Unit 9 specific events

Barry Goldwater

ran for president in 1964, he defined the new conservatism by emphasizing traditional values and the protection/revamp of america.

Roe V wade

1973, this is technically a unit 8 thing but it aligns with the themes of unit 9.

Stonewall

gay riots 1969. it happened.

Stagflation

this is a 70s/unit 8 thing, but Its important context for the start of Reagan’s presidency and Reaganomics.

Reaganomics aka Supply-side economics

trickle down inflation. reagan pulled the government out of regulating business, which theoretically would promote the economy and create new jobs. he favors the supply side of the supply and demand equation

Iranian Hostage crisis

1979-1980, individuals stormed the american embassy in Tehran, Iran, and took 52 americans hostage. The Carter administration unsuccessfully tried to negotiate their release. they were released after 444 days.

Moral Majority

founded by Jerry Falwell to promote traditional christian values. this group was against abortion, gay rights, feminism, etc. major linchpin in bringing the conservative evangelicals into politics.

Star wars or strategic defense initiative

reagans administration attempted to build space lasers to shoot down missiles in case of war with the soviet union.

The reagan doctrine

the united states would supply aid to any country that opposed communism.

the nicaragua situation

Nicaragua was taken over by the sandanistas, a socialist group who America labeled as communist. because of the reagan doctrine, america then had to do something about it. America trained a group called the contras to take down the government, but they ended up being absolutely horrible and killed civilians often.

Iran Contra scandal

Reagan illegally sold arms to Iran when they were at war with Iraq, and then took that money to aid the Contras in Nicaragua. this is bad because lots of reasons but the president doesn’t have the power to handle money.

AIDs/HIV crisis

first appeared in the US in 1981. acquired immune deficiency syndrome. At the time, no known cure (there are treatments today). Most vulnerable groups: drug addicts & homosexuals. By 1993: 102, 780 deaths in US. new social and cultural developments from early 80s. People would just die and reagan did nothing.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe.

Glasnost

Glasnost was the attempt to bing more political freedom to soviet citizens. this took the form of de-censoring books and being more open as a government.

Perestroika

Gorbachev pushed the soviet union into a more free market type structure, attempting to revamp the country after a massive era of stagnation.

end of the soviet union

1991, marked by the tearing down of the berlin wall, various european countries emergence from under communism, etc.

Reagan and the cold war

he made a ton of speeches painting the cold war as a battle between good and evil, saying that america is open to peace but it is the soviets who keep the conflict going.

Start i

united states and russia agreed to reduce nuclear weapons down to 10,000 and then later down to 3,000. Win!

Start ii

US gave funds to russia to assist their unstable economy after the soviet union collapsed. 

economy situation in america

manufacturing is increasingly outsourced to other countries, leading to rising unemployment and declining union membership at home. additionally, reagan was a big union buster. resultantly, theres a big shift to service sector jobs like teaching and medicine.

disputed election 2000

Bush v gore. bush won according to supreme court, gore conceded.

9/11

it happened.

war on terror

post 9/11, bush demanded that the taliban government hand over Bin Laden who was responsible for the attacks. They refused and bush sent troops into Afghanistan.

war on Iraq

dubious evidence that Saddam Hussain had played a part in 9/11. This was later disproven. There was also dubious evidence that he was hoarding weapons of mass destruction. This was also later disproven. anyway the US sends even more troops in.

operation Iraqi freedom

got rid of Hussain, but afterwards the united states military couldn’t figure out what to do with the country. eek. the full withdrawl happened under biden in 2021 with consequences.

Patriot acts

2001 and 2003. these made it legal for the government to spy on people through phones and emails and stuff.

department of homeland security

Cabinet-level agency created in 2003 to unify and coordinate public safety and antiterrorism operations within the federal government. basically prevent the next 9/11

climate change

yeah. it happened.

Economic recovery act

cut income taxes by 25% over the next three years. Cut taxes in lots of other areas too. Basically way less taxes for the rich specifically. 1981.

INF agreement

reagan and gorbachev agree to get rid of all medium range missiles, and soviet troops leave afghanistan. 1987.

digital revolution

Fuck ass internet invented. Apple. Ibm. email. Napster. Music industry reformed. Amazon. Sigh. 

energy crisis

the united states is running out of natural resources. we found rivals in OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), and they kept prices high as conflict happened in the region. the this means that we have more motivations for getting involved in the middle east. oil<3333.