1980’s - The Reagan Years Chapter 20 - Sec. 2

Ronald Reagan Born Dixon Illinois Sports Broadcaster Moved on to Hollywood - 50 movies President of the Screen Actors Guild

Reagan Speaker - General Electric Theater - G.E. TheaterG.E. Theater Barry Goldwater asked Reagan to speak for his presidential campaign Impressed wealthy entrepreneurs in Cali Elected Gov. Ca Republican Presidential Nominee

Election of 1980 Carter v. Reagan Reagan promised tax cuts Constitutional amendment to ban abortion “Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?” Reagan won 51% popular vote & 489 Electoral Votes

Reagan’s Domestic Policy - Reaganomics Economy suffering“stagflation”- High unemployment & High Inflation 2 Theories of fixing economy: Monetarists = Believed: too much Money in circulation / Fix = raise interest rates Supply Side Economics = Believed:taxes were too high / Cut taxes, business would have more money / hire new employees Reagan combined both / Critics called it Reaganomics or “Trickle Down” economics

Government Programs Government programs cut = e.g. welfare, food stamps, lunch programs, medicare, student loans, housing subsidies, and unemployment benefits

Deregulation of Industry Govt regulations burden on economy Eliminated Price Controls on oil & gas thought prices would drive up Prices plummeted, business/consumer had money to spend elsewhere

Other Deregulations Deregulation - took price controls off companies Airline Business - Cable Television Led to competition amongst companies / fight for customers

Booming Economy By U.S. had largest economic expansion in history Homes climbed 15% in value 5 Million new businesses in U.S. 20 million new jobs

Judicial Balance Wanted Conservative Justice Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor 1st Woman on Supreme Court

1984 Election Ronald Reagan v. Walter Mondale (v.p. Geraldine Ferraro) Just stressed economy Reagan won 59% of popular vote - Won ALL of the electoral votes

Reagan Builds Military Reagan adopted a new “Cold War” policy He rejected Containment & Detente policies Reagan felt the Soviet Union was an “Evil Empire” and the U.S. should not “Negotiate” with them but “Defeat Them”

Reagan - Peace Through Strength Reagan’s philosophy for dealing with the Soviet Union “Peace Through Strength” Reagan began a military buildup and spent over $1.5 Trillion in 5 yrs Reagan believed Soviets could not keep up with U.S. build up If the Soviets tried, it would cause the Soviet economy to collapse Reagans defense spending went from $80 billion to over $200 Billion yr

Questions???

Assignment: Outline remainder of chapter: Reagan Builds Up the Military The Reagan Doctrine Approaches to Arms Control Using notes and outline, write a one page essay of Chapter 20 - Section 2 “The Reagan Years”