Reagan & Bush

1980 Election Carter vs. Reagan Carter is unpopular for several reasons Economic recession Energy prices Iran hostage crisis Carter wins only five states Reagan promises a “Revolution” Ideological changes in government and defense Promises to cut spending Blames government as the source of the problem Reagan becomes a tremendously popular President “Great Communicator” Booming mid 1980’s economy Likable public image

New Right Group of primarily social conservatives Replace New Left of the 1960’s Dislike social change and reform Dominated by evangelical Christians (values voters) Moral Majority Coalition of conservative Christian groups Based on fundamentalist religious teachings Also included conservative intellectuals and disaffected Democrats Reagan was elected by a large number of former Democratic voters Primary issues: Fight government regulation (state’s rights) Morality issues (abortion/ERA)

“Supply-Side” Economics Reagan’s primary economic philosophy AKA “Reaganomics” AKA “Voodoo economics” (Bush before VP nomination) Theory behind “supply-side” Stagnant American economy based on over-taxation Inadequate capital available for investment Reducing taxes on capital gains will help economy Cuts taxes on big business and the rich “Trickle down” theory Reduced government spending needed to compensate

Economic Recovery US will undergo rapid recovery beginning in Reagan will cut capital gains taxes, but not spending No balanced budget Nat. debt 900 billion (1980) to 4 trillion (1992) Massive defense spending will aid economy (Keynesian) ($1.6 trillion over 5 years) OPEC collapses due to a world wide oil surplus Result of increasing oil prices Declining energy prices help decrease inflation Tight Federal Reserve policies had eliminated inflation Loose policies will follow encouraging investment Although Reagan’s economy boom, Reaganomics is never truly tested

Would supply side economics work in your opinion?

Foreign Policy Reagan believed that USSR was an “evil empire” Reagan doctrine Official foreign policy Called for largest military build up in US history Attempt to restore international prestige Pledged to support opponents of communism anywhere in the world SDI Known as Star Wars ABM system may have possibly bankrupted the Soviet economy Violated previous agreement (SALT I) and prevented passage of others

Foreign Policy Reagan commits US troops to Lebanon Attempt to calm Civil War US troops help Israeli forces hunt PLO terrorists Series of terrorist attacks against US forces in Lebanon US embassy and US Marine base bombed Hostages taken by Iranian extremists US invasion of Grenada Overthrow pro Cuban Marxist government Secret commitments Nicaragua--Congress passes Boland amendment forbidding involvement there Afghanistan--Secretly support Afghan rebels Libya—bombing of Tripoli in response to terror attacks

Iran Contra Massive scandal involving Reagan’s “secret government” CIA and NSC had illegally sold weapons to Iran (fighting our ally Iraq) in exchange for return of American hostages Money illegally funneled to right wing Contras attempting to overthrow Marxist Sandanista government in Nicaragua Congressional hearings can not tie Reagan to the scandal National security aide Col. Oliver North and National Security Advisor John Poindexter and others refuse to implicate Reagan Public opinion sympathetic to North

US and USSR Mikhail Gorbachev assumes command of USSR in 1985 Initiates Perestroika (reform) and Glasnost (openess) programs Nuclear talks between two nations INF treaty (1988) End of the Cold War (1989) Gorbachev’s reform and financial crisis in USSR lead to an end of communism rule in Eastern Europe Berlin Wall torn down (Germany reunified 1990) Eventual fall of USSR (1991) Cold War victory credited to Reagan by some historians Bush calls it “New World Order”

How will the demise of the USSR contribute to a less stable world system?

Bush Elected in 1988 Will continue with policies similar to those of Reagan Tax cuts/small government/defense spending Handicapped by an emerging economic recession Major foreign policy 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre of student protesters Bush sends aides to restore relations with China 1989 Panama Overthrow/arrest Manuel Noriega for drug trafficking Part of larger War on Drugs initiated by Bush 1991 Operation Desert Storm Attacks Iraq to liberate oil rich Kuwait

Social Issues War on Drugs Just Say No campaign by Nancy Reagan Response to rising drug addiction Undeclared war by Bush after murder of Enrique Camarena by Mexican drug cartel Aging population Rising costs of health related programs Strain on Social Security programs Emerging AIDS epidemic Disease discovered less then 30 years ago has spread rapidly Environmental awareness—Exxon Valdez Shifting demographics-Growing minority population Increasing roles of women and minorities in society through 1970’s and 1980’s