Cold War Presidents part 2
Jimmy Carter
• A Washington outsider, Carter had no clue
how to play politics
• Instead of packing his Cabinet with politically
savvy operatives, he chose experts in their
respective fields
• The economy, having slid into a recession
under Ford, tumbles even further after a
spike in oil prices
Jimmy Carter
• Carter’s response was to cut federal spending
and ask Americans to conserve energy as a
means of improving the economy
• Carter’s policies didn’t stimulate the
economy
• Instead, interest rates soared and price
indexes jumped
Jimmy Carter
• Carter’s push for diplomatic world change is
highlighted by the 1978 Camp David Accords
• At Camp David, Egyptian President Anwar El
Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem
Begin work out a peace agreement
• The Camp David Accords formalize relations
between the two countries, set the stage for
negotiations with the Palestinians, and call for a
withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza and the
Sinai Peninsula
• Sadat is assassinated by grenades and machine
gun fire by fundamentalist Muslims 3 years later
The Assassination of Anwar Sadat at a parade, October 6, 1981
Jimmy Carter
• Any hope for the U.S. and U.S.S.R. signing the SALT II
agreement is dashed when the U.S.S.R. invades
Afghanistan
• In response to the invasion, the U.S. begins arming the
Afghan mullahs (religiously educated Muslim leaders)
• These groups are known as mujahideen (Arabic for
strugglers; people doing jihad)
• CIA and military advisors funnel weapons and training
to these Islamic fundamentalists with the mindset of
“the enemy of my enemy is my friend”
• A portion of these mujahideen eventually form into the
Taliban which seize power in Afghanistan after the
Soviets leave
Osama Bin Laden in a cave while fighting the invading
Soviet forces. Jalalabad region, Afghanistan, 1988
Jimmy Carter
• During the Soviet/Afghan war, the friendly
government in Iran is toppled by hardline
Islamic clerics led by Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini
• The U.S. embassy in Tehran is overrun and 66
Americans are captured and held hostage
• After releasing some, 52 hostages were held
for 444 days until their release on January 20,
1981
Iranian protesters climb over the gates of the U.S. embassy before
storming in to take hostages - Tehran, Nov 4, 1977
Jimmy Carter
• The Iran Hostage Crisis killed any chance
Carter had against Reagan in the 1980 election
• The hostages were released at the completion
of Reagan’s inaugural address under the
agreement known as the Algiers Accords
which stated in part:
• The U.S. would unfreeze Iranian assets and settle
debts between the two countries
• The U.S. would not interfere in Iranian internal affairs
either politically or militarily
Ronald Reagan
• Reagan’s time in office is marked by major
political, cultural, military and economic shifts
• Politically, the country swung drastically to the
right (conservative), so much so that a “liberal”
President like Clinton sounded eerily similar to
(for his time) a “conservative” Eisenhower
• Re-marking the political center of the country
allows more religious and neoconservative
groups to influence policy decisions from
Congress all the way through the court system
Ronald Reagan
• The result of this access to policy decision
making begins a “culture war” wherein
conservative ideologues clashed with what
they felt to be a society slipping from its
previously moral standing
• Gay rights, feminism, an increase in
evangelical Christianity, “family values”
coalitions, and a host of other interest groups
fought media and legal battles in hopes of
redefining what “America” should be
Ronald Reagan
• Militarily, Reagan’s term led to increased
military spending and re-engagement with
the U.S.S.R. following a period of détente
started by Nixon’s trip to China and the signing
of SALT
• Reagan and NATO allies begin installing more
missile defenses in countries surrounding the
Warsaw Pact states
• Leveraging the Soviets’ withdrawal from
Afghanistan, Reagan postures the U.S. as
ready for a hot war at any minute
Ronald Reagan
• Reagan refuses to accept the U.S.S.R. as an equal
player in the world and terms them an “evil
empire”
• Instead of directly engaging with the U.S.S.R.,
Reagan chooses to rely on the ideas of the
Truman Doctrine; specifically that the U.S.
should stop the spread of communism
anywhere and everywhere
• He chooses easy targets like Grenada and
Nicaragua, both of whom had left leaning
governments, to invade (Grenada) and support a
rebellion (Nicaragua)
Ronald Reagan
• Nicaragua turns out to be a nightmare for the CIA
and Washington
• The Iran-Contra Affair causes an uproar
• In a nutshell, in 1985 the CIA sold anti-tank
missiles to Iran in exchange for releasing
hostages and used the funds to finance the
Contras (rebels in Nicaragua) which was banned
by Congress
• In 1994, the final report on the scandal indicated
that both Reagan and George H. W. Bush
withheld information and mislead Congress
Ronald Reagan
• Mikhail Gorbashev, the Secretary of the
Communist Party, instituted glasnost (political
openness and free discussion) and perestroika
(restructuring of the Soviet economy)
• This change allowed the U.S. and U.S.S.R. to
begin changing how they spent on defense
• Gorbashev thought the crushing debt of the
arms race was preventing the U.S.S.R. from
modernizing like the U.S.
Ronald Reagan
• Reagan met with Gorbashev in Iceland and
agreed to deep cuts in strategic forces
• In 1987, Reagan, over the strong objections of
many advisors, the CIA and the Defense
Department, negotiates the Intermediate
Nuclear Force (INF)
• The INF calls for the destruction of intermediate
range nuclear and conventional missiles
• Many of the objections were that the elimination
of these weapons will create a strategic
vulnerability for the U.S.
Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate delivering his
famous 'Tear Down This Wall' speech - June 12, 1987
George H. W. Bush
• Initially, Bush was hesitant to engage with
Gorbashev, but ultimately agreed to work with
him
• Several satellite states within the U.S.S.R.
embraced the idea of perestroika and
eventually agreed to abandon communism in
favor of democracy
• Effectively, the U.S.S.R. has fallen
• On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall comes
crumbling down
A West German man sits atop the
Berlin Wall - November 10, 1989
A West Berliner soaked by a water cannon takes a
sledgehammer to the wall on November 11, 1989
George H. W. Bush
• August, 1991 – An attempted coup against
Gorbachev by old-line Communists, is put
down
• Within the month, the Communist party is
banned by the Soviet parliament
• By December, 1991, Gorbachev resigned and
the remaining 15 component countries of the
U.S.S.R. declare their independence
George H. W. Bush
• Analysts agrees that relentless, open-ended defense
and military spending in the arms race helped
bankrupt and undermine the U.S.S.R.
• Whether or not U.S. spending also weakened the
U.S.’s economy and its ability to compete in the world
marketplace is a point of debate
• Some believe that the demise of the U.S.S.R. is the
ultimate justification for 40 years of Cold War
spending
• Others argue that the collapse showed American
politicians greatly exaggerated the threat the Soviets
posed
• The truth of the matter will probably never been
known because Russia will likely never allow their
records to be examined by Western analysts