The Resurgence of Conservatism
1980-1992:
THE REAGAN REVOLUTION
Introduction
 Reagan’s Administration 1980 - 1988
 Backlash
of Nixon scandals and Carter’s
unpopularity
 Conservative shift in American politics
 End of the Cold War
 Turmoil in the Middle East and the
Balkans
 White House Scandals
Conservative Political Shift:
New World Order in 1980’s
 Conservative Cultural Trends in the 1970’s
 Reaction to polarizing effect of 1960’s and counterculture
 Roe vs. Wade 1973

Mobilized conservatives = right to life movement
 Feminism and the Conservative Backlash
The Moral Majority
 Religious Right becomes stakeholder in right wing
politics


Republican party embraces evangelical Christian groups in
America
Jerry Falwell, Christian radio & megachurches
1980 Election: Triumphant Return of
Conservatism
 Reagan won solid Democratic
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constituencies in the South
Over half white & blue collar workers
in those States
Reagan took advantage of rise of
conservative sunbelt states
Called for return to traditional values
Responded to voter concern re
economy (stagflation of 1970’s)
•
Election of 1980
Carter was in a horrible spot
o
•
"ABC" (Anybody But Carter) Movement in the Democratic
party
Reagan ran on:
being a fiscal and social conservative
o a return to small government
o reversing the New Deal and Great Society effect on gov't
o being staunchly anti-Communist
o
o
Video: Reagan’s inaugural address
Reagan’s Domestic Agenda
 Federal Income Tax Cuts and Federal Domestic
Spending
 Savings & Loans deregulated
 Environmental legislation loosened
 Hard line on Labor unions
(Air Traffic controller strikers
fired and replaced by non-union
Workers)
Reagan and the Economy
 Federal Reserve Board cuts interest rates =
lowering inflation
 Recession continues into 1982 but recovery begins
in third quarter
Economic Growth in U.S. Late 1970’s to Early 1980’s
 Blue line is Percent Change From Preceding Period in Real Gross Domestic
Product (annualized; seasonally adjusted)
 Red line is Average GDP growth 1947–2009
 Data is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Reagan and the Economy
 Wall Street Frenzy: Illegal and Unethical financial
dealings
 Stock market crash 1987, reducing paper stocks by
20% overnight
 BUT stock market recovers quickly
 Reagan’s legacy of soaring trade deficit
Reagan and the Supreme Court
 Reagan begins to reshape the Supreme Court
 Appoints 1st female member: Sandra Day O’Conner
 Antonin Scalia
 Anthony Kennedy
The Reagan Revolution
•
The Reagan Revolution
The return of conservatism
o A reaction to big government and social engineering
(New Deal/Great Society)
o
•
•
"Best of the Rightest"
Small Gov't Policies
Cut social programs
o Raise defense spending
o Supply Side Economics
o Tax cuts
o

Reagan cuts taxes 25% over three years
Reagan and Supply-Side Economics
• Reaganomics
o The idea is that cuts in taxes
would create economic growth
that would bring in more tax
revenue
 Budgetary restraint is
necessary as well
 Controversial: some argue
that Reaganomics benefited
the wealthy while squeezing
the middle class and the poor
The Cold Warrior
•
Evil Empire
o Soviets were
"prepared to commit
any crime, to lie, to
cheat"
o Soviet Union is "evil
empire" and "the
focus of evil in the
modern world"
Reagan and Military Spending
o Under Reagan massive military spending led
to large deficits (deficit spending)
 Reagan added $2 trillion to the national
debt
 Spending higher in late Cold War under Reagan than
during Vietnam War era
Military... Too Big or Too Small
 New Arms Race

Reagan in essence
used deficit spending
to bury the Soviets in a
new arms race
 SDI or Star Wars
scared the Soviets
and gave Reagan a
huge advantage
 All arms
negotiations ended
Strategic Defense Initiative aka Star Wars
Consequence: Mobilization of
Opposition
 Military build-up leads to grassroots nuclear freeze
movement
1984 Election
Mondale Ferraro Democratic ticket 1984
US Presidential elections 1984
Reagan re-elected with 59% of popular vote
The Teflon President
• Marine Barracks
bombing in Beirut
(1983)
o killed over 200
Marines
o American troops
were pulled out after
this
Iran-Contra Scandal (1985)
o Weapons were sold to Iran (the
“enemy”) in return for the
Iranians help in releasing
hostages held in the Middle
East
 Money made was then given to
the Contras
o Reagan claimed to not know
anything
 Claimed his subordinates were
to blame
o Despite this Reagan remained
popular
Reagan and the End of the Cold War
•
Reagan and Gorbachev
Gorbachev sought an end to the Cold War
because the Soviets could not afford the
military spending
o Glasnost & Perestroika were meant to
revive the Soviet economy
o Nuclear Summit Meetings
o

Banned a certain type of offensive nuclear
missiles
Reagan's Humor
Tear Down this Wall Speech, 1987
Brandenberg Gate, Berlin
Reagan’s Legacy
 Mixed Domestic Record
 Improved economy ≠Soaring federal deficits
 Exploited white middle class anxieties
 His critics saw his administration as interlude of
nostalgia + drift to conservatism
 Reagan’s admirers praised him for
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reasserting the values for self-reliance & free enterprise
Criticizing governmental excess
Restoring national pride
 Polarizing figure between Conservatives and
Liberals
New World Order1988 - Conservatism Continues
Democratic
Candidate 1988
1988 Presidential election results
Bush 54% of popular vote
 Dukakis inarticulate and accused of being light on
crime- very few issues discussed – photo ops election
 Democrats retained majority in Congress
George H. Bush’s Administration
 End of Cold War
 Fall of Berlin Wall September 1989
 Reunification of Germany
 Baltic Republics declared their independence from USSR
 1991 Signs a nuclear arms treaty reducing arsenal by 25%
Domestic Troubles
 Saving
and Loan
Scandal
in 1980’s
1
2
3
4
5
6
• Saving and Loan Banks (S & Ls) make loans to individuals
• Reagan administration deregulates S&Ls allowing them to make
riskier investments
• Officials at some S&Ls take advantage of new laws by making risky
real estate investments, hoping for huge profits
•Real estate markets cool down in late 1980s S&Ls lose
$2.6 B from people’s savings accounts
• Because bank accounts are insured by the government, taxpayers
have to make up for the billions of dollars lost
• Several S&L officials are prosecuted for their role in the scandal
and their efforts to cover it up
Increasing Debt: S&L bailout, Gulf War,
medicare, medicaid payments
1990 Recession Hits
 Sales fall
 Tax revenue falls
 Unemployment climbs
 Additional 2 million Americans sink below poverty
line

homelessness
1992 LA Riots
 Deep-seeded social maladies
 Poverty and anger worsen in inner-cities
 Began in black neighborhoods after overthrow of
conviction of police
officers in R. King case
1989 Exxon Valdez Oil spill
 Ruined 600 acres of pristine Alaskan coastline
EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
Report on Air Quality
 Report Released – pronounces air in more than
100 U.S. cities hazardous to breathe
 Bush administration ignores
these environmental problems


Continues oil exploration &
drilling in Alaska
Undermines global treaties on
global warming (Kyoto) & mining in
Antarctica
 BUT signs the 1990 Federal
Clean Air Act
Social Legislation
 Bush also signs the American Disabilities Act
wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits, under certain
circumstances, discrimination based on disability
1992 Election Clinton vs. Bush
 3rd Party: Ross Perot: 18.8% of popular vote, 1st
time since Teddy Roosevelt