■Essential Question:
–To what extent did the two-term
presidency of Ronald Reagan
amount to a revolution?
■Warm-Up Question:
–What is the difference between
the “New Left” & “New Right”?
Neoconservativism &
the Rise of Reagan
Neoconservativism
■In late-1970s, Neo-Conservatives
reacted against the social protest
& liberalism of the 1960s & 1970s
–Focused
onsocial
free-enterprise
The
rejection
of
liberalism
and
the
A
balanced
budget
A return
to
prayer
“New
Left”
counterculture
of
the
1960s
capitalism,
a
balanced
budget,
Constitutional
amendment
in public schools
& lower
taxestoFor
Typically
referred
as the
“New
Right”
the death penalty
Against homosexuality
a smaller for
gov’t,
less
criminals
& –Wanted
pornography
social welfare, stronger military
–Looked at what’s right in the
USA & a return to family values
Neo-Conservativism
■The
early Majority
Neo-Conservative
The Moral
allied with
“Life
begins
conception”
movement
was
led
bythe
evangelist
Phyllis
Schlafly
to at
defeated
ERA
Jerry
Falwell’s
“The rights
of theMoral
unbornMajority
supersede a
woman’s
rightMajority
to controlled
herthe
own body”
■The
Moral
conservative attack on:
–The Equal Rights Amendment
–Abortion & the Supreme Court’s
ruling of Roe v Wade (1973)
–School busing programs,
pornography, & social welfare
The Reagan Revolution in 1980
■By the 1980 election, Jimmy Carter
was in trouble:
–Stagflation was still problem
–Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
& Iran hostage crisis made the
U.S. look weak in foreign policy
■Former California governor Ronald
Reagan gained the groundswell
of neo-conservative support & the
Republican nomination
The
Reagan
Revolution
1980
Reagan
asked voters:
“Are youofbetter
off today won
than you
4 years ago?”
■Reagan
in awere
landslide:
–Republicans rode Reagan’s
coat-tails in Congress as well
–The Republican party picked up
…& narrowed the
“Reagan
Democrats”—
women,
Reagan
Republicans
presented
gained
himself
as
Democrat’s majority
thea“Great
majority
Communicator”
in the workers,
blue-collar
southerners
in the
House
Senate
for
the
1st
Reagan
benefited
from
–The
only
group
in
the
“FDR
bloc”
time
since
1954
conservative PACs
who
overwhelmingly
voted
for
st
Republicans used the 1
Carter
were African-Americans
effective
direct-mailings
Domestic Policy
under Ronald Reagan
Reagan Video
Limiting
thegov’t
Rolerestrictions
of Government
Reduced
on
st term
air pollution,1fuel
efficiency,
wilderness,
■Reagan’s
was defined
by
endangered species, & stock market
deregulation of the national gov’t:
–Conservatives were appointed
to the EPA, OSHA, SEC, & the
Fired air traffic controllers & decertified the
Consumer
Commission
PATCO
union whenPrice
members
went on strike
who reduced gov’t restrictions in
favor of business productivity
–Reagan took a strong anti-labor
stance & weakened the power
of American unions
Reaganomics
■Reagan blamed 1970s stagflation
on gov’t spending & high taxes
TheInOmnibus
Reconciliation
Act
of
1981
■Reagan’s
economic
plan
1980, interest
rates were
atinvolved:
20%
&
cut social
services
like
fooddropped
stamps,tourban
the
value
of
the
dollar
36¢
–“Supply-side
economics”:
mass transit, student loans, & the arts
a 25%
tax
cut
over
3
years
to
…but military spending jumped
allow people
to spend
more
to $2 trillion
over 8 years
money & boost the economy
The Economic
Recovery
Act
of
1981
was
the
–A
plan
to
decrease
gov’t
largest tax cut in U.S. history & called for a
$41.4
billion
5% tax spending
cut in 1981, by
10%
in 1982,
10% &
in 1983
end Keynesian deficit spending
Supply-side
But, Reagan
economic
continued
seemed
with to
hisfail
plan
as a
Supply-Side
Economics
By
1983, the
economy
boomed
recession
for a 10%
hit intax
1981
in
grew
1982
worse
&ended
1983
in 1982
&cuts
the&recession
as
Americans spent more money
Reaganomics
■Benefits of “Reaganomics”
–Inflation, unemployment, & the
trade deficit all declined by 1990
–Growth in service sector jobs
16 million new jobs,
unemployment
■Disadvantages
of “Reaganomics”
below 6%, inflation fell to 4%
–Industry jobs fell as companies
used off-shore manufacturers
with cheaper labor costs
– Increased social inequalities
– Huge federal deficits
Congress
passed
Gramm-Rudman
Act
in
The
By
deficit
1988,
foreigners
was
$70.5
controlled
billion
in
U.S.
Budget
Deficits,
1980-1997
19851976
to create
a budget
ceiling
& set 1993
20%
but of
$207
the billion
national
indebt
1983
as the target date to end the federal deficit
The
1980s
was
defined
by
the
Share
of
Household
Income
“Me Generation”—money, status, & wealth
The economic gap hurt blacks the most
(60% lived in cities with high unemployment)
In the 1980s, the rich got
richer at the expense of
middle class & the poor
In the 1970s & 1980s, the 3rd wave
of American immigration began
Mexican, Haitian, & Dominican
immigration
increased
but 20-30%
Immigrants
from Korea,
Vietnam, &
lived
in poverty
by to
thethrive
1980sin America
Philippines
tended
Social Programs
st
But…Reagan
appointed
the
1
■The Reagan administration
female Supreme Court justice,
opposedSandra
major
social
reforms:
Day O’Conner
–High school dropout rates &
Incrime
Univ ofincreased
California vinBakke
(1978)
the 1980s
ruled in favor of affirmative action
–Affirmative
action
school
but not purely
quota&systems
busing programs to assist
African-Americans were limited
–Women’s abortion rights were
attacked
The War on Drugs
■In the 1980s, cocaine use
DEA, Customs,
& Coast
Guard
boomed,
especially
with
the
attempts to keep drugs out
creation of “crack” cocaine
Negotiations
with
Peru,
Bolivia,
■The
Reagan
administration
Colombia failed to limit drug smuggling
declared a “war on drugs”:
–Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No”
program helped educate kids
–The federal gov’t failed to stop
the flow of drugs into the U.S.
The AIDS Epidemic
■The 1st documented cases of
AIDS occurred in the 1980s:
2,800
known AIDS
12,000 AIDS
st
–1cases
cases
were among
gay
men
by 1983
cases by 1985
in50,000
San AIDS
Francisco & NY in 1981
982,498 AIDS
–As
cases
were found
drug
cases
by 1987
cases byin2006
abusers & hemophiliacs, people
worried about a contaminated
national blood supply
■Lack of sympathy for gays, budget
cuts, & ignorance about HIV led to
a limited government response
HIV/AIDS Statistics, 2008
Mailed to
every US
household in
1988 by U.S.
Public Health
Service:
Understanding
AIDS is the
largest public
health mailing
in U.S. history
Reagan Affirmed
■In the 1984 election:
–Democrat Walter Mondale &
VP Geraldine Ferraro attacked
Reagan deficits & promised to
raise taxes to end U.S. debts
–Reagan made leadership the
issue “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet”
–Reagan won in a landslide by
attracting even more “Reagan
Democrats” than in 1980