The Reagan Revolution

1. The Reagan Revolution Ch 56 History Alive

2. Intro: A Shift to the Right • Ronald Reagan took office on January 20, 1981 • A little over two months afterwards, he was nearly killed (assassinated) • Before going into surgery he joked with the doctors by saying, “I hope you are all Republicans.”

3. Reagan Revolution 4. Refers to Reagan’s conservative agenda that called for lower taxes, reduced government regulation of businesses, and cuts in spending on social programs.

4. Evangelicals 5. Christians who emphasize the authority of the Bible. Many call themselves “born again” Christians 6. Many evangelicals were upset about the declining moral and religious values in American Society. 7. New Right- Consisted of various special interest groups and activists who worked for conservative causes

5. Reagan’s Appeal 8. Reagan was an excellent speaker, and well known as a movie actor. 9. In 1980 he defeated Jimmy Carter by a landslide!

6. Reagan’s Economic Policies 11. Reagan pledged to reduce the power of the federal government stating, “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” 12. New Federalism – Reagan wanted to shift power from the federal government to the states. (education, health care, welfare)

7. Supply-side economics 13. Supply-side economic is an economic theory that economic growth depends on increasing the supply of goods and services by cutting taxes.

8. By 1983, the economy was making a strong comeback – gross national product grew by 7.1 percent. Stock market also rose. • Economists debate whether the tax cuts caused the comeback. MAJOR factor in the increase was increase in defense spending.

9. Gap between rich and poor 16. Personal income grew at all levels of society, however, the income gap between rich and poor widened. The rich saw income rise and the poor saw few benefits.

10. “Reaganomics” 17. Liberals say that Reaganomics helped the rich and hurt the poor. “Income, wealth and power – from the government to private enterprise…from poor to rich. • Arguments defending this say that the tax cuts made at the upper levels of society were supposed to “trickle down.”

11. Deregulation- is the reduction or removal of government controls on business in order to promote economic efficiency and stimulate free enterprise. 18. Deregulation is a way to limit government power in business. Businesses could then avoid (for instance) environmental regulations. On the other hand they could make more money by not having government involved.

12. National Debt 19. Federal budget debt soared during Reagan’s two terms. Budget deficit is the shortfall that results when government spending exceeds government revenues.

13. Reagan’s Social Policies 20. Reagan and other social conservatives opposed government spending on social welfare. 21. (Theory = government traps people in a cycle of poverty). (Cuts fell most heavily on single women with young children and young adults with few job skills or education) Children in poverty rose 25%

14. HIV/AIDS Crisis 22. HIV/AIDS was an unknown disease until the 1980s. Disease attacks the immune system making it impossible for victims to fight off infections or diseases.

15. NJ v. L.T.O. 23.Involved privacy rights (4th Amendment) of a 14 year old girl “L.T.O” whose bag was searched at school and they found marijuana 24Court ruled that a search without a warrant by school officials did not violate 4th amendment as long as there were “reasonable grounds.”

16. Reagan and Civil Rights 25. Reagan believed that the government should be less involved in enforcing civil rights violations. Called for an end to affirmative action. 26. THE RESULT – Jesse Jackson started the Rainbow Coalition, which was a political organization to advocate social progress for people of color, women, gays and lesbians.

17. Immigration Reform 27. Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act which called for increased immigration controls along the US-Mexico border and provided stiff penalties for employers who hired undocumented workers.

18. Ending the Cold War Chapter 57 History Alive

19. 1.1987 Reagan gave his “tear down this wall” speech 2. Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War Reagan’s Speech in Berlin

20. 4. A little over two years later (1989), the Berlin Wall opened, thousands of people rushed to the wall and began dismantling it piece by piece. Dismantling the symbol of the Cold War

22. Anticommunism Guide Reagan’s Foreign Policy 4. Reagan believed that the Soviet Union was a threat to freedom and democracy. He described the USSR as the “Evil Empire.”

23. Strategic Defense Initiative 5. Program would create a “missile shield” designed to protect the US using land and space-based weapons

25. 7. Critics of SDI referred to the program as “Star Wars,” after the movie (which was highly popular at the time) Critics - SDI

26. Reagan Doctrine 8. According to the Reagan Doctrine, the US provided aid to rebels fighting Soviet backed governments in Asia, Africa and Latin America

27. 9. In the 1980s, the US trained Nicaraguan Contra rebels to oust Nicaraguan’s leftist government. (Praised as “the equivalent to our Founding Fathers.” Intervention in Nicaragua

28. Middle East Relations 10. The US provided aid to Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon (which were moderate governments in the Middle East). These countries were in conflict with Syria, Iran and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The US intervened to try to bring peace.

30. Troop Involvement 11. The US viewed its troops as peacekeepers, but their presence began to spark terrorists attacks – the Beirut Embassy

31. 12. The US was secretly selling weapons to Iran. This broke a promise Reagan made to never deal with terrorists. The money was illegally sent to the Contras in Nicaragua. Iran-Contra Affair

32. 13. North testified that his superiors authorized and approved his actions knowing they broke the law in aiding the Contras. Lt. Col. Oliver North

33. Cold War Winds Down 14. When Mikhail Gorbachev took office, the Soviet Union was in deep trouble. Production on farms and factories declined. There was no incentive for people to work hard, widespread shortages on all supplies.

34. Reagan helping end the Cold War 16. Both Gorbachev and Reagan met in Geneva they both realized that they needed to reduce nuclear stockpiles. These talks led to the INF Treaty. (Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty)

35. INF Treaty (ADD TO NOTES) USSR and US agreed to destroy all missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles. Also allowed for each side to make inspections

36. Moscow 1991 17. In 1991 the Soviet Union began collapsing. Statues of communist leaders were torn down

37. Eastern Europe after the collapseof the USSR: 18. Communism began to collapse throughout Eastern Europe. The Warsaw pact was eliminated. Independent nation-states emerged.

38. Survival of Communism 19. Communism continued to survive in Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea and China. (North Korea is the only communist country that has isolated itself – other countries have developed mixed economies)

39. 20. Chinese authorities broke up protesters in china’s Tiananmen Square. The country has since changed China 1989