1. The Resurgence of Conservatism

2. Conservatism  “It’s morning in America” – Campaign slogan  Ronald Reagan’s 1980 Presidential Campaign  “New Right” movement formed in response to the counterculture movement  Led by evangelical Christian groups  Most concerned about cultural problems – abortion, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, affirmative action, prayer in schools, tougher criminal penalties

3. Election of Reagan  Ronald Reagan was well suited to lead this conservative crusade  Reared in the WWII generation  Naturally sided with the New Right  Championed the “common man” against big government  Condemned federal intervention in local affairs  Neoconservatives – small group of influential thinkers  Reacted against liberalism and championed free-market capitalism

4. Election of Reagan  Reagan used his acting skills to great advantage in the 1980 campaign  Governor of CA from 1966-74  Carter Administration seen as bumbling and befuddled  The incumbent president was put on the defensive  Carter was hampered by his lack of managerial talent  Badly hurt by events beyond his control – oil prices, inflation, hostage crisis in Iran  Reagan won in a landslide victory  Iranian hostages surprisingly released on inauguration day

5. Reagan Revolution  Devoted to fiscal fitness and leaner federal government  Believed government was the problem  Bloated New Deal programs  Americans balked at entitlement program “benefits”  Prop.13 (CA) – tax revolt of limiting property tax to 1% of value  Sent ripples across the country  Reagan cut programs like food stamps and job-training centers  Worked with Republican majority in Senate

6. Reagan Revolution  Southern Conservative Democrats in House sided with Reagan’s policies  “Boll Weevils”  March 6, 1981 – Reagan shot in DC by an alleged assassin  Recovered quickly and gained popularity  Economic program called for deep tax cuts  Supply-side economics – combo of budget discipline and tax cuts would stimulate new investment, boost productivity, foster growth, reduce the federal deficit

7. Reagan Revolution  Supply-side seemed to work in 1983  From 1981-83, the economy slid into deepest recession since 1930s  Unemployment soared, businesses folded, banks failed, auto industry faltered to Japanese  For the first time in the century, income gaps widened between rich & poor  Middle-class incomes stagnated  Yuppies – young, wealthy, urban professionals

8. Reagan Renews Cold War  Kept his hard line on the Soviets  Believed that they were “prepared to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat” in their pursuit of world conquest  Believed in negotiation but only from a position of overwhelming strength  By building more and stronger nuclear weapons, he could threaten the Soviets  So the Soviets built their weapons cache  Reagan pushed for a missile defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)  Commonly known as “Star Wars”

9. Reagan Renews Cold War  Poland – “Solidarity” movement of working people  Soviets clamped martial law on their satellite country  Relations with USSR were complicated with a succession of old Soviet leaders  USSR shot down Korean passenger airliner in 1983  1984 – USSR and the Soviet-bloc nations boycotted LA Olympic games  US had boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics

10. Round 2 for Reagan  Reagan won nomination in 1984  Democrats – Former VP Walter Mondale  Running mate – Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro (NY)  Reagan won by a huge margin in Electoral College & popular vote  New Soviet Premier as well – Mikhail Gorbachev  Glasnost – openness in Soviet gov’t  Perestroika – restructuring Soviet economy  INF treaties – cut back on missiles

11. Iran-Contra  Congress refused to fund military aid to contra rebels fighting against Sandinista regime (left-wing) in Nicaragua  1985 – American diplomats sold arms to Iranians to free hostages held by terrorists  Money for the arms sales was diverted to the contras  Violated a ban on military aid to the rebels  Reagan claimed innocence  Cast a dark shadow over his foreign policy

12. Cuban Confrontations  JFK inherited the CIA Bay of Pigs plan from Eisenhower  Invading Cuba with anticommunist exiles  1200 exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs (southern part of island)  Castro knew of the plan, so they were bogged down at the Bay  The exiles surrendered  JFK accepted responsibility  This pushed Castro further into the open arms of the Soviets

13. Civil Rights Demonstrations

15. The End  Next: Post-Cold War Era