Conservative Revolution
Describe the differences between liberal and conservative viewpoints
1964 election - marked low point for conservatism. Barry Goldwater lost election. 1980, Ronald Reagan became prez.
Liberals- favored gov’t intervention to help the needy
late 1970s, fed gov’t should play large role in improving American lives
Valued social programs that helped the poor, unemployed, elderly, etc
Sponsored laws that protected rights of minorities/women (esp. post WWII period)
Supported great gov’ts regulation of industry
Favored cooperating w/ international organizations like United Nations
Republican- favored allowing free market, private organizations, and individuals to do that
Felt large central gov’t endangered economic growth/individual choice
liberal policies of 1960s-1970s left legacy of rising inflation and enormous waste–criticized liberal solution of “throwing money” at social problems
Reduce taxes and limit gov’t regulation of industry for economic growth
nonconservatives/traditionalists- warned abt dangers of society abandoning traditional values in favor of new freedoms shown in mass media. concern for youth was cornerstone for many conservatives and in w/ conservatives’ religious beliefs
Anticommunism was third leg of modern conservatism–focused on dangers posed to U.S. by the Soviet Union. Questioned wisdom of dente policy followed by Prez Nixon, Ford, and Cart. Fought against SALT II in Senate
Both-Core American beliefs like freedom and equality
Analyze the reasons behind the conservatism in the early 1980s
1940/50s - line separating Democrat and Republican blurred.
Both developed bipartisan foreign policy aimed at containing communism.
significant role for the gov’t in foreign affairs
1960/70s - Republicans beame increasingly critical of liberal policies of Democrats
The New Right- Resurgence conservative movement was called, grew rapidly and was a coalition of several diff groups with varying ideas and goals
Vietnam war and 1960 urban riots divided same people who rallied around prez johnson’s vision of Great Society. Rise of counterculture alienated midwestern americans/white conservative christians in south
Watergate, 1970 oil crises, and Iran hostage crisis weakened public’s fath in federal gov’t
Northern industries, shifts in economy, dampened optimism for future. Great Society was supported because Johnson suggested war on poverty and other new programs would not demand higher taxes. When economy stagnated, liberal ideas were less attractive
Many conservatives believed liberal policies caused stagflation and other economic issues in 1970s. Believed gov’t taxed citizens and businesses too heaviy and spet too much on wrong programs
Unfunded mandates- programs required but not paid for by the fed gov’t
Federal welfare programs also criticized, cause they rewarded lack of effort. Believed Great Society made poverty worse, not better–it contributed ti # of children born out of wedlock and encouraged decline of trad family. Also believed Affirmative Action programs were reverse discrimination
sagebrush rebels- activists who believed federal gov’t controlled too much land in western states. Thought fed gov’t should give control of land to the states, to be used to their best economic advantage. Most environmentalists opposed movement, not wanting to expose persevered land for developments
Moral Majority- founded by Reverand Jerry Falwell 1979 - political organization working to fullfill religious goals and worried about decline of trad family.
Opposed Engel v. Vitale 1962 - forbade religious teaching in schools and
Roe v. Wade 1973 - Legalized abortion
They also condemned Equal Rights Amendment and homosexuality
They boosted Republican Party’s chances of winning presidency by reach out to Americans who had traditionally not participated in the political process. Moral Majority registered 2mil new voters before the 1980 presidential election,
One tactic was to distribite Moral Majority “report cards” on candidates, almost always favored republicans.
Demographic/population trends strengthened conservative movement- Historically, northern cities were stronghold of liberal democrats. When more moved to suburbs, their attachment to liberalism waes as they struggled financially in 1970s.
Republicans attacked school busing as a form of social enginerring that threatened long cherished ideal of neighborhood schools-wanted to convince switching of sides,
Republicans benefited from Rust Belt from the Sun Belt and historical realignment o white voters in the deep south. Most white southerners voted for democratic pary but following the civil rights legslations, they shifted their parties, In 1980s, Republicans dominated political party in the region
Explain why Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980
Ronald Raegen - More charismatic and polised than Goldwater, Reagan made clear opposition to big gov’t, his support for military, and faith in trad values. He also radiated optimism, convincing ppl he would prosper
Background: Born in Tampico, Illinois, 1911. Suffered in Great Depression as young adult before becoming movie actor in Hollywood. He only appeared in “B”/low-budget films and famous for Knute Rockne (based n life of Notre Dame’s legendary football coach)
When acting started to weaken, he became spokesperson for General Electric and toured the nation giving speeches. Even though a staunch New Dealer, Reagan became Goldwater conservative. In speeches, he criticized big gov’t, high taxes, and dangers of communism.
1964-near end of Goldwater’s campaign, Reagan delivered nationally telivisezed address to bolster Goldwwater’s campaign. Won admiration of many conservatives.
To years later- Reagan won governorship of California. Served for 2 terms and nearly won Republican presidential nomination in 1976. In 1980, he won nomination in landslide as Jimmy Carter as opponent
Carter looked like lame duck and the stress of Iran Hostage situation along w. Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan, it made it easy for Raegen to defeat him. Race remained relatively close until a week before election, Reagan and Carter held their only presidential debate
Reagan’s gifts as a communicator shone. He appeared friendly and even-tempered, calming fears he did not have enough experience to serve as prez. On election day, Reagan won 50.6% of popular vote. Because most states award clectoral votes on “winner takes all” basis, Raven wn overwhelming majority of electoral votes despite narrow margin he won on popular vote.
Analyze Reagan’s economic policies as prez
Reaganomics - Theory of supply-side economics rested on assumption that if taxes were reduced, people will work more and have more money to spend, causing economy to grow. Gov’t will then collect more taxes. To cut taxes while still balancing federal budget, Reagan needed to redue fed spending Democrats/Republicans both liked
Eonomic Reovery Act 1981 - Reduced taxes by 25% over 3 years. The richest Americans received the largest tax cuts. Reagan justified this move by saying the wealthy would use the money they saved to invest in new businesses, which would help everyone.
Raegen convinced Congress to cut $40billion from fed budget, mostly by cuttng spending for social programs
Deregulation- Raegan also reduced gov’t’s role in economy. Removed of gov’t control over industry. by mid ‘80s, Congress deregulated airline, telecommunications, and banking industries and also cut funding for fed agencies that oversaw many other industries
1980-1982, economy faced serious recession. Unemployment rose 10%+ and recession hit blue-collar workers. Farmers, facing overseas competition, lost their farms.
Paul Volker - head of Federal Reserve Board - tried to tame great inflation of the 197ps that contributed to recession. But in early 1983, the economy began to turn around. Inflation fell dramatically and The Gross National Product(anual income earned by Americans/American businesses) expanded at healthy pace
The number of poor people ncreased though. Latin American/Asian Immigratns continued coming and 7.3mil+ legal immigrants and hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants entered the country
Budget deficit - Shortfall between the amount of money spent and the amount taken in by the gov’t. Reagan increased defense budget but failed to win huge cuts in gov’t spending in other areas. $79bil, 1981 to $221bil in 1986
National Debt- the amount of money the fed gov’t owes to owners of gov’t bonds. Rose to $2.5trillion
Gramm Rudman-Hollings Act 1985- Response to budget deficits. sought to balance the budget by 1990 by requiring automatic cuts in fed spending if the defitcit exceeded by a certain amount. Fed budget deficit set new records into early ‘90s
Savings and Loan, or S&L, crisis 1989- exacerbated deficit problems. 1k savings and loan banks failed, some beause of fraudulent behavior and others because they made too many risky loans.
critics blamed Raegan’s deregulaion policies for encouring banks to invest in riskier propositions
To prevent further panic, fed gov’t spent $200bil to bail out depositors at the failed banks
Summarize how Reagan strengthened the conservative movement
“It is morning in America”- Reagan’s upbeat spirit that he displayed. March 30, 1981, a disturbed man named John Hinckley, Jr. tried to assasinate the prez. One bullet from from the gun lodge in his chest. According to an account: “I hope you are all Republicans” Raegens told his doctors
1984, Reagan won in landslide and easily defeated Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to be nominated for vice prez by major political party. Democrats still maintained control of House of Representatives
During Reagen’s first two terms, he appointed judges who he hoped would reverse liberal drift of the federal courts. He appointed: Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy to supreme court + elevated William Rehnquist (famouse conservative) to Chief Justice in 1986
Sandra Day O’Connor 1981 - first female Justice and moderate conservative. She consistently voted to uphold Roe v. Wade which Reagan opposed
Equal Access Act- Congress passed near end of Reagan’s first term. Act required public secondary schools to allow any group equal access to school facilities. Conservative Christian groups supposrted it cause many public schools did not allow religious groups to meet on school property
Supreme Court confirmed constitutionarity in 1990 Board of Education of Westide Community Schools v. Mergens
George H.W. Bush - Reagan’s Vice prez for eight years. Bush campaigned against Massachusetts governer Michael Dukakis 1988. Both candidates attacked the other using negative campaign ads. Bush cemented his support among conservatives by promising not to raise taxes and making him defender of trad values. Democrats won majority of seats in both houses of congress
Sought to control fed spending by encouraging Americans to volunteer. Thought gov’t should help the needy
Evaluate the steps taken to address various problems in 1980s and early 1990s
1981, thousands of traffic controllers went on strike, Reagan refused to negotiate with the Professional Air Traddic Controllers Organization (PATCO) and fired striking workers because they violated law forbidding federal employees from striking.
Many admired Reagan’s strong, decisive stance
Some union supporters claimed that Reagan’s actions represented an assault on labor movement
Rising cost of Social Security caused concern. Number of elderly in U.S. grew, Social Security system began to collect less money than it paid out. 1983, Reagan sighed Social Security Reform Act - raised minimum retirement age + increased payroll taxes for Social Security. provided temporary fix but did not solve solve long-term Social Security problems
1983, Department of Education issued A Nation at Risk. Study showed students were consistently scoring lower on standardized tests as time passed. Report argued American’s schools failed to prepare students properly to compete with students around the globe
Vouchers - gov’t checks. conservatives called for them so parents could use them for private school tuition.
Conservatives argued vouchers would force public schools to improve in order to attract.retain students
Liberals in Congress argued vouchers would take much-needed money away from public schools
Acquired Immonodeficiancy Syndrome (AIDS) - first appeared in 1981. AIDS is the last stage of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which attacks immune system of its victims. There is no cure. AIDS spread mainly among homo men and intravenous drug users at first. Them virus infected differnt groups of people. 1994, AIDS killed 250k Americans. Prez Reagan responded slowly to epidemic and George H.W.’s presidentcy rose research on it dramatically
Analyze the ways that Ronald Reagan challenged communism and the Soviet Union
Under Reagan, U.S. commited itself to largest peactime millitary buildup in its history, Reagan dedicated billions of $$ to delevopment and production of B-1 and B-2 bombers, MX missile systems, and etc
In spit of massive protests by the nucleur freeze movement in the U.S. and abroad, Reagan administration placed new generation of nuclear missiles in Europe
Raegan supported massive millitary buildup because he did not believe Soviet Union could afford to spend as much on defense as the U.S. could.
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) - proposed program in which land and space-based lasers would destroy any missiles aimed at U.S. before they could reach their targets. Some dubbed them “Star Wars” based on the movies cause it seemed unrealistic
U.S. funded and trained the mujahdeen, anti-soviet rebels in Afghanistan since Reagan though supporting anticommies would weaken Soviet Union. Reagan’s advisors believed that w/ U.S. help, guerrillas could drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan. In 1988, Soviet forces finally began to wthdraw after years of fierce Afghan resistance
Secretary of State Alexander Haig feared ewly formed Sandinista gov’t of Niguragua gave Soveits a “safe house” in America’s backyard. To counter this threat, administration backed a group of anticommie counterrevolutionaries (Contras)
U.S. supported right-wing gov’t in El Salvador as it battled leftist rebels. Many human rights activists strongly objected to this policy; even U.S. Ambassador Robert White described the legal system in El Salvador as “rotten” and called for U.S. to suspend aid to the nation. Instead, Congress made funding for El Salvador’s gov’t dependent on the nation making progress on human rights
1983, Reagan acted to counter another perceived threat in Western Hemisphere. Members of radical lefitst movement, w/ help from Cuba, violantly ousted Grenadian prime minister. October 25, 1983, U.S. troops invaded Grenada to prevent island from becoming commie outpost and to protect the lives of American medical students. EVen though legal grounds for this invasion proved questionable, most Americans approved decision.
1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became prez of Soviet Union. Gorbachev ushered in new Soviet era by pursuing twin policies of glasnost and perestroika
Glasnost- means “a new openness”
Perestroika- means reforming soviet system ex: moving away from socialist or state-controlled economy. Reforms created opening shift in relations between two superpowers
Gorbachev started reforms cause Soviet Union’s economy was in shambles. Nation faced regular shortages of food and its factories and workers could not compete w/ western counterparts. Huge chunk of Soviet economy’s money went toward military. War in Afghanistan drained Soviet resources. Gorbachev realized his nation could not match the miliatary build up of Reagan’s
Gorbachev’s policies/personality helped soften the Soviet Union’s international image. Reagan responded to change by moderating his own stance toward Soviet Union. They met 4 times 1985-1989. During their final meeting in Moscow, Reagan and Gorbachev toasted at state dinner, toured sights like old friends, and held joint press conferences. At press conference, reporter asked abt Reagan’s “evil empire” comment on Soviet Union. Reagan said that was from another era.
Gorbachev allowed prez to address students @ Moscow State University on the benefits of free-enterprise system and democracy. Even before summit, the nations had signed historical nuclear arms pact and had begun negotiations on the START I Treaty - would reduce # of nuclear weapons in world
Explain why communism colllasped in Europe and in Soviet Union
Cold War came to end after Reagan’s speech in Moscow. Berlin Wall came down; Poland Czheokoslovakia, and Hngary held democratic elections; and Soviet Union disintegrated into numerous separate republics.
Fall of Berlin wall symbolized end of communism in Europe. For decades, the wall had blocked travel from communist East Berlin to democratic West Berlin. Guards shot who escaped East Berlin
November 1989, following fall of East Germany’s communist gov’t , East German authorities opened the wall’s gates. Thousands climbed atop the wall; some even took sledgehammers and chupped away at the barricade. Within a year, East and West Hermany would reunite as single nation
Commies also lost power in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania 1989; Albania 1990; Yugoslavia 1991
August 1991, hard-liners in Soviet Union attempted to stage a coup in a last grasp attempt to maintain commie rule. When millions of Russians led by Boris Yeltsin ralied in the streets of Moscow in support of Gorbachev the coup fell apart.
Commie party lost power and soviet union seperated into 15 independent republics. Boris Yeltsin became new leader of largest new republica, the Russian Federation
Historians do not totally agree on what caused the Soviet Union to collapse Most acknowledge that Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost opeened floodgates to rebellions against Soviet domination of Eastern European. They note his perestroika fostered a challenged commie rule within Soviet Union. Yet, a # of scholars give Reagan credit for bringing end to Cold War.
By dedicating America to massive arms buildup he fastened collaspe of Soviet economy. In turn, this compelled Gorbachev to promote reform at home and relinquish control of Eastern Europe
President George H.W. Bush met and signed agreements w/ first Gorbachev and then Yeltsin to scale down an even eliminate certain types of nuclear weapons. Bush and Yeltsin issued joint statement in 1992 pledging friendship + cooperation. The long Cold War which had absorbed so much of the energy and resources of Soviet Union and the United States since 1945 was finally over
Describe other foreign policy challenges that forced the United States in the 1980s
1982k Reagan sent a group of 800 U.S. Marines to Lebanon as part of international force trying to bring peace to a nation torn by civil war.
October 23, 1983 - truck loaded with thousands of explosives smashed through barriers at the headquarters of the U.S. Marines in Beirut/Lebanon’s capitol and into a 4-story building that had hundreds of millitary personnel - killed 241 marines
Reagan withdrew remaining marines in February 1984, illustrated complicated Middle Eastern politics
U.S. clashed w/Libya, lef by Muamar al-Qaddafi who Reagan disliked. Libya supported terrorist groups and in 1986, following terrorist attack on Berlin nightlub, which Raegen blamed on Qaddafi, U.S. warplanes bombed Libya. Ir raid killed one of Qaddafi’s daughters, even though he lived. Crittism of U.S. dwindled
January 20, 1981- 20 minutes after he took oath of office, Iran released all 52 American hostages since 1979 But during second term, the Iran-Contra affair badly tarnished Raegen’s reputation
Iran Contra Affair- Began when U.S. sold weapons to Iran in 1985 in exchchange for Iran’s promse to pressure terrorist groups in Lebanon to release some hostages. Plan didn’t work, contradicted administration’s policy of refusing to negotiate w/ terrrorists. Then, the administration used money from sale to fund the contras of Nicaragua, despite fact Congress banned sending funds to Contras 1983. News of the deal came out in 1986
Prez Reagan acccepted responsibility for actions but never admitted to ordering aides to support the Contras. Ultimately, several leading administration officials and a top aide, Oliver North, were convicted on charges stemming from the scandal although many of the conviction were overturned on technical grounds
Regean still left office with extremely high approval ratings
Analyze why George H.W. Bush decided to use force in some foreign disputes and not in others
When Soviet Union collapsed, U.S. became the only unopposed superpower poised to take a leading role in world affairs under the leadership of prez H.W. Bush
George H.W. Bush - Graduate of Yale and veteran of WWII. Served as U.S. ambassador to the UN, as director of the CIA, and as Reagan’s vice prez. His experience would be put to the test as America faced a series of difficult international crises during 1980s-1990s
1980s-1990s - Latin America experienced wave of democracy.
In Central America, a peace plan devised by Costa RIcan leader Oscar Arias brought free elections in Nicaragua and the end of a long civil war in El Salvador.
In Chile, notorious military dictator Augusto Pinochet gave up power
Since the Nixon administration, gov’t had been waging a “war on drugs” - attempt to stop illegal drug use by going after both sellers and users. Groups of racksteers in Latin America supplied significant amounts of illegal drugs in U.S.
Bush Administration arrested and tried several international drug figures: Eduardo Martinez Romero - reputed financier of a Colombian drug cartel.
December 1989, Bush sent 12k+ U.S. troops to invade Panama and arrest Panama’s dictator Manuel Noriega. He was put to trial and Nortega was convicted for several charges of drug trafficking and sentence to 40 years in prison
Spring 1989, Chinese students captured the world’s attention by staging prodemocracy protests in Tiananmen Square, heart of Beijing. Many Americans hoped it might result of fall of commie in China. Instead, June 4, Chinese tanks rolled into Beijibg and killed hundreds of protesters, crushing the demonstrations and imprisoned many activists
Bush administration condemned action and suspended arms sales to China. But Bush didn’t believe that stuffer penalties would influence Chinese Leaders. He made pragmatic choice to remain engaged w/ China economically and diplomatically, rathern then cut off ties with nation
China resisted changes, long overdue ones were taking place in South Africa. For years, SA gov’t, controlled by white, maintained oppressive system of rigid segregation called aparttheid. Leader of the Antiaparhed movement, Nelson Mandela, was imprisoned since 1962.
Late 1960s, Protests against apartheid within SA and around globe grew. In U.S. many private firms divested - withdrew investments from SA. Congress imposed economic sanctions instead of fully divesting not wanting to destabilize the struggling nation
Prez Bush met w/ Mandela after his released in 1990 and endorsed the drive to bring democracy to SA. Soon, apartheid began to dismantle and SA elected Mandela as their leader to 1994 in first free elections
W/ fall of communism in 1991, Yugoslavia disintegrated in bloody civil war. Bush chose not to send troops cause he feared the tangled conflict could embroil the U.S. in another Vietnam.
Not until 1992, did he back a modest UN plan to restore peace in Bosnia, one of the new republics carved out of Yugoslavia. But then 150k civilians had died
Bush administration acted more swiftly to protect human rights in Somalia. As part of “Operation Restore Hope” U.S. Marines landed in this East African nation in December 1992 to help establish cease-fire between rival warlords and to deliver food to thousands of starving people. American humanitarian mission reinforced UN efforts at peacekeeping and relief. Even some of Bush’ most persistent critics applauded his decision to intervene Somalia
Summarize the Persian Gulf War and its results
Most important foreign policy took place in Persian Gulf. August 2, 1990 Iraq invaded its tiny neighbor Kuwaii. Nearly 150k Iraq troops quickly overran Kuwaii forces
Saddam Hussein - Iraq’s ruthles dictator had run the middle Eastern nation with an iron fist since 1979. By invading Kuwaii, Hussein would control 20% of oil produced around the world. The U.S. feared ow Hussein would use the influence controlling such a large amount of oil would give him. In addition, Saudia Arabia possessed even more massive oil reserves
U.S. did not want Hussein to seek to gain control of these reserves next. Bush made it clear that he would not tolerate Iraq’s aggression against its neighbor. He worked to build international coalition and back a UN resolution demanding that Iraq troops withdraw
By late fall, 700k troops assembled in Saudia Arabia, including 500k American forces. Britain, France, Egypt, and Saudia Arabia..etc also sent troos. Other nations like Japan agreed to help pay for the presence of these troops, along with the economic santions against Iraq, could convince Hussein to withdraw his soldiers.
At the same time, prez asked for and recieved from Cngress the authority to use force if necessary to back up the UN’s resolution that Iraq leave Kuwaii
Operation Desert Storm - Name given to American-led attack on Iraqi forces began on January 16 1991
General Colin Powell - the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Norman Schqarzkopf devised and executed a strategy that began with 5 weeks of devastating serial bombardment on Iraqi forces. Iraq countered by launching Scud missiles on both coalition forces and Israel. Although missiles did little serious damage, they struck terror in the hearts many who feared they were armed w/ chemical warhead
February 23, Coalition troops stormed into Kuwait. Easily overmatched, Iraqi troops surrendered or fled, setting fire to Kuwaiti oil rigs along the way. Less than 5 days after the ground war began, Iraq agreed to a UN cease-fire . It had lost 25k soldiers. Americans deaths totaled 147.
Bush then chose to limit American actions to enforcing the UN resolution. The coalition’s forces would compel Iraq to leave Kuwait but would not continue on to Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, to topple Saddam Hussein. As a result, Hussein and his regime survived the war.
Bush’s public approval rating skyrocketed after