New Directions for a Nation Mr. Lugo

Objectives: by the end of class, students will be able to: Compare the policies of five U.S. Presidents. Discover how policymakers dealt with a series of large budget deficits. Discover how the Soviet Union responded to President Reagan’s arms buildup. Analyze why the Soviet Union dissolved and the Cold War ended. Explore efforts to control the spread of nuclear weapons. Hypothesize why the Middle East has been of vital interest to the United States. Explore U.S. involvement in a series of crises in the Middle East.

A Conservative Surge Jimmy Carter’s Presidency Elected in 1976 No congressional support Poor economy High inflation High taxes

Shah of Iran is overthrown (Iran Hostage Crisis) The Shah is an Ally of U.S. American Embassy seized 66 hostages 52 kept for 444 days in Captivity President Jimmy Carter called the hostages "victims of terrorism and anarchy," adding that "the United States will not yield to blackmail. The hostage crisis reached a climax when, after failed attempts to negotiate a release of the hostages, the United States military attempted a rescue operation using ships including the USS Nimitz and USS Coral Sea that were patrolling the waters near Iran. On April 24, 1980, Operation Eagle Claw failed, resulting in the deaths of eight American servicemen, one Iranian civilian, and the destruction of two aircraft. The hostages were formally released into United States custody the day after the signing of the Algiers Accords, just minutes after the new American president, Ronald Reagan, was sworn into office.

The Conservative Movement Liberal v. Conservative Liberals favor Government Action Conservatives split into political and social Political conservatives = shrink gov’t and lower taxes Social conservatives = traditional values Social Conservatives Rev. Jerry Falwell, leader of the Moral Majority

Election of 1980 Conservatives want to: Get rid of expensive social programs Cut taxes Balance the federal budget Balanced Budget- government spends only as much money as it collects Ronald Reagan v. Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan Movie Star President of Screen Actors’ Guild Elected governor of California in the 1960s Known as the “Great Communicator”

Reducing Government Reaganomics Give money to tax payers Cut $40 billion out of budget Cut federal jobs 1981 persuades Congress to cut taxes by 25% Deregulation- scaling back federal rules for businesses Reduce anti pollution regulations Opened federal lands to industry

Reagan’s Legacy One of the most popular presidents Served two terms Did not balance budget Tax cuts + military spending = record deficit Deficit: results when the government spends more than it collects Slowed growth of federal government Reagan's Legacy

Election of 2000 and the end of the Cold War

Objectives for today: By the end of class, students will be able to: 1. Examine the contributions of Presidents George H. W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton. 2. Describe the controversy surrounding the election of 2000. 3. Analyze the contributions of President George Bush. 4. Summarize the end of the Cold War. 5. Draw conclusions regarding the fall of Communism in the late 1980’s.

George H.W. Bush Elected in 1988 Former Vice President of President Reagan “Read my lips, No new taxes!” Reduced spending and raised taxes 1991-U.S. slips into an economic recession Recession: a temporary economic slump Unemployment soars Will not be re-elected Leads a coalition of nations into war against Iraq after it invades and attempts to conquer Kuwait ( First Gulf War) First Gulf War

Bill Clinton’s Presidency Cut deficit by ½ in 1992 Raise taxes on high income Reduce spending Redo of Welfare system Limit benefits Reduce direct welfare Give grants to state

President Reagan and the Cold War During the1980s, Cold War tensions increased as Ronald Reagan pursued a vigorous anti-Soviet policy Characterized the Soviet Union as “the evil empire” Dedicated massive amounts of money to military spending to include the Strategic Defense Initiative or “Star Wars” Successfully confronted communist challenges in Grenada and Nicaragua Reagan delivers his “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!” speech in 1987

The decline of the Soviet Union While the US was spending at levels the USSR was finding difficult to match, the Soviets were having their own internal problems The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 after ten years of a failed war many likened to the US experience in Vietnam The Soviet economy and those of its eastern and central European satellites were in serious trouble US-supplied Stinger missiles helped the mujahedeen defeat Soviet forces in Afghanistan

Mikhail Gorbachev With economic and political reforms obviously needed, Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev initiated perestroika (the “restructuring” or decentralizing of the economy) and glasnost (an “opening” of the Soviet society to public scrutiny) Gorbachev’s reforms proved difficult to implement and unleashed hostility from the old order it threatened, long suppressed criticism, and ethnic and nationalist separatism By the summer of 1990, Gorbachev’s reforms had spent themselves and not worked

Collapse of the Soviet Empire Revolutions broke out throughout eastern Europe as people overthrow communist dictators in places like Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania and countries such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia broke apart The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989 and East and West Germany united in 1990 The 1989 Romanian Revolution was a violent overthrow of the communist regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu

1991 Soviet Union Collapses The Soviet Union had Consisted of 15 republics All become independent Boris Yeltsin becomes President of Russia Russia suffers from unemployment, inflation, crime, corruption

Collapse of the Soviet Empire Beginning in August 1991, Soviet republics began declaring their independence from the USSR In August, a group of conspirators representing dissatisfied elements of the Communist Party, the KGB, and the military attempted to seize power while Gorbachev was on vacation Boris Yelstin crushed the coup, but then he replaced Gorbachev By the end of 1991, the USSR had ceased to exist AP photo of Boris Yelstin atop an armored personnel carrier encouraging resistance to the coup

End of the Cold War The demise of the Soviet Union left the US as the world’s sole superpower Without the danger of a superpower confrontation, the US was now more free to use its military power Additionally, new opportunities for cooperative international efforts would become possible without the bipolar competition This new dynamic would be tested when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990

The Disputed Election of 2000 Al Gore/ and Joseph Lieberman (Democrat) v. George Bush and Dick Cheney (Republican) Al Gore wins popular vote George Bush wins electoral votes A recount of votes is ordered Florida’s Supreme Court , whose governor Jeb Bush is the brother of George Bush halts recount and declares Bush the victor.

Florida role in the Election 2000: 7.50 pm- Some polls claiming that Gore had won Florida and therefore the election. 10.00 pm- With more votes being counted, the result went back to ‘undecided’. 2.30 am- Bush was declared the winner with a lead of 100,000 votes and 85% of the votes counted. 4.30 am- Gore narrowed the vote to 2000 and withdrew his concession. Eventually Bush’s lead was cut to 900 and this led to a mandatory recount. Bush v. Gore final ruling, 5:4 in favor of Bush. The Florida State Supreme Court would halt the recount and declare Bush the winner of Florida and thereby the election of 2000. CNN Reports on Election of 2000 The Election of 2000 As we know, the key discussion point of the 2000 election is what happened in Florida and the allocation of their 25 electoral college votes. At 7.50pm on voting day in Florida, some news broadcasters, going off the back of exit polls, were claiming that Gore had won the vote. However by 10.50 these corporations were retracting their earlier comments and leaving the state open once again. By 2.30 in the morning, Bush was being declared the new president, with 85% of the votes being counted and Bush having a lead of 100,000. What was failed to take into account at this point was that the 3 counties that remained to be verified were all strongly democratic. By 4.30 Bush’s lead had be substantially cut to 2000 after the votes from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade came in.

Student Practice/ Application 1. Read pages 936-957 in your American History textbooks. 2. Complete all Checkpoint Questions located within pages 936-957. 3. Complete Check your Progress Questions 1-2 on pages: 942, 948, 952 and 957, 4. Complete Exit Ticket Question. Next time in class: Begin Review for the United States History Regents examination