Download The Perils of Prosperity: Contemporary United States (1968

The Perils of Prosperity:
Contemporary United States (1968present)
Chaos of 1968
• Tet Offensive in Vietnam raised skepticism in
America and disrupted presidential campaign
• President Lyndon Johnson dropped out of race
• Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated
• Senator Robert Kennedy assassinated while
running for president
• Democratic Convention leads to widespread
violence in streets of Chicago while Cold War
consensus distintegrates
Rise of Richard Nixon
Nixon’s Accomplishments
• Visit to People’s Republic of China in 1972 to
pave the way for normalized relations with a
major communist power (détente)
• Cease-fire in Vietnam negotiated in 1972 to
begin the following year so that vast majority
of U.S. military personnel could be evacuated
from South Vietnam and POWs returned
• SALT I Treaty (1972) marked first limiting of
nuclear weapons between USA & USSR
Watergate & the Fall of a President
Women’s Liberation Movement
Campaign for Equal Rights
Amendment
• Language of amendment: “Equality of rights
under the law shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any state on
account of sex.”
• Modern effort was focused between 19721982 on getting necessary 38 states to ratify
once Congress had passed the measure.
• Only 35 states ratified it by 1982.
Energy Crisis (1973-1974)
End of Vietnam War (1975)
Disco Phenomenon (John Travolta
from the movie Saturday Night Fever)
Camp David Accords (1978)
Iranian Hostage Crisis (1979-1981)
Miracle at Lake Placid
Election of 1980
Key Features of Reagan Agenda
• “Peace through strength” – Revamp military
with major spending increases to challenge
what he termed the “evil empire” (USSR)
• Back anti-communist resistance forces around
the globe (what became the Reagan Doctrine)
• Fiscal conservatism, i.e. cutting federal
spending (except defense), reducing
regulations, and lowering corporate and
individual taxes
Birth of MTV – Aug ‘81
Shooting of President Reagan - 1981
Peacekeeping in Lebanon (1983-1984)
Distraction in Grenada?
Loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger
Iran-Contra Scandal (1985-1986)
Iran-Contra Details
• While proclaiming neutrality in Iran-Iraq War,
USA secretly sold weapons to Iran in exchange
for its influence in freeing hostages held in
Lebanon by Shiite terrorists (meanwhile
secretly assisting Iraq as well).
• Proceeds from Iranian arms sales secretly
funneled to anti-communist Contras in
Nicaragua despite congressional ban on aid.
Reagan and Gorbachev
End of the Berlin Wall
First Persian Gulf War
Collapse of the USSR - 1991
Election of 1992
Dynamics of the Campaign
• Ross Perot carried 19% of the popular vote for
Reform Party, but no states – likely siphoned
away support that otherwise would have gone
primarily to President Bush
• Bill Clinton’s campaign team focused on
bread-and-butter economic issues to
overcome Bush’s foreign policy expertise and
popularity from recent war
.com Revolution
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
Anatomy of a Scandal
• President Clinton impeached by House of
Representatives for perjury and obstruction of
justice.
• Following a trial in the Senate, Clinton
survived removal votes by comfortable
margins.
• Public opinion polls indicated disgust with
personal behavior, but aversion to removal.
Election of 2000
Florida as the Deciding Factor
• Debate emerged over whether to recount
manually all ballots and what criteria would be
used.
• One issue was chad (residue from hole punched
ballot)
• U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 (along ideological
lines) in favor of halting recount and giving Bush
the election
• Key error by Gore team was in asking for hand
recount only in counties known to be Democratic
strongholds
9/11
Invasions of Afghanistan & Iraq (2001
& 2003)
War on Terror at Home
Election of 2008
Useful Primary Sources
• Redstockings Manifesto (1969)
• Farewell Address to his staff by Richard Nixon
(1974)
• Final Report of Senate Select Committee on
Presidential Campaign Activities (1974)
• “Human Rights and Foreign Policy” speech by
Jimmy Carter (1977)
• “Evil Empire” speech by Ronald Reagan (1982)
• “Tear Down this Wall” speech by Ronald Reagan
(1987)
Useful Primary Sources (continued)
• Oklahoma City Bombing memorial speech by
Bill Clinton (1995)
• Ground Zero speech by George W. Bush (2001)
• Bush Doctrine (2001)
• Patriot Act (2001)