CHAPTER 32: A
CONSERVATIVE ERA
The Big Picture: Ronald Reagan won the presidency
in 1980 by appealing to a discontented electorate
with the promise to return to a simpler time and
conservative values. Reagan and his successor,
George H.W. Bush, presided over the end of the
Cold War and huge changes in economic and social
policy.
CHAPTER 32 SECTION
1: REAGAN'S FIRST
TERM
MAIN IDEA: In 1980 Americans voted
for a new approach to governing by
electing Ronald Reagan, who
powerfully promoted a conservative
agenda.
A Nation Ready for Change
America in low spirits
The 1980 election
• Americans lacked confidence in
their government after Watergate
and Vietnam
• Many saw Carter as blaming
Americans for economic and
foreign policy problems
• Meanwhile, a conservative
movement was growing across the
nation
• Republican nominee Ronald
Reagan promoted a smaller
government and more prosperity
for the nation; he was optimistic
about the future of the nation
• Reagan won in a landslide and
Republicans took control of the
Senate
The Reagan Revolution
From Actor to governor
Reagan’s Conservative Support
• Reagan was very optimistic and
believed he could change both the
US and the world
• He started as an actor in Hollywood
and joined the Republican Party in
1962
• He was a big advocate of free
enterprise and limited government
and a great opponent of
communism
• After a speech for the 1964
Republican national convention, he
became a rising star in the
Republican Party and became
governor of California in 1966
• Reagan was a hero of the New
Right: coalition of conservative
media commentators, think tanks,
and grassroots Christian groups
• These groups opposed liberal
social causes like abortion rights,
civil rights, and welfare
• Reagan’s eloquent defense of
conservatism won him many
mainstream supporters
The Reagan Revolution
A Powerful Personality
Reagan’s Presidential Agenda
• Reagan is known as the Great
Communicator for his ability to
explain complex ideas in a way
most Americans could understand
and was very persuasive
• Chief goals were to reduce the
federal government, deregulate
industry, cut taxes, increase
defense spending, take a hard line
with the Soviet Union, and appoint
conservative to the federal courts
• For the most part, Reagan was
successful in achieving his goals
Reagan’s Economic Plan
Supply-side Economics
Recession and Recovery
• Regan’s economic plan had two
goals: reduce taxes to stimulate
growth and cut the federal budget
• Budget director David Stockman’s
budget was based on supply-side
economics: cutting taxes for the
rich and business would lead to job
growth, which would stimulate the
economy and help all Americans
• Many warned that increasing
defense spending while cutting
taxes would result in huge deficits
(spending more than the
government makes)
• 1981-1982: US suffers from worst
recession since the Great
Depression
• Unemployment and the federal
deficit rose
• The Federal Reserve made the
recession worse by raising interest
rate from 1979-1982 in an attempt
to slow inflation
• The lowering of interest rates and
a collapse of OPEC’s ability to set
high oil prices ended the recession,
although most gains went to the
wealthy
CHAPTER 32 SECTION
2: REAGAN’S FOREIGN
POLICY
MAIN IDEA: President Reagan
took a hard line against
communism around the world.
Reagan and the Cold War
The “Evil Empire”
Military Spending Soars
• Reagan rejected containment and
détente when dealing with the
Soviet Union
• He believed a strong show of force
would help destroy it
• Some people like the Pope and GB
Prime Minister applauded he
approach; others thought it was
reckless and could start a war
• Urging ‘peace with strength’,
Reagan increased the military
budget by $100 billion in 4 years
• Reagan also attempted to build a
new defense weapon called
Strategic Defense Initiative (also
know as Star Wars) that would
shoot down incoming Soviet
missiles from space
• It was not successful
Reagan and the Cold War
A weakened Soviet Union
• Power of USSR starts to decline
under Brezhnev in the late 1970s
• The economy began shrinking and
corruption rose
• 1980: USSR was unable to contain
protests in Poland with Lech
Walesa’s Solidarity movement to
get independence from the USSR
US-Soviet Relations Warm
• 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev comes to
power in USSR and wants a better
relationship with the US
• Reagan is more interested in
negotiations after his re-election in
1984
• A series of meetings eventually
resulted in the IntermediateRange Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty:
reduced the number of nuclear
weapons that each nation had
Trouble Spots Abroad
Upheaval in Latin America
• US begins to get involved in regional
conflicts
• In Reagan wanted to support anticommunist forces around the world,
even if the other side was
oppressive
• In El Salvador, the US supported the
moderate in a civil war that lasted
until 1992
• Also a civil war in Nicaragua;
Sandinistas were communists, so the
US supported the Contras (CIA given
$20 million to aid the group) in 1981
• When Congress found out about,
they cut off funding
• The White House continued to send
aid
Tragedy in Lebanon
• US wants stability in the Middle
East; civil war in Lebanon between
Christians and Muslims threatened
peace in the region
• 1983: international peacekeeping
force including Americans
intervene
• Oct. 1983: 241 US marines killed
when their base in Beirut is
attacked
• 1st terrorist attack on Americans
• US withdraws troops
Trouble Spots Abroad
Victory in Grenada
Apartheid in South Africa
• A few days before the attack in
Lebanon, a communist coup
overthrew the government in
Grenada in the Caribbean
• Worried about the safety of
Americans on the island, Reagan
sent 5,000 marines
• They took back the island in 2 days
(this victory helped Reagan win reelection in 1984)
• Reagan was less active in the
movement to end apartheid in
South Africa
• Apartheid was legalized racial
segregation South Africa
• American companies helped keep
the white minority in power and in
the 1970s, Americans started to
demand that the US cut off trade
relations with South Africa
• Reagan preferred incentives for
change, but in 1986, Congress
overrode his veto to impose trade
restrictions and sanctions
The Iran-Contra Affair
• Even though Congress banned aid to the Contras in
Nicaragua, Reagan’s national security staff continued to send
them funds
• American civilians in Lebanon were kidnapped by pro-Iranian
groups
• They demanded that the US sell weapons to Iran for their war with
Iraq to release hostages
• Publically, Reagan refused, but privately he sold the weapons to
Iran and gave the money to the Contras
• Plan was carried out by John Poindexter and Oliver North
• Scheme discovered in 1986: Reagan denies knowledge of plan and
many of the documents were destroyed
• Oliver North sent to prison, but later released on technicalities
CHAPTER 32 SECTION
3: A NEW WORLD
ORDER
MAIN IDEA: In 1988 Reagan’s vice
president, George H.W. Bush, won
election to a term that saw
dramatic changes in the world.
The Election of 1988
• Public was largely disengaged from the election in 1988
• The major news of the election was the success of African American
Jesse Jackson in the Democratic primary early in the campaign
(eventually defeated by Michael Dukakis)
• Campaign was very negative and voter turn out was low (50%)
• Bush won largely due to his economic promises: “Read my lips: No
new taxes”
The Opening of the USSR
• For 70 years, citizens of the Soviet Union had no freedom of speech
or religion and dissent was harshly punished
• Gorbachev began opening Soviet society: glasnost was a policy
giving citizens free speech, including the right to criticize the
government
• Perestroika: restructured the economy to allow more competition
and cut down on corruption
• Major exception to the new open policy was the cover-up of a meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plan near Kiev, Ukraine
The Soviet Empire Collapses
Eastern Europe Crumbles
• Glasnost and perestroika led to calls
for independence throughout the
Soviet empire
• Throughout Eastern Europe, groups
began breaking away
• Czechoslovakia: velvet revolution:
non-violent revolution that swept
communists from power in 1989
• 1990: Lech Walesa elected president
of Poland
• Revolution in Romania turned
violent
The fall of the Berlin Wall/End of the Soviet
Union
• November 9, 1989: Berlin Wall torn
down
• October 3, 1990: East and West
Germany reunited
• Communists attempt a coup
against Gorbachev in 1991; he is
aided by Boris Yeltsin and
continues reforms
• By late 1991 the Soviet Union
collapsed and Gorbachev resigns
• President Yeltsin of Russia signs
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
(START) with US
Other Bush-Era Conflicts
China: Democracy crushed
Panama: A Dictator Falls
• Inspired by new freedoms in the
former Soviet Union, students in
China began calling for reforms
• April 1989: pro-democracy
demonstrators fill Tiananmen
Square and demonstrate for 2
months
• June 1989: tanks roll into the
square and gun down hundreds of
protesters in the Tiananmen
Square Massacre
• Bush announces an arms embargo,
but doesn’t cut off trade
• During the 1980s, Dictator Manuel
Noriega runs Panama and brutally
suppressed opposition
• Indicted in US court for drug
smuggling in 1988
• Noriega declares state of war with
US in 1989 and kills a US marine
• US troops arrest Noriega and take
him to Florida where he is
convicted of drug trafficking
Other Bush-Era Conflicts
The Persian Gulf War
South Africa: new freedom
• August 1990: Saddam Hussein of
Iraq invades Kuwait
• UN imposes sanctions and
demands Hussein pull out of
Kuwait by Jan 15, 1991
• Saddam remained defiant; UN
troops attack and push Iraq out of
Kuwait by the end of February
• Called Operation Desert Stormmost of the fighting was from the
air
• F.W. de Klerk elected president of
South Africa in 1989 and starts to
reform South African society
• He releases Nelson Mandela from
prison and works with him to end
apartheid
• 1994 new elections held: Nelson
Mandela elected- 1st black
president; both men win the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1993
CHAPTER 32 SECTION
4: LIFE IN THE 1980S
MAIN IDEA: The 1980s and early
1990s saw major technological,
economic, and social changes that
produced both progress and intense
conflicts.
The Space Shuttle Blasts Off
• NASA develops a space shuttle that could be reused for space
missions
• April 12, 1981 the Columbia is the first launch of the shuttle
• January 28, 1986, the Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff killing
everyone on board
• Many space missions focused on scientific experiments in space
that led to things like infrared cameras and treatments for brain
tumors
The Economy of the 1980s
Uneven economic growth
Rising Deficits
• 1980s: longest peacetime
economic growth up to that time
• A recession in 1982 cut inflation
• Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan was very active in
raising and lowering interest rates
in an attempt to control inflation
• This growth was concentrated
primarily among the rich
• Farmers and traditional industries
begin to decline in the 1980s
• Tax cuts and increased military
spending led to huge budget
deficits (government spent more
money than they made in taxes)
• Deficit rose from $74 billion in 1980
to $221 billion in 1986
• National debt rose to $5.7 trillion
• US also had a huge trade deficit
The Economy of the 1980s
Financial Deregulation & the Savings &
Loan Crisis
• Regulations (rules) on financial
institutions were relaxed to
increase investment in business
• Declining companies were bought,
restructured, and sold at a quick
rate
• Deregulation of the savings and
loan industry caused these
companies to loan out more
money than they should to people
who could not pay it back
• The US taxpayer eventually had to
bail out the industry for $152 billion
Bush and the Economy
• The savings and loan crisis forced
Bush to break his ‘no new taxes’
pledge
• The tax hike did not do enough to
help the economy (deficit rose to
$271 billion in 1992)
• Unemployment and poverty rose
and Bush lost his re-election bid
Changes and Challenges in American Society
Milestones
Changes in immigration law
• Women began to outnumber men
on voter roles and tended to vote
Democrat
• Sandra Day O’Connor: 1st female
Supreme Court justice
• 1984: Geraldine Ferrarro 1st women
to run for vice president on a
major ticket
• 1990 Americans with Disabilities
Act: banned discrimination against
Americans with disabilities in
education and public life (required
“reasonable accommodations”)
• Refugees enter the US from
Southeast Asia and Latin America
• legal immigration limits were
raised and 3 million undocumented
immigrants were granted legal
status
• Also toughened penalties for
employers who hire illegal
immigrants
Changes and Challenges in American Society
Court Battles over social issues and
Supreme Court Nominees
• New Jersey v. T.L.O: schools have the
right to search student belongings
without a warrant
• Reagan was able to appoint 3
justices to the Supreme Court
• He and Bush attempted to put as
many conservatives on the bench as
possible
• Bork and Kennedy both were
appointed by Reagan
• Bush nominated Clarence Thomas,
who faced a tough confirmation
hearing where he was accused of
sexual harassment (eventually was
confirmed)
A deadly disease
• 1981: AIDS discovered
• Many who contracted the virus
were discriminated against
because it first appeared among
homosexual men and intravenous
drug users
• There is still no cure for AIDS