Semester 2 Week 14

 1947, Reagan became president of the Screen Actors Guild (the actors union)  Testified about communism in Hollywood to HUAC  A Democrat & supporter of the New Deal, he began to shift to conservative views after dealing w/ Communists in Hollywood  1964, Barry Goldwater asked him to make a televised speech on his behalf  The speech impressed several wealthy people in CA; they convinced Reagan to run for gov’r w/ their financial backing in 1966; won re-election in 1970

 Reagan became the most influential spokesperson for the conservative cause  The Iran Hostage Crisis as well as other issues worked against Carter & Reagan won a landslide victory  Pop vote 51%-41%  The GOP gained control of Congress for 1 st time in 25 years

 Reagan’s 1 st priority was the economy which was suffering from stagflation – a combo of high unemployment & high inflation  Most economist thought that the way to fight unemployment was to increase gov’t spending  Increasing spending made inflation worse  Many economist did not expect high unemployment and high inflation to hit at the same time

MONETARISTS  Argued that inflation was caused by too much money in circulation  Believed the best solution was to raise interest rates SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS  Said economy was weak b/c taxes were too high which took money away from investors  If taxes were cut then businesses would have more money to spend on other things and create new jobs

 Reagan combined monetarism & supply-side economics  He encouraged the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high and asked Congress to pass a massive tax cut  Critics called this Reaganomics or “trickle down economics”  They believed that Reagan’s policy would help corporations & wealthy Americans, while only a little bit of the wealth would trickle down to the average American

 His 1 st act as president was to sign an executive order eliminating price controls on oil & gasoline  Falling energy prices freed up money for businesses & consumers to spend elsewhere  The Nat’l Highway Traffic & Safety administration reduced its demand for air bags & higher fuel efficiency for cars  The FCC abandoned efforts to regulate the new cable TV industry  Reagan encouraged the deregulation of the airline industry which led to price wars, cheaper fares & the founding of new airlines

 Reagan wanted judges who followed the original intent & wording of the Constitution rather than those who interpreted & expanded its meaning  Nominated Sandra Day O’Connor to be the 1 st woman on the Supreme Court  1986, Chief Justice Warren Burger retired, Reagan chose William Rehnquist to succeed him & Anthony Scalia to fill the other vacancy

 The growing economy made Reagan very popular  Dems nominated Carter’s VP Walter Mondale who would choose Geraldine Ferrero as his running mate  Ferrero would be the 1 st woman to be nominated to run for VP  Reagan won 59% of popular vote & took all the electoral vote except in MN & DC

 TAKE OUT A SEPARATE, FULL SHEET OF PAPER  NUMBER FROM 1-5

1. Reagan was 2 time governor of this state? 2. Who did Reagan defeat in the Election of 1980? 3. This is a combo of high unemployment and high inflation? 4. This was known as “trickle down economics”? 5. Who became the 1 st woman to serve on the Supreme Court?