“Born in the USA,” Bruce Springsteen (1984) Born down in a dead man's town The first kick I took was when I hit the ground You end up like a dog that's been beat too much Till you spend half your life just covering up Got in a little hometown jam So they put a rifle in my hand Sent me off to a foreign land To go and kill the yellow man Come back home to the refinery Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me" Went down to see my V.A. man He said "Son, don't you understand" I had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong They're still there, he's all gone He had a woman he loved in Saigon I got a picture of him in her arms now Down in the shadow of the penitentiary Out by the gas fires of the refinery I'm ten years burning down the road Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Reagan is upstaged by a chimpanzee in a distinctly silly 1951 B-movie comedy, suggesting his acting career may have seen better days

Reagan as the host of the GE Theater TV program and the corporation’s public spokesman— his articulation of the generally conservative GE view furthered his transformation from a New Deal liberal Democrat to a Goldwater conservative Republican

Reagan’s official painting as the new governor of California in 1967

Twenty years before, the Nixon-Kennedy debates highlighted the emerging need for successful political candidates to look and sound good on TV—just like actors. The ultimate realization of this trend was the election of a president who actually was a professional actor. Nixon and Kennedy in 1960Ronald Reagan in 1980 The more things change...

Contrasting personalities and ideologies: The pessimistic stern discipline of Carter versus the undemanding sunny optimism of Reagan

Roe v. Wade (1973) A 7-2 majority ruling struck down state laws that completely prohibited women’s access to abortion Majority opinion argued this violated a woman’s right to privacy in making this decision in consultation with her doctor Justice Harry Blackmun, writing for the majority, laid out these guidelines: First Trimester: States had no compelling reason to interfere with woman’s decision Second Trimester: States could establish some limits on access to abortion Third Trimester: States could prohibit abortion except in cases where the mother’s life was threatened

The Politics of Abortion Abortion rights becomes a central issue for the conservative coalition Social Conservatives Social Conservatives Religious Right, attack for moral reasons and dislike of feminist movement Political (small-government) Conservatives Political (small-government) Conservatives Actually decreases government interference in individual lives, so should have supported Argued it was a case of “judicial activism” that by- passed the democratic process

Reaganomics Rejects Keynesianism in favor of supply side theory: Cut taxes on the rich who will invest more and spur the economy so the wealth will “trickle down” to lower classes Across the board 25% tax cuts in 1981, though especially benefited the wealthy Pay $4000 in taxes, save $1000 Pay $4000 in taxes, save $1000 Pay $400,000 in taxes, save $100,000 Pay $400,000 in taxes, save $100,000 Also supposed to be large cuts in state welfare system Cut smaller welfare programs primarily benefiting the very poor like Aid For Dependent Children, Food Stamps, Head Start, school lunches Cut smaller welfare programs primarily benefiting the very poor like Aid For Dependent Children, Food Stamps, Head Start, school lunches Did NOT take on the truly expensive middle-class “entitlement programs”: Social Security and Medicare Did NOT take on the truly expensive middle-class “entitlement programs”: Social Security and Medicare

The 1983 Recovery Reaganomics certainly deserves some credit, as did increase investment Two other factors equally or more important: The Decline of OPEC: In 1983, the cartel began to fall apart and world oil prices dropped significantly for the first time since 1973 The Decline of OPEC: In 1983, the cartel began to fall apart and world oil prices dropped significantly for the first time since 1973

The fracturing of the OPEC cartel in 1983 leads to sharp declines in world oil prices, giving a major boost to the oil- fueled American economy

The 1983 Recovery Reaganomics certainly deserves some credit, as did increase investment Two other factors equally or more important: The Decline of OPEC: In 1983, the cartel began to fall apart and world oil prices dropped significantly for the first time since 1973 The Decline of OPEC: In 1983, the cartel began to fall apart and world oil prices dropped significantly for the first time since 1973 Military Keynesianism Military Keynesianism

Reagan’s massive increase in military spending, (in 2003 $) Military Keynesianism: Reagan’s military spending is the largest ever in peace time Just as with WWII, this huge infusion of federal dollars helps to jump- start the economy and take the US out of the 1970s recession

Reagan meets with the dynamic new reform- minded Soviet Premier, Mikhail Gorbachev, in Reykjavik, Iceland, 1986

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, an early sign of the disintegration of the old Soviet Empire and the eventual collapse of the USSR in 1991

A Reagan Revolution? Helped end Cold War Helped end Cold War Cut federal taxes Cut federal taxes But on the other hand: Increased size of government and government spending Increased size of government and government spending Did not achieve the social conservative revolution Did not achieve the social conservative revolution

Despite his attempts to look coolly liberal on late-night talk shows, Bill Clinton will be a moderate-to- conservative president

The inauguration of President Bush, January 2001

2002 political cartoon

Questions?

Your Final Attendance Quiz: Ronald Reagan: A. Once starred in a movie with a chimpanzee named Bonzo B. Claimed to have helped film the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp during WWII, although he in fact spent the entire war in California C. Often followed the scheduling and political advice of his wife who based her advice on the recommendations of an astrologer D. All of the above