AP CHAPTER 30 Ford Through Reagan

NEW PRESIDENT Gerald Ford became VP after Agnew resigned and President after Nixon quit Ford selected Nelson Rockefeller of NY as his VP

GERALD FORD (R)

1 st time in American history when the Pres. & VP were not elected by the people Ford pardoned Nixon of any crimes dealing with Watergate Very controversial decision

1 ST OIL CRISIS U.S depends heavily on oil from the Middle East OPEC placed an embargo on oil to the U.S. in 1973 Gas prices skyrocketed to all time highs American factories were closing and union membership was in rapid decline

LONG GAS LINES

 People had to buy gas on odd/even days  U.S. automobile industry was badly damaged  Commonly called the “Energy Crisis”

ENERGY CRISIS Led to a large demand for foreign cars (Rice Burners) Alaskan Pipeline was built 1974 embargo ended U.S. still relies on M.E. oil

ALASKAN PIPELINE

SUNBELT/SNOW BELT COMMUNITIES Many Americans began to migrate away from the Northeast Retirees headed to warmer states California became the most populated state Income was distributed unevenly

CARTER’S PRESIDENCY Election of Jimmy Carter (D) vs. Gerald Ford (R) Carter encouraged deregulation of the airlines which lowered fairs Carter was a bad president

Amnesty for Draft Evaders- pardoned all those that dodged the draft during Vietnam Three Mile Island partial meltdown of a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania Love Canal when a Buffalo, NY community was dealing with toxic land from chemicals being dumped into the soil Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring which dealt with the devastating effects of chemicals

THREE MILE ISLAND

NEW CONSERVATISM Rev. Jerry Falwell formed the Moral Majority to advocate tough laws against immoral behavior New Right wing attacked the Roe v. Wade decision Religious cults formed in large numbers during the 1970s

THAW IN THE COLD WAR Helsinki Accords pushed for more human rights in the world SALT I & II talks limited nuclear weapons Carter signed n agreement to give back the Panama Canal Zone

MIDDLE EAST MEDIATION Camp David Accords (1979) Historic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel Carter mediated it and it was considered his only good thing

IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS 1979 Carter allows the former Shah of Iran to come to the U.S. for medical help Iranians were angry and took over the U.S. embassy

IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS

Iran wanted the Shah for trial and Carter refused to turn him over 1980 Carter initiated a military rescue but it failed Hostage crisis greatly hurt his reelection effort

ELECTION OF 1980  Ronald Reagan (R) destroyed Carter (D)  Carter said the nation was facing a “Crisis of Confidence” and called for the nation to changes its attitude but that failed  Reagan was considered the Great Communicator

REAGANOMICS  Supply- Side Economics- reduced the size of the govt. and relaxed regulation on businesses and gave them more aid  Economic Recovery Tax Act of major revision in the tax plan that significantly lowered taxes  Reagan’s plan led to a huge national debt

Reagan reduced spending on domestic programs but greatly increased military spending Summer 1981 Air Traffic Controllers went on strike and he fired them all Reagan greatly weakened the power of the fed. govt. and deregulated industries

ELECTION OF 1984  Reagan crushed Mondale (D) and his running mate Geraldine Ferraro (1 st female to run for office)  Severe recession of 1982 didn’t hurt his election effort and the stock market boomed  National debt tripled during his presidency

American industries found it difficult to compete and many closed or went overseas Michael Milken was a corporate raider who was convicted of insider trading Oct stock lost 23% of its value

CULTURE OF THE 1980S Rise of yuppies and wealth was extremely important Many television shows such as Dynasty and Dallas portrayed the wealth America was becoming a two tiered society Divorce was on the rise and AIDS was an issue

REAGAN’S FOREIGN POLICY  Reagan called the Soviet Union the ‘Evil Empire” and created a Strategic Defense Initiative  Reagan sent troops to Lebanon, Grenada and intervened in Nicaragua  Iran Contra Affair – secret/illegal arms deal that tarnished his presidency

COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM Mikhail Gorbachev won election of the USSR in 1985 Glasnost and Perestroika were drastic programs that opened up Russia but also sped up its collapse Berlin Wall fell in November 1989 and USSR by 1991

FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL

CONCLUSION  Supply Side Economics helped the economy but led to debt.  Berlin Wall collapsing is considered the end of the Cold War  Country moved towards conservatism in the 1980s  Energy crisis hurt the economy in the mid 1970s