1974-2000
Gerald Ford 1974-1977

 From Michigan
 University of MI football
 Congress 1948-1973
 1965 House Minority Leader
 1963-4 Warren Commission
 Chosen by Nixon to be VP after
Spiro Agnew resigned
 Became president when Nixon
resigned in Aug. 1974
“Pardon Me”

 “I, Gerald R. Ford, President of
the United States, pursuant to
the pardon power conferred
upon me by Article II, Section
2, of the Constitution, have
granted and by these presents
do grant a full, free, and
absolute pardon unto Richard
Nixon for all offenses against
the United States which he,
Richard Nixon, has committed
or may have committed…”
Domestic Policy

 Inflation plagued economy as high
as 11.2% (did drop to 5.3%)
 Attempted to tackle unemployment
and energy crisis
 Campaign Finance Reform (1974)
Foreign Policy

 Kept Henry Kissinger as Secy. of State
 Continued Détente
 1975 Helsinki Agreement which ratified European borders
& supported Human Rights
 Urged Congress to send resources to
South Vietnam—government quickly
collapses
 1975 Mayaguez incident
“Sour odor of illegitimacy”

Comedian Chevy Chase
Ford in Salzburg
1976 Election

Jimmy Carter

 39th president (1977-1981)
 Naval officer
 Peanut Farmer from Georgia
 GA State Senator
 GA Governor 1971-75
 Washington “outsider”
 Won election during nation’s bicentennial
Domestic policy

 Created Department of Energy & Department of Ed.
 Energy crisis
OPEC

 The 1973 oil embargo happened in October following the
United States' and Western Europe's support of Israel
against Arab nations in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Iran
being chief among those angered by western support of
Israel. As a nation Iran stopped providing oil to the United
States and Western Europe. In doing so, the oil pricing for
the United States went from 3 dollars a barrel to 12
dollars a barrel, spurring gas rationing.
Stagflation

 A situation in which the inflation rate is high and the
economic growth rate slows down and unemployment
remains steadily high.
Malaise: “A crisis of confidence”

 “I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental
threat to American democracy. . . . I do not refer to the
outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace
tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched
economic power and military might. The threat is nearly
invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a
crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of
our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing
doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss
of a unity of purpose for our nation. . . . “
Foreign Policy

 Arab-Israeli conflict
 Camp David Accords,
1978
Anwar El Sadat (Egypt) & Meacham Begin
(Israel) w/ President Carter
Panama Canal Treaty 1977

 The treaty, signed by President Jimmy Carter and
Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos, contained two parts;
one promised an end to U.S. control of the canal
beginning in 2000; Panama was to take over operation
and defense of the canal. The neutrality component of
the treaty gave the U.S. permanent authority to defend
the canal if it were placed under threat as a neutral water
passage.
Iranian Hostage Crisis

 The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between
Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held
hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January
20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants
took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of
the Iranian Revolution.
The Ayatollah Khomeini
SALT II 1979

 President Jimmy Carter and Soviet General Secretary
Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation
Treaty.
 SALT II was the first nuclear arms treaty which assumed
real reductions in strategic forces.
Six months after the signing, the Soviet Union
invaded Afghanistan, and in September of the
same year, the Soviet combat brigade deployed
to Cuba was discovered. In light of these
developments, the treaty was never formally
ratified by the United States Senate.
Int’l Politics & the Olympics

 The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott of the Moscow
Olympics was a part of a package of actions initiated by
the United States to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
 It preceded the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott carried
out by the Soviet Union and other Communist friendly
countries.
Carter since his Presidency

 When he first left office, Carter's presidency was viewed
by most as a failure, now record appears mixed.
 Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale are the longest-living
post-presidential team in American history.
 2002 Nobel Peace Prize
 Carter's presidential approval rating, which sat at 31% just
prior to the 1980 election, was polled in early 2009 at
64%. Carter's continued post-Presidency activities have
also been favorably received.
Reagan: Man & Actor

 Born 1911 in Illinois
 Actor who appeared in 50 films including Knute Rockne,
All American, Kings Row, and Bedtime for Bonzo. Reagan
served as president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1940s
and early 50s.
Republican & Governor

 Reagan began his political career as a liberal Democrat,
admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and an active supporter
of New Deal policies.
 In 1962 Reagan formally switched to the Republican Party,
stating, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left
me.”
 Governor of California 1967-1975
Triumph of Conservatism

Domestic policy

 Reagan's presidency has been termed the "Reagan
Revolution," or the Age of Reagan in recognition of the
political realignment both within and beyond the U.S. in favor
of his brand of conservatism and his faith in free markets.
 Reagan's economic policies, similar to supply-side economics
and dubbed "Reaganomics," achieved a 25% cut in the federal
personal income tax, moderate deregulation and tax reform,
which he believed would remove barriers to efficient economic
activity. After a sharp recession, a long period of high economic
growth without significant inflation ensued.
Reagan’s AIDS legacy

 Following discovery of the first cases in 1981, it soon became
clear a national health crisis was developing. But President
Reagan's response was "halting and ineffective," according to
his biographer Lou Cannon.
 Those infected initially with this mysterious disease -- all gay
men -- found themselves targeted with an unprecedented level
of mean-spirited hostility.
 A significant source of Reagan's support came from the newly
identified religious right and the Moral Majority, a politicalaction group founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell. AIDS became
the tool, and gay men the target, for the politics of fear, hate
and discrimination. Falwell said "AIDS is the wrath of God upon
homosexuals."
1984 Election

Foreign Affairs

 It was characterized by a strategy of "peace through
strength" followed by a warming of relations with the
Soviet Union, and resulting in an end to the Cold War
when Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power.
 As part of the policies that became known as the
"Reagan Doctrine," the United States also offered
financial and logistics support to the anti-communist
opposition in central Europe and took an increasingly
hard line against socialist and communist governments
in Afghanistan, Angola, and Nicaragua.
Soviet Union changes
& collapses

 History of the USSR (1922-1991)
1988
 Perestroika: Its literal meaning is "restructuring", referring
to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic
system widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev in the mid-80s. Perestroika is often argued to
be a cause of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the
revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe, and the end of the
Cold War.
 Glasnost: was the policy of maximal publicity, openness,
and transparency in the activities of all government
institutions in the Soviet Union.
Foreign Affairs

 1982 U.S. Marines to Lebanon
 1983 car bomb kills 17 U.S. servicemen in Beirut
 1983 invasion of Grenada
 1986 Air raid against Libya
“Star Wars”

 The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was proposed by
U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1983, to use ground- and
space-based systems to protect the United States from
attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles
Iran Contra Affair 1986


 During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan
administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms
to Iran, the subject of an arms embargo. Some U.S.
officials also hoped that the arms sales would secure the
release of hostages and allow U.S. intelligence agencies to
fund the Nicaraguan Contras. Under the Boland
Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the
government had been prohibited by Congress.
Oliver North
Indictments for key figures

 Marine Colonel Oliver North
 Admiral John Poindexter at the NSC
 Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger
The End of the Cold War

 1985: -- Mikhail Gorbachev ascends to power in Soviet Union
 1986: -- Gorbachev ends economic aid to Soviet satellites
 1986: -- Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove all intermediate
nuclear missiles from Europe
 1987: -- Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all medium and
short-range nuclear missiles by signing treaty
 1989: -- Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan
 1989: -- China puts down protests for democracy; Poland becomes
independent
 1989: -- Hungary becomes independent
 1989: -- Berlin Wall falls
 1989: -- Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia,
Bulgaria, and Rumania; Soviet empire ends
Ronald Reagan

 Survived assassination attempt in 1st term
 Oldest president to serve
 Appointed Sandra Day O’Connor
to the Supreme Court (1st woman)
 Known as the “Teflon President”
 Brought glamour and respect back to
Washington after Vietnam & Watergate
 Alzheimer's disease
George H. W. Bush

Bush biography

 Decorated naval aviator
during WWII
 Elected to Congress 1966, 1968
 Ambassador to UN
 Chairman of the RNC
 Envoy to China
 Director of the CIA
 Vice President 1981-1989
 Wins 1988 race against M. Dukakis
Dukakis’ “Tank moment”

This publicity image of
Michael Dukakis was
taken to combat
criticisms that he
would be soft on issues
of defense, but it
backfired and seriously
damaged his
presidential campaign
when many found it
silly and unsubtle.
1988 Election Win

“Read my lips”

 "Read my lips: no new taxes" is a now-famous phrase
spoken by then American presidential candidate George
H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention as
he accepted the nomination.
 The impact of the election promise was considerable, and
many supporters of Bush believe it helped Bush win the
1988 presidential election.
Domestic Policy

 Space Station Freedom
 Americans With Disability Act 1990
 Immigration Act of 1990 (increased
legal immigration by 40%)
 Two Supreme Court Appointments (David Souter, 1990
and Clarence Thomas, 1991)
 S&L crisis involved the failure
of about 747 out of the 3,234
savings and loan associations
Foreign Policy

 Invasion of Panama to capture leader Manuel Noriega
1989
 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, 1989
 Gulf War I (1990-1991) after Saddam Hussein invades its
oil-rich neighbor Kuwait
NAFTA

 Bush's administration, along with Canadian Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney, spearheaded the negotiations of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
which would eliminate the majority of tariffs on products
traded among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, to
encourage trade amongst the countries.
President Clinton

How Clinton won

 “I feel your pain.”
 “I still believe in a place called Hope.”
 “When I was in England I experimented with marijuana a
time or two -- and didn't like it -- and didn't inhale and
never tried inhaling again.”
 Ran on his centrist record as Governor of Arkansas
 TV ads were aired showing a clip of Bush's infamous 1988
campaign speech in which he promised "Read my lips ...
No new taxes."
Ross Perot

 Independent candidate
Ross Perot received
19,741,065 with 18.9
percent of the popular
vote for President. The
billionaire used his own
money to advertise
extensively, and is the
only third-party
candidate ever allowed
into the nationally
televised presidential
debates with both major
party candidates.
Domestic Policy

 Failed attempt at health care reform
 Don’t ask, don’t tell
 Signed the Defense of Marriage Act
 Family and Medical Leave Act
 Brady Bill (waiting period before hand gun purchase)
Foreign Policy

 NAFTA becomes law
 Unsuccessful at capturing Osama Bin Laden
 Tried to get Ehud Barak of Israel and Yasser Arafat of the
Palestinian National Authority, to agree to a final
settlement agreement.
Impeachment

 Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of
Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of
justice on December 19, 1998, but acquitted by the
Senate on February 12, 1999.
 It was only the second impeachment of a President in
American history, the other being that of
Andrew Johnson.
Election of 2000

And the winner is…
