become more
conservative under Reagan?
• Appointed conservative justices
• Wanted to reverse some of Warren
Court decisions on:
– Abortion
– Prayer in school
– Gay rights
– Affirmative action
• Appointed Sandra Day O’Connor
– 1st female on Supreme Court
• Court showed restraint by not
completely reversing Warren Court
Above: Reagan with O’Connor
•A later, more
reactionary
appointee was
rejected by
Senate
Social Change in the 1970s and 1980s
•What the media portrayed in the 1960s,
Americans became in the 1970s. This
was when Baby Boomers in their
greatest numbers flooded into high
school and college, and when the
Establishment “gave up” its fight against
SDR+R
•The 1980s saw a partial reversal:
Reagan and the Moral Majority were
part of the reason, but young Americans
were also chastened by the AIDS
epidemic and the deaths of ‘crackheads’
First Lady Nancy
Reagan with her
simple,
memorable antidrug message
The 1988 Election
•Main issue was the Reagan presidency
•Election of George H.W. Bush considered “Reagan’s Third Term”
•Democrats pulled leftward by Jesse Jackson’s ‘Rainbow
Coalition’
•Nominee, Michael Dukakis, hurt by poor campaign tactics
Left: Dukakis, tank commander;
right: a Rainbow Coalition van