Conservative Resurgence

1
Conservative Resurgence

• 1974-1989

2
Healing and Drift, 1974-1981

• A Ford, Not a Lincoln Gerald R. Ford (president,
  1974-1977)
• Member of House of Representatives from Michigan
  since 1949 rose to House minority leader
• Named vice-president in 1973 to replace Spiro
  Agnew

3

• The Nixon pardon, Sept. 8, 1974
• Ford hoped to help the nation heal from Vietnam
  and Watergate
• Pardon not popular with American public, hurt
  Ford politically

4

• Fords Foreign Policy
• Communist victories in Laos, Cambodia, and
  Vietnam, 1975
• Henry Kissinger as Secretary of State
• Continued détente with the Soviets
• Shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East
• Committee on the Present Danger
• Formed in 1976
• Critical of détente dissatisfied with Ford
  Kissinger

5

• Domestic Problems
• Energy Crisis
• Triggered by OPECs oil embargo in 1973-74
• Rising prices, gas lines indicative of Americas
  growing dependence on foreign energy sources

6

• Stagflation Inflation and Recession
• Worst economic situation since the 1930s
• Whip Inflation Now! (WIN!)
• Ford urged Americans to slow inflation by
  refusing to buy high-priced goods and ceasing to
  demand higher wages
• Campaign ridiculed from the start

7

• The Peanut Farmer from Plains James Earl (Jimmy)
  Carter (president, 1977-1981)
• The Election of 1976
• Carter, former governor of Georgia, presented
  himself as a trustworthy outsider
• Defeated Ford in a close election

8

• Carters Foreign Policy
• Panama Canal Treaty, 1977
• Negotiations begun in 1960s to transfer control
  of the canal to Panamanians
• Senate ratified treaty by one vote in 1978
• Guaranteed permanent neutrality of the canal
  itself
• Gradually transferred sovereignty over the canal
  to Panama completed Dec. 31, 1999

9

• Camp David Accords, 1978
• Carter negotiated peace agreement between Egypts
  Anwar Sadat and Israels Menachem Begin in 1978
• Treaty signed following year Sadat assassinated
  by Islamic militants in 1981

10

• End of Détente
• Relations with Soviets worsened
• Carters focus on human rights
• SALT II treaty negotiated and signed, but
  withdrawn from Senate consideration when Soviet
  Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979

11

• Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981
• Repressive regime of Shah Reza Pahlavi, a Cold
  War ally of the U.S., overthrown in Islamic
  revolution led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
• American embassy in Tehran overwhelmed by
  Khomeini supporters
• More than fifty hostages held for 444 days
  (released January 20, 1981)

12

• Domestic Crises
• Inflation (14.5 percent in January 1980)
• Unemployment near 8 percent in 1980
• Energy crisis
• American auto makers struggling against more
  efficient imports
• Dependence on imported oil
• Price of fossil fuel-based electricity rose by
  200 percent and more
• Accident at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant

13
Morning in America The Reagan Years, 1981-1989

• Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-) and the Election of
  1980
• Hollywood career only president who was ever
  head of a union (Screen Actors Guild)
• Began turning away from Democratic party and
  toward conservative anti-communism in late 1940s
• Elected governor of California, 1966, 1970
• Almost defeated Ford in 1976 primaries

14

• Reagan Campaign, 1980
• Stand up to Communists
• Social and symbolic issues
• Small government
• welfare queens
• Court decisions
• Education
• Family values
• Economics
• Too much taxing spending,
• regulation government as the
• problem
• Tax reduction needed

Republicans also won control of the Senate for
first time since 1952 Election results
represented the culmination of decades of
conservative resurgence and gradual repudiation
of New Deal/Great Society liberalism
15

• The Reagan Revolution at Home
• Social Issues
• Reagans positions reflected deepening, hardening
  divisions in the country at large
• Support for overturning Supreme Courts 1973 Roe
  v. Wade decision on abortion rights, prayer in
  schools, vouchers, and other issues important to
  religious conservatives

16

• Reaganomics
• Problems
• Trade deficits
• Declining skills productivity
• High inflation interest rates
• Budget deficits
• Solution
• Alter tax structure to encourage investment,
  growth, competitiveness
• Supply-Side Economics
• Reduce taxes to restore productivity
• Boost supply demand will catch up

17

• Tax Reduction Act of 1981 25 cut on income
  taxes, 1981-1983
• Deregulation (airlines, trucking, savings
  loans, etc.)
• Reagan Recession, 1981-1983, followed by strong
  Reagan Recovery
• Tax reform, 1986 simplified system by reducing
  number of tax brackets to two
• Stock Market crash, October 1987
• 22.6 percent loss in value (1 trillion)
• But recovery continued

18

• Assessment of Reaganomics
• Lower inflation
• Lower interest rates
• Lower energy prices
• New jobs
• Greater gap between rich poor
• Average hourly worker did worse
• Budget deficit
• 128 to 200 billion annually
• National debt tripled
• Trade deficit increased

19

• Reagan and the Cold War
• Overcoming the Vietnam Syndrome
• Revival of the CIA
• Used to back anti-communist regimes or
  insurgencies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
• Key role in funding and supplying anti-Soviet
  mujaheddin rebels in Afghanistan (including Osama
  Bin Laden)

20

• Grenada, 1983
• Reagan used presence of Cubans to suggest the
  Soviets and Cubans were expanding influence in
  the Caribbean and Latin America
• U.S. invasion led to overthrow of Marxist regime

21

• Iran-Contra Scandal
• Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
• U.S. supported Saddam Hussein
• Iraq
• Attempts to negotiate with Iranian
• moderates to influence release
• of American hostages in Lebanon
• Nicaragua
• Sandinistas Marxist government
• Contras anti-Sandinista rebels
• Congressional restrictions on aid to
• the Contras
• Col. Oliver North others involved in
• secret arms sales to Iran, with proceeds
• being diverted to Contras

22

• Dealing with the Soviets
• Largest peacetime military build-up in U.S.
  history
• Neutron bomb
• MX intercontinental missile
• B-1 bomber
• B-2 stealth bomber
• Pershing II missiles in W. Europe
• 600-ship navy
• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI-Star Wars)

23

• Arms Reduction
• Shift to negotiations with rise to power of
  Soviet reformer Mikhail Gorbachev
• Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty,
  1987
• Withdraw intermediate-range nukes from Eastern
  Western Europe
• Destroy missiles
• On-site inspections
• Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), 1991
• 25 cut in strategic arsenals