Late 20th Century History

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Late 20th Century History

• The Conservative Revolution
• 1980-1992

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• Just six years after the Watergate scandal
  deeply hurt the Republican party Reagan is
  elected in a conservative Republican landslide.

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Reagans Political Career
Originally a democrat with FDR as a political
hero Became politically active in the actors
union in Hollywood 1950s becomes more
conservative and joins Republican Party

• 1966 elected governor of California where he
• gtcuts spending on social programs
• gtmoderately increases taxes
• gtreforms State spending and calls for similar
  reform at National level
• All of which results in balancing the States
  budget

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The Evolution of Conservatism

• At issue liberal vs. conservative views on the
  proper size and role of government
• 1920s Repubs low taxes minimize spending
• Dems should do something for suffering
  farmers, Indians, urban poor, etc.
• 1930s Dems social regulatory programs
  including huge deficit spending to deal with the
  Great Depression
• Repubs founded the Liberty League,
  which opposed large government
• WWII

1950s Eisenhower prosperity moderate
Republican with no effort to dismantle big
government of 1930s 1964 Repubs very
conservative Presidential candidate Barry
Goldwater (Ex. Opposed Social Security and anti-
poverty measures) crushed by LBJ However,
anti-integration Southern States do break
Democrats hold on the Solid South Dems LBJ
and his Great Society programs (Exs.
Medicare Medicaid, subsidized housing, etc.,
expanded New Deal style government)
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• 1968 Nixon Presidency
• gtNixon wanted to trim social welfare programs,
  believing them to encourage people not to work,
  but government actually expands during his
  presidency
• Exs. O.S.H.A and the EPA are created
• gtConservatives also opposed cultural shift
  evidenced by music lyrics, sexual openness, 1973
  Roe vs. Wade decision, gay lesbian rights
  activism, womens rights movement, and violent
  student protests
• gtOn civil rights, though conservatives generally
  supported the Brown v Topeka ruling, they opposed
  forced bussing to achieve integration as well as
  affirmative action programs

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1980 Presidential Election

• The New Right powerful political coalition of
  conservative groups
• gtsome wanted to cut government funded social
  programs
• gtsome wanted to restore what they considered
  Christian values
• Ex. The Moral Majority, led by the televangelist
  Rev. Jerry Falwell, promoted dictates of the
  bible and traditional values
• A Reagan Landslide
• gtReagan attacked Carters handling of the
  economy and the Iran Hostage Crisis, and exuded a
  positive can-do attitude
• gtReagan wins 489 to 49 electoral votes and 51
  to 41 in the popular vote
• gtRepublicans also gain control of the Senate
  (first time since 53) and gain nationwide in
  this Republican revolution

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Reagans First Term

• 3 stated goals
• 1.)Slash taxes
• 2.)Eliminate unnecessary government programs
• 3.)Bolster the defense capability of the U.S.

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Domestic Policies

• Reaganomics or supply-side economics vs the
  Keynesian theory
• gtCutting taxes puts money into hands of business
  owners and investors
• gtThis money would be invested to grow and start
  new businesses (supply-side), thus creating new
  jobs and economic growth
• gtOppose excessive government spending and high
  taxes
• gtKeynesian Theory Government created jobs,
  programs, and payments puts money into hands of
  many people
• gtThis money would be used to buy goods and
  services (demand) which would cause the economy
  to grow
• Oppose tax cuts for wealthy and cutting
  government services for the vulnerable

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• Cutting Taxes
• gt1981 a 5 tax cut went into effect
• gt1982 a 10 tax cut went into effect
• gt1983 an additional 10 tax cut went into effect
• gt1986 Tax code is largely rewritten and
  simplified
• -Fewer income brackets
• -Wealthy benefit the most as tax rate on the
  highest incomes drops from 70 to 28

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• Deregulation
• Issue over government regulations (which had
  been around since the Progressive Era of early
  1900s)
• -Supporters say needed to make businesses
  operate ethically
• gtEx. prevent unfair competition, protect rights
  of labor, and to protect consumers
• -Opponents say they stifle
• free market competition
• gtEx. excessive regulations mean higher costs and
  lower profits to produce, leading to fewer jobs
  and higher prices for consumers
• gtReagan continues expands deregulation of
  energy banking begun during the Carter
  administration
• gtReagan cuts the number of, and funding for,
  regulatory agencies like the E.P.A., thus
  reducing its efforts and effectiveness.

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• Slowing Growth of Federal Government
• Issue over social welfare programs
• -Supporters say Government should help people
  who cant help themselves
• -Opponents say Anyone can succeed if they work
  hard
• gtThe Reagan administration
• -Reduced unemployment compensation
• -Lowered welfare payments
• -Reduced spending on food stamps
• -Raised fees on Medicaid payments
• Note Federal spending still grew during this
  period due to population growth but slower
  than it would have without the cuts

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• Recession and Recovery
• gtDuring the first 2 years of Regans presidency,
  the U.S. experienced the worst
• recession since the Great Depression
• -Unemployment reached 10.8 in 1982
• -Several hundred businesses closed each week
• gtThe economy began to recover in 1983
• -High interest rates had cooled inflation
  (rising prices)
• -Tax cuts led to increased consumer spending
• -Business leaders increased investments
• -The stock market pushed upward
• gt Debate over supplyside economics
• -Republicans claimed the recovery supported
  this approach
• -Poverty homelessness, however, remained high
• -And contrary to supply-side theorists
  predictions, the Federal deficit grew rather
  than shrank
• 1981 Assassination attempt
• - shot by John Hinkley, an unbalanced fan of
  the actress Jodie Foster
• - Reagan fully recovers, but Press Secretary
  James Brady is
• permanently disabled, leading to the Brady
  Bill gun law

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Foreign Policy

• Reagan felt our position in the world had been
  weakened in recent years and was determined to
  regain status and defend American interests in
  the Cold War
• gtReagan spent huge sums to build up both
  conventional and nuclear weapons
• gtStrategic Defense Initiative (S.D.I.)
  Popularly known as Star Wars, this program
  proposed creating a satellite missile defense
  shield in space to intercept and destroy any
  incoming Soviet missiles
• Never fully realized, we continue to work on
  missile interceptor technology today

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• Trouble spots in the Middle East
• gtLebanon In 1983 a suicide truck bomber kills
  241 U.S. marines sent there by Reagan as part of
  a peace keeping force (causing us to withdraw our
  troops)
• gtLibya Led by Muammar Gaddafi, this nation
  sponsored terrorism against U.S. and Israeli
  targets in Europe
• With proof relating to the bombing of a German
  nightclub that killed a U.S. serviceman, Reagan
  ordered an airstrike on Libya on April 14, 1986

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• Fighting Communism in the Americas
• gtEl Salvador in the 1980s The U.S. supported
  a repressive regime fighting a civil war because
  some of the guerilla fighters were Marxist
• gtGrenada 1983 Following a military coup by
  forces supportive of Cuba, Reagan ordered U.S.
  military forces to the Caribbean island where
  they
• -Protected American medical students
• -Overthrew the military government
• -Stayed to oversee free elections
• gtNicaragua explained in detail later in the
  study guide

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Reagans Second Term

• 1984 Presidential Election
• -Despite the recession early in his first term
  and rising budget deficits, Reagans campaign
  asked voters, are you better off than you were
  four years ago? and most felt that they were
• -Dems nominate Walter Mondale (Carters V.P.)
  and Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to be on a
  major partys presidential ticket
• -The recovered state of the economy and Reagans
  popularity help him win a huge landslide, 525 to
  13 in the electoral college

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Patriotism National Pride

• Reagans optimism and national pride helps give
  the U.S. a sense of confidence it hadnt felt
  since the Kennedy years.
• Why? Radicalism of 60s, Nam, Watergate, Iran
  Hostage Crisis now behind us
• Patriotic events included
• -1984 L.A. Summer Olympics
• -1986 Centennial of the Statue of Liberty
  celebration
• -1987 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution

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Continuing Social Debates(In the Conservative
Era)

• Black Civil Rights
• gtSupport for
• -As a result of the 1960s Civil Rights
  legislation blacks were voting and holding office
  in larger and larger numbers and in more places
• -1983 Reagan signed a Congressional bill making
  the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a national
  holiday (third Monday in January)
• gtOpposition to
• -Reagan tried to prevent the extension of the
  Voting Rights Act of 1965, backing off only after
  intense criticism
• -Reagan appoints federal judges less sympathetic
  to civil rights goals
• -Reagan worked to end affirmative action programs

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• The Womens Movement
• gtProgress
• -Women gained access to jobs and opportunities
  previously denied them
• gtLimiting
• -In 1982 the Equal Rights Amendment, passed in
  1972, fails to be ratified (so it goes away)
• -Anti-abortion groups worked to limit Supreme
  Courts 1973 Roe v Wade decision
• Still a hugely polarizing issue today

Sexual Orientation -The campaign for rights of
homosexuals saw similarly polarizing
views -The AIDS epidemic contributed to this
as many of the earliest victims of this
then-little-understood disease were homosexual
men 1984 Ryan White story
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• Conservatives on the Supreme Court
• These social issues often wound up in the
  judicial system and during Reagans two terms the
  court shifted to the conservative side due to his
  three appointments
• -1981 Sandra Day OConnor becomes first woman on
  the Supreme Court
• -1986 Antonia Scalia is seated and William
  Rehnquist is elevated to Chief Justice
• -1987 a Reagan appointee, Robert Bork, is denied
  confirmation by Senate Democrats, but his second
  choice, moderately conservative Anthony Kennedy
  is confirmed

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The Evolving Economy

• Following the 1981-82 recession, recovery and
  renewed prosperity was felt unevenly
• gtStruggled
• -Farmers Due to oversupply and resulting low
  prices, they relied more and more on Federal
  subsidies
• -Manufacturing workers Job losses occurred
  due to increased efficiency and to foreign
  competition especially in the Northeast,
  gaining it the nickname the Rust Belt

gtFared well -Wealthy Average income earned
by top fifth of American households rose 23
while among the bottom fifth incomes rose
4 Many more families saw both husbands and
wives working to increase income
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Reagans Hands Off Style

• The Savings Loan (SL) Scandal
• gtReagan and Congress pressed for deregulation of
  SL banks so the banks could make more
  profitable, but riskier, loans usually
  mortgages or real estate developments
• gtMany SL officers made personal fortunes
  through risky loans in a hot real estate market
• gtWhen the real estate market cooled in late 80s
  many SLs collapsed, taking 2.6 billion in
  depositors savings with them
• Because SL bank accounts are insured by the
  federal government, taxpayers footed the bill

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• Iran-Contra Affair (Nicaragua)
• -Marxist Sandinistas had seized power in
  Nicaragua in 1979
• -The CIA then secretly trained and armed
  anti-Sandinista guerillas known as Contras
  (against) to fight the government
• -In 1984 Congress learned about this and banned
  it
• -Reagan Administration officials then secretly
  sold arms to (anti-U.S.) Iran and used the money
  to continue to fund the Nicaraguan Contras
• -Congress learns of this in 1986 through
  investigative hearings, leading to the most
  serious criticisms of Reagans Presidency
• -Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North takes the blame
  for the arrangements, while Reagan claimed no
  knowledge of it

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The Reagan Legacy

• Despite the SL crisis, the Iran-Contra Affair,
  and a huge stock marked crash in the Fall of
  87 due to budget deficits and rising national
  debt, Reagan leaves office in January 89 with an
  over 60 approval rating

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• Foreign Policy Successes
• gtGrenada showing Reagans willingness to use
  force when deemed necessary
• gtImprovement in relations with the U.S.S.R.
• -Mikhail Gorbachev became Soviet leader in 1985
  
• -He introduces two reforms popular with
  Americans and the democratic west
• Glasnost, or political openness, which
  allowed greater free speech and free press
• Perestroika, or restructuring, which
  allowed some free enterprise
• -1987 INF Treaty reduced number of intermediate
  range nuclear missiles
• -Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Though
  the Berlin wall wont be dismantled until
  November of 1989, Reagan helps it come about.
• As mentioned earlier, despite issues during
  his time in office, Reagans two terms are
  known for renewed national pride and optimism

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The George H.W. Bush Presidency

• Challenge ? Like Adams (G.W.), Johnson (A.L.),
  Taft (T.R.), Truman (F.D.R.), Bush was
  following a legendary President and struggled to
  equal his predecessors success

Background -Decorated WWII bomber
pilot -Profitable career in Texas oil
industry -Congressman in 1966 -Ambassador to
U.N. under Nixon -Envoy to China under
Ford -Head of Republican National
Committee -Head of the C.I.A. in 1970s -V.P.
for both of Reagans terms
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• 1988 Presidential Election
• -Though conservative Republicans questioned the
  depth of his commitment to their values, Bush
  wins the nomination
• -Dems nominate MA Gov. Michael Dukakis, who had
  helped MA out of economic struggles and pledged
  to bring his Massachusetts Miracle to the
  nation
• -Republican attack ads, portraying Dukakis as
  soft on crime for example, and Bushs association
  with Reagan, help Bush win a large popular
  (53.37 to 45.65) and electoral College (426 to
  111) majority
• -Dems, however, controlled both houses of
  Congress

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Foreign Policy/Foreign Issues where Bush has
his greatest success

• The Cold War Ends
• Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachevs call for
  glasnost and perestroika in the communist
  countries of Eastern Europe lled to the end of
  the Iron Curtain, European communism, and the
  police states in place there since shortly after
  WWII

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• Poland
• gt1970s shipyard workers enduring food shortages
  rioted and tried to form a labor union (some were
  killed by govt troops)
• gt 1980 they went on strike and forced the
  government to allow them to form a free
  independent labor union
• gt1981 The government launched a crackdown on the
  now nation-wide alliance of labor groups known as
  Solidarity and jailed its leaders, including
  the popular Lech Walesa
• gt1983 Lech Walesa wins the Nobel Peace Prize
• gt1988 Further economic problems led the
  government to meet with Solidarity leaders and
  schedule free elections
• gt1989 Poles elect their first democratic
  government since before WWII with Lech Walesa as
  their President

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The Berlin Wall Falls

• Throughout Eastern Europe anti-Communist
  revolts were breaking out
• New (democratic) governments were elected in
  Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, etc.
• gtSummer 1989 East German tourists visiting newly
  democratic Hungary fled to democratic Austria and
  then to West Germany
• gtPressure mounts on East German government to
  open borders and institute reforms
• gtNovember 8, 1989 East Germany announces border
  with West Germany now open
• gtNovember 9, East and West Germans party on top
  of, and smash much of, the Berlin Wall - the
  biggest symbol of the Cold War
• gtWithin a month the East German communist
  government collapses and within a year Germany is
  reunited

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The Soviet Union

• gtGorbachev had hoped to reform the Soviet system
  but keep the communist party in power
• gtAugust 1991 conservative, hard-line communists
  stage a brief coup hoping to end the reforms, but
  the coup quickly fails
• gtDecember 1991 the Soviet Union collapses, to be
  replaced by the Common-wealth of Independent
  States (C.I.S.) with President Boris Yeltsin in
  charge
• A number of the former Soviet Socialist
  Republics will then push for independence
• Ex. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia
• START I A Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
  was then signed/ratified by the U.S. and the CIS,
  limiting long range nuclear weapons
• The Cold War is now behind us, let us not
  wrangle over who won it
• M. Gorbachev

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A New International Role

• As the worlds now sole superpower the U.S. now
  found itself responding to crises abroad in a new
  post-Cold War way
• gtTiananmen Square 1989
• -May
• Prodemocracy Chinese students gathered in
  huge numbers in Beijings largest public
  square
• -June
• The Chinese government used the military to
  beat, disband, and arrest protestors and
  stop the democracy movement
• With important economic ties with China,
  President Bush limited U.S. involvement to quiet
  (and ineffective) negotiations

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• gtInvasion of Panama Dec. 1989
• -President Bush invaded Panama to arrest the
  countrys dictator, Manuel Noriega, for
  involvement in smuggling drugs to the U.S.
• This was seen by many Americans as a decisive
  act in the war on drugs

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• gtThe Persian Gulf War 1991
• -August 1990 Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein,
  invades neighboring Kuwait
• -Saddam claims Kuwait belonged historically to
  Iraq
• -President Bush saw it as a grab of Kuwait oil
  wealth, a threat to our ally Saudi Arabias
  security and the supply of oil to the west, and
  therefore, a matter of national security
• -U.S. public opinion initially opposed direct
  involvement but passing weeks see
• Oil prices rise significantly
• Reports of Iraqi atrocities against Kuwait
  civilians mount
• Diplomatic efforts fail to get Saddam to
  withdraw

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• -Operation Desert Storm Jan.-Feb. 1991
• U.N. supported coalition of 28 countries (led
  by U.S.) invades Kuwait to oust the Iraqi army
• Plan organized by U.S. Chairman of the Joint
  Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Colin Powell
• Invasion led by U.S. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf
• In 6 weeks Kuwait was liberated
• President Bush chose to end the offensive
  before removing Saddam from power, hoping
  internal Iraqi opposition would. It didnt
• Despite this, Bushs approval rating in Feb.
  1991, following Desert Storm, soars to 89

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Domestic Issues

• Less success here contributed to Bush being a
  one term President
• His approval rating by July of 1992 had
  plummeted to 29
• gtClarence Thomas
• -Bushs Supreme Court appointee faced intense
  scrutiny over charges of past sexual harassment
• -This ignited public debate on the issue of
  sexual harassment
• gtBudget Deficits
• -Continued to swell under President Bush
• -He in turn tries to slow spending on social
  programs
• -He finally agrees to new taxes to increase
  revenue, breaking his campaign promise of (read
  my lips) no new taxes

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• gtEarly 1990s Recession
• -Turmoil in Persian Gulf caused high gas prices
• -End of the Cold War caused less need for
  military spending, causing job losses
• -1991 unemployment reaches 7, highest in 5
  years