Chapter 31
Power and Politics Since 1974
© 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved.
Ford’s Caretaker Presidency
• Gerald R. Ford
• Named to Vice Presidency, then Presidency
as Nixon’s downfall unfolded
• Appeared weak and indecisive
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Trying to Whip Stagflation
• Naming of Nelson Rockefeller as Vice-President
infuriates “New Right”
• Gave Presidential pardon to Nixon
• “Whip Inflation Now” (WIN)
– Prices went up and a recession went into effect
– Unemployment continued to rise
• Democrats claimed Ford could not implement
coherent programs
• Republicans feared he could not stand up to
Congress
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Foreign Policy
• Ho Chi Minh City
• Khmer Rouge
• Mayaguez
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The Election of 1976
• Conservative Republicans and Ronald Reagan
• Carter, governor of Georgia
• Political reputation as a moderate on social issues
and fiscal conservative
• James Earl (Jimmy) Carter (1977-1981)
– Walter Mondale
• Carter narrowly wins with transitory coalition
• 1976 elections saw lowest voter turnout since the
end of WWII
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Carter’s One-Term Presidency
• Carter was viewed as a Washington
“outsider” and lacking a popular mandate
• Powerful constituencies feared Carter
would be an unpredictable leader
• Carter lacked the image of a national leader
– Georgia mafia
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Welfare and Energy Initiatives
• Stalled efforts to reform the welfare system
• Energy Issues:
– OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
– James Schlesinger and the Department of Energy
• “energy plan”
– Three Mile Island
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A Faltering Economy
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“Stagflation” of previous administrations
High inflation and unemployment
Unbalanced federal budget
Urban crises
Causes of inflation in the 1970s
– Government policy to stimulate the economy
– Oil price increases
• Conservative economists and business groups
contended that the price of business had gone up
due to regulations
• Deregulation
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Negotiating Foreign Disputes
• Human Rights the center of foreign policy
• Panama Canal treaties
• Camp David peace accords (1978)
– Menachem Begin
– Anwar Sadat
• Formal recognition of the People’s Republic
of China (1979)
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Campaigning for Human Rights
Abroad
• Carter’s emphasis on human rights
– Raised worldwide consciousness of human
rights issues
– Inconsistently applied
• Ferdinand Marcos
– Nicaragua and the Sandinistas
– Iran
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Confronting a Hostage Crisis in
Iran
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Shah Reza Pahlavi
Islamic fundamentalist revolution (1979)
Iran hostage crisis (1979-1981)
Afghanistan (1979)
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The Election of 1980
• Ronald Reagan
– “Misery index”
– Tax cuts
– George Bush
• John Anderson
• Middle class position declining, eroding its
support for taxes and social welfare measures
• New Right anti-government rhetoric
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Reagan’s “New Morning in
America”
• “The New Right”
• Attention on taxation issues
– Attack of federal domestic spending
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Pursuing Supply-Side Economics
• “Supply-side economics”
• “Reagan Revolution”
• Annual Deficits tripled to ~$300 billion
– U.S. borrowed abroad to finance spending
– Largest foreign debt in the world
• “Swiss cheese” economy
• Real wages fall
• Disparities in wealth increase
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Broadening the Conservative
Agenda
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Firing of striking air traffic controllers
Sandra Day O’Connor
Staunch conservatives in the cabinet, in the courts
James Watt and the “Sagebrush Revolution”
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act
(CETA)
• Poverty increases
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Routing the Democrats, 1984
• Walter Mondale (Carter’s vice president)
– Geraldine Ferraro
• Republican campaign strength
• Reagan symbolized a remarkable recovery
for the GOP
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Reagan’s Second Term
• Savings and loan institution crisis: casino
capitalism
• Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act (1985)
• Family Support Act (1988)
• Chief Justice Rehnquist and Anton Scalia
• Robert Bork
• Liberal = wasteful social programs
• Conservative = economic growth and
traditional values
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Renewing the Cold War
• Reagan’s foreign policy theme emphasized
building America’s power in the world
• Vietnam a “noble cause”
• Human Rights policy aimed at Soviets
• Reagan claimed that Carter’s era was
passive in foreign relations
– Soviet Union
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The Defense Buildup
• New battle against the “evil empire” of the
Soviet Union
• Military build-up
• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
– “Star Wars”
• Caspar Weinberger
• UNESCO
• William Casey
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Deploying Military Power
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Jeanne Kirkpatrick
Lebanon (1982)
Grenada (1983)
Nicaragua
– contras
• Libya
– Muammar al-Qaddafi
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The Iran-Contra Affair
• Reagan administration sold arms to Iran to
release American hostages
• Profits from arm sales were channeled to
Contra forces in Nicaragua
• Oliver North
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The Beginning of the End of the
Cold War
• Reagan
– 1st 6 years revived Cold War confrontation
– Last 2 years saw sudden thaw in U.S.-Soviet
relations
• Mikhail Gorbachev
– glasnost
– perestroika
• Reykjavik Summit (1986)
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The First Bush Presidency
• Reagan’s image faded
– New Right critical for lack of vigorous support
• Cold War détente helped his heir apparent,
George Bush
The Election of 1988
• George Bush
– Prominent Republican family
– House of Representatives, CIA Director
– Running mate J. Danforth Quayle
• Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis
• Negative campaigning
– Willie Horton
• Bush wins close election with low voter turnout
• New Right disappointed in Bush
– Civil Rights Act of 1991
– Breaking of the anti-tax pledge
• Gridlock
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The End of the Cold War
• Poland
– Solidarity
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Fall of the Berlin Wall
Boris Yeltsin and the breakup of the Soviet Union
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Panama
– Manuel Noriega
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The Persian Gulf War
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Saddam Hussein
Kuwait
“Desert Shield”
United Nations and Gulf War coalition
No-fly zones
No clear vision for America in post cold
war world
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The Election of 1992
• “New right” dominates Republican national
convention
• Arkansas governor Bill Clinton
– Government spending for job creation and economic
growth
– Albert Gore
• Ross Perot
– Hurt “insider” Bush more than outsider Clinton
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The Presidency of Bill Clinton
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Image of youth and vitality to White House
MTV broadcast an Inaugural Ball
Diverse cabinet
Ruth Bader Ginsberg
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Clinton’s First Two Years
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Americorps
Brady Bill
“Three strikes and you’re out” sentencing
Deficit reduction
Right wing talk radio criticism
– Rush Limbaugh
• Hillary Clinton and failed national health care plan
• Whitewater
A Republican Congress, A
Democratic White House
• Newt Gingrich
– “Contract with America”
• Government shutdowns blamed on Gingrich led
Congress
• Alan Greenspan
• Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act (1996)
• Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
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Income and Poverty in the Late 20th Century
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Victory and Impeachment
• Election of 1996
– Robert Dole and Jack Kemp
– Divided government still: Republican Congress,
Clinton White House
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Paula Corbin Jones
Kenneth Starr
Monica Lewinsky
Republicans lose ground in 1998 election
Impeachment
Continued economic growth
Earned income tax credit
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Environmental Policy
• Federal lands off-limits to development
expands
• Conservation Reserve Program
• Earth Summit
Post-Cold War Foreign Policy
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Somalia
Haiti
Dayton (Ohio) accords (1995)
Kosovo
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
Terrorist attacks
– 1st World Trade Center bombing
– U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
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Globalization
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA)
• General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs
(GATT)
• World Trade Organization (WTO)
© 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved.
The Presidency of George W.
Bush
• 2000 closest election in U.S. history
• George W. Bush assumes Reagan’s mantle
and vigorously pursues New Right agenda
The Long Election
• Al Gore
• George W. Bush
– Richard Cheney
• Ralph Nader
• Tepid campaign that inspired few passions
• Results
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© 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved.
Narrow Republican victory in the House
Senate split 50/50
Gore wins popular vote
Disputed results in Florida give Bush narrow electoral
college victory
A Conservative Domestic Agenda
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Clinton era boom ended
Corporate accounting scandals
Tax cut primarily to wealthiest one percent
“Secret” energy policy
School vouchers
James Jeffords
Foreign Policy Changes Course
• September 11th attacks
– World Trade Center and Pentagon
• War on Terror
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Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda
Afghanistan
Bush Doctrine
Patriot Act
• Tax cuts and budget deficits
• Saddam Hussein
– Neocons
– Second Iraq War
Conclusion
• Political personalities of Ronald Reagan and
Bill Clinton
• Reagan’s 1980s: new conservative
movement
• Bill Clinton’s 1990s: new Democrats
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