The Presidency of Ronald Reagan 1981 - 1989

Conservative Movement As the 1970s progressed, right-wing groups gained strength across the country. The voice of the conservative movement became known as the New Right.

Conservative Movement Support traditional family values, oppose gay marriage.

- Oppose affirmative action: Oppose abortion - Oppose affirmative action: Forcing employers and colleges to give special consideration to women and minorities, even if they were less qualified.

1980 Election In 1980, Jimmy Carter was finishing his first term. The 1980 election pitted Carter against Republican nominee Ronald Reagan.

Reagan’s career started in Hollywood, where he acted in 53 films. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan worked to remove Communist influences from the movie industry.

Reagan appealed to conservative Americans’ traditional values. In 1966, Reagan was elected governor of California. Reelected in 1970. Politically, Reagan had been a conservative Republican since the 1950s. Reagan appealed to conservative Americans’ traditional values.

1980 Election The Iranian hostage crisis, a weak economy, and high inflation, hurt Carter’s popularity. Reagan’s ability to simplify issues, and give clear answers earned him the nickname, “The Great Communicator.” In 1980, Reagan and V.P. George Bush defeated Carter by a narrow majority. Republicans gained control of the Senate for the first time since 1954.

“Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?” First Inaugural Speech, 1981

Reaganomics Reagan’s package of new economic policies was dubbed “Reaganomics” and consisted of three parts: 1. Budget cuts Reduce government spending on social programs, such as food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, school lunches, and student loans. 2. Tax cuts Less taxes people save more money banks loan more money to businesses business expands, productivity improves, and prices fall

3. Increased defense spending From 1981-1984, the Defense Department budget almost doubled. 4. Control the money supply to reduce inflation.

Supply-side Economic Theory Productivity growth and more investment would create growth more effectively than (Keynsian) concentration on demand. Individual economic actors behaved rationally and predictably. Lower taxes and increased incentives for individuals (and firms) to work, save and invest would raise real output.

Milton Friedman “ Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else's resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property”. Governments never learn. Only people learn.

This Cartoon Shows the differences between Reaganomics and FDR’s economic policies like the New Deal.

Reagan revived two controversial weapons systems—the MX missile and the B-1 bomber. Despite these measures, problems continued to plague the economy. Tax cuts helped the rich, while social welfare cuts had hurt the poor.

Despite large budget cuts, government spending was still greater than revenue received through tax dollars.

By the end of his first term, the national debt had doubled.

Deregulation Reagan sought to reduce the size of the federal government, through less interference in industry. His government removed price controls on oil. Reagan eliminated federal health and safety inspections for nursing homes. He deregulated the airline, savings, and loan industries. Reagan cut the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

1984 Election In 1984, Reagan was extremely popular, and he easily won reelection against Democrat Walter Mondale. By the end of Reagan’s second term, Americans still saw little reason for change. Most Americans were economically comfortable.

Reaganism and the Consolidation of the “Counterculture” 80s the decade of “greed”: decisive shift away from traditional bourgeois values of thrift, hard work, delayed gratification, self-discipline. Huge rise in crime, especially violent crime. Moral levelling: assault on traditional social institutions: family, heterosexual lifestyle.

Multiculturalism, “political correctness”, relativism v metanarrative, universalism. Focused on individual not usefulness to society. Triumph of counterculture? Institutions became bastions of this cultural version of “liberalism”.

Economic Nationalism

The Reagan Revolution There was a huge gap between public adoration and intellectuals’ scepticism (until recent re-evaluations) Reagan, a “reconstructive” president, changed the terms of political and economic debate, altered the way in which Americans thought about themselves, shifted political mainstream to the right even as American culture made the final break with traditional moral values.

“ In my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still.” Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address, 1989