Chapter 28 Lecture.docx

Name:________________________________________________________ Period:______ Chapter 28: The Reagan Revolution, 1980-1989 Who won the 1980 Presidential Election? Ronald Reagan What was the Reagan Revolution? Reagan’s intitatives and programs while President He ended many New Deal and Great Society pr...

Name:________________________________________________________ Period:______ Chapter 28: The Reagan Revolution, 1980-1989 Who won the 1980 Presidential Election? Ronald Reagan What was the Reagan Revolution? Reagan’s intitatives and programs while President He ended many New Deal and Great Society programs The federal deficit tripled during his Presidency There were lower taxes Labor unions began to see restrictions The Cold War ended A conservative resurgence occurred during his Presidency What did many overlook about Reagan? He was older He had been divorced, viewed more as a flaw back then compared to today He was an actor He was a former member of the Democratic Party but ran on the Republican ticket What were Reagan’s priorities when he first took office as President? He wanted to increase military spending, so the U.S. had a larger military than the Soviet Union He wanted to cut taxes He wanted to reduce domestic program spending along with government-sponsored social programs He wanted to reduce welfare, food stamps, and social security benefits He also cut funding to job-training programs What is Supply-Side Economics? This was Reagan’s plan to improve the economy, often called Reaganomics He wanted to stimulate growth in the economy by making tax cuts Businesses could then use the money saved from the tax cuts to hire more employees or invest in new equipment, both of which would create new jobs What is the Laffer Curve? Argued that increased taxes meant a reduction in government funds because less people would work and earn wages that could be taxed What was Reagan doing with taxes? Cutting taxes Some Democrats thought that they were favoring the rich Other Democrats believed they were beneficial and voted for them, they were called Boll Weevils What did Reagan do with federal programs? He cut social welfare programs but increased military spending What did Reagan do with the military? He increased the size of the military He wanted the U.S. military to be stronger than the Soviet Union’s military He had a policy called “Peace through Strength”, that the U.S. would be powerful with a strong military A new B-2 Bomber was developed along with cruise missiles Defense spending increased by 34% What happened when the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization went on strike? Air traffic controllers went on strike, Reagan told them that they had to go back to work He said that if they didn’t go back to work that they would lose their jobs Air traffic controllers are federal employees Most refused to go back and Reagan fired them, the union collapsed What effect did Reagans initiatives have on the economy? Unemployment rose to over 10% by 1982, the highest it had been since the Great Depression More people were becoming homeless Mental health facilities were overcrowded The economy began to improve by 1983 Debate about why the economy improved had mixed opinions between the tax cuts and increased military spending What happened in the 1984 Presidential Election? Reagan was the Republican candidate Walter Mondale was the Democratic candidate Mondale’s V.P. nominee was Geraldine Ferraro, she was the first woman to be on the ticket as a V.P. for a major political party African Americans and labor unions supported Mondale Reagan benefited from the improved economy and patriotism Reagan’s nickname was “The Great Communicator” Reagan won the election Who were the New Democrats? They were Democrats who wanted to shift party politics towards the right-of-center mainstream in order to start winning elections They included Richard Gephardt and Bill Clinton What was the Tax Reform Act? Reduced taxes and closed tax loopholes It was a bipartisan initiative What was the Evil Empire? Reagan believed that the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire in a speech from 1983 He was tough on communism He implemented sanctions on Poland and the Soviet Union What was the Strategic Defense Initiative? AKA STAR WARS A system of satellites that could be used to locate and stop incoming missiles to the U.S. Millions of dollars were put towards it and over a decade of research when they just stopped and said that it would not work What happened with Reagan’s foreign policy? Everything was looked at as how it related to the Cold War He was pro-Israel He wanted to create pro-American states in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia and Jordan Reagan’s administration provided aid to Afghans who were resisting a Soviet Invasion The CIA trained the Taliban to fight off the Soviets, they would maintain control of Afghanistan after the Soviets left What happened in Libya? 1986 The U.S. believed that Libya was aiding terrorists The U.S. bombed Gaddafi’s (their leader) headquarters In 1988, Libya was linked to blowing up a Pan Am flight over Scotland How did the U.S. react to the Iran-Iraq War? U.S. relations with Iran were still hostile because of the Iranian Hostage Crisis They wanted to fund a moderate takeover and gain Iran as an ally Iran had influence in Lebanon, where 7 Americans were being held hostage U.S. diplomats secretly went to Iran to negotiate, even though the U.S. had an official stance of not negotiating with terrorists and an arms embargo against Iran 200 missiles were sold to Iran between 1985 and 1986 What happened with U.S. and Israel’s relationship? Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and attacked the Palestine Liberation Organization Reagan sent in troops as part of an international peace effort 1983 a bomb exploded at the U.S. barracks 241 U.S. Marines were killed U.S. troops were immediately removed from Beirut What is the Powell Doctrine? In response to the Beirut Barracks Bombing U.S. troops could only be sent overseas if there were no other options, the mission was achievable, public opinion supported the action, and there was a clear exit strategy What happened with U.S. Cold War policy in Latin America? Previously the U.S. used Latin American dictators to ensure that American business could be run in their countries Many of these dictatorships were unpopular in their nations and were overthrown Some of the overthrows were conducted by communists Reagan wanted to transform authoritarian dictatorships into democracies He also believed that totalitarian governments like the Soviet Union could not be saved U.S. military aid was provided to nations that Reagan believed could be turned into democracies Reagan faced discrimination for his support of El Salvador where critics were assassinated There would also be the issue of the Iran Contra Affair What was the Iran Contra Affair? The Boland Amendment (1984) prevented the U.S. from providing aid to the Contra in Nicaragua The CIA sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of U.S. hostages in Lebanon, even though there was a weapons sale ban on Iran and the U.S. did not negotiate with terrorists The CIA then took the money from the weapons sale and gave it to the Contra in Nicaragua ($50 million) News broke of the situation after an American plane was shot down over Nicaragua There was a huge Congressional Investigation Reagan was found not guilty People within Reagan’s administration were found guilty and were pardoned by the next President (Reagans former V.P., George H.W. Bush) Many believed that it was impossible for Reagan to be clueless about what happened What was perestroika? Reform of the Soviet economic system under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev Some formerly nationalized industries were made private again What is glasnost? Openness Soviet citizens were allowed more freedoms including the right to question the government (Context: The Soviet Union was on the edge of an economic collapse due to its military spending during the arms race of the Cold War. Glasnost meant that more people were questioning actions taken by the government and challenging it. The Soviet Union was not in a good place and looked like it was on the verge of collapse.) What occurred between the U.S. and the Soviet Union? The U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed to reduce the number of nuclear arms they had Gorbachev and Reagan established a rapport with one another Tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union were easing Where did Reagan travel to and what did he do there? 1987 West Berlin He gave a speech in front of the Berlin Wall and Brandenburg Gate He said in a speech “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” (Context: The Berlin Wall would finally be taken down in 1989.) What was happening in Nicaragua and Afghanistan? The Soviet Union and the U.S. worked together to resolve conflicts The U.S. had backed the anti-communist Contra in Nicaragua The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan They also worked together to end the Iran-Iraq War (Context: The Cold War wasn’t officially over, but it pretty much was. Gorbachev and Reagan considered themselves friends and both nations sought to continue reducing tensions between each other.) What happened in the 1988 Presidential Election? George H.W. Bush (Reagan’s Vice President) was the candidate for the Republicans The Democratic candidate was Michael Dukakis Dukakis had a lead in the opinion polls but ran a dirty campaign using fear and racism Bush promised more tax cuts Bush won in a landslide What happened in business in the 1980s? There were corporate takeovers and mergers High risk and high yield investments were becoming popular A select few made millions of dollars What happened to ordinary Americans in the late 1980s? The stock market crash of 1987 caused economic problems and a recession The Federal Reserve pumped millions of dollars into the economy to prevent a repeat of the Great Depression but stock prices remained low The housing market collapsed The savings and loan industry did not have the money to pay their depositors back and the federal government had to bail them out ($500 billion) What kind of technological advancements were made in the 1980s? Introduction of the personal computer Walkman What happened in Africa? There was a feminine Concerts were held to raise money to help provide relief What happened with the film industry in the 1980s? Huge blockbusters Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. What was happening with TV? The Bill Cosby Show as the most successful show of the 1980s, featuring a African American family What is Parents Music Resource Center? It was founded by Al Gore’s wife in response to conservative concerns over the popularization of violence Music was rated based on profanity and other graphic content What was the Christian Coalition? Created by Pat Robertson after he failed to obtain the Republican nomination in 1988’s Presidential Campaign They wanted to reshape the political agenda in the United States By the 1990s they were sought after by every Republican candidate to have their endorsement How did Liberals feel about society in the 1980s? Many believed that American society had become too concerned about individual needs and not the needs of society as a whole They argued that more people were happy to stay home and watch tv than to participate in group activities such as bowling What was the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act? AKA Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 Removed the previous quota on immigration from Eastern Europe and other regions of the world By the 1980s, a large portion of immigrants were coming over to join family members already in the U.S. Some came to the U.S. illegally Where were the new immigrants coming from? Different areas than before Mostly from Latin America and Asia and not many from Europe They were willing to work for low wages and more difficult jobs than those already in the U.S. They faced hostility What was the 1980s like for Native Americans? Native Americans won two court cases that made it increasingly difficult for states to regulate gambling on tribal lands Native Americans began to open up Casinos on their lands A new wave of prosperity was brought to Native Americans It is important to note that many Native Americans still live in poverty today Tribes began to build their own museums, create education programs to sustain their native language, job training opportunities and increased educational opportunities What is AIDS? Caused by the HIV virus It became rampant in the 1980s and was very mysterious at first They did not know how it was transmitted Early patients were largely from the gay population, resulting in very little funding and research 70,000 died in 1987 alone A campaign for the government began with celebrities and others wearing red ribbons in support of AIDS research Many tried to say the patients were to blame for their risky behaviors In 1992, Congress funded AIDS research with $2 billion Today, its possible to live a relatively normal life with treatment if you have aids In the 1980s, it was a death sentence