Conservatism & the end of the Cold War 1980-1989

1. Conservatism & the end of the Cold War 1980-1989

2. The Conservative Movement • From 1932 to 1980 Congress & the executive branch had undergone a radical liberal reform • 32 of the 48 years had seen a Democrat in the White House • FDR and the New Deal increased the size of the federal gov’t • Harry Truman’s Fair Deal, JFK’s New Frontier, & LBJ’s Great Society programs further increased the amount of gov’t programs • The 1980’s saw a conservative movement in America • Years of social reforms & liberal programs were suddenly attacked by a new conservatism in America • Issues such as affirmative action, separation of church & state fall under attack • Conservatives saw affirmative action as a form of reverse discrimination & separation of church & state as the key factor in an apparent loss of traditional family values

3. The Conservative Coalition • The Conservative Coalition • informal alliance of business leaders, middle class voters, disaffected Democrats, and Christian groups • The Moral Majority • Religious groups played an important role in this movement • Evangelical Christians & television preachers such as Jerry Falwell & Pat Robertson • These groups condemned liberal views & behaviors • They argued for a restoration of traditional morals & values • Reduce the nation’s high divorce rates • Lower the number of out of wedlock births • Encourage individual responsibilities • They raised money to support political candidates Jerry Falwell Pat Robertson

4. The Election of 1980 • Despite losing the Republican nomination against incumbent Gerald Ford in 1976 California Governor & former actor Ronald Reagan won the Republican nomination in 1980 • Reagan chose George H.W. Bush as his running-mate • The Democrats again nominate President Jimmy Carter & his V-P Walter Mondale Vs.

5. Ronald Reagan • Reagan, born in Illinois became a Hollywood actor in 1937, becoming the President of the Screen Actors Guild • Reagan was originally a “New Deal” Democrat but in the 1950’s he aligned himself more with the Republican party • Reagan campaigned for GOP candidate Barry Goldwater during the 1964 Pres. Election, even making his nominating speech at the Republican National Convention

6. The Election of 1980 • Reagan’s acting career helped him in the public spotlight of a presidential campaign • The poor economy, & several conservative issues such as the Supreme Courts decisions on abortion, pornography, prayer in public school helped Reagan appeal to voters • Reagan was great at one liners such as: “Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours, Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.” • Reagan is called “The Great Communicator” for his ability to covey his ideas in simple, clear language that the average voter could understand • Only 52.6% of American voters went to the polls but Ronald Reagan won by a very narrow majority; 51% of the vote (44 million) • Despite the small majority Reagan’s support was spread over the whole country allowing him to win the electoral vote in a landslide 489 to 38 winning 44 states

7. The Election of 1980

8. Reaganomics • To deal with the nation’s economic problems President Reagan introduced a new package of policies that would be dubbed “Reaganomics” • These policies consisted of 3 parts • Budget cuts • Tax cuts • Increased defense spending • As soon as he took over President Reagan worked to reduce the size and influence of the federal government

9. Budget Cuts • President Reagan cut by 10% the budgets for urban mass transit, food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, school lunches, and student loans while not touching such programs as Social Security, Medicare, and veteran's pensions leading to some controversy • Reaganomics were based on the theory of supply-side economics • The idea behind this theory was that if people paid fewer taxes they would save more $  banks could then loan that $ to businesses which could invest the $ in resources to improve productivity  supplies would then go up driving prices down • With Pres. Reagan’s prodding Congress lowered income tax by 25% over a 3 year period

10. Defense Spending • Despite cutting domestic budgets President Reagan increased Defense Spending • The most significant of Pres. Reagan’s defense programs was authorizing the development of a defense system that would potentially be able to shoot down enemy nuclear missiles in space; Strategic Defense Initiative • Democrats name it Star Wars after the famous George Lucas movie • It’s estimated that the system would cost trillions of dollars to develop • This system, although never proven to work struck fear in the Soviet Union • If this did work it would render billions of dollars worth of Soviet Nuclear weapon’s useless • Mikhail Gorbachev lobbied the U.S. to stop work on the SDI in exchange for massive limitations on nuclear weapons • The panic that this system although never successfully developed, caused the Soviets is one of the reasons for the fall of the Soviet Union

11. Assassination Attempt • On March 30, 1981 only two months after taking office an assassination was attempted on Pres. Reagan • President Reagan was shot by a mentally unbalanced man by the name of John Hinckley, Jr. • It was found out that Hinckley’s reasoning for the assassination was to impress a young actress named Jodie Foster • At first it wasn’t believed that Reagan had not been shot but shortly after speeding away in the limo an entrance wound was found & he was rushed to the hospital • Despite the seriousness of his injury Pres. Reagan joked with his wife as he was wheeled into surgery “Honey, I forgot to duck?” (which was a line first used by famous boxer Jack Dempsey in the 1920’s) • Later joked with his surgeons saying “I hope you fellas are Republicans” • Reagan was able to fully recover from this & his popularity grew John Hinckley, Jr. Jodie Foster Reagan moments before assassination attempt

12. Assassination Attempt • President's Press Secretary, James Brady, was shot in the head from close range • Brady did recover but was permanently disabled • Service agent Tim McCarthy was shot in the chest • McCarthy made a full recovery • District of Columbia Police officer Thomas Delehanty was also shot by one of the 6 shots fired • He would also make a full recovery Press Sec. James Brady

13. Recession and Recovery • The first year of Reagan’s presidency the country slipped into the worst recession since the Great Depression • July 1981 – November 1982 • In 1983 the country went on a spending spree boosted by tax cuts, decline in the interest rates, and lower inflation • The stock market surged, unemployment declined, and the GDP went up 10% • Trickle Down economics: By lowering income taxes on people & businesses the people who saved the most money were the ones that had the most $ • The administration said that these profits at the top would “trickle” down to the middle class & eventually the poor through businesses expanding & creating jobs as well as banks loaning out $ from the upper class deposits • The National debt nearly doubled during Reagan’s administration

14. The United States Supreme Court • President Reagan appointed three Supreme Court Justices during his 8 years in office (all conservative) • Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor the first ever female Supreme Court Justice • Also nominated Antonin Scalia, & Anthony Kennedy as well as nominated Justice William Rehnquist to be the Chief Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy

15. The Conservative Court • President George H. Bush replaced retiring justice William Brennan with David H. Souter • President Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall on the court • During Thomas’s nomination process controversy sprung up when a law professor Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment • Televised Senate hearings lasted for several days before Clarence Thomas was confirmed by the narrow margin of 52-48 • These five appointments on the nine member court drastically changed the make up of the supreme court that had been very liberally dominated since the days of FDR • This would be important when the court make rulings restricting abortion, modified civil rights laws and narrowed the rights of arrested people Anita Hill & Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas David Souter

16. Deregulation • President Reagan as part of his plan to reduce the size of the federal government began deregulating industry (cutting back on federal regulations) • Removed price controls on oil • Eliminated federal health & safety inspections of nursing homes • Deregulated the savings & loans industry as well as the airlines • This deregulation increased competition & often resulted in lower prices for consumers • President Reagan also cut the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which had been created to protect the environment and conserve natural resources President Ronald Reagan

17. Presidential Election of 1984 • The conservative tide in America had secured President Reagan a large following such as: • Businesspeople: who wanted to deregulate the economy • Southerners: who historically have always wanted less federal control • Westerners: who resented federal controls on mining and grazing • Reagan Democrats: who agreed with Reagan on limiting federal government & thought that the Democratic Party had drifted too far to the left • In 1984 President Reagan & Vice President Bush ran against Walter Mondale (VP under Carter) & Geraldine Ferraro (Representative from New York) • Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman on a major party’s presidential ticket • Reagan wins in a landslide winning every state but Mondale’s home state of Minnesota & the District of Columbia 525 Electoral Votes To 13 for Mondale Dem. Pres. Candidate Walter Mondale Dem. VP Candidate Geraldine Ferraro Geraldine Ferraro speaking at the Democratic National Convention

18. The Election of 1984

19. Social Issues of the 80’s & 90’s

20. A I D S • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) • This virus that destroys the immune system, weakening the body making it more susceptible to infections & cancers • Transmitted through bodily fluids most early victims of the disease were homosexual men or intravenous drug users who shared needles • As the disease spread however other contracted AIDS through blood transfusions or from being born to infected mothers • As the AIDS epidemic spread a massive public awareness campaign began

21. Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice

22. Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice • In the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court verdict abortions in the first trimester were legalized as being protected by a woman’s right to privacy • Immediately opponents of abortions began to organize & became known as Pro-Life people • They argued that human life begins at conception & that women shouldn’t have the right to terminate a human life • The people in favor of legalized abortion became known as Pro-Choice • They argued that reproductive choices were a personal health care issue & that women should be able to chose whether to have their child or not • In July of 1989 the Supreme Court ruled in Webster v. Reproductive Health Care Services that states had the right to impose new restrictions on abortion • Now restrictions to abortions vary from state to state

23. “Just Say No!” • Crack/Cocaine burst on the scene in America during the 1980’s • This was a highly addictive drug from South America • Soon after taking office President Reagan announced a War on Drugs • Trying to stem the rising tide of drug abuse in America President Reagan supported moves to prosecute drug users as well as drug dealers • First Lady Nancy Reagan toured the country in an anti-drug campaigned & coined the slogan “Just Say No!” • Some people argued that drugs should be legalized to reduce the power of gangs who made a living selling illegal drugs • Many people pushed for treatment facilities to treat drug users rather than just incarcerating them

24. A Nation at Risk • IN 1983 a federal commission released a report on education entitled A Nation at Risk • This report revealed that American students were falling behind students in most industrialized countries • It stated that 23 million Americans were unable to follow an instruction manual or fill out a job application form • This report sparked debate over education in the U.S. • The commission recommended • More homework • Longer school days • An extended school year • Promoted increased pay & merit raises for teachers • Emphasized basic subjects such as English, math, science, social studies, and computer science • In April of 1991 President Bush announced an education plan known as “America 2000” • This argued for allowing parents the use of public funds to send their kids to the schools of their choice  public, private, or religious • This would enable a free market competition among the schools

25. Inner City Decay • Large inner cities such as Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. etc… were deteriorating • More & more white families were moving to the suburbs in search of new homes, big lawns, shopping malls, & new schools • Businesses began to follow them to the suburbs during the 1970’s & 80’s • Taking all of the jobs & tax dollars with them • This left the inners cities inhabited by poor people, minorities, burdened by high unemployment, inadequate funds for sanitation, health services, schools, public transportation

26. Women’s Rights • After the Equal Rights Amendment failed in 1982 women’s organizations began to push to get more women elected to public office • This led to the nomination of Geraldine Ferraro to the 1984 Presidential ticket as V.P. • In the November elections of 1982 the number of women in the House of Representatives increased from 23 to 47 & the number of female Senators increased to 6 • In 1983 Elizabeth Dole was named Secretary of Transportation and Margaret Heckler became the Sec. of Health and Human Services Geraldine Ferraro Elizabeth Dole Margaret Heckler

27. Women’s Rights Women’s & Men’s Avg. earnings 1982 • In 1982 58% of American women were in the workforce • Women that year earned only 76¢ for every $ a man earned • Female college graduates earned only slightly more than did male high school graduates • Women’s organizations and Unions pushed for Pay Equity • Jobs would be rated on the basis of the amount of education they required and/or the amount of physical strength required to perform them • Pay rates would reflect job requirements • Government and corporations began to create maternity leave, job sharing, and work-at-home packages for their employees

28. African-Americans • A-A made great gains politically in the 1980’s • African-Americans became the mayors of many cities • Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. • L. Douglas Wilder became the first A-A gov. (Virginia) • A-A’s were elected to sheriff, school board, state legislators, etc… • Reverend Jesse Jackson ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1984 and 1988 • Gains by A-A in the 1980’s didn’t extend to economic progress • The fight against affirmative action once again made it more difficult for African-Americans to catch up economically Governor Douglas Wilder Rev. Jesse Jackson

29. Other Minorities • Latinos became the fastest growing minority in the 1980’s • Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, etc.. • Many Latinos began to support bilingual education • Fearing that abandoning Spanish would weaken their culture • Many others in the U.S. feared that the growing number of Hispanics would split the nation between English & Spanish speakers • In the 1980’s Native Americans began to demand their rights as well • The government under the Reagan administration reduced funding for Native Americans health & educational services • This led to Native Americans pushing to open gambling casinos as a way of increasing funding • The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Native Americans

30. The Events of the 1980’s

31. Challenger Explosion

32. Challenger Explosion • NASA began work on a space station to do research • For 5 years NASA shuttled flights up and back • In 1986 they planned a highly publicized mission that included a grade school teacher by the name of Christy MacCauliffe • On January 28, 1986seven crew members, including a New Hampshire schoolteacher, took off aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger from Kennedy Space Center. • Seventy-three seconds later, the shuttle disintegrated in the sky. All crew members, including New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe, were killed while millions watched on live television. • McAuliffe was selected from among more than 11,000 teachers who applied for the Challenger mission. She was chosen by NASA in 1984 and took a leave of absence that fall to train for the mission. • NASA put the shuttle program on hold after the Challenger accident until 1988. The agency has put the odds of a catastrophic accident during launch - the most dangerous part of any shuttle mission - at 1 in 438. Above: Photograph of the explosion Below: The seven astronauts; McAuliffe front left

33. Mt. St. Helens • At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, Washington erupted • Shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche • Nearly 230 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing • At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond • The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments • In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education

34. Mt. St. Helens BEFORE AFTER

35. Exxon Valdez • At four minutes past midnight, on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez, loaded with 1,264,155 barrels of North Slope crude oil, ran aground on Bligh Reef in the northeastern portion of Prince William Sound • About one-fifth of the total cargo, 10.8 million gallons, spilled into the sea • The probable cause of the spill was the failure of the third mate to properly maneuver the vessel because of fatigue and excessive workload • The grounding of the Exxon Valdez prompted both the state and federal governments to significantly alter the laws, regulations and strategies relating to oil pollution Above: Power washing oil off of rocks on the shore Below: Bird covered in oil

36. Exxon Valdez Above: Oil washed ashore Top Right: Ships skimming oil off the surface Below: Otter covered in oil Bottom Right: Oil washed ashore

37. Bird vs. Magic • In 1979 Bird was the star of the Indiana State Sycamores, something of a country bumpkin who, on the court, became an assassin, either as a shooter or a passer. His brilliance was the main reason for Indiana State's 29-0 regular-season record • Johnson was the star of the Michigan State Spartans, a skinny sophomore wizard of a ballhandler and passer • Magic Johnson and Michigan State locked up with Larry Bird and Indiana State for the 1979 national championship in Salt Lake City • Bird, double- and triple-teamed, uncharacteristically struggled with his shot, missing 14 of 21 shots. He finished with 19 points • Michigan State, with Johnson scoring a game-high 24 points, won 75-64 in a game that lacked the drama of the buildup. • The two stars would go on to resuscitate a struggling NBA and become two of the most memorable players in history. • The very next year Bird was the NBA's rookie of the year with the Boston Celtics and Johnson the MVP of the NBA Finals for the Los Angeles Lakers. • The year after that Bird led the Celtics to an NBA title • In all, eight NBA titles during the 1980s went to Johnson's Lakers (five) or Bird's Celtics (three) • Magic vs. Bird pretty much defined a decade of pro basketball as the two players redefined positions, Johnson as an unheard-of 6-9 point guard, Bird as something of a point forward • Eventually they would become friends and even teammates on the 1992 gold medal U.S. Olympic team

38. The Computer • In 1981, the landmark announcement of the IBM PC (personal computer) stunned the computing world • The chairman of IBM is supposed to have looked at the original PC and said that it would never fly - that mainframes would dominate forever. • The original PC cost $3000, and came with 64 Kb of RAM, a floppy disk drive and monochrome graphics • It also came with DOS, an operating system based on CP/M • In an effort to save time so that it could catch the early personal computer market, IBM chose to license DOS from the then tiny Microsoft instead of writing its own operating system • For many years to come IBM would regret the decision not to write its own PC operating system • In January 1984 the introduction of Apple's Macintosh computer, with its graphical user interface, generated even more excitement than the IBM PC had three years earlier • In his junior year, Bill Gates left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. • Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers Above: 1981 IBM PC Above: 1984 Apple MacIntosh Below: Compaq portable computer

39. The 1988 Presidential Election • The 1988 Presidential election featured Vice-President George Bush vs. Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis • VP Bush promised Americans “Read my lips, no new taxes” • Happy with the job that President Reagan had done American voters supported VP Bush • George Bush won the election with 426 of the 527 possible electoral votes. VP George Bush (Rep.) Dukakis Bush Gov. Michael Dukakis (Dem.)

40. The Berlin Wall • In 1987 President Reagan made a trip to West Berlin and gave a speech for the 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan • In this speech he made an infamous demand on Gorbachev • “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” • Secretary Gorbachev made efforts in 1988 to loosen the Soviet grip on East Germany and Poland • He reduced the number of Soviet troops in Eastern Europe • He allowed non-communist parties to organize • He encouraged these nations to move towards democracy Pres. Reagan speaking in front of the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin

41. The Fall of the Berlin Wall

42. The End of the Cold War • In March of 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the general secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union • Because of a flailing economy Gorbachev began to reform the Soviet Union • In a policy known as glasnost (Russian for openness) he allowed people to criticize the government & began to allow freedom of the Press • In also called for perestroika; a less government control of the economy • Knowing that better relations with the U.S. would allow the Soviets to reduce military spending to help the economy Gorbachev initiated a series of arms limitations meetings • The INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty) was signed on December 8, 1987 • The Treaty eliminated two classes of weapons systems from Europe & called for each nation to make on-site inspections of the other’s military installations Mikhail Gorbachev Pres. Ronald Reagan V.P. Bush, Pres. Reagan, and Soviet Premier Gorbachev in N.Y.

43. Fall of the Soviet Union • Gorbachev’s introduction of democratic ideals led to a dramatic increase in nationalism among the Soviet Union’s non-Russian republics • By December of 1991 14 non-Russian republics declared their independence from the Soviet Union • Gorbachev resigned as the Soviet president in 1991 after reformers thought he was working too slowly towards a democracy • After 74 years the Soviet Union dissolved • Boris Yeltsin took Gorbachev’s place & a loose confederation of states was formed the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) Mikhail Gorbachev Boris Yeltsin

44. The End of the Cold War • In February of 1992 President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a formal statement declaring an end to the Cold War that had existed between the two nations since 1945 • In January 1993 Yeltsin & Bush signed the START II pact that agree to cut the nuclear arsenals of the two nations by 75%

45. The Berlin Wall

46. The Berlin Wall • In October of 1989 East Germans shocked the world by speaking out against the communist government • On November 9, 1989 East Germany opened the Berlin Wall and allowed free passage between the two parts of the city for the first time in 28 years • East German guards stood by and watched as Berliners pounded away with hammers and other tools at the wall

47. Communist Europe • Soon the wall was coming down not with picks & hammers but with cranes & bulldozers • In early 1990 East Germany held it’s first free elections and in October of 1990 East & West Germany were united • Other European nations adopted democratic reform • Czechoslovakia withdrew from the Soviet bloc • Baltic states Latvia, Estonia, & Lithuania declared their independence from U.S.S.R. • Hungary, Bulgaria, & Romania changed governments • The Yugoslavian government collapsed with 6 of it’s republics succeeding • Ethnic rivalries turned into wars between Muslims, Orthodox Serbs, and Roman Catholic Croats

48. Tiananmen Square

49. Tiananmen Square Chinese Premier Li Peng  • In the mid 1980’s China began to loosen some economic restrictions • Eliminated some price controls & business restrictions • Student in China began to demand freedom of speech and a greater voice in government • In April 1989 university students in China held marches that quickly grew into a large demonstration in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square • In Tiananmen Square Chinese students constructed a version of the Statue of Liberty • Chinese Premier Li Peng ordered the military to crush the protesters • The world watched on TV as Chinese forces stormed into Tiananmen Square and slaughtered unarmed students • One student demonstrator remarked that “The gov’t has won the battle here today. But they have lost the heart of the people.” Above: Statue of Liberty raised in Tiananmen Sq. Below: View of the Protestors

50. Tiananmen Square The courage of these protesters was embodied in the actions of one student who boldly stood in front of a row of on coming tanks defying the government