Unit 9F: Post-Vietnam

Notes

by 1980, Americans were ready for new leadership
- Stagflation was growing worse & unemployment remained high
- Johnson & Nixon made many people lose trust in gov’t, while Ford & Carter provided poor leadership in the 1970’s
Reagan took a strong stand against communism and the Soviet Union
- His most ambitious plan was a massive defensive system of satellites called the strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars Program”)
- As Reagan was coming to power, communist nations (including the USSR) were beginning to face economic failure
- In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev took charge of the USSR
- Perestroika (Economic Restructuring) introducing moderate capitalism and allowing some business and property ownership
- Glasnost: (Openness) Freedom of speech and competitive elections
- IMF Treaty
- By the late 1980’s, communism was failing across Eastern Europe
- in 1989, East Germans denounced communism and the Berlin wall came down
- In 1991, USSR Broke Off and the cold war ended