Ford, Carter, and Reagan Administrations

Ford became president after Nixon's resignation; he was not elected to either the vice presidency or the presidency.
His pardon of Nixon was controversial.
The economy was weak due to the aftermath of the Vietnam War and an oil embargo.

OPEC (Oil Petroleum Exporting Countries) imposed an embargo on the United States due to its support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
Embargo: a ban on trade.
OPEC members included Middle Eastern countries and Venezuela.
US fuel prices increased, leading to a rise in the cost of almost everything, including shipping.

Many Americans favored nuclear power but fears were heightened.
A nuclear plant outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania called Three Mile Island failed, releasing radioactive materials into the atmosphere.
The leak was contained quickly.
Reinforced the idea that nuclear power is dangerous and must be handled with extreme care.
People living near nuclear power plants, like the one in Guinea, are given iodine pills as a precaution.

Carter brokered a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
The conflict between these nations dated back to Israel's founding in 1948.
Egyptian Prime Minister Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin met at Camp David.
Carter was a devout Christian and biblical scholar with a deep personal interest in the region.
Carter convinced the leaders to negotiate
Egypt officially recognized Israel as a nation for the first time.
The Camp David Accords were a high point in Carter's administration although other Middle Eastern countries did not recognize Israel.

Carter's worst crisis involved Iran, where American hostages were taken.
This was retaliation for America's support of the deposed Shah Poplavi.
Shah Poplavi was overthrown by an Islamic fundamentalist regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini.
Poplavi sought cancer treatment in the United States, and Carter allowed him to come, angering the new Iranian regime.
The Iranian regime retaliated by taking over the American embassy and holding over 50 American workers hostage for over a year.
The hostages were not released until Ronald Reagan took office.
Carter worked tirelessly to free the hostages.

Reagan portrayed himself as a Washington outsider.
Carter blamed the American people for the nation's problems, as evidenced in his "malaise speech."
Reagan stressed the positive aspects of America and called it a "city upon a hill,"
Reagan likened The United States to a city upon a hill just like John Winthrop, the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Reagan subscribed to supply side economics, also known as Reaganomics.
Supply side economics is trickle down economics under a new name.
Reagan believed that reducing corporate taxes would lead to greater profits, business expansion, and more jobs.
Wealth would "trickle down" by creating more jobs and invigorating the economy.
Reagan adhered to the policy of New Federalism, trying to shift power from the national government to the states.
He convinced Congress to greatly increase military spending.

Reagan proposed building a space based missile shield over The United States.
This "invisible tarp", would deflect incoming Soviet missiles back into the atmosphere.
The scientific community and his advisors were skeptical of its feasibility.
The plan scared the Soviets.

Containment continued under Reagan, with money and guns being sent to anti communist groups.
The US supported oppressive regimes in El Salvador, Panama, and The Philippines because they were opposed to communism.
The US military led an invasion of Grenada to topple a new communist government.
Reagan supported Nicaraguan insurgents called the Contras.
Congress cut off funding for the Contras because they were a terrorist group.

High ranking Reagan officials sold weapons to Iran in exchange for their help in freeing hostages in Lebanon.
The money from the weapon sales was then funneled to the Contras in Nicaragua.
This was a violation of congressional restrictions in aiding the Contras.
Reagan was found innocent of any wrongdoing.

American Soviet relations improved when Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev is best known for his 1980s economic policy of $perestroika$ , which introduced some capitalism into the Soviet Union.
His social reforms, referred to as $glasnost$ , allowed for more freedom of the press and freedom of speech.
These freedoms led to the people desiring more and rejecting their communist government.
By 1991, the Soviet Union was no more.

The conservative movement began with Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign and the rise of the New Right.
Jimmy Carter's presidency was marked by economic turmoil (stagflation), the Iran hostage crisis, and an energy crisis.
Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, embodying the three prongs of the New Right's attack. Cold War conservatism sought to resist communism.
Pro-business economics aimed to roll back regulations on big businesses and decrease corporate taxes.
Moral and religious conservatives opposed the cultural upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s, including women's liberation, Roe versus Wade, and the gay liberation movement.
Reagan's victory was seen as a rejection of the social changes of the previous decades.

Supply side economics: tax cuts and decreased federal spending to stimulate private sector investment, productivity, and job creation.
This was a rejection of Keynesian economics, which advocated for increased government spending.
Economic Recovery Act of 1981 cut income taxes by 25% over three years and reduced corporate income taxes, capital gains taxes, and inheritance taxes.
The wealthy disproportionately benefited from these tax cuts.
Federal spending on welfare programs was cut, but military spending increased significantly, leading to large federal deficits.
Deregulation was a key aspect of Reagan's economic policy, with reduced regulations in the auto industry, opening of federal lands for coal mining, and offshore oil drilling.

Reagan appointed four judges to the Supreme Court: Sandra Day O'Connor, William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy.
This led to the scaling back of affirmative action and state level restrictions on abortions, rolling back Roe v Wade.
Reagan's presidency was a watershed moment, representing a rejection of the liberalism that dominated the 1960s and 1970s.