The impact of the Reagan presidency, 1981-96

what was reagan’s background?

born in illinois to relatively poor parents

had a career as an actor, radio presenter and television presenter

became governor of california in 1966

lost the republican presidential campaign in 1968 and 1976 to nixon and ford

why did the religious right support reagan?

didn’t like liberal reforms and the permissive society associated with the democrats

moral majority - claimed supporters of abortion, easy divorce and military unpreparedness were agents of the devil

supported republicans as the platform condemned moral permissiveness and supported family values

what opposition did reagan face?

democrats tried to make his right-wing views central issues in the campaign

his age was criticised - he was 69

a third candidate, john anderson - moderate conservative, stood for the newly formed national unity party

what happened in the final television debate between reagan and carter?

until the final debate reagan and carter were equal in the polls

during the debate reagan asked carter ‘are you better off than you were four years ago?’ - many think this is what won him the election

what were the results of the in 1980 election?

reagan won a majority of the popular vote - 50.7% compared to carter’s 41%

he won an overwhelming majority in the electoral college - 489 to 44

republicans won control of the senate for the first time in 25 years

also gained seats in the house of representatives but the democrats remained in control

what happened at the assassination attempt in 1981?

he was shot in the chest and severely wounded

he told his wife nancy ‘honey, i forgot to duck’ - endeared him to many americans

what is reaganomics?

reagan’s economic philosophy

emphasised low taxes and deregulation - which was thought would stimulate the economy

what is supply-side economics?

if taxes were cut, especially for businesses, the increased money left from profits could be used to invest in growing their businesses and the economy

they would then expand and employ more people, also paying the employees a higher wage

the employees would then use their higher wages and low taxes to spend in the economy

this spending then helps companies make more money and the cycle continues

what were the issues with supply side economics?

corporations and shareholders tended to keep more profits than they reinvested into their businesses and the economy

the wealthiest gained even more wealth and the gap of inequality grew - furthered by the fact that less taxes meant less government spending

welfare programs for the poorest were reduced or cut

what is deregulation?

removing federal restrictions from businesses

e.g. minimum wage, hours

what did reagan say in his speech to congress in 1981?

tax cuts would revive the economy

wanted to cut $40 billion from the proposed 1982 federal budget by minimising and cutting welfare programmes

deregulation would allow businesses to grow - increased profits would increase tax revenue which would pay off the deficit

wanted to increase cold war military spending

different to the president’s usual first meeting with congress - he wanted his whole economic plan passed in one single piece of legislation

what was reagan’s budget program for economic recovery?

cut the federal deficit - reducing government domestic spending to decrease deficit from 22% of GNP to 19% of GNP

reduce taxes

deregulation - removing government controls, limit and power in the economy

control the money supply - aims to keep inflation low

what was the 1981 omnibus budget reconciliation act (ORA)?

reagan’s budget plan

initially wanted $45 billion worth of cuts - achieved $35 billion of cuts across 212 federal programmes after negotiations with congress

what was the 1981 economic recovery tax act (ERA)?

reagan’s tax reforms

phased in a 23% cut in individual tax rates over three years

top tax rates fell from 70% to 50%, whilst the bottom tax rates only fell from 14% to 11%

linked taxes to inflation, so people would not have to pay more taxes if the value of money decreased

how had the government changed since 1900?

in 1900, the federal government was small and did little to intervene - dual federalism, left most domestic issues for state governments to deal with

large change due to the new deal - government became heavily involved in people's lives, introduced government programmes to deal with issues like the great depression

interventionist philosophy continues after WW2 - e.g. GI bill, provided jobs and training to veterans, followed FDR’s example of keynesian economics

LBJ’s ‘war on poverty’ increased the size of the federal government - new departments were opened to deal with a range of societal issues

what were reagan’s goals?

wanted to cut back on the size and scope of the federal government

believed the american dream was when people improved their own lives, and they didn’t want a handout form the government - new federalism

wanted to bring america back to a nation that focused on individual liberty and entrepreneurship

hoped cutting the size of the government would help to balance the economy alongside the tax cuts - due to the tax cuts, the government wouldn’t be able to afford all of their programmes

was the reagan administration successful in reducing the size of the government?

cut department of education staff by 25%

cut education grants by 63%

cut benefits under aids to families with dependent children (AFDC)

civilian employment in the government rose by 3% - due to reagan’s focus on national defence, civilian employment rose by 11.5% in the defence department

what was the scandal with the savings and loans companies?

cost taxpayers a lot of money

reagan signed a bill that increased the amount of federal insurance available to savings and loans depositors and authorised them to make more risky investments

no attention was paid to the corruption of these companies and many collapsed in the late 1980s

$132 billion bailout was required from public funds - costliest financial scandal in US history

what problems were there in 1981-82?

in 1982, the government deficit nearly doubled to $110.6 billion and total national debt was more than $1 trillion

reagan passed the tax equity and fiscal responsibility bill in response - reversed some of the 1981 tax concessions to businesses, increased taxes on cigarettes and airline tickets

US entered a severe recession - many lost their jobs

reagan’s slogan was ‘stay the course’

what was the 1986 tax reform act?

reduced the number of tax brackets from fourteen to two

reduced tax rates - highest tax rate decreased from 50% to 28%

exempted millions of low-income families from tax payment

what was the situation by 1989?

there were 18 million new jobs - less unemployment

inflation problem was solved

increasing deficits in the balance of trade turned the US into a debtor nation - first time since 1914

national debt doubled from $1 trillion to $2 trillion - paying interest on debt was the third largest thing in the federal budget

what were the impacts of reagan’s reductions?

reduced size of government - not as much as reagan wanted

federal register (list of federal government rules and regulations) - cut from 87,000 pages to 64,000

big companies were often successful at the expense of smaller ones - bigger companies bought smaller ones when they started to fail, which saw a rise in conglomerates (big, powerful companies that controlled businesses in multiple fields)

utility companies reduced services to unprofitable areas - rural regions suffered

environmental issues suffered

trade shifted and imports rose - created competition and cheaper goods for customers, hurt american businesses

what was reagan’s opinion on environmentalism?

had little interest in ‘green issues’

took an anti-environmentalist position on the use of land for industrial purposes

did little to regulate the nuclear industry, which was responsible for some serious leaks from military complexes

vetoed the renewal of clean water act on grounds of expenses - cost $18 billion

vetoed the identical 1987 water quality control act - overridden by congress

what was reagan do about organised labour?

in 1981, 12,000 air-traffic controllers went on strike for higher wages and shorter hours - violated a no-strike agreement as they were members of the professional air traffic controllers union

reagan fired all of the workers, sent in the military and revoked the federal government’s certification of the union

he directed the department of transportation to train 12,000 people to fill the vacant posts

what did reagan do in foreign affairs?

his administration supported anti-communist movements across the world

after 1985, he established a cordial relationship with gorbachev

helped to bring about a nuclear forces treaty in 1987 - first accord for comprehensive nuclear arms control

what did reagan do about defence?

said ‘defence is not a budget item’ - spend huge sums on weapons

was interested in the notion of a space shield that would protect the US from soviet missiles - research was undertaken, star wars project

what did reagan do about welfare?

saw welfare programmes as a disincentive to work, which worsened the plight of the poor

sharp reduction in spending on food stamps, school meals and childcare

gave little help to the increasing number of homeless people

social security, medicare and farming subsidy costs rose under reagan

what did reagan do about civil rights?

supported the justice department in its efforts to undo affirmative action programmes

opposed bussing

in the 1980s, black males fell further than any group in terms of wages and jobs

upset the NAACP in 1981 by choosing to go horse riding instead of meeting them, and again in 1982 when he likened the welfare state to slavery

of his judicial appointments, only 24 were of an ethnic minority out of 368 - seven were black, fifteen were hispanic and two were asian

criticised the civil rights and voting rights acts

vetoed the 1988 civil rights restoration act - overruled by congress

what did reagan do about abortion?

persuaded congress to ban medicaid-funded abortions

discouraged the use of protection

encouraged anti-abortion organisations

created ‘chastity centres’

in brown v kendrick (1988), the supreme court denied federal funding to pro-choice clinics - supported the government move to block federally funded pregnancy clinics from even discussing abortion with patients

tried pass a constitutional amendment to overturn roe v wade and ban abortion - failed

what did reagan do about homosexuality?

did little during the AIDS crisis - conservatives believed it was linked to immoral behaviour

in bowers v hardwick (1986), the supreme court upheld a georgia state law that criminalised sodomy - another 24 states also had laws against ‘deviant behaviour’

some liberal states, e.g. massachusetts, passed laws that banned homophobic discrimination

what did reagan do about drugs?

it was difficult to to crack down on banks laundering drug money - mostly due to reagan’s deregulation programs

focused more on catching and punishing dealers and users, instead of tackling poverty and rehabilitating the addicted

nancy reagan created the ‘just say no’ campaign in 1982

what did reagan do about women’s rights?

opposed the equal rights amendment act

appointed the first female supreme court justice - sandra day o’connor, who was pro-choice

under reagan, more women entered the workforce and there was a slight shift in the gender pay gap - in 1980, women earned 62% of men’s salaries, in 1990 this had increased to 72%

what happened in the 1984 election?

ran against walter mondale

responded to a question about his age by saying ‘i’m not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience’

won 58.8% of the popular vote and every state except two

why was reagan popular?

he was amiable - known as the ‘great communicator’, had natural charm

got on well with congress - had the support and trust of the majority of the american people, often invited members of congress to the white house

worked well with the media - used his charm and charisma to cover any possible weaknesses

had a clear vision of the american dream - shared the view of many americans that people would achieve through independent hard work

assassination attempt - he won support when he apologised to his wife for ‘forgetting to duck’

economic and tax reforms - sweeping legislation proved that he meant business

re-election for a second term - crushed his opponent, received 525 of 538 electoral college votes

end of the cold war - many thought reagan forced the USSR into conceding the arms race

what was the iran-contra affair?

reagan supported the anti-communist contras in nicaragua, but they were largely funded by the cocaine trade - boland agreement prevented the department of defence and CIA from financially supporting them

he made a deal to exchange seven american hostages in iran for weapons

the US government allocated $30 million for the weapons - $18 million was channelled to the contras in nicaragua

lieutenant colonel oliver north admitted to diverting the funds but also that reagan knew about it

the tower commission said that reagan’s lack of oversight allowed iran-contra to happen but didn’t implicate him directly

why were reagan’s economic policies criticised?

unemployment remained high

under reagan the rich became richer - it is not clear that this ‘trickled down’ to the poor

the US economy experienced less growth than in the 1960s and 70s

the national debt tripled

the US became the world’s biggest debtor nation

trade deficit increased massively - by 1990 it was over $150 billion a year

foreign investors ‘bought’ up US real estate

why were reagan’s social policies criticised?

he showed little sympathy for the various minority groups

slashed welfare budgets

did nothing to enhance female rights

did little to help drug addicts, the homeless, people suffering from AIDS or those suffering from mental illness

despite standing for traditional family values, divorce rates and unmarried teenage pregnancies increased under reagan

why was reagan called the teflon president?

he was lucky and nothing ‘stuck’ on him

the fall in world oil prices came to his rescue economically

he was fortunate in foreign policy - the USSR was in difficulties by the 1980s

he managed to escape the iran-contra scandal, and a number of others involving public officials he had appointed

why was reagan’s political and economic skill praised?

he achieved most of his aims

he reduced federal taxes

after 1983, the US entered the longest peacetime period of uninterrupted economic growth in its history

he left the US in a stronger economic position

he boosted american morale

he was genuinely popular - his popularity strengthened the institution of the presidency

why was reagan’s foreign policy praised?

he stood up to the USSR in his first term as president

he responded creatively to gorbachev’s overtures after 1985

his friendly relationship with gorbachev helped to end the cold war - he helped the US win the cold war

what is reagan’s political legacy?

he seemed to have restored faith in the imperial presidency

in the 1980s, the US shifted politically to the right, and reagan was able to hand power to his vice president bush

the coalitions of economic and social conservatives who supported reagan were fragile and did not guarantee continued republican dominance - proved by democrat bill clinton’s success in 1992

what is reagan’s economic legacy?

during the 1980s, the US moved from deep recession to economic prosperity

despite fears that the tripling of the national debt, due to tax cuts and massive defence spending, prosperity continued through the 1990s

unemployment was low

the stock market boomed

there was a budget surplus instead of a deficit

reagan’s pro business policies created opportunities for the development of new technologies

what is reagan’s social legacy?

his economic policies benefited the rich - there is little evidence that their wealth ‘trickled down’ to poorer americans

the gap of inequality widened - by the mid 1990s, the richest americans owned 40% of the nation’s wealth

crime, violence and drug addiction increased in the poorest areas

what is reagan’s international legacy?

his policies contributed considerable to the break up of the USSR

the US was the world’s lone superpower for two decades after 1989