🌺 The Reagan Years 🌺

Reagan’s road to the White House

• Americans not satisfied with Carter

• Reagan offers hope & change

• Reagan from his years as a lifeguard believes people do not want to be saved by someone else (its insulting and they are not thankful)

How did being an Actor help him?

• President of Screen Actors Guild = Dealing with Communists in the union shifts him towards conservative ideas

• Host of TV show = While traveling, he heard how average Americans describes high taxes and government regulations made it hard to get ahead

• Popular Speaker = Wealthy entrepreneurs impressed by Reagan's speech convince him to run for Governor of California.

1980 Election

• Appeals to Americans who were frustrated with the economy and worried the US had become weak internationally.

• Reagan promises to

  • Cut taxes across the board

  • Increase spending on defense

  • Social change; less government interferences (except wanted  a Amendment banning abortion.

Reagan’s Vs. Carter’s Speech

Bothe presidents said that it’s not the government’s job to help the people and that they just need to believe in themselves. Reagan was a better speaker and was able to say it w/o offending the people unlike Carter.

Reagan’s Assassination Attempt

• Attempted assassination by John Hinckley Jr. – fires 6 bullets

  • 69 days into the presidency

  • President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded

  • “Rawhide is ok” but he isn’t – punctured lung and internal bleeding

Reagan’s Domestic Policy

• Supply-side economics / Reaganomics

• Economy was weak because taxes were too high and took too much money away from investments

• Tax cuts for businesses and investors could use the money to make new investments, expand business and create new jobs.

• Keep interest rates high

Supply-side economics / Reaganomics / Trickle Down Economics

it would help corporations and the wealthy but very little would “trickle down” to the middle class and poor.

Budget Deficit

this increases when taxes are cut because the govt has less money.

How did Reagan try to control the budget deficit?

• To keep the deficit under control he proposed cuts to social programs (food stamps, school lunches, Medicare payments, unemployment compensation, housing subsidies and student loans.)

• Congress passed most cuts (after a struggle) but not enough to balance the budget

• Decided cutting taxes and military build up was more important than a balanced budget

Deregulation

he believed excessive government regulations was another cause of the poor economy

• Ended price controls → oil & gas 

• Stopped trying to regulate cable Tv

• Airline industry – led to price wars, cheaper fares and the founding of new airlines.

• Increased public lands that could be used oil drilling, mining and logging.

1984 Election

• Economic recovery had made Reagan popular

• Reagan vs. Democrat Walter Mondale (had been Carter’s VP)

• Reagan did not argue issues he emphasized the good economy

• Landslide - 59% popular vote and all the electoral votes except in Mondale’s home state.  – Reagan wins!

Geraldine Ferraro

First woman nominated to run for vice president for a major party.

Shifting the Judicial Balance

• Appointed three new Supreme Court Justices, bringing his conservative ideas

Sandra Day O’Connor

1^st female on the Supreme Court