Ford

1

• Fords administration was a continuation of
  Nixons for the most part
• Election of 1976 Ford ran for the Republicans
  against GA Democrat, Jimmy Carter
• Carter won, pledging economy reform and running
  as an outsider to bring morality back to
  politics

2

• Carter, although capable, did not end up having a
  very successful presidency due to international
  trouble
• Economic trouble continued same problems plus a
  fuel crisis caused problems
• Fuel crisis had begun back in 1973 when OPEC
  placed an oil embargo on the U.S. for supporting
  Israel
• Under Carters administration, OPEC created
  another embargo and raised prices

3

• Foreign policy
• Camp David Accords Carter attempted to broker
  peace in the Middle East
• Negotiated a peace agreement b/t Egypt and
  Israel, but tensions existed elsewhere
• First time peace agreement had been signed by
  Middle Eastern nations

4

• Iranian Hostage Crisis huge failure for Carter
• Iran had a revolution overthrowing their shah
  with a Muslim fundamentalist, Ayatollah Khomeini
• Shah had cancer and U.S. allowed him to get
  treatment in the U.S.
• Angry Iranians invaded the U.S. embassy in Iran
  and took 52 hostages, demanded shah return to
  Iran for trial
• U.S. did not comply but wanted hostages released
  tried negotiating w/Iran but did not work

5

• Carter placed economic sanctions on Iran and got
  UN to condemn Iran
• Tried a rescue mission, but that also failed
• Hostages held over a year444 days, released when
  newly-elected Ronald Reagan took office

6

• The Reagan Years1980s
• Reagan, a Republican, won Election of 1980
  against weak incumbent, Jimmy Carter and put
  major tenets (ideas) of conservatism into
  practice while president
• Morning in America restoring confidence in
  American public, getting away from weak image
• Very strong politically, almost seemed
  unassailable, but did hit a few rough spots

7

• Formation of (more)modern political ideologies
  occurred during Reagans presidency
• Conservative Coalition composed of business
  leaders, middle class, disaffected Democrats (due
  to Dems. support of civil rights) and
  fundamentalist Christians (Moral Majority)
• New Right groups of conservatives who typically
  supported single issues that reflected key
  interests
• Focused on social issues anti-abortion,
  anti-ERA, anti-busing, anti-affirmative action

8

• Reaganomics implemented conservative policies
  seeking limited powers for federal government
• Used trickle-down(supply-side) economics
  principles that favored business through tax cuts
  to stimulate the economy
• Deregulation cut back on federal regulation of
  economy/industry
• Most notable regulation was his cut to budget of
  the EPA

9

• budget cuts, tax cuts, and increased defense
  spending
• some cuts went to social programs, which ended up
  hurting low-income Americans, causing a
  recession, but consumer spending eventually
  stimulated the economy

10

• foreign policy
• given credit for ending the Cold Warpicked up
  where Nixon left off
• funneled money into defense through Strategic
  Defense Initiative (SDI)Star Wars
• Soviets wanted to keep up with U.S., kept
  diverting funds toward defense, which made it
  weak

11

• Soviets also had a reform-minded leader, Mikhail
  Gorbachev
• Policies of glasnost and perestroika allowed for
  free speech and economic reform
• Showed democratic trend? eventually led to
  collapse of communist Soviet Union
• Berlin Wall fell in 1989symbolic end of Cold War

12

• Iran-Contra Scandal Reagans biggest
  failureinvolved in two illegal activities!
• Iran and Iraq had been at war? U.S. official
  position was to support Iraq
• Iran was key in helping releasing various U.S.
  hostages, so secretly backed Iran while
  publically supporting Iraq
• U.S. sold weapons to Iran, then used funds from
  weapons sales to fund a revolution in Nicaragua
  fought by people called the Contras
• Congressional investigation revealed that a
  secret government existed promoting government
  through secret and illegal means
• Added more fuel to public opinion of corruption
  in politics

13

• One of Reagans (and Bush, his successor) biggest
  triumphs as a conservative was shifting judicial
  politics to the right, which ended liberal
  control of the Court

14

• George H.W. Bush, Reagans VP, continued Reagans
  conservative policies after winning Election of
  1988
• During the campaign, Bush promised not to raise
  taxes (built on Reagans legacy) but had to raise
  them when the economy dipped into a recession?
  decreased his popularity

15

• Foreign policy U.S. relationship with Iraq
  worsened when Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded
  oil-rich Kuwait and then moved on toward Saudi
  Arabia, an important supplier of U.S. oil
• U.S. carried out Operation Desert Storm to
  liberate Kuwait as a part of the Persian Gulf War
• Successful Kuwait freed, but Hussein remained in
  power in Iraq

16

• Due in part to recession, Bush did not do well in
  the 1992 Election and lost to Democrat Bill
  Clinton
• Clinton focused on the economy but he took a
  moderate approach during campaign, appealed to
  both Dems. and Reps.
• Domestic concerns
• Economy reformed the welfare system achieved a
  balanced budget and used a surplus to pay U.S.
  debt? showed his moderation
• Attempted healthcare reform led by wife, Hillary
  Clinton, but it was not well received

17

• Foreign policy Clinton saw flourishing trade as
  essential to U.S. prosperity, supported North
  American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which
  brought Mexico into free-trade zone with Canada
  and U.S.
• Supporters claimed agreement would help economies
  of all involved
• Opponents claimed American jobs would be lost to
  Mexicoprotested outside the World Trade
  Organization (WTO), which promotes and encourages
  economic development

18

• Scandal Clinton faced impeachment from House of
  Rep. due to charges of improper use of funds and
  lying under oath about an improper relationship
  with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky
• Clinton denied the charges and the Senate
  acquitted him so he was not removed from office
• Second president to be impeached but not
  convicted (Andrew Johnson was 1st)

19

• After Clintons two terms, the nation had two new
  choices for president in the 2000 Election
• Clintons VP, Al Gore, ran against George W.
  Bushmost controversial election of recent times
• Election was close---Gore won the popular vote,
  but the race for electoral votes was too close
  to call

20

• Controversy centered around Florida, which was a
  narrow victory for Bush, who won the state
• Narrow margin of victory in Florida called for an
  automatic recount further manual recounts
• Republicans wanted to stop the manual recounts,
  so brought case before the Supreme Court
• Supreme Court voted 5-4 to stop manual recounts,
  which gave the victory to Bush
• BUT, said their ruling could NOT influence public
  policy or similar situations in the future

21

• George W. Bushs precedency was heavily
  influenced by foreign policy, which was touched
  off by the September 11th attacks
• Began waging a war on terror abroad and
  tightening security at home with new executive
  department, Department of Homeland Security

22

• Commenced bombings and invasion of Afghanistan
  (Operation Enduring Freedom), which was believed
  to harbor Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda
  terrorist network, who were connected with the
  September 11th attacks
• war on terror was later extended to fighting in
  Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom), ultimately led to
  downfall of Saddam Hussein, who was believed to
  be in possession of weapons of mass destruction,
  but actually did not have any

23

• domestic concerns passed education and economic
  reformsNo Child Left Behind and tax cuts
• both policies caught controversy No Child Left
  Behind criticized for putting too much emphasis
  on assessment and tax cuts were criticized for
  benefitting the rich and not creating the jobs it
  promised