1. New Hopes, New Fears: Reagan to Obama

2. The Election of 1980

3. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) Republican

4. Conservative Policies Under Reagan and Bush
Goal: Stimulate the economy
Cut government spending on social programs and lowered income taxes 
Result(s):
Little change in programs benefitting middle class
Cuts in programs benefitting the poor
Tax cuts mainly for those with higher incomes
Interest rates ↓, Inflation ↓, Stock Market ↑, Unemployment ↓, National Debt ↑, Productivity ↓
Increased military spending
Defense Department budget almost doubles
Revival of missile and bomber airplane programs
Proposal to develop the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars)
SPEND THE SOVIETS OUT OF EXISTENCE!

5. Conservative Policies Under Reagan and Bush
Goal: Promote traditional values and morality
Named conservative judges to the Supreme Court and other federal courts 
Result(s):
Conservative opinions on abortion rights, affirmative action, racial discrimination, rights for women and minorities, and the rights of the accused

6. Conservative Policies Under Reagan and Bush
Goal: Reduce the size and power of the federal government
Cut the EPA budget and appointed EPA administrators sympathetic to business 
Result(s):
Ignored Canada’s pleas to reduce acid rain
Public land sold to developers at bargain prices
Continental shelf opened to oil and gas drilling
Timber cutting in national forests
Eased restrictions for coal mining

7. Terms to Know
Supply-side economics (Reaganomics, trickle-down economics)
the idea that a reduction of tax rates will lead to increases in jobs, savings, and investments, and therefore to an increase in government revenue
Sandra Day O’Connor
 first woman appointed to the Supreme Court

8. Social Concerns of the 1980s
Health
Rapid spread of HIV/AIDS (rising costs of care)
Legalized abortion v. increasing restrictions
Rising drug use and drug-related crime
Education
Lagging test scores
High illiteracy rates
Cities
White flight  decreasing tax revenues  high unemployment  crumbling infrastructure  poor sanitation, schools, health services  increasing homelessness

9. Foreign Policy After the Cold War
Nation: Soviet Union
Key Individuals:
Gorbachev, Yeltsin
Key Events and Trends:
Signing of the INF and Start II treaties
Exclusion of the Communist Party from any government role
Glasnost (the open discussion of social problems that was permitted in the Soviet Union in the 1980s)
Perestroika (the restructuring of the economy and the government instituted in the Soviet Union in the 1980s)

10. Foreign Policy After the Cold War
Nation: Germany
Key Individuals:
N/A
Key Events and Trends:
The opening of the Berlin Wall
Reunification of East and West
Democracy

11. Foreign Policy After the Cold War
Nation: China
Key Individuals:
N/A
Key Events and Trends:
Economic reform
Student marches/protests
Tiananmen Square demonstrations
Economic liberalization

12. The Iran-Contra Scandal: “Arms for Hostages”
Reagan administration illegally sold arms to Iran (over 1500 missiles)
Congress banned CIA activity in Nicaragua
U.S. CONGRESS
NICARUAGUA
Democratic Contras fight the Cuban-backed Sandinistas. Reagan called the Contras “the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers.”
IRAN
Iran secretly requested arms from the U.S. to fight Iraq. Iranian terrorists in Lebanon were holding 7 Americans hostage.
Denied “trading arms for hostages”
$18 million of Iranian arms money illegally sent to the Contras
Iran paid the U.S. $30 million; 3 hostages released (3 more taken)

13. The Iran-Contra Scandal: “Arms for Hostages”
Impacts:
Press hounded Reagan
Did he know? Did he not know?
Which was worse?
Reagan himself was cleared of wrongdoing
Reagan’s popularity dropped (only 14% of Americans believed Reagan had not traded arms for hostages)
Continued distrust of American government
Reagan’s image of honesty was tainted

14. Foreign Policy After the Cold War
Nation: Iraq
Key Individuals:
Saddam Hussein, Norman Schwarzkopf, President Bush
Key Events and Trends:
Iraqi invasion of neighboring Kuwait
Operation Desert Storm  Iraq successfully repelled from Kuwait; but Hussein left in power