AP U.S. History- Resurgence of Conservatism “The Reagan Revolution” Teacher Notes

I.The Reagan Revolution

  1. Elected in 1980 on a conservative platform
  2. The Great Communicator – Acting background gave him experience in public oration
  1. Reaganomics or Supply Side Economics – tax cuts and reduced government spending.
  2. Economic Recovery Tax Act (1981) 25% tax cut over 3 years
  3. Omnibus Reconciliation Act (1981) cuts in education, welfare, health, housing
  4. Fired striking air traffic controllers (PATCO) – anti union mood in DC
  5. Appointed conservatives to EPA, OSHA, and Consumer Product Safety Commission.
  6. Deregulated Airline and banking industry

III.Military Buildup

  1. Nuclear buildup – MX Missile
  2. SDI – Strategic Defense Initiative or Star Wars

IV.Reagan Economic Recovery

  1. Unemployment at 8% and inflation at 3% by 1987
  2. Rust Belt continued to suffer – Steel and Auto industries
  3. Federal Deficit skyrocketed due to defense spending and tax cuts
  4. U.S. went from world’s largest creditor to world’s largest debtor

V.Reagan defeats Walter Mondale (Carter’s VP) in ’84

  1. Geraldine Ferraro – first women to be nominated for VP by a major party
  2. Mondale tried to revive the New Deal coalition but failed – many traditionally democratic voters were won over by Reagan

VI.Reagan’s Foreign Policy

  1. Reagan abandoned Nixon détente and Carter’s Human Rights policy to return to a more aggressive Cold War stance against the “Evil Empire”.

ie: Soviets

  1. MX missiles, SDI, Cruise and Pershing missiles
  2. Downing of a Korean airliner by Soviet in ’83 caused relations between Soviets and America to worsen.
  3. Reagan Doctrine: America’s right to intervene anywhere in the world to fight communist insurgency– mostly applied to Central America.
  4. CaribbeanBasin Initiative – aid for “friendly Central American nations
  5. Military action in Grenada, to oust Marxist government
  6. CIA supplied military arms to anti-communist forces in El Salvador and Nicaragua which drove the legitimate government toward Castro (Cuba) and the Soviets- Much American public protest of CIA actions.
  7. Boland Amendment – barred government aid to para-military groups in Nicaragua.

VII.Glasnost (openness) and Arms Control

  1. Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet leader) wanted to reduce Soviet military spending to help the Soviet economy, so pursued a policy of arms reduction.
  2. INF Treaty – reduction of intermediate nuclear missiles.
  3. Gorbachev also wanted the Soviets to allow more trade and contact with the West so as to improve industrial efficiency and production which lagged far behind the economies of the Western nations.

VIII.Iran-Contra Scandal

  1. Reagan’s National Security Advisor (John Poindexter) and deputy advisor (Oliver North) sold arms to Iran which was at war with Iraq (Saddam) and then gave the money to the Contras which were a revolutionary group in Nicaragua trying to overthrow the Marxist government. Clear violation of the Boland Amendment. Reagan was able to stay clear of the scandal but Poindexter and North go to jail. George H. Bush (VP) may have been involved as well. He had been the Director of CIA during the Nixon years.

IX.The Fall of Communism

  1. Gorbachev’s Glasnost and Perestroika encourages democratic revolts in eastern Europe in 1989 – Poland first, followed by Hungary and others
  2. East and West German protesters tear down Berlin Wall – major symbol of cold war division. Germany moves toward reunification after 44 years of division. (WWII)
  3. Tiananmen Square – Chinese government puts down a democratic uprising by Chinese students
  4. Soviets held free elections in 1990 and communist party goes down in defeat in hundreds of local elections.
  5. By 1991 most of the 15 republics that made up the S.U. announced plans to break away and become independent. Hard line communists attempt to regain control by arresting Gorbachev, but a peoples’ revolt in Moscow led by Boris Yeltsin stopped the attempted coup when soviet soldiers refused to fire on the protesters.
  6. Boris Yeltsin was elected the first president of Russia in 1991.

X.Persian Gulf War

  1. 1988 Bush defeats Michael Dukakis (Dem. Governor of Mass.)
  2. August 1990, Iraq (Saddam) invades Kuwait and seizes oil wells.
  3. January 1991, Bush announces Operation Desert Storm, when Saddam’s forces are removed from Kuwait the war ends. No invasion of Iraq.

XI.Clinton

A. Clinton defeats Bush in 1992 election due mostly to a recession that began in 1991

  1. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and WTO (World Trade Org.)
  2. Welfare Reform Act- ended AFDC
  1. Hilary Clinton put in charge of Health Care Reform but her proposal failed to pass in Congress
  2. Republicans gain control of Congress in 1994 hurting Clinton’s ability to get his programs passed in Congress –
  3. Newt Gingrich (House Speaker) “Contract with America” much like Reagan’s programs – tax cuts, military spending, cut Federal regulatory programs - leads to a Congressional battle with Democrats and an inability to pass a budget. Impasse leads to a shutdown of the Fed. Government which is blamed on the Republicans.
  4. Booming economy due to technology revolution (dot coms and internet) helped Clinton’s popularity and reelection in 1996 and Federal Government ran surpluses for the first time since 1969.
  5. Clinton Impeached – charges of perjury and witness tampering during Ken Starr‘s investigation of extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky
  6. Clinton sends peace keeping troops to Bosnia (Yugoslavia) in 1995 – Slobadon Milosevic (“ethnic cleansing”)

XII.G.W. Bush

  1. Defeats Al Gore in controversial election of 2000 – Florida returns challenged (hanging chads?)
  2. Sept. 11, 2001 – Terrorist attack on WorldTradeCenter in NYC and Pentagon.
  3. Patriot Act and Department of Homeland Security (TomRidge)