The Reagan Presidency
Election, Domestic Policy,
Foreign Policy & Legacy
Reagan Tribute 2008 Republican
National Convention
Q1 - What is the image of Reagan that you get from this video? Based on who it
was created for, do you think this is a full picture of Reagan? Why or why not?
Election of 1980
• Reagan Background
– Former Actor (“Great Communicator”)
– Governor of CA, wife Nancy was one of closest advisors
– Almost won Republican Nomination in 1976
Election of 1980
• Reagan Background
– Almost won Nomination in 1976 – Impromptu Speech
Election of 1980
Carter Ad #1
Reagan Ad #1
Carter Ad #2
Reagan Ad #2
Carter Ad #3
Reagan Ad #3
Q2 - What seems to be the
message of the Carter
campaign?
Q2 - What seems to be the
message of the Reagan
campaign?
Election of 1980
• Carter’s
Problems
Q3 - Why would Reagan’s question he asked the American people be so
effective?
How would
mostHostage
people answer
question
– Poor Economy
/ Iran
Crisisthis
/ Not
seeninas1980?
in Control
– Reagan’s Question in the Debate
Election of 1980
• Results
– Huge Landslide for Reagan
– Republicans gain control of the Senate for first
time since 1952
Reagan Inauguration
• Inauguration Day – January 20, 1981
– Q4 – What are some of the themes in the clip?
Reagan Inauguration
• Inauguration Day – January 20, 1981
– Q4 – What do you think he means by this?
Domestic Policy
A Dramatic Start
• Release of American hostages in Iran
– On inauguration day, Iranians waited until Carter
was officially out of office
Domestic Policy
A Dramatic Start
• Survived Assassination Attempt
– March 30, John Hinckley Jr. fired several shots,
including one that hit Reagan in the chest
Domestic Policy
A Dramatic Start
• Survived Assassination Attempt
Domestic Policy
A Dramatic Start
• Survived Assassination Attempt
Domestic Policy
A Dramatic Start
• Survived Assassination Attempt
Domestic Policy
A Dramatic Start
• Nomination of 1st Woman to Supreme Court
– Sandra Day O’Connor – She turned out to not be
as conservative as he would have liked
• Reagan appoints many other conservative justices to
federal courts
Domestic Policy
A Dramatic Start
– How
Reagan’s
Presidency get off to a dramatic
•Q5Fires
Air did
Traffic
Controllers
start? Explain how each of these events display him as a
– Despite support in 1980 election, Reagan takes swift
“strong”
actionleader?
when they illegally strike in 1981
Domestic Policy
“Reaganomics”
• Based on “supply-side” economics
– Theory that states tax breaks for businesses will increase
supply of goods and services, aiding the economy
– Critics called it “trickle-down” or “voodoo” economics
Domestic Policy
“Reaganomics”
Domestic Policy
“Reaganomics”
Q6 – What is Reaganomics?
Include specifics.
•
Tax cuts
o Economic Recovery Act of 1981 (the largest tax
cuts were for the wealthy - the top income tax
bracket went from 70% to 28 %)
o Would create more jobs
•
Spending Cuts (Domestic programs)
o Keep interest rates low, encourage investment
and new businesses
o Actually increased military spending
• Less regulation of businesses
Domestic Policy
•
“Reaganomics”
Q7 – How effective
was Reaganomics? Does it make
sense
to you? Why or why not?
Results
o 1982 – Worst Recession since the GD
 Unemployment UP, Federal Spending UP, Deficit UP
o 1983 – Economy recovers
 Consumer spending UP, Stock Market UP, GDP increases 10%
o Economy booms throughout the 1980s
 Critics –
 Most of benefits of Reaganomics went to rich/large corporations
 Huge Deficits – increased military spending
Election of 1984
• Democratic Nominee
– Walter Mondale
• US Senator from MN, VP under Carter
• Campaigned on nuclear freeze, passage of ERA, and debt reduction
• VP Candidate – FIRST woman, Geraldine Ferraro
Q8 – Was it a good idea for the Democrats to nominate
the VP for Carter? Why or why not?
Election of 1984
Q10 – Why do you think Mondale made this statement?
Was it a smart political move? Why or why not?
Who looked better in the debates?
Mondale Ad #1
Reagan Ad #1
Mondale Ad #2
Reagan Ad #2
Mondale Ad #3
Reagan Ad #3
Q9 - What seems to be the
message of the Carter campaign?
Q9 – What seems to be the
message of the Reagan campaign?
Walter Mondale’s Statement at the DNC: Video Clip
1984 Presidential Debate: Clip #1 / Clip #2
Election of 1984
• Results
– Huge Landslide for Reagan AGAIN!
2nd Term
nd term? Explain
Q11
–
How
successful
was
Reagan’s
2
• Continued Economic Growth
– GDP grew by at least 2.7% every year
– Inflation stabilized, interest rates remained low
– Gave up on spending cuts – huge deficits
• 1986 Tax Law
– Reduced tax rates (esp. the highest rates), closed loopholes
– Didn’t reduce deficit
• Deregulation – Mixed record
– Ended price controls on oil, relaxed guidelines on mergers
– Reversed regulations to limit air pollution, protect the public
from hazardous waste, & oversee nuclear power plants
– Public backlash forced him to retreat from these positions
2nd Term
• Challenger Explosion – January 28, 1986
– Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on take off killing all
passengers
nd Term
2
Q12 – What do you think of Reagan’s speech about the
• Challenger
Explosion
January
28, 1986
Challenger
Disaster?
Is it–the
president’s
job to “soothe”
– President
Reagan
addresses
theExplain.
nation on the disaster
the nation
during
times
of crisis?
nd Term Problems
2
Q13 – How would these two events hurt Reagan’s image?
• AIDS Epidemic
– Rates increase throughout the 1980s
– Many misconceptions about the disease
– how you get it? who gets it?
– Reagan slow to recognize the magnitude
of crisis
– Eventually Reagan supported federal
spending on AIDS research and
prevention
• Iran-Contra Affair
– Illegal arms sale to Iran to fund anticommunists (Contras) in Nicaragua
– Iranians would help to get US hostages
released in Lebanon
– Huge public embarrassment when deal
becomes public
The Reagan Presidency
Foreign Policy
Beliefs
• History of Anticommunism
– Testified in front of HUAC
– Gave “Time for Choosing”
Speech in 1964
• Peace through Strength
– Supported containment, but
wanted to be more proactive
– Force SU to negotiate by
applying pressure through
building up the military and
forcing them to keep up
Beliefs
Defense Spending
• Increased Spending on Defense
– Objectives:
• Strengthen military in case of war
• Reassure European allies we would not abandon them
• Encourage Soviets to come to bargaining table
– Results:
• Upgraded & modernized forces
• Helped spur certain sectors of the economy
• Increased deficit & national debt
Q – How can Reagan talk of reducing the size of government while
increasing government spending? What could be his justification?
Increasingly
Harsh
Q – How did Reagan
put pressure on the
Soviet Union both in words
and in action?
Rhetoric
First Press Conference (1981)
Soviet leaders reserved right to “commit any crime, to lie, to
cheat” to gain advantage over US
Later Press Conference(1981)
“The West won’t contain Communism, it will transcend Communism”
Address to Parliament (1982)
"a plan and a hope for the long term—the march of
freedom and democracy which will leave MarxismLeninism on the ash-heap of history as it has left other
tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the selfexpression of the people.”
Address to Nat. Ass. Of Evangelicals (1983)
Making case against a Nuclear Freeze
Call USSR an “evil empire” and the “focus of evil in the world”
Confronting the Soviets
• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Reagan
stunned
thebe
nation
with hisby
plan
create aas a
Q – Why
would
this
perceived
thetoSoviets
missile
defense system
major
threat?
– Nicknamed “Star Wars”
Confronting the Soviets
• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Confronting the Soviets
• Reagan Doctrine
– Necessary for US to combat spread of Soviet-backed
Marxist and leftist regimes around the globe
• “Democratic Militancy”
– Supported militarily & financially anticommunist groups in:
• Afghanistan – Soviets had invaded in 1979
• Nicaragua - Supported anticommunist Contras against Sandinista gov’t
– Congress prohibited CIA from making efforts to overthrow gov’t
– Once news of CIA actions breaks, Congress prohibited any
funding of Contras
• Grenada – Marxist leader Bishop murdered by renegade faction of
own party
– Sent US forces in to save hundreds of American medical
students after
Q – Do you
agree with the Reagan
Doctrine and how it
Confronting
the Soviets
was applied?
• Reagan Doctrine
Q – How can you see connections between what happened
East
Problems
in the 1980sMiddle
and problems
we face
in this region today?
• Involvement in Lebanon
– Background Video
– Bombing of US Embassy in Lebanon (April 1983)
• Hezbollah (funded by Syria & Iran) detonate truck bomb killing 17 Ams
– Bombing of Marine Barracks (October 1983)
• 241 US Servicemen killed, 100 other wounded
• Reagan orders air strikes against Hezbollah’s leadership
• “Redeployed” US marines in Feb 1984
• Middle Eastern Terrorism
–
–
–
–
US Embassy bombing in Kuwait
Hezbollah hijacks Kuwaiti airliner & killed US Navy diver
Shiite terrorists took 7 Americans hostage in Lebanon
Libya believed to be behind series of terrorist attacks
Middle East Problems
• BBC News Account of US Reaction to Libyan Terrorism
Lebanon’s Role
Iran’s Role
The Iran-Contra
Scandal
“Arms for the Ayatollah,
Cash for the Contras”
Q – What role did each play in the scandal?
Why
were
controversial?
Nicaragua’s
Role the actions taken so
Reagan
Administration’s Role
“A few months ago I told the American people I
did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and
my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the
facts and the evidence tell me it is not.”
Ronald Reagan March 4, 1987
Video Clip
Q – How was Reagan’s “Peace through Strength” successful
Ending
the
Cold
War
in bringing the Soviets to the bargaining table?
• A New Leader
– Mikhail Gorbachev takes power in USSR
– Geneva – First Meeting, 3 others to follow
– Discuss arms reduction – No agreement
– Berlin Speech
– INF Treaty (1987) – 2,600 US & Soviet
Nuclear weapons to be destroyed
Blog – Was Reagan a “great” president? Support your
Legacy
answer with specific information.
• End of Cold War
– How much credit does he deserve?
• Economic Growth
– Lingering questions as to who benefitted
• Restored Optimism / Confidence to USA
• Deficit Spending / Debt
– Largest in history up to that point
• “Reagan Revolution”
– Rise of Conservatives
2.
3.
1.
5.
4.
6.
Major Events and Policies as President
• Announced the release of the hostages in Iran on his inauguration day
• Survived an assassination attempt in 1981
• Nominated the 1st female to the U.S. Supreme Court (Sandra Day O’Connor) in 1981
• His opposition to big government led to deregulation of industry
• The Economic Recovery Tax Act (1981) helped bring about economic recovery in 1983
• Cut spending on domestic programs and dramatically increased defense spending
• Proposed SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) AKA “Star Wars” in 1983
• Easily won reelection in 1984 (defeated Mondale & Ferraro)
• Better relations w/USSR during 2nd term led to INF treaty w/Mikhail Gorbachev
• His policy of “peace through strength” is credited by many for ending the Cold War
• The Iran-Contra Affair led to allegations of illegal actions by the Reagan Administration
• Large deficits - Tripled the national debt
Major Events and Policies as President
• Announced the release of the hostages in Iran on his inauguration day
• Survived an assassination attempt in 1981
• Nominated the 1st female to the U.S. Supreme Court (Sandra Day O’Connor) in 1981
• His opposition to big government led to deregulation of industry
• The Economic Recovery Tax Act (1981) helped bring about economic recovery in 1983
• Cut spending on domestic programs and dramatically increased defense spending
• Proposed SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) AKA “Star Wars” in 1983
• Easily won reelection in 1984 (defeated Mondale & Ferraro)
• Better relations w/USSR during 2nd term led to INF treaty w/Mikhail Gorbachev
• His policy of “peace through strength” is credited by many for ending the Cold War
• The Iran-Contra Affair led to allegations of illegal actions by the Reagan Administration
• Large deficits - Tripled the national debt
• The “Reagan Revolution” united social, fiscal, & foreign policy conservatives
Ronald Reagan with the leader of the “Moral Majority” Jerry Falwell
Major Events and Policies as President
• Announced the release of the hostages in Iran on his inauguration day
• Survived an assassination attempt in 1981
• Nominated the 1st female to the U.S. Supreme Court (Sandra Day O’Connor) in 1981
• His opposition to big government led to deregulation of industry
• The Economic Recovery Tax Act (1981) helped bring about economic recovery in 1983
• Cut spending on domestic programs and dramatically increased defense spending
• Proposed SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) AKA “Star Wars” in 1983
• Easily won reelection in 1984 (defeated Mondale & Ferraro)
• Better relations w/USSR during 2nd term led to INF treaty w/Mikhail Gorbachev
• His policy of “peace through strength” is credited by many for ending the Cold War
• The Iran-Contra Affair led to allegations of illegal actions by the Reagan Administration
• Large deficits - Tripled the national debt
• The “Reagan Revolution” united social, fiscal, & foreign policy conservatives
Presidential Trivia
• The oldest President of the U.S. (age 69 at inauguration & age 77 when he left office)
• Was known for his love of jelly beans