Chapter 15(B) Crisis & Resurgence 1980-2000

1. Chapter 15(B) Crisis & Resurgence 1980-2000

2. Why did the Moral Majority back Reagan? • Carter was a born-again Baptist and Reagan had been divorced & was not greatly pious • Carter was not willing to ban abortions or put prayer back in schools, Carter supported the ERA and Civil Rights for Gays • Reagan held the opposite position on all of these issues and that is why the Moral Majority supported Reagan over Carter. Jerry Falwell and Reagan

3. Reagan Wins by a Landslide

4. The Reagan Administration • A major inspiration for Reagan’s economic approach was the Republican tax-reduction program of the 1920s • This became known as Reaganomics where you put more money in the hands of the rich so they will engage in productive investment • Also known as supply-side economics

5. Early in Reagan’s Presidency there were increases in: • Cuts in social programs • Poverty levels • Defense spending—Reagan viewed the USSR as an evil adversary so he started the Strategic Defense Initiative • Budget deficits Star Wars

6. Reagan’s Problems & Anti-Liberalism • Head of the EPA had to resign b/c he had been granting favors to polluters • Organized Labor suffered ( 24% of work force in 1979 to 17% in 1987) • Reagan also cut funding for civil rights • He did put the first woman on the Supreme Court but he opposed the ERA and equal pay for jobs of comparable worth Sandra Day O’Connor

7. Foreign Policy in Reagan’s 1st Term • USSR the “evil empire” • El Salvador • Nicaragua • Lebanon • Grenada

8. The 1984 Election • A factor working in Reagan’s favor in his reelection bid was a robust & growing economy • Walter Mondale’s most seriously damaged his prospects when he promised to raise taxes

9. The Iran-Contra Affair • In 1986, reports surfaced that the US had been secretly selling arms to Iran in the hope of securing the release of American hostages • Then the US was using the profits to finance the Nicaraguan Contras Lt. Col. Oliver North

10. The Poor, Homeless, & AIDS • A high percentage of the homeless people of the 1980s were mentally ill • The Reagan administration response to AIDS was to largely ignore it as a “gay” disease • Therefore, most with AIDS in the 1980s soon died

11. Reagan & the Cold War • The reform-minded Soviet premier was Mikhail Gorbachev • In 1987, the US and the Soviets signed a treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles • One could see a change in the Cold War when the USSR withdrew from Afghanistan in 1988 Mikhail Gorbachev

12. Reagan’s Legacy • In the end Reagan didn’t change Social Security, Medicare, education, welfare, school prayer, or abortion but he did push “liberalism” into a retreat • He did restore America confidence • And Reagan pushed for free enterprise, limited government, and anti-communism

13. The Election of 1988 • By the time George H.W. Bush was the republican nominee for president he had been: ambassador to the UN, envoy to China, Director if the CIA, & VP • Bush secured his victory in 1988 by portraying Gov. Dukakis as a liberal Bush Dukakis

15. The Bush Administration • Bush’s goal as president seemed to be to consolidate Reagan’s policies & achievements • As a result of the massive national debt Bush had to recommend tax increases (1 trillion to 3 trillion national debt) • One of Bush’s domestic priorities became his war on drugs

16. The Democracy Movement Abroad • Failure in Tiananmen Square • Peaceful Success in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, & Czechoslovakia • In Romania there was a bloody uprising but in the end success

17. The Brake-Up of the USSR • In Aug. 1991 there was a Communist coup to try to get rid of Gorbachev • By the end of 1991, the Soviet Union had fallen apart into 15 republics • Boris Yeltsin was president of Russia & began to work with Bush to reduce nuclear stockpiles of weapons

18. Panama • The Panamanian government of Manuel Noriega was at odds with the Bush administration b/c of its involvement in the drug trade • Bush ultimately dealt with Noriega by ordering a military invasion to arrest him • Within hours he surrendered and in 1992 was convicted in the US on 8 counts of drug distribution

19. The Gulf War • The Gulf War was triggered by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait • Bush got a coalition of 30 nations to oppose Iraq in the Gulf War • The 1991 Persian Gulf War resulted in the freeing of Kuwait but Saddam Hussein remaining in power

20. America’s Changing Mosaic • Anglo Americans had fallen from over 90% of the population in 1940 to just over 70% in 2010 • Hispanics represented 16% • African Americans 11% • Asians 4% • American Indians 1%

21. The Computer Revolution • Crisis of WWII brought forth the 1st computer • The development of the personal computer was made possible by the 1971 invention of the microchip • Bill Gates’s great contribution was to develop personal computer software Steve Jobs & Bill Gates

22. H. Ross Perot The Election of 1992 • As George H.W. Bush prepared for the 1992 election, his greatest weakness became a major downtown in the economy • Bill Clinton’s emerging strategy in the 1992 election was to take a more centrist position to win middle-class votes G.H.W. Bush Bill Clinton

23. Clinton’s Health-Care Reform • Clinton put his wife in charge of passing Health-Care Reform • The Clintons argued that there was a need to contain soaring medical costs, that many people were without health insurance, it would help bring down costs for businesses, and that many other advanced countries had national health-care • In the end it failed to pass Hillary Clinton testifying on health-care

24. Republican Insurgency: 1994 • Congressman Newt Gingrich led the Republican takeover in Congress • The Contract with America was aimed to reduce big government and limit the welfare state • The welfare-reform passed by Congress in 1996 limited the amount of time one could receive welfare payments Newt Gingrich

25. The Clinton Economy Included: • Surging Stock Prices • Low Unemployment • Federal Budget Surpluses • A Proliferation of Dot-Com Enterprises • Globalization: the dramatic growth in American exports

26. The Scandal Machine • As a result of the Starr Report Clinton was impeached • What nearly cost Clinton his presidency was lying about his relationship with a White House intern Monica Lewinsky

27. Clinton Foreign-Policy • In 1993, Clinton was able to preside over the signing of a peace agreement between the leaders of Israel and the PLO • The source of instability in the Balkans in the 1990s was the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991 Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat