8 April

* High Unemployment * Energy Crisis of 1979 * High Inflation * Labor Force Participation Rate was 63.3% * Human Rights * Camp David Peace Accords * Increased Hostilities towards USSR

* An actor, host of a popular TV show, and former Governor of California Reagan had a very appealing side. * Natural gift for public speaking will be nicknamed “The Great Communicator” * 1980 the U.S. was plagued by high inflation, high unemployment, a contracting economy, and soaring energy prices. * Internationally the United States was battling with the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the Cold War. * Ended the 1980 debate with the question “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” * Reagan defeated Carter 489 – 49 Electoral College; Republicans also won the Senate and made significant gains in the House. Will win reelection in 1984 by capturing 525 Electoral College votes losing only Minnesota and D.C. (most in American History).

* Great use of the media to get his message out. * Reagan firmly believed that government taxed them too much and wasted their tax dollars. * “Government is not the solution to our problem; Government is the problem.” * Expanded the policy of New Federalism begun by Richard Nixon. * Handed over many programs in health, education, and welfare to the states. * To help the states pay for these social programs he used block grants. * Block Grants – lump sum payments that states could use as they wished. Gave states more flexibility to allocate resources.

* To meet the economic challenges he promised to stimulate the economy by cutting taxes and promoting private enterprise. * Plan is known as Reaganomics. * Laffer Curve * Supply-side economics – growth depends on increasing the supply of goods and services. * Lower tax rates will leave more money in the hands of individuals and businesses providing an incentive for them to save and invest. * Nearly, all Americans received at least a 30% tax rate cut. * Individuals will then work harder, save more, and spend more; Companies can hire more workers and increase the supply of goods and services. * As businesses create more jobs, new workers will pay taxes. * Economic growth went from -0.2% to 7.1% in 1984; 18.4 million new jobs were created. * Unemployment will fall from 10.8% to 5.2%

* Large increase in defense spending (will eventually bankrupt the Soviet Union) * Defense spending will increase nearly 85%. * Will lead to modern day weapons that are saving American life's every day. * Deregulation – reduction or removal of government “red tape” * Promote economic efficiency and stimulate free enterprise.

* Reduced spending on Social Welfare * Social Welfare stifled personal initiative and produced a dependence on government aid. * HIV / AIDS Emerge * “Just Say No” Campaign * Started DARE * New Jersey vs. T.L.O. – school officials can search your belongings w/o a warrant if “there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student is violating the law. * Nominated Sandra Day O’Connor – First Women Appointed to the Supreme Court * Angered Civil Rights Leaders * Immigration Reform

* INF Treaty with Russia – Agreed to remove and destroy all missiles with a range of between 300 and 3400 miles. * Iran Contra Incident = hat came to light in November senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, the subject of an arms embargo. Some U.S. officials also hoped that the arms sales would secure the release of several hostages and allow U.S. intelligence agencies to fund the Nicaraguan Contras. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress. * Lebanon * Libya

* Provided the foundation for success in the 1990s under George H. Bush and Bill Clinton * America had increased her international standing again / was respected internationally again. * New Businesses and Technology were growing because of R&D investments * High Unemployment, Inflation, a contracting economy, and disparity were replaced with lower unemployment numbers, lower inflation rates, a booming economy, and a sense of pride to be an American * Increased consumerism led to increase use of credit