The Conservative Resurgence

Reagan Wins Presidency Rise of the “New Right,” “Moral Majority,” and Fundamentalist Christianity Opposed: Roe v. Wade and Engel v. Vitale Rustbelt – north predominantly liberal, moving to the south and suburbs= conservative Carter was known for stagflation, Iranian Hostage Crisis Reagan wins 1980 election- 50.6 % of popular vote, but 489 electoral votes (carter got 49)

Reaganomics Supply-side economics Economic Recovery Act of 1981 Reduce taxes- people will have more money to spend, causing economy to grow To make it work you also have to reduce government spending so the government doesn’t go into debt Economic Recovery Act of 1981 Reduce taxes 25% over 3 years- wealthy received the highest tax cuts Cut 40 billion dollars from the budget mainly by cutting spending for social programs

Reaganomics Effects Immigration- good economy=more immigration 1980-1982: Recession, unemployment 10% in 1982 Paul Volcker- during the 70s head of the federal reserve Early 1983- economy begins to grow and inflation will fall Inflation fell 13.5% to 3.2% Unemployment went from 10.8% to 5.3% Throughout the rest of his presidency economy continues on this path Immigration- good economy=more immigration 7.3 million legal immigrants and hundreds of thousand of illegal immigrants Low paying jobs, struggled

Foreign Affairs Iran-Iraq war Anti-Communist affairs Reagan used the navy to escort oil tankers in and out of the Persian Gulf- to keep oil prices down Anti-Communist affairs Mujahedeen- Afghani fighters against Soviet Union Contras- Nicaragua, fighting pro-communist Sandinista government El Salvador- supported right wing government fighting leftist rebels Grenada- US Invaded, in order to keep pro-communist Cuba out Human Rights activists- against involvement, many of these governments we supported did break human rights ideals Effect of the growth of military on the economy? Budget deficit

Domestic Affairs Reelected in 1984- democrats kept control of house of representatives Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor (r. 2006), Antonin Scalia(d. Feb. 13th, 2016), Anthony Kennedy (still on supreme court) Equal Access Act 1984- Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens Election of 1988 Reagan supported Bush- promised to not raise taxes Democrats won both houses

Domestic Affairs PATCO- Air traffic control strike- Reagan fired them, federal employees not allowed to strike Social Security- a lot of old people, raised the minimum retirement age and increased taxes Education- standardized tests “showed” schools were “failing” Vouchers AIDS- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome HIV- Human Immunodeficiency Virus No cure, by 1994 killed more then 250,000 Americans HW Bush- research funding, today it can be “managed”

Ending The Cold War Gorbachev- Soviet President 1985-1991 Glasnost= new openness, Perestroika= reforming soviet system of economy Economy was awful!!!! Met with Reagan 4 times between 1985-1989- Reagan was building up arms, SU could not compete Reagan gives speech to Moscow students about benefit of free enterprise START I treaty- reduce nuclear weapons 3 years from Reagan’s speech- Berlin Wall cam down Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary had democratic elections Soviet Union Disintegrated- 15 independent republics

Foreign Policy After Cold War Latin America Fall of SU effect on Latin America? War on Drugs Eduardo Martinez Romero- Columbian Drug Cartel Panama’s Dictator- Manuel Noriega, 12,000 troops sent in to arrest him convicted to 40 years China Tiananmen Square- 1989- Chinese tanks came in and took over killing hundreds South Africa Apartheid- economic sanctions from US Nelson Mandela- released in 1990, first free elections 1994

Foreign Policy After Cold War Peacekeeping missions Yugoslavia- Bosnia, 150,000 civilians died before US involvement Somalia- cease fire between warlords and food to starving people Persian “Gulf War” Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait (oil) Control 20% of oil produced in the world Saudi Arabia could be next Operation Desert Storm 700,000 UN troops in Saudi Arabia- 500,000 Americans Jan 16, 1991- February 23, 1991- 25,000 Iraqi Soldiers dead 148 Americans Liberated Kuwait, but would not invade Iraq- Hussein remains in power Bush: “We’ve kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all.”