NE

APUSH 1980-1992

  • Rise of the Conservative Movement
    • Rise of Berry Goldwater in the 1964 election
    • Reaction to:
    • New Deal liberalism and welfare state
    • Feminism
    • Legalization of abortion
      • Roe v. Wade - 1973
    • Sexual Revolution
    • Expansion of gay rights
    • Affirmative action policies
    • Drug use
    • Belief that these issues were undermined
    • Family and religious values
    • Work ethic
    • National security
    • “Moral Majority” movement, founded by Reverend Jerry Falwell
    • Rise of the “religious right”
  • Election of 1980
    • Election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 was an important milestone for the conservative movement
    • New Right
      • Opposed to a large federal government
    • Conservatives argued against liberal programs
    • Opposed government entitlement spending
      • Felt counterproductive in fighting poverty and stimulation of economic growth
  • Reagan and the Economy
    • Reagan favored supply-side economics
    • Reaganomics
    • Enacted significant tax cuts for the rich
    • Idea of trickle-down economics
    • Supported deregulation of many industries
    • Union membership continued to decline
    • Loss of manufacturing jobs
    • Anti-union policies
    • Federal budget was not balanced
    • Increased defense spending and tax cuts
  • Reagan’s Foreign Policy
    • Reagan asserted U.S. opposition to communism
    • Speeches
    • Evil Empire Speech
    • Limited Military Interventions
    • Grenada
    • Diplomatic Efforts
    • The relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev led to a relaxation of tensions
    • Military spending
    • Increased
    • Proposed Strategic Defense Initiative
      • Star Wars
  • Reagan Doctrine
    • 1979 Nicaragua
    • A Marxist group known as the Sandinista led a revolt against pro-American right-wig dictatorship
    • Reagan administration provided military aid to the Contras in their fight against the Sandinistas
    • Boland Amendment prevented further aid to the contras
    • Grenada
    • Pro-Cuban regime came to power after a coup
      • 1983
      • Reagan sent a small force of marines to return the pro-U.S. government to power
    • Iran-Contra Affair
    • Weapon sales to Iran funded Contras in Nicaragua
      • Illegal since it violated the Boland Amendment
      • Embarrassed, the Reagan administration
  • U.S. and the Soviet Union
    • Mikhail Gorbachev began a series of reforms
    • Glasnost
      • Openness
      • Greater political freedom
    • Perestroika
      • Slowly implemented capitalist reforms
    • Soviets pulled back in places such as Eastern Europe
    • Arms control agreements
    • 1987
      • Intermediate-Range nuclear forces Treaty
  • End of the Cold War
    • Factors
    • Political and economic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
    • Increased U.S. military spending
    • Reagan’s diplomatic initiatives
    • Dissolution of Soviet Union in 1991
  • George W. Bush
    • Elected in 1988
    • Persian Gulf War
    • In 1990 Iraq, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait
      • U.S. led coalition removed Iraqi troops and liberated Kuwait
  • Conservative Supreme Court
    • Contrast with the decisions of the Warren Court
    • Conservative Sandra Day O’Connor, nominated to Supreme Court in 1981
    • First woman