APUSH Chapter 30/31

• The Presidential Election of 1930

  • Conservative Push

  • still fighting the cold war

  • Carter v. Anderson v. Reagan

    • Population is mad at angry at Carter because of Iranian Hostage Crisis

    • Reagan wins by a BUNCH

      • weakness shown by Carter and democrats ushers in huge Republican support

• More emphasis on conservative side

  • privately-driven, business, wealth protection, cut taxes, austerity

  • 60s and 70s were tumultuous, changing social norms

  • Older generations did not fw this

• Moral Majority

  • “Televangelists”

  • 1970s religious revival uses TV, radio strong among fundamentalists

  • Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, Christians for traditional morals

Reagan and the Economy

• Reagan’s solution to economic troubles was deregulation and hard cut on taxes

  • Massive government spending too, esp. on defense

  • “Reaganomics” or voodoo economics, trickle-down economics, or supply side economics

• Shift decreases inflation and spending cripples the Soviet Union

• Reduced welfare state

  • which government programs to cut and by how much?

• Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars)

  • told ppl we had a laser defense system to fight the soviets

  • Soviets hear we have this and need to spend more to keep up with us

    • Soviets couldn’t keep up economically w/ us

    • U.S.’s economic potential trumps Soviet Union

      • arguably due to Reagan’s policies

• Iran Contra Affair

  • U.S. government traded arms for cash and hostages then used the proceeds to finance an illegal war in Nicaragua

• Cools things down w/ Gorbachev

• People are overall happy with Reagan so they vote in Republicans again

• Bill Clinton takes presidency

  • Republican Contract with America

    • Push for Republicans about how they feel country should be run

• Economy goes crazy in the 90s

  • tech BOOM!

• Massive spending and deficit and then we have an economy that goes nuts so in 2000s we have a huge budget surplus under Clinton