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Modern America 1980-2000 The Election of 1980 The Republicans selected the charismatic movie actor and governor of California, Ronald Reagan, who had barely lost to Ford in 1976 He was well known and his greatest asset was his ability to “work” the media His conservative policies seemed desirable to many Americans who could relate to him He was especially strong with the “neoconservatives,” people who advocated strong right-wing ideals and free market capitalism In addition, Reagan promised optimism, which differed sharply from the drab realism of Carter The Democrats nominated the incumbent Jimmy Carter who had to face a tough primary from Senator Edward Kennedy Reagan won the electoral vote in a landslide At the same time the Republicans gained control of the Senate The Reagan Revolution Reagan won because voters from the inner cities (traditional Democratic strongholds) did not turn out to vote – while voters in the affluent suburbs had the highest participation On the day of the inauguration day the Iranians released their hostages Only months after the inauguration there was an unsuccessful attempt on the life of the president The failed assassination only served to boost the popularity of the president Reagan made four promises to the American people: a) lower taxes, b) reduce federal spending on welfare, c) increase the size and capabilities of the military, and d) nominate more conservative judges for the federal courts Reaganomics (Supply-side economics) The administration advocated supply-side economics to eliminate a decade of stagflation Supply-side economics advocated cutting taxes and removing government regulations Reagan believed that if entrepreneurs were free to invest and speculate then they would be more successful, which in turn would generate revenue for the government This economic philosophy had proved very successful during the twenties This philosophy, however, contradicted the Keynesian doctrine – favored by the Democrats – that government spending would improve the economy As the principles of Reaganomics became more accepted several southern Democrats shifted their political alliance to help pass the economic programs The southern Democrats, labeled “boll weevils” also helped cut the budget In August 1981 Congress passed the Economic Recovery Tax Act which cut personal income tax 25% over three years for everyone and lowered the maximum tax rate from 70% to 50% The Budget A major difference between the 1920s and the 1980s was that government spending was kept in check during the 1920s In the 1980s government spending sent the deficit spiraling out of control As the government was giving the people tax breaks they were also increasing spending, especially on the military Reagan told the public that his goal was to “help those who help themselves” but he also promised to help those who really needed help – his goal was to eliminate those from welfare who were capable of looking after themselves Reagan and the Cold War Reagan intended to make the United States the undisputed military power in the world and he referred to the Soviet Union as “the evil empire” Support for this philosophy increased when it became obvious the Soviets would not be leaving Afghanistan (They had invaded in 1979) Reagan believed that if the Soviets continued to spend money in the arms race they would soon go bankrupt One of the most controversial proposals was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) labeled by its critics “Star Wars” The idea was to use satellites to intercept and destroy rockets fired towards the United States In 1985 the defense budget had ballooned to $300 billion The Middle East In 1982 the Israelis (with U.S. approval) invaded Lebanon and destroyed bases which had been used to attack Israel Within months the United States was involved in shipping the PLO from Lebanon and in supply a large peace keeping force In 1983 a suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into the marine base killing 241 Americans After the attack the president pulled the peacekeepers out of Lebanon Central America By 1981 a full-scale civil war was taking place in El Salvador The American government sent supplies and advisors to Central America to help President José Napoleón Duarte in his fight against the leftist guerrillas In Nicaragua, the Sandinistas – with support from Cuba – overthrew the government of the dictator Anastasio Somoza The Reagan administration solicited help from Nicaraguans who wanted to overthrow the Sandinistas – this group was called the Contras As the trouble escalated neighboring countries brokered a peace arrangement which called for the withdrawal of foreigner advisors and an end to the importation of weapons by the Nicaraguan government In October 1983, Reagan sent American troops to Grenada to remove a military council, which was sympathetic to the communists Almost 2,000 American marines easily secured the island and “liberated” the few American students at a medical school The U.N. Security Council condemned the action The Election of 1984 The Republicans again nominated Reagan with George Bush as his running mate The Democrat Jesse Jackson became the first African American to make a serious run for the presidency and sought the support of all minority groups under his Rainbow Coalition But in the end t he Democrats nominated Walter Mondale of Minnesota and for the first time a woman appeared on the ticket Mondale’s running mate was Geraldine Ferraro of New York When Mondale accepted the nomination he told the American people both he and Reagan would raise taxes and doomed his campaign from the start In fact Reagan had secretly signed a bill to raise taxes the day before Mondale spoke and then he promised the American public he would not raise the taxes any more Reagan won in a landslide Arms Limitations In 1985 Reagan flew to Geneva to talk with the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev Gorbachev had openly talked about his desire to ease the Cold War tension (and the escalating costs) through glasnost, (openness) and perestroika, (restructuring – referring the economy) Geneva was the first of a series of meeting, which resulted in the signing of the INF agreement in 1987 Both countries agreed to destroy all intermediate range missiles In 1988 Gorbachev further reduced tension when he ordered Soviet troops out of Afghanistan The Iran-Contra Affair 1986 started badly for the Reagan government – the space shuttle Challenger exploded a few minutes after taking off killing all seven astronauts In November the Democrats regained control of the Senate giving them control of both Houses At the same time as the election there were reports from Lebanon that the American government had secretly being selling arms to Iran to secure the release of American hostages held in Lebanon by groups with ties to Iran This contradicted the administration’s edict that they would never negotiate with terrorists Over the following months other parts of the story began to be revealed Oliver North, who worked for the National Security Council (NSC) had been running a clandestine organization from the basement of the White House It was claimed that North was using the profits from the sale of weapons to Iran to fund the activity of the Contras in Nicaragua – all of which was very illegal North had started to work with the approval of National Security Advisors Robert McFarlane and his successor Admiral John Poindexter and the head of the CIA William Casey Poindexter resigned, North was fired, and Casey resigned for health reasons and died of a brain tumor shortly thereafter The president denied any knowledge of the affair A joint House-Senate investigation found an unbelievable trail of lies, deceptions, and illegal activities North was found guilty of some minor charges, which were later overturned on appeal Poindexter was sent to jail for six months for lying to Congress and obstructing justice The president escaped association with the events but his popularity plummeted The Election of 1988 Despite the Iran-Contra affair, the increasing federal deficit, Reagan nominating conservatives for the Supreme Court, and the Stock Market crash of 1987 – when the market lost over $500 billion in value, and the federal bail-out of the savings and loans institutions which cost over $500 million the Democrats still could not win the White House The Republicans nominated George Bush who had been the loyal Vice President and former head of the CIA with Dan Quayle as his running mate The leading Democrat was Gary hart who was forced to drop out of the race after it was revealed he had had an affair The Democrats finally chose Michael Dukakis the governor of Massachusetts who had governed the state during the booming 1980s Bush promised “a kinder, gentler nation” “read my lips: no new taxes” For the most part the Republicans gathered the more affluent voters while the Democrats gained the inner-city vote and minority vote In the end the Republicans won but the Democrats retained control of Congress Only 50% of those eligible to vote bothered to cast a ballot – the lowest number since 1924 Foreign Policy In his first year as president bush faced unprecedented global changes In 1989, prodemocracy students in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, were brutally suppressed by the Chinese authorities Over a hundred protestors were killed and the brief attempt to seek democratic change was halted When Polish shipyard workers demanded to be allowed to form a union they formed Solidarity – which was immediately banned by the Kremlin-backed Polish government Gorbachev repudiated the Brezhnev Doctrine and told the world that Russia would no longer interfere in the internal affairs of Communist countries In the elections of 1989 the Polish people elected Lech Walesa – the leader of Solidarity – to head the government The Soviet Union did not act Other Communist countries: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria soon followed the lead of Poland and elected non-Communist governments While most of these countries held new elections in many cases the same people who had held power got re-elected after they broke their ties to the Communists On November 9, the main symbol of the Cold War was removed when the East Germans started to tear down the Berlin Wall and allowed unrestricted access to West Germany In 1990 East and West Germany were unified In December 1989, President bush ordered American troops to Panama to remove the dictator Manuel Noriega who had been shipping drugs to the United States The End of the Cold War With the fall of the Berlin Wall and free elections in Eastern Europe it seemed like the Cold War was over but ethnic conflict threatened more wars As Gorbachev’s fame increased abroad so his opposition increased at home In 1991 a coup led by military hardliners tried to usurp power They arrested Gorbachev and kept him prisoner in vacation home The coup was finally suppressed when Boris Yeltsin, the president of the Russian republic stood up to the conspirators and asked the western powers to support his efforts Within days the attempted revolt was over and many of the conspirators committed suicide Gorbachev was released from house arrest, but Yeltsin emerged as the most popular man in the country When most of the states in the Soviet Union sort independence, Gorbachev could only stand back and watch The first to declare their independence were the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania In 1991 Russia joined nine other republics to form the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Yeltsin disbanded the Communist party and thereby ended to Cold War Post-Cold War Realities With the end of the Cold War the American government no longer needed to maintain excessively high military spending Cut backs in spending resulted in the closure of military bases and forced the Pentagon to re-evaluate its position In other countries, such as Yugoslavia, independence was followed by Civil War and the widespread killing of innocent people in the name of ethnic cleansing Iraq President Bush faced his greatest problem when Iraqi invaded Kuwait in 1990 The Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hoped to make Kuwait another province of his country and add the vast oil reserves to his assets Bush denounced the invasion and pledged to confront Hussein The United Nations Security Council voted 14-0 to denounce the aggression leaving Hussein with few allies The U.N. passed Resolution 661 applying a trade embargo against Iraq The United States shipped thousands of troops to Saudi Arabia to protect American interests in that country American reservists were called up in what was called “Desert Shield” The Iraqis were told to withdraw by January 15, 1991 or face the consequences On November 29, 1990 the U.N. supported the use of force to remove the Iraqis from Kuwait While all the political talk was going on the United States was preparing for war and solidifying its alliances with other countries When Hussein refused to leave Kuwait a combined force from 28 countries (mostly American) embarked on Operation Desert Storm Within days the Iraqi army was in disarray and retreating and Hussein was forced to admit defeat With Hussein out of Kuwait the coalition withdrew its forces Domestic Policies In 1990 the president signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibited discrimination against people with physical and mental disabilities In 1991 Thurgood Marshall retired from the Supreme Court – Bush nominated Clarence Thomas Thomas was very conservative and came under attack from African American groups and he was accused of sexual harassment – the Senate confirmed him regardless of the accusations By 1992 the economy was starting to turn for the worse and Bush realized he had other option but to break his campaign promise about taxes Congress did ratify the Twenty-seventh Amendment which prohibited Congress from raising their own salaries and future pay raises could not go into effect until the Congress was in session The Election of 1992 In 1992, the Democrats nominated the governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton who portrayed himself as a “New Democrat” and who appealed to the baby-boomers Clinton selected Senator Albert Gore, Jr. of Tennessee as his running mate The Republicans again went with the Bush/Quayle ticket and emphasized family values The election saw the appearance of Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire who entered the race as an independent Clinton won the election, but Perot gained almost 20% of the popular vote (mostly from disillusioned Republicans) Democrats also won both the House and the Senate Domestic Policies The Clinton administration supported the passage of the North American Free Trade to create a free-trade zone with Canada and Mexico, claiming that more trade would help the economy and create jobs The ideas was passed despite some serious opposition Clinton appointed his wife, Hilary to oversee any changes to the nation’s health and medical system But the end result was a new system that few people liked – the plan to use his wife had backfired on the president In 1993 Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allowed workers in companies with more than 50 employees to take 12 weeks unpaid leave Also in 1993 Congress passed the Brady Bill, which required a 5-day waiting period before a person could buy a handgun In 1994 Congress passed the Anti-Crime Bill, which provided more funds for crime prevention and also prohibited the sale of most assault rifles Terrorism During the early 1990s the United States witnessed an increase in size and scope of terrorist activity within the United States In 1992 a white supremacist held off federal agents at his cabin in Idaho When the shooting stopped the man’s wife and child had been killed At Waco in 1993 a religious sect known as the Branch Davidians held off federal agents for days The Davidians, led by David Koresh, refused to let agents serve a warrant on the sect As agents entered the compound the Davidians opened fire killing several agents After a 50-day standoff the agents attacked the compound with armored vehicles and tear gas The house caught fire and killed at least 70 of the occupants including women and children On the second anniversary of the Waco disaster a massive truck bomb exploded outside the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people The FBI arrested Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols and another man who pleaded guilty of producing explosives All 3 men hated the government and belonged to militias “Contract with America” The Republicans managed to prevent much of the Democratic agenda from being passed The democrats had promised health care reform and tax relief for the middle class – neither was passed By 1994 the Republicans sensed the opportunity to take advantage of the situation In the elections the Republicans captured the House and the Senate (first time since 1952) The new Speaker of the House was Newt Gingrich of Georgia Gingrich attacked Clinton on every issue and he allied the Republican party to the Christian Coalition The Republicans ran on a platform of restoring conservative values and they pledged to create a “Contract with America” The “Contract” was a 10-point plan aimed at less government regulation, less biggovernment, a balanced-budget, and welfare reform But the reforms were too ambitious and the “Contract” lost momentum Many of the Republican demands increased local and state spending and by 1996 the American public did not want to hear any more conservative ideas The 1990s were a time of unprecedented economic gains, thanks mostly to the dot.com boom Technology companies made fortunes as people invested in the Internet and associated stock As the people made money they had little interest in the Republican message In 1995 the deadlock between the two parties was so great that Congress was shut down Foreign Policy Foreign policy was not high on Clinton’s list of priorities He did send American troops to Somalia in 1993, but then withdrew them Also, in 1993 secret talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) took place in Oslo The basis of the talks was the restoration of Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and in Jericho The formal agreement was signed at the White House with President Clinton presiding Following this agreement other agreements concerning Middle East issues also reached conclusion Israel and Jordan agreed upon their common border Even though Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish fanatic in 1995 the talked continued When the Mexican government ran into financial problems in 1995, Clinton provided them with $20 billion in aid As the trouble in Yugoslavia escalated Clinton showed little interest in getting America involved In 1995 he did send American troops as part of the NATO peacekeeping force The Election of 1996 The Democrats again nominated Clinton and Gore who had weathered the storm and were now reaping the benefits The Republicans nominated Senator Bob Dole of Kansas Ross Perot ran again as an Independent but had little impact Clinton won the election, but the Republicans retained control of Congress The Second Term Allegations of impropriety had dogged Clinton since his election in 1992 He was accused of being involved in a real estate deal in Arkansas when he was governor, which went bad and ended up with the bankruptcy of the Whitewater Land Corporation Impeachment But the biggest scandal was in 1998 when it was discovered he had had a sexual relationship with a White House intern called Monica Lewinsky When he was asked about the incident the president lied under oath Once he had been trapped and investigated by a special prosecutor, Clinton was forced to make a confession and admit his affair The special prosecutor, Kenneth Starr gave the House of Representatives enough evidence to impeach the president In 1998 the House passed two articles of impeachment: perjury and obstruction of justice The Republicans ruthlessly attacked the president and demanded impeachment In the elections of 1998 the Republican majorities were reduced because most people were less concerned about the president than they were about their own financial situation They did not want the good times to stop because the president was impeached In 1999 the impeachment process started in the Senate Clinton was found not guilty on both issues The Election of 2000 With Clinton unable to run again the Democrats turned to Clinton’s Vice President, Al Gore and selected Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut as his running mate The Republicans nominated Governor George W. Bush of Texas – son of the former President Bush Bush selected Dick Cheney as his running mate Ralph Nader ran as a third party candidate Gore worked hard to solicit the vote of the working class, especially women Bush advocated “compassionate conservativism” When the popular vote was counted Gore had over 500,000 more votes than Bush, but when the electoral votes were counted everything rested on the outcome of the Florida vote Bush won Florida by slightly more than 500 votes The Democrats asked for a manual recount because some of the voting punch-card ballots had not been counted The Supreme Court in Florida ordered a manual recount, so the Republicans appealed to the Supreme Court In Bush v. Gore the Supreme Court ruled on a 5-4 decision along party lines that the recounting had to stop – making Bush the winner Their decision was based on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment because not all votes were being counted the same When Gore accepted the Court’s verdict the election was over – Bush had won by 5 electoral votes – the closest election since 1876