1980s U.S. History: Reagan, Foreign Policy, and Social Movements

Ford

Became president after Nixon resigned; criticized for pardoning Nixon

WIN

Whip Inflation Now; grassroots anti-inflation campaign

Mayaguez Incident

Ford rescued U.S. ship captured by Cambodia

Jimmy Carter

President focused on honesty and human rights

Stagflation

High inflation and unemployment at same time

Three Mile Island

Nuclear accident that increased fears about nuclear energy

Panama Canal Treaties

Returned canal control to Panama by 2000

Camp David Accords

Peace agreement between Egypt and Israel

Iranian Hostage Crisis

Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days

Ayatollah Khomeini

Leader of Iranian Revolution

Operation Eagle Claw

Failed rescue mission during hostage crisis

Olympic Boycott 1980

Carter boycotted Moscow Olympics after Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

New Right

Conservative coalition of religious groups, anti-communists, and business conservatives

Jerry Falwell

Founder of Moral Majority

Reaganomics

Tax cuts, deregulation, reduced social spending

Supply-Side Economics

Tax cuts for wealthy/businesses stimulate economy

Air Traffic Controller Strike

Reagan fired striking workers

SDI/Star Wars

Reagan missile defense program

Reagan Doctrine

Aid to anti-communist groups worldwide

Iran-Contra Scandal

Secret arms sales to Iran funded Contras

Oliver North

Took blame in Iran-Contra scandal

Teflon President

Reagan nickname because scandals did not hurt popularity

Glasnost

Gorbachev policy of openness

Perestroika

Gorbachev policy of restructuring

Berlin Wall

Fell in 1989, symbolizing end of Cold War

Boris Yeltsin

First leader of Commonwealth of Independent States

START I & II

Nuclear arms reduction treaties

Operation Just Cause

U.S. invasion of Panama

Tiananmen Square

Chinese democracy protests crushed by military

Operation Desert Storm

U.S.-led war to remove Iraq from Kuwait

ACT-UP

AIDS activism organization

Clamshell Alliance

Anti-nuclear protest group

Take Back the Night

Women's marches against sexual assault

Affirmative Action

Policies helping minorities/women in jobs and education

Reverse Discrimination

Criticism of affirmative action

Sandinistas

Leftist group that took over Nicaragua

Sandra Day O'Connor

First female Supreme Court justice

Black Monday

1987 stock market crash

Challenger Explosion

1986 space shuttle disaster

Watergate scandal

Led to Nixon's resignation and distrust in government

Khmer Rouge

Communist group in Cambodia involved in the Mayaguez Incident

Grassroots Movement

WIN depended on citizen/community action

Schlesinger Plan

Carter's energy strategy to reduce dependence on foreign oil

SALT II

Nuclear arms agreement Carter withdrew support from after Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Grain Embargo

Carter stopped grain sales to USSR after Afghanistan invasion

Shah of Iran

Carter refused to return him to Iranian revolutionaries

Human Rights Foreign Policy

Center of Carter's foreign policy

Malaise Speech

Carter's speech about America's "crisis of confidence"

Neo-Conservatives

Former anti-communist liberals who shifted conservative

Moral Majority

Religious conservative political organization founded by Jerry Falwell

Deregulation

Reagan reduced government regulation on businesses/banks

Budget Deficit

Increased significantly under Reagan

Geraldine Ferraro

First female VP nominee from a major political party

Lebanon & Grenada

Examples of Reagan's foreign interventions

INF Treaty

Reagan and Gorbachev agreement eliminating intermediate-range missiles

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Organization formed after USSR collapse

Power Vacuum

Lack of strong authority in Eastern Europe after Soviet decline

Manuel Noriega

Dictator removed during Operation Just Cause

Saddam Hussein

Iraqi leader during Gulf War

COPS

Community Oriented Policing Services program

Family Support Act

Welfare reform encouraging work/job training

Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act

Law attempting to reduce federal deficit

Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

Major tragedy during Reagan presidency