THE REAGAN YEARS

Preview of Events Reagan Elected President Terrorists bomb U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon Reagan reelected Iran-Contra scandal breaks Reagan and Gorbachev sign INF treaty

The Road to the White House Grew up in Dixon, Illinois 1937 took a Hollywood screen test and won a contract from a movie studio Over the next 25 years, he made over 50 movies Learned how to speak publicly and how to project an image, skills that proved invaluable when he entered politics

Moving to Conservatism Reagan became president of the Screen Actors Guild He was a strong democrat but his experience with Communists in the union led him toward conservative ideas host of television program called General Electric Theater He became increasingly conservative traveling the country speaking to workers, secretaries, and managers

Moving to Conservatism Cont. Reagans speech on behalf of Goldwaters presidential campaign impressed entrepreneurs in California 1966 elected governor of California and was reelected in years later in 1980 he won the Republican presidential nomination

The Election of 1980 His campaign appealed to Americans who were frustrated with the economy and worried that the U.S. had become weak internationally He promised to: 1. Cut taxes 2. Increase defense spending 3. He called for a constitutional amendment banning abortion He won nearly 51% of the popular vote and 489 electoral votes Republicans for the first time since 1954 regained control of the Senate

Reagans Domestic Policies Believed that key to restoring economy and overcoming problems in society was to get Americans to believe in themselves again Monetarists argued inflation was caused by too much money in circulation they said to raise interest rates. Supply-side economics argued that the economy was weak because taxes were to high and though that if taxes were cut businesses could make new investments Reagan combined monetarism and supply-side economics called Reaganomics or trickle-down economics

Reagans Domestic Policies Cont. Budget deficit- the amount by which expenditures exceed income Welfare benefits, school lunch programs and food stamp programs were cut back His first act as president was to sign an executive order eliminating price controls on oil and gas Reagans Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, increased the amount of public land corporations could use for oil drilling, mining, and logging

Sec U.S. biggest economic expansion in history By 1988 unemployment had fallen to about 5.5% Sandra Day OConnor-first woman on the Supreme Court William Rehnquist- exceeded Chief Justice Warren Burger Antonin Scalia - Filled vacancy left by Rehnquist Anthony Kennedy - new associate justice Walter Mondale- Carters VP Geraldine Ferraro- First woman to run for VP of a major party Regan won 1984 election

Sec 2 Cont Reagan adopted a new Cold War foreign policy that rejected both containment and détente He believed if Soviets tried to match the American buildup, it would put so much stress on the economy causing them to reform their system or collapse Reagans defense spending pushed the budget deficit from $80 billion to over $200 billion

The Reagan Doctrine Mujahadeen- Afghan guerrillas Rebels known as the Sandinistas overthrew the pro-American dictator in Nicaragua in 1979 Individuals in Reagans Administration continued to illegally support the rebels known as the Iran-Contra Scandal Oliver North-Chief figure in the scandal/Marine Colonel

New Approaches to Arms Control START- Strategic Arms reduction talks was proposed to cut the number of missiles on both sides Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) nicknamed Star Wars was the development of weapons that could intercept and destroy incoming missiles Mikhail Gorbachev- leader of Soviet Union December two leaders signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. It was the fist treaty to call for the destruction of nuclear weapons The treaty marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War