Tear Down This Wall! The End of the Cold War

The “New Right” The Rise of Neo-Conservatism in the 1980s

Liberal or Conservative? Government regulation of big business Government should help the disadvantaged through social programs Strong supporters of free speech and privacy Opposed to government support of religion Support high taxes on wealthy Broad government power to support social programs Deregulation of business to foster competition Social programs should be provided by private charities Strong supporters of tradition and traditional authority Religious faith is vitally important in sustaining society Oppose high taxes Limited government, strong states’ rights

Rise of the “New Right” Causes: Social turmoil from the civil rights and counterculture movements Faith lost in traditional authority (e.g. Watergate, Pentagon Papers) Stagflation of the 1970s causes economic fears Beliefs: Anticommunism, free market economics, religious traditionalism Barry Goldwater (R): Ran for president in 1964 The Conscience of A Conservative “A Time for Choosing” by Ronald Reagan Post WWII: 1950s Conservatism  1960s/70s: Rebellion  1980s: Conservatism Goldwater: First conservative to be nominated since WWII A Time For Choosing:  attacked the New Deal state; the problem with the Republican Party, as he saw it, was that Eisenhower had been too accommodating to liberalism; later attacked “containment” for being too timid in the face of communism “A Time for Choosing”:  Reagan warned that if we “trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state,” the nation would “take the first step into a thousand years of darkness.”

Members of the “New Right” Religious Right Fears of moral degradation from liberalism Evangelicalism/”born again” “Moral Majority” Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell Sunbelt Massive population growth =  electoral power Opposed high taxes and federal regulations (e.g. environmental regulations) that interfere with growth Suburbs “White flight” increases population “stagflation” reduced buying power + high taxes Orange County, CA: Proposition 13 Religious Right Conservatism drew people who feared American society had lost touch with its traditional values: limited prayer in public schools, growing number of single mothers, and young people’s rebellion against authority Religious Right condemned divorce, abortion, premarital sex, and feminism Evangelical Protestant Christians were the largest group within the social conservatism movement. Similar to the Fundamentalist movement of the 1920s, focused on Conversion (“born again”), literal interpretation of the Bible, and activism Billy Graham and Oral Roberts were protestant ministers who built national followings. Televangelists: evangelical ministers who reached a large nationwide audience through television. Sunbelt Population growth in Sunbelt during WWII for defense factory jobs Sunbelt conservatism: Opposed high taxes and federal regulations that threatened to interfere with the region’s growth. White Southerners turn to Republican conservatism as a result of the civil rights movement Westerners resented federal environmental regulations that restricted the development of the region’s natural resources. By 1980 the population of the Sunbelt had surpassed the Northeast giving the conservative regions of the country more electoral votes Suburbs “White flight” to suburbs due to urban crime, poverty, etc. 1970s inflation reduced the buying power of the average middle class family while taxes remained high. Proposition 13 (CA): A state referendum that greatly reduced property taxes; launched by conservative Howard Jarvis Anti-tax movement appeared in other states and tax cuts became a national issue.

The Regan Revolution And The Rise of Conservatism

Ronald Reagan – “The Great Communicator” Actor for over 25 years, president of SAG, testified against Hollywood in front of HUAC Backed financially by wealthy southern Californians and supported by Goldwaterites vowed to “clean up the mess in Berkeley,” referring to campus radicals Served as Governor of California between 1967-1975 Promoted limited government, low taxes, and law and order Youthful, despite age; folksy personality Ronald Reagan – “The Great Communicator”

Election of 1980 Carter (D) vs. Reagan (R) Suffering from low approval (21%) vs. Reagan (R) Reagan Coalition: corporate elites and the “New Right” Highly conservative Republican platform offers stability, return to traditional values Carter struggles to secure votes due to stagflation, Iran Hostage Crisis, high unemployment platform called for a constitutional ban on abortion, voluntary prayer in public schools, and a mandatory death penalty for certain crimes. Republicans also demanded an end to court-mandated busing to achieve racial integration in schools, and, for the first time in forty years, opposed the Equal Rights Amendment. Reagan won nearly 51 percent of the popular vote and 489 electoral votes For the first time since 1954, Republicans gained control of the Senate Large numbers of blue collar workers who struggled under Carter’s stagflation “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” “Let’s make America great again.”

Reaganomics Supply-side economics + increased interest rates Reaganomics: A conservative form of economic policies aiming to reduce government spending, regulation, and inflation to improve the economy Supply-side economics + increased interest rates Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) SS and Medicare preserved for political reasons Defense spending increases Criticism: “trickle-down” economics did not reach the average American Federal deficit increases 300% Economic theory that tax cuts for individuals and businesses encourage investment and production (supply) and stimulate consumption (demand) because individuals can keep more of their earnings. In reality, supply-side economics created a massive federal budget deficit. Monetarists: Argued that inflation was caused by too much money in circulation. The best solution was to raise interest rates. Supply-side economics: Argued that the economy was weak because taxes were too high ( ~23%) Laffer curve: Illustrates the relationship between possible rates of taxation and the resulting levels of government revenue Also increased defense spending for the Cold War ERTA: reduced income tax rates for most Americans by 23 percent over three years. For the wealthiest Americans — those with millions to invest — the highest marginal tax rate dropped from 70 to 50 percent. Trimmed the taxes paid by business corporations by $150 billion over a period of five years. Critics called this approach Reaganomics or “trickle-down economics” The believed his policy would help corporations and wealthy Americans, while only a little bit of the wealth would “trickle down” to average Americans. Effects $200 Billion loss of federal revenue over 5 years Increased federal deficit 3x’s what it had been prior to his administration ( $930B to $2.8T) “Defense is not a budget item,” he declared. “You spend what you need.” Reaganomics

Reagan’s Economy Reaganomics causes recession (1982-83) Deregulation of trucking, airline, and railroad industries Decline of manufacturing – America becomes a service industry Decline of union membership – vilified for stopping economic expansion Stagnation of wages Wage gap increases exponentially Expansion finally begins in 1984 Deregulation: Reagan eliminated price controls on oil and gasoline. Led to price wars, cheaper fares and the founding of new airlines. Cut funding for EPA and OSHA to increase competition 1984 The U.S. begun its biggest economic expansion in its history up to that time. The median income of American families climbed 15 percent by 1989 5 million new businesses and 20 million new jobs were created. 1988 unemployment had fallen to about 5.5 percent, lowest since 1973 Reagan expanded the mandate to include cutting back on government protections of consumers, workers, and the environment.

The Space Race Continues Development of a reusable space shuttle Explosion of Challenger, January 28, 1986 Christa McAuliffe – first female teacher in space NASA develops the reusable space shuttle Columbia, 1981-2003: First space shuttle; disintegrated upon reentry on 28th mission On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. Many viewed the launch live because of the presence of crew member Christa McAuliffe, the first female teacher in space.

Iran-Contra Scandal The Reagan Doctrine: The U.S. supports guerrilla groups around the world who were fighting to overthrow Communist or pro-Soviet governments. Iran-Contra Scandal: Secret “arms for hostages” deal with Iran (despite an embargo) in order to smuggle $ to fund Nicaraguan Contras’ coup Col. Oliver North Reagan implicated, but never tried Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council He and other senior NSC and CIA officials admitted to covering up their actions, including shredding documents to destroy evidence. Reagan implicated, but never tried The “Teflon President”

A Contested Legacy

The Cold War Thaws

The Cold War Heats Up Massive buildup of military arsenal Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, AKA: “Star Wars”): Called for the development of weapons that could intercept and destroy incoming missiles. Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START): Limited arms, but increased American advantage in sea and air- based weaponry USSR called the “evil empire” Reagan begins drastically expanding America’s military arsenal $2 Trillion; ¼ of the national budget Places nukes in W. Europe to counter Soviets Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, AKA: “Star Wars”): Called for the development of weapons that could intercept and destroy incoming missiles. The Cold War Heats Up

If you give a Commie freedom…. China and USSR’s alliance fails (1970s) Failed invasion of Afghanistan Revolts in satellite nations Mikhail Gorbachev elected (1988) Glasnost Perestroika Democratization Something missing? Alliance between China and USSR dissolves in 1960s/70s Attempts to match US military buildup had tanked the Soviet economy USSR maintains tight control and censorship through 1960s/70s Revolts in Hungary, Czechoslovakia Mikhail Gorbachev takes power in USSR in 1988 Young, enthusiastic, and a skilled politician Glasnost: Means openness; allowed the free flow of ideas an information Perestroika: Economic restructuring Democratization: called for the election of new legislative body, rather than voters merely approving of those appointed by the Communist Party.

The Cold War Cools Off Attempts to cooperate between the two nations Warm personal rapport between Reagan and Gorbachev Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) INF: This treaty banned missiles with ranges of 300 to 3,400 miles Eliminate nukes held in Europe in trade for withdrawal of Soviets from Afghanistan

In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin on June 12, 1987, Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall as a symbol of increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc. “Tear down this wall!” East German politician’s televised mistake leads to the opening of the wall

And the Wall Comes Tumbling Down!

Berlin Wall Today Checkpoint Charlie is now the location of a Cold War museum. Whichever soldier you see is what side you were facing (If you see an American soldier, you’re on the Eastern side, looking at the democratic West).

Today, actors portraying military police from either side take pictures with tourists.

The USSR dissolves in 1991

Pretty Much the Cold War