THE REPUBLICAN
RESURGENCE, 1980-1992
America: Past and Present
Chapter 32
Reagan in Power
• Roosevelt coalition continues to splinter
• Republican party picks up pieces
The Reagan Victory
• Carter’s negatives
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Iranian hostage crisis
economic ills
• Reagan’s positives win the election
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warm telegenic personality
optimistic message
draws Jewish, working class vote
• Republicans win majority in the Senate
Cutting Spending and
Taxes
• Reagan’s premise: cut spending to
encourage private investment
• Reagan cuts over three years
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federal spending by more than $40 billion
social services included in cuts
taxes cut by 25%
Limiting the Role of
Government
• Environmental regulations relaxed
• Attempted cuts in Social Security
• Neglect of interest-group opponents
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labor hurt in air traffic control firings
lack of support for civil rights legislation
women ignored in judicial appointments
Reaganomics
• Reagan’s reductions in spending and
taxes prompt conflicting expectations
• Supply-side economists expect
economic growth
• Reagan’s critics expect massive
deficits, economic stagnation
Recession and Recovery
• 1981-1982--unemployment hits 10%
• 1983--economic recovery
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rise in consumer spending
prices remain level
worldwide decline in energy prices
The Growing Deficit
• Basis for the Reagan prosperity
includes
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massive deficit spending
massive inflows of foreign investment
• 1983--federal budget deficit $200 billion
• Spending caps on defense, services
• 1985--U.S. becomes a debtor nation
U.S. Budget Deficits, 19801997
The Rich Grow Richer
• Gains of Reaganomics
• inflation reduced to 4%
• employment grows after 1982
• growth in service sector jobs
• Losses of Reaganomics
• high-paying manufacturing jobs decline
• increasing social inequality
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wealthy benefit
poor left in poverty
middle class hurt
Share of Aggregate
Household Income by
Quintiles, 1975-1995
Reagan Affirmed
• Perception of improving economy
• 1984 election
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•
Reagan trounces Walter Mondale
Republicans lose seats in Congress
Reagan and the World
• Reagan determined to restore
America's international position
• Steep increase in military spending
• Aggressive foreign policy
Challenging the "Evil
Empire"
• Reagan: Soviet Union the "focus of evil
in the modern world"
• Unfavorable deals on arms reductions
• U.S. response to Russian refusal
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deployment of cruise missiles in Europe
development of anti-missile system
• Russians build up nuclear arsenal
Turmoil in the Middle East
• 1982--Israeli invasion of Lebanon
• International response
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U.S., France send troops to maintain order
PLO evacuates Beirut
• 1984--200 U.S. Marines killed in
terrorist bombing
• U.S. evacuation of Lebanon
Trouble Spots in the
Middle East
Confrontation in Central
America
• Intervention against Latin American
leftist insurgents
• Covert subversion of Sandinistas
• October, 1983--invasion of Grenada
Trouble Spots in Central
America and the Caribbean
Trading Arms for Hostages
• Advanced weapons sold to Iran for
influence in freeing American hostages
• November, 1986--Iran-Contra scandal
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profit from Iran arms sales to Contras
funding violates Congressional prohibition
Reagan escapes impeachment
Reagan the Peacemaker
• 1985--Mikhail Gorbachev assumes
power in Russia
• 1985-88--Reagan-Gorbachev summits
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1987--destroy intermediate range missiles
1988--Afghanistan evacuated
• Foreign policy triumphs restore
Reagan’s popularity
Social Dilemmas
• AIDS epidemic
• Drug abuse
The AIDS Epidemic
• 1981--AIDS first detected
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apparent confinement to homosexual men
results in early public inaction
spread to drug users, recipients of blood
transfusions prompts panic
• Reagan Administration’s response
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fund research
little funding for education, prevention
1987--appointment of AIDS commissioner
The AIDS Epidemic (2)
• 1996--500,000 infected
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majority homosexuals, drug users
15% heterosexual, non-drug abusers
• 1996--AIDS death rate begins dropping
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new drugs
safer sexual practices
The War on Drugs
• Mid-1980's--crack cocaine introduced
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addiction spread through all classes
exploding crime rate
• Reagan attempts interdiction of supply
• Bush, Clinton continue Reagan policy
• At the end of the century there seemed
to be no end to the war on drugs
Passing the Torch to Bush
• Republicans hope for major political
realignment
• Factors reinforcing trend
• 1980s economic boom
• promise of the end of the Cold War
The Changing Palace
Guard
• 1985--Donald Regan chief of staff
• Second-term victories
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tax reform package
appointment of conservatives
• Changes in the Supreme Court
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Senate blocks Bork appointment to Court
Bush appointments help turn the Court
more to the right
The Election of 1988
• Republican George Bush
• Democrat Michael Dukakis
• Bush television ads attack Dukakis as
soft on crime, unpatriotic
• Bush wins White House
• Republicans lose seats in Congress
Bush’s Domestic Agenda
• Problems of 1989
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savings and loan industry facing collapse
ballooning federal deficit
• Bush’s deficit reduction
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raise taxes
cut military expenditures
• Economic recession increases deficit
The End of the Cold War
• June, 1989--Tiananmen Square
• November, 1989--Berlin Wall torn down
• 1991-1992--U.S.S.R. dissolved,
Communist Party outlawed in Russian
Republic
• Cautious response by Bush
The End of the Cold War
Waging Peace
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1989--U.S. invasion of Panama
August, 1990--Iraq occupies Kuwait
January, 1991--Operation Desert Storm
Outcome of Desert Storm
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February 24--Iraqi force collapses
Bush’s approval hits 90%
Republican Economic Woes
• 1990 budget deal violated Bush’s “no
new taxes” pledge
• Also failed to reduce budget deficits
• Economic recession prolonged