The American Pageant Chapter 40 Reading Guide
Vocabulary
Proposition 13
Boll weevils
Supply-side economics
Reaganomics
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Sandinistas
Contras
Glasnost
Perestroika
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
Iran-Contra affair
Moral Majority
Black Monday
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Operation Desert Storm
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Reading Questions
1. The text describes Reagan as “well suited to lead the gathering conservative crusade.” What political beliefs and
personal characteristics made Reagan “well suited” for this job?
2. Who wins the election of 1980, and in what two ways is the election significant?
3. What other significant event happens on the day of Reagan’s inauguration on January 20, 1981?
4. How was Proposition 13 in California representative of the movement sweeping the nation in the early 1980s?
5. How does Congress implement supply-side economics in late 1981, and what is the result in 1982? What does
the text suggest actually caused the “Reagan recession?”
6. Who were the yuppies?
7. What was the significance of the increased military spending under the Reagan administration?
8. What was Reagan’s strategy for dealing with the Soviets in the Cold War? How did SDI fit into that strategy?
9. What events in Lebanon, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Grenada occur in the 1980s, and how does the U.S.
respond?
10. Who wins the Election of 1984, and what was the significance of the vice-presidential candidate for the
Democrats?
11. When Gorbachev comes to power in 1985, he begins the policies of glasnost and perestroika. What did these
policies mean for the Soviet Union?
12. What is the significance of the result of the summit meetings between Reagan and Gorbachev from 19851988?
13. Describe the Iran-Contra scandal. How does this scandal impact Reagan’s legacy on foreign policy?
14. What is the economic legacy of Reagan’s time as president?
15. Describe the goals and actions of the Religious Right and Moral Majority.
16. What is the significance of Reagan’s first appointment to the Supreme Court in 1981?
17. How did the 1989 Supreme Court cases change affirmative action policies? (Ward’s Cove Packing v. Antonia
and Martin v. Wilks)
18. How did Webster v. Reproductive Health Services and Planned Parenthood v. Casey alter the right to an
abortion created by Roe v. Wade?
19. What factors led to economic problems in the United States in 1987, including Black Monday on October 19,
1987?
20. Who wins the presidential nominations for the major parties in 1988, and who wins the election?
21. Describe the significance of the Tiananmen Square incident in China in 1989.
22. What events beginning in 1989 lead to the ending of the Soviet Union?
23. Who replaces Gorbachev as the leader of the Russian Republic, and what replaces the Soviet Union?
24. Why does the ending of the Soviet Union cause issues for the United States in foreign policy and the U.S.
economy?
25. Describe the Persian Gulf crisis. What causes it? Why and how does the United States get involved?
26. Who leads the U.S. forces in the war against Iraq? Describe that action known as Operation Desert Storm.
27. What is the result of the Persian Gulf crisis?
28. Describe the conflict over the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.
29. Toward the end of President George H.W. Bush’s first term, what economic issues on signaling problems for his
presidency?