1. Reagan, Bush &1980s Conservatism

2. 1.Conservative Shift -switch from “public action to private interest”
Conservatives hoped their ideas would help to reduce the nation’s high divorce rate, lower the number of out-of-wedlock births, encourage individual responsibility, and generally revive traditional values.
-switch from “public action to private interest”
less federal gov’t action and entitlement programs; more community action
Entitlement programs provide benefits to particular groups
New Right, Conservative Coalition, Moral Majority
Return to traditional American values
-Ronald Reagan & George Bush won election of 1980
Defeated incumbent Jimmy Carter
“Our nation’s internal problems are the direct result of her spiritual condition…Right living must be established as an American way of life…Now is the time to begin calling America back to God, back to the Bible, back to morality.”
Rev. Jerry Falwell

3. Four Major Tenets of the Conservative Movement:
Reagan~Bush in 1980
Four Major Tenets of the Conservative Movement:
Shrinking the federal government and lowering spending
Promoting traditional morality and values
Stimulating business by reducing government regulations and lowering taxes
Strengthening the national defense

4. Ronald Reagan, 1980 Campaign
1980 Election Results
“I’m talking in human terms and he is hiding behind a dictionary. If he wants a definition, I’ll give him one. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. A recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”
Ronald Reagan, 1980 Campaign

5. Ronald Reagan was born in 1911 in Illinois
Ronald Reagan was born in 1911 in Illinois. He graduated from Eureka College and then worked as a sports announcer in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1937, Reagan moved to Hollywood and became a movie actor, making 54 films. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, he worked actively to remove alleged Communist influences from the movie industry. In 1966 Reagan was elected governor of California, serving two terms. He had the ability to express his ideas in simple and clear language that the average voter could understand, earning him the name the Great Communicator. When he proposed a 10 percent cut in government spending on social programs, he stated, “We can lecture our children about extravagance until we run out of voice and breath, or we can cut their extravagance by simply reducing their allowance.” Even after the attempted assassination against him in March of 1981, Reagan used his sense of humor to endear others to him. In the operating room, Reagan said to the team of surgeons, “I hope you fellas are Republicans.”

6. 2.Reaganomics How It Works… -cutting government spending
Mainly on social programs that affected more limited groups
- lowering of taxes to promote business
-”supply-side economics”
-”trickle down economics”
Give tax cuts to the wealthy
Wealthy will put more money into
economy and pay employees more
-economy began to respond to policies
-great deficit spending however lead to tax increases

7. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
3.Cold War Escalates
-Reagan had been a hardliner against communism
Refers to USSR as the “Evil Empire”
-Reagan increases military spending
SDI or Star Wars
Shield over the US using satellites
Would shoot down nuclear missiles
-increase in nuclear arsenal
-Soviet system starts to decline by late 80’s
Spending too much on weapon stockpile?
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

8. Between 1981 and 1984, the Defense budget almost doubled.
The Strategic Defense Initiative alone would cost in the trillions of dollars.

9. 4.Conservative Policies Conservative Justice Appointments
-Reagan and Bush appoint conservative justices
Chief Justice William Rehnquist
most conservative justice on court
Sandra Day O’Connor
First female Supreme Court justice
Clarence Thomas
Second African American Supreme Court justice
-deregulation of the economy
lowered prices in some industries and increased competition, but created some scandals
-Savings and Loan Bailouts
Conservative Justice Appointments

10. 5.Conservatism Continues
-Reagan won a landslide election in 1984
-George Bush then wins the 1988 election
-strong foreign policy career and former VP
-makes mistake with “Read my Lips, no new taxes”
-policies suffer because of poor economy
-gridlock in gov’t appears
In the 1984 election of Reagan against Walter Mondale, Reagan took the electoral votes of every state except Minnesota and Washington, D.C. Reagan had gained the approval, through various aspects of his presidency, of business people, southern voters, western states, and Reagan Democrats.

11. 6.Social Issues -AIDS Destroys the immune system
Early victims: homosexuals/drug users
More heterosexuals in 1980s
-Abortion
Conservative court adds restrictions on abortions
-Drug Abuse
Just Say No
Anti-Drug Campaign led by Nancy Reagan
Graying of America
Baby boomers
More of their generation than the new
By mid-1996 the World Health Organization estimated that more than 27.9 million children and adults around the world would be infected with AIDS.

12. 7.Education Reforms -”A Nation at Risk”
23 million Americans were unable to follow an instruction manual or fill out a job application. Many 17 year olds could not read a paragraph and draw an intelligent conclusion or distinguish between Florida and Russia on an outline map.
-”A Nation at Risk”
American education mediocre compared to world
-educational debate about reform:
School voucher debate
Students/parents should have a choice in school they attend
Educational testing programs
Make teachers and kids accountable for learning

13. 8.Equal Rights Struggle -ERA fails, equal pay issues remain
-African Americans are elected to major political positions
-Women make political advances
Sandra Day O’Connor
Geraldine Ferraro
First female to run for VP of U.S. in 1984
-Title IX
No sex discrimination in education
-Affirmative Action debated
Giving minorities preference over white males if equally qualified
-Gay rights
Hate crimes, discrimination
“As a bureau chief in the district attorney’s office…I learned that I was being paid less than men with similar responsibilities. When I asked why, I was told ‘you don’t really need the money, Gerry, you’ve got a husband.”
- Geraldine Ferraro-

14. 9.Cold War in Latin America
- Reagan begins US effort to help
Nicaraguan rebels
-Fighting Communism
- Iran-Contra Scandal-weapons
secretly sold to Iran in exchange for
money to be given to anti-communism
Contras of Nicaragua
-Grenada-effort to prevent
communist rule
Invade and get rid of communist
leaders
-Panama-arrest of General Noriega to stop flow of illegal drugs
In 1989, President Bush sent 20,000 soldiers and marines into Panama to overthrow and arrest Manuel Noriega on charges of drug trafficking. In April of 1992, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

15. 10.Cold War in Europe & Asia
Fall of the Berlin Wall
-Soviets withdraw some troops in
late 80’s
-Democracy movements begin
-November 1989 Berlin Wall is
destroyed - Germany reunites
-China experiences democratic protests
1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre
Chinese government kills hundreds of protestors
US does not respond to keep good relations with China
Tiananmen Square

16. -1985-Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power & Soviet economy is horrible
11.Soviet Collapse
-1985-Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power & Soviet economy is horrible
Spend too much on defense, not on
citizens
Gorbachev has new policies
-Glasnost “Openness”
-Perestroika “Free Enterprise”
-1991 coup attempted
-Try to overthrow Gorbachev
-Weakens government even more
Boris Yeltsin
Leads Soviet Union after
Gorbachev resigns
14 Republics of USSR begin to separate & Soviet Union collapses!
Nuclear concerns
“The new Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, was turning the Cold War formulas on their head. Ronald Reagan…had the vision and flexibility, lacking in many Cold Warriors, to recognize that Gorbachev was a new man in a new age offering new opportunities for peace.”
Colin Powell

17. 12.Desert War (Persian Gulf War)
“We went halfway around the world to do what is moral and just and right…We’re coming home now proud, confident, heads held high…We are Americans.”
-George Bush-
-George Bush’s Presidency
-Iraq invades Kuwait
Saddam Hussein
-Leader of Iraq
-US fears oil is in jeopardy and
attack on Saudi Arabia
-Operation Desert Shield & Desert Storm
-US and UN troops push Iraqis
back to their border, but do not
overthrow Hussein
-Key Generals:
Colin Powell
Norman Schwarzkopf