The Reagan Era
1980s America
Ronald Reagan, #40 (1911-2004)
Reaganomics:
tax cuts
recession, high interest rates
cut regulations
increase military spending
Laffer Curve
budget cuts
urban aid
Medicare/Medicaid
food stamps, school lunches
welfare
Rock Hudson with
President and Mrs.
Reagan (1984)
Federal Reserve (Paul Volcker) fought inflation
high mortgage rates
News during Reagan’s first term
assassination attempt (John Hinckley, Jr.)
Sandra Day O’Connor: first woman on Supreme Court
air traffic controllers strike (1981)
Reagan fired
Reagan still won 44% union support in 1984
AIDS first observed in U.S., 1981
Rock Hudson with
President and Mrs.
Reagan (1984)
Christian Conservative Movement
Pat Robertson (TV “700 Club”)
Jim Bakker
Jerry Falwell (Moral Majority)
Phylis Schlafly (ERA opponent)
Goals: anti-abortion
school prayer
return to “old values”
Reagan appealed to such groups, but not affiliated
Foreign Policy under Reagan
good guys vs. bad guys (“evil empire”)
eschewed détente policies of Nixon, Ford, Carter
goal: WIN
Reagan Doctrine
Nicaragua
aid to anti-Sandanista “Contras”
Boland Amendment: forbade further CIA help
Grenada (Oct. 1983)
Election of 1984
Democrats: Walter Mondale, Geraldine Ferraro
tried to make national debt key issue
Republicans: President Reagan
tax cuts, defense, deregulation
Reagan 58.8% 525
Mondale 40.6% 13
Second Term Highlights
Supreme Court to the right (Rehnquist, Scalia)
Economy
debt grew from $900 billion to $4 trillion under Reagan
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Bill (1985)
automatic across-the-board cuts
failure: voted in future spending
Tax Reform Act of 1986
lowered personal income taxes but…
…closed loopholes
Iran-Contra Scandal
Iranian-backed terrorists held Americans in Lebanon
NSA Robert MacFarlane: arms to Iran for release
new NSA John Poindexter expanded
diverted money from Iran to Contras (illegal)
Poindexter, Oliver North indicted
Reagan’s role, responsibility, engagement?
2:50
American Society in the 1980s
white backlash against civil rights gains
“reverse discrimination”
resurgence in religion
Women’s groups came under fire (anti-family)
more women entering workforce
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF)
Ronald Reagan &
Mikhail Gorbachev
Election of 1988
Democrats: Michael Dukakis (MA)
Republicans: VP George Bush
character attacks vs. issues
Bush: “no new taxes” pledge
Bush 53.4% 426
Dukakis 45.6% 111
George Bush, #41 (1924-2018)
Domestic Policy under Bush
Little agenda, interest
Inherited staggering debt, Democratic Congress
“no new taxes” pledge --> stifled policy initiatives
Moved to the right wing --> abortion, affirmative action
Americans With Disabilities Act (1991)
Recession (1991-1992)
government + consumer debt
bankruptcies
Savings & Loan crisis
health care concerns on the rise
Bush Era Foreign Policy
Soviet Union
continued arms reduction
troop withdrawals from Europe
Post-Cold War
reduce military spending? Or continue to use power?
Panama (1989)
Manuel Noriega (UN drug trafficing indictment)
election of pro-American regime
First Gulf War
August 2, 1990: Iraq invaded Kuwait
Bush-led coalition (include. Arab states): embargo
UN: Jan. 15 deadline
Congress: authorized U.S. military action (Jan. 12)
Jan. 16: Operation Desert Storm
Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012)
Cease-Fire: February 28
141 U.S. dead
results:
Election of 1992
Republicans: George Bush
HUGE popularity after Gulf War
eroded with recession, tax increase
primary challenge from Pat Buchanan
Democrats: Bill Clinton (Gov. Arkansas)
Ross Perot (billionaire, anti-bureaucracy, anti-debt)
Clinton: 43% 370
Bush: 38% 168
Perot: 19% 0
Bill Clinton, #42 (b. 1946)
George W. Bush
(b. 1946)
Iraq War (2003)
Hurricane Katrina (2005)
Economic Collapse (2008)
Election of 2008
Result:
Affordable Care
Act
Barack Obama (b. 1961)
Election of 2016
Donald Trump (b. 1946)
Key Issues
Election of 2020
Joseph Biden (b. 1944)