Lecture 17 — Carter, Iran Crisis & Rise of the New Right

Jimmy Carter Presidency (Post-Nixon Transition, $1976-1980$)

• Background & Election

  • Ran against Gerald Ford in $1976$; marketed himself as an outsider / honest “peanut-farmer” despite being former Georgia governor & nuclear-sub officer.
  • Campaign theme: purge the Watergate-era “corruption” (linking all GOP figures to Nixon).

• Domestic Agenda

  • Embraced ongoing environmental movement (earth-day generation, EPA momentum).
  • Installed bulky early solar panels on White House roof ($1977$) → symbolic push toward renewables.
  • Target: $20\%$ U.S. energy from renewables by “the year $2000$” (actual figure around $8\%$ at slide’s last update).
  • Rationale: (1) reduce dependence on Middle-East oil during ongoing oil shocks; (2) climate-change mitigation long-view.

• Human-Rights–Centric Foreign Policy

  • Ideological carry-over from domestic civil-rights momentum (African-American, Chicano, AIM, feminist, environmental).
  • Pardon of Vietnam draft-dodgers: unconditional return invitation after ~$10$ yrs exile.
  • Camp David Accords ($1979$)
  • Brokered peace between Egypt (Pres. Anwar Sadat) & Israel (PM Menachem Begin).
  • Egypt formally recognizes Israel; Israel concedes Sinai territory → first major Arab-Israeli peace, brief diplomatic triumph.

“Crisis of Confidence” & Late-$1970s$ Geopolitics

• Vietnam Hangover

  • Public doubts about militarized world policing; war-weariness shapes cautious policy.

• Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan ($1979$)

  • USSR supports communist coup along its border → becomes USSR’s “Vietnam.”

• Iranian Revolution & Hostage Crisis

  • U.S.-backed Shah (cancer treatment in U.S.) toppled; Ayatollah Khomeini establishes Islamic Republic ($1979$).
  • Nov. $4$, $1979$: Student militants seize U.S. embassy, take $52$ hostages → ordeal lasts $444$ days.
  • Rescue attempt (Operation Eagle Claw) fails: sandstorm, helicopter crash, wreckage paraded on Iranian TV → U.S. humiliation.
  • Canadian Caper (ARGO): Canadian diplomats exfiltrate $6$ Americans using forged Canadian passports under mock movie cover.
  • Hostages released minutes after Reagan’s inauguration ($Jan$ $20$, $1981$) → perceived Carter failure, factor in $1980$ election landslide.

Components of “The New Right” Coalition

• General Definition: re-invigoration & realignment of GOP conservatism after $~30$-yr cycle; louder, agenda-setting subset rather than new party.

$1$. Neoconservatives

• Literally “new conservatives” (Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, et al.).
• Tenets
  • Moral-decline narrative: oppose perceived erosion of nuclear-family values (hippie culture, feminism, divorce rates).
  • Skepticism of welfare state: programs (food-stamps, Medicaid) create dependency → “zoo-animal” metaphor.
  • Hawkish foreign policy: cure Vietnam malaise by flexing power.
  • Armed both sides in Iran-Iraq War ($1980-1988$) → Iran-Contra subplot (secret missile sales fund Nicaraguan Contras).
  • Funded Afghan Mujahideen (incl. Osama Bin Laden) vs. USSR.

$2$. Religious Right / Evangelical Conservatives

• Leaders: Jerry Falwell (Moral Majority), Pat Robertson (CBN, 700 Club).
• Mobilized against $1960s-70s$ social liberalism: feminism, abortion legality, LGBTQ rights, school prayer bans.
• Early mastery of niche media ownership (cable/satellite channels) to bypass mainstream networks and craft narrative.

$3$. “Reagan Democrats”

• Blue-collar, union, traditionally Dem industrial voters of the Rust Belt (Buffalo → Milwaukee corridor).
• Upset over de-industrialization & off-shoring of steel/auto; receptive to GOP promises of job revival & patriotism.

Ronald Reagan: Persona & Campaign (Election $1980$)

• Former Hollywood actor, Screen Actors Guild president, governor of California.
• Skilled at visual/television staging; memorable slogans: “Let’s Make America Great Again.”
• Courtship of Religious Right (heavy god-language despite modest personal religiosity).
• Able to flip Rust-Belt counties (Macomb, Erie, Mahoning) → template later replicated by Trump $2016$.

Reagan-Era Economic & Defense Policies

• Supply-Side / “Trickle-Down” Economics

  • Tax Cuts: Economic Recovery Tax Act ($1981$); idea → richer businesses invest, benefits “trickle.”
  • Reality: federal revenue plunge → tax increases return by $1986$; deficit grows.

• Deregulation

  • Cuts to EPA, OSHA, social programs; frame: “government is the problem.”

• Defense Buildup

  • Massive Pentagon outlays; aim to end Soviet parity.
  • Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) aka “Star Wars” ($1983$): space-based lasers to intercept ICBMs; hugely expensive, technologically speculative.
  • Modern echo: Trump’s proposed “Space-based missile shield / Golden Dome.”

Public-Health & Science Headlines (Early $1980s$)

• AIDS / HIV Crisis

  • First U.S. cases $1981$, initially concentrated in gay community → stigma & panic (unknown transmission modes).
  • Notable figures: Freddie Mercury dies $1991$; Arthur Ashe $1993$; Magic Johnson living w/ HIV (diagnosed $1991$).
  • Advances: antiretrovirals; recent UK trials indicate potential cure pathways.

• Cancer Awareness Paradox

  • Longer life expectancy + smoking prevalence = rising cancer incidence.
  • Inspirational fundraising: Terry Fox’s “Marathon of Hope” ($1979-1980$) → $\approx1$ billion CAN$ (by $2018$) for research.

• Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster ($Jan$ $28$, $1986$)

  • Teacher-in-Space finalist Christa McAuliffe aboard.
  • Shuttle disintegrates $73$ sec after launch live on school TVs nationwide → national trauma; NASA safety overhaul.

First-Amendment Battlegrounds

• Fairness Doctrine Repeal

  • Doctrine (since $1949$) required balanced, non-partisan broadcast news.
  • Conservatives claim censorship; rise of cable → FCC retreats mid-$1980s$.
  • Result: growth of partisan outlets (CNN $1980$; Fox News, MSNBC $1990s$) → media polarization.

• PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) Hearings ($1985$)

  • Bipartisan group (Tipper Gore et al.) pushes “vulgar lyric” regulation.
  • Musicians (John Denver, Dee Snider) testify; industry opts for “Parental Advisory” label system.
  • Larger debate: artistic freedom vs. moral guardianship; prototype for later video-game / internet censorship fights.

Ethical, Philosophical & Modern Parallels

• Government Size vs. Morality: Neocon & Religious Right see big gov’t welfare & changing social norms as twin threats; policy = moral policing + market laissez-faire.
• Media Control: $1980s$ cable revolution mirrors $2010s$ social-media disruption—whoever masters new platform shapes public thought.
• Foreign-Policy Blowback: $1980s$ arming of Mujahideen → $2001$ consequences; illustrates unintended ethical costs of hawkish intervention.
• Recycled Political Playbooks: Trump era rhetoric (MAGA, industrial nostalgia, missile domes) closely mirrors Reagan-era strategies; underscores cyclic nature of U.S. partisan realignment every $\approx30$ yrs.

Names, Terms & Quick Reference

• Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Ayatollah Khomeini, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, Ronald Reagan, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Terry Fox, Christa McAuliffe, Tipper Gore, Dee Snider.
• Key Legislation/Programs: Camp David Accords, Operation Eagle Claw, SDI, Economic Recovery Tax Act, PMRC Parental Advisory, Fairness Doctrine Revocation.
• Pivotal Figures/Groups: Moral Majority, Mujahideen, Reagan Democrats, Neoconservatives, Religious Right.