1. The Conservative Resurgence 1980—1993
Chapter 36—
The Conservative Resurgence
1980—1993

2. SSUSH24— The student will analyze the impact of social change movements and organizations of the 1960s.
f. Describe the rise of the Conservative Movement as seen in the presidential candidacy of Barry Goldwater (1964) and election of Richard Nixon (1968).

3. SSUSH25— The student will describe the changes in national politics since 1968.
a. Describe President Richard M. Nixon’s opening of China, his resignation due to the Watergate Scandal, changing attitudes toward government, and the presidency of Gerald R. Ford.
b. Explain the impact of the Supreme Court’s decisions on the ideas about civil liberties and civil rights.
Explain the Carter Administration’s efforts in the Middle East.
Describe domestic and international events of Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

4. SSUSH25— The student will describe the changes in national politics since 1968.
e. Explain the relationship between Congress and President Bill Clinton.
f. Analyze the 2000 Presidential Election and its outcome, emphasizing the role of the Electoral College.
g. Analyze the response of President George W. Bush to the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the war against terrorism.

5. The Conservative Resurgence (1980—1993)
Early Demands for Equality
Chapter 32
The Conservative Resurgence (1980—1993)
Main Idea:
This chapter analyzes the political divisions between liberals and conservatives, describes the growth of the conservative movement, examines the domestic and foreign policies of the Reagan Administration, and explains the causes and effects of the end of the Cold War.

6. Issues Discussed in this Chapter
America in the World
Government’s Role in the Economy
Sectionalism & National Politics

7. Liberalism v. Conservatism
By the 1970s, the two dominant national political parties (Democratic and Republican) adopted different political ideologies or views.
Democrats were labeled as liberals (those who generally favored government intervention to help the poor).
Republicans were labeled as conservatives (those who generally favored allowing the free market, private organizations, and individuals to help the poor).

8. Liberal Ideology
By 1970, liberals tended to believe that the federal government should play a significant role in improving the lives of all Americans.
In addition, they valued social programs that helped the poor, unemployed, elderly, and women.
They also sponsored laws that protected the civil rights of minorities and women.
Liberals supported greater regulation of industry and cooperating with foreign nations.

9. Conservative Ideology
By 1970, conservatives in general believed that a large federal government threatened individual liberty and sought to reduce taxes and deregulation (reduce regulation by the government on business and industry).
Traditional conservatives tended to want to put the breaks on the new freedoms of the counterculture.
A strong anti-communist wing of the movement favored a strong national defense system to counter the spread of Soviet-style communism worldwide.

10. The New Right
During the 1960s and 1970s, many Republicans became increasingly critical of liberal policies of the Democratic Party.
As their message grew, so did the New Right (the resurgent conservative movement which grew in the 1970s and was a coalition of several groups with varying ideas and goals)./

11. Rise of Conservatism
Led by Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican Party and Conservatism rose in popularity by 1980.
The Vietnam War, urban riots, the counterculture, Watergate, the oil crisis, and Iran Hostage Crisis increased fears of further chaos in the world.

12. Criticizing Liberal Programs
Conservatives blamed liberal programs for the stagflation and other problems in the 1970s.
Conservatives believed that the government taxed too much and spent money on programs that were not working.
Conservatives attacked unfunded mandates (Federal programs required by law, but not paid for by the federal government).
Conservatives also attacked federal welfare programs and LBJ’s “Great Society” which they believed destroyed families and created perpetual poverty.

13. The Moral Majority
Moral Majority— Political organization founded by the Reverend Jerry Falwell in 1979 which attempted to fulfill religious goals.
The organization boosted Republican chances of winning the presidency in 1980 as well as other major political races nationwide.
Falwell also attacked recent Supreme Court cases such as Roe v. Wade (1973) which legalized abortion and Engel v. Vitale (1963) which prohibited religious teaching in public schools.

14. Presidential Election of 1980
In the Presidential Election of 1980, the Democratic Party chose the incumbent president Jimmy Carter despite opposition from Ted Kennedy (brother of JFK).
The Republican Party nominated former California governor and former actor, Ronald Reagan.
More charismatic and polished than Barry Goldwater, Reagan ran on opposition to big government, support for a strong military, and faith in traditional values.
His strong optimism convince Americans that he would usher in patriotism and prosperity.

15. “The Conservative Resurgence” (p. 3)
1. What spurred the rise of conservatism in the late 1970s and early 1980s?
Conservatives most valued the ideals of individualism, patriotism, and self-determination.
The social and economic declines of the 1970s showed the failure of the liberal response to these problems and spurred the rise of conservatism.

16. Presidential Election of 1980

17. Ronald Reagan 40th President 1981 – 1989 Party: Republican
Home State: California
Vice President:
George H.W. Bush

18. Ronald Reagan Domestic
On the night of his inauguration, Iran released 52 Americans hostages.
Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981, but survived the assassination attempt.
Vigorously pursued tax and budget cuts, an economic policy that came to be known as “Reaganomics.”
Reagan pushed for the build-up of the military and spent billions on nation defense providing thousands of new jobs in the defense industry.
Reagan was a successful movie and television actor before starting his political career.

19. Ronald Reagan
Foreign
Ordered an invasion of Grenada in 1983 to break up a Marxist coup.
Sent Marines as peacekeepers into Lebanon following an Israeli invasion in 1983.
Launched air strikes on Libya in 1986 in response to Libyan support of terrorism.
Signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1987.
Met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to encourage him to initiate Glasnost and Perestroika.

20. Reaganomics
Reagan and his advisers based their economic policies on the theory of supply-side economics.
The theory that rests on the assumption that if taxes are reduced, people will work more and have more money to spend, causing the economy to grow.
The government will then collect more in taxes as social programs become less funded and not needed.
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress criticized it for cutting the programs needed by the poorest in society.

21. Reaganomics
Congress cut taxes (nearly 25% over three years) with the wealthiest Americans receiving the highest cuts (who, in turn, created new jobs to existing businesses and stimulated the business growth).
In addition, Reagan ordered the deregulation of various industries (airline and telecommunications) and reduced the government’s role in many aspects of society.
Reagan also ordered increased spending in defense.
Despite a recession (1979—1982), inflation decreased and unemployment fell to levels near 5% by the end of 1983.

22. Problems with Budget Deficits
Reagan failed to win support in welfare state programs, but saw dramatic spending in defense causing a spike in the annual budget deficit (shortfall between the amount of revenue collected and expenses).
Between 1981 and 1986, the national debt (the amount of money the federal government owes to owners of government bonds) rose to $2.5 trillion.
Even with the passage of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act of 1985, deficit spending continued passed the 1990 deadline to balance the federal budget.

23. Reagan Assassination Attempt
On March 30, 1981, as President Reagan was walking out of a Washington, D.C. hotel, he was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. (a would-be assassin).
Reagan survived the attempt and recovered.

24. Domestic Issues in the Reagan Presidency
Despite the economic successes of the 1980s, both Reagan and Bush had to contend with domestic issues.
Social Security became a topic as the number of elderly people in the United States grew.
Reagan raised the minimum retirement age and increased payroll taxes to offset costs.
Reagan Signed the Social Security
Reform Act of 1983

25. SDI
In 1983, Reagan called the Soviet Union the “evil empire” increasing Cold war tensions.
Reagan also proposed a new weapon known as the Space Defense Initiative (SDI) or “Star Wars” which would place defense weapons in space to prevent ICBMs from hitting targets in the United States.
Though it was never fully developed or deployed, the research and technologies of SDI paved the way for some Anti-ballistic missile systems of today.

26. Current Patriot Missile from
SDI
Current Patriot Missile from
SDI Technology
SDI in Proposed Plan

27. Foreign Issues in the Reagan Presidency
Reagan ordered a peacekeeping force to Lebanon in 1982 as a response to an Israeli invasion.
In October of 1983, the United States marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, was attacked by the Islamic Jihad (a radical wing of Hezbollah which receives aid from Iran) .
Reagan removed the Marines.
Attack on Marine Barracks
(October 23, 1983)

28. Savings & Loan Crisis
In the mid-1980s, about 1,000 Savings and Loans banks failed (mainly due to risky loans and fraudulent business practices) causing the Savings & Loan Crisis.
Many blamed Reagan’s deregulation of the industry.
The federal government spent $200 billion to bail out depositors at the failed banks.

29. Presidential Election of 1984
In the 1984 Presidential Election, the Republicans nominated the incumbent Ronald Reagan who was riding an air of popularity.
The Democratic Party nominated former Vice President Walter Mondale.
The election featured the nomination of Geraldine Ferraro (the first women to appear on a major ticket for VP) by the Democratic Party.
Reagan won reelection in a landslide.

30. Presidential Election of 1984
Walter Mondale
Ronald Reagan & George H.W. Bush
at the 1984 GOP Convention
Geraldine Ferraro

31. Presidential Election of 1984

32. The Supreme Court Turns Right
Reagan nominated conservative judges to the federal courts and three Justices to the Supreme Court: Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Sandra Day O’Connor (the first women to sit on the Supreme Court).
Reagan also elevated Justice William Rehnquist to the position as Chief Justice and continued the Court’s move to the political right.

33. Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran-Contra Affair was a political scandal revealed in November 1986 and began as an operation to increase United States-Iranian relations, wherein Israel would ship weapons to a moderate, politically influential group of Iranians opposed to the Ayatollah Khomeini.
The United States would reimburse Israel for those weapons and receive payment from Israel.
The funds then would then be sent to aid the Contras (anti-communist forces) in Nicaragua who were resisting the Sandinistas (communist forces) fighting for control.

34. Iran-Contra Affair
The plan eventually deteriorated into an arms-for-hostages scheme, in which members of the executive branch sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the American hostages being held in Lebanon by Hezbollah.
In November of 1986, Reagan appeared on television and stated that the weapons transfers had indeed occurred, but that the United States “did not trade arms for hostages.”
Though Reagan supported the Contras, no evidence could be found that he knew the full extent of the plan.
Three members of Reagan’s Cabinet were found guilty.

35. Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev was a reforming leader of the Soviet Union (1985—1991) who met with Ronald Reagan to bring about the end of the Cold War.
Gorbachev worked to bring changes to the Soviet Union which included Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (reforms which moved resources from the state to private entities).
Gorbachev

36. “Tear Down this Wall” Speech
On June 12, 1987, Reagan spoke in West Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate.
Reagan’s speech acknowledged Mikhail Gorbachev’s efforts to reform the Soviet Union.
Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to showing real commitment by his famous quote: “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

37. The End of the Cold War
In 1988, Gorbachev visited Reagan in the United States and Reagan eventually visited the “Evil Empire” and Gorbachev.
Eventually, the Berlin Wall did come down, and the Cold War came to an end in 1991.

38. “The Conservative Resurgence” (p. 3)
2. What were the major characteristics of the conservative Reagan Revolution?
The Reagan Revolution focused on reducing the size and influence of government.
It lowered taxes and limited government intervention in Social Security, healthcare, and education.

39. “The Conservative Resurgence” (p. 3)
3. What were Reagan’s foreign policies, and how did they contribute to the fall of the Soviet Union?
Reagan sought to confront communism, and he greatly expanded the United States military budget on programs such as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).
The Soviets could not match the United States arms build-up, and their military disadvantage contributed to the fall of communism in 1991.

40. Presidential Election of 1988
In the 1988 Presidential Election, the Republicans nominated the incumbent Vice President, George H.W. Bush who was riding on the coattails of Ronald Reagan.
Bush made a campaign slogan from a speech in which he stated, “Read my lips, no new taxes.”
The Democratic Party nominated former Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis.
Bush won the election and continued the policies of Reagan and the conservative movement.

41. Presidential Election of 1988
George H.W. Bush
Michael Dukakis
Dan Quayle

42. Presidential Election of 1988

43. George H.W. Bush 41st President 1989 – 1993 Party: Republican
Home State: Texas
Vice President:
Dan Quayle

44. George H.W. Bush Domestic
Formulated a plan to bail out the Savings and Loan industry, when many savings and loans faced severe financial problems.
Signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.
Bush served as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), led the Republican Party as its chairman, and was Vice President under Reagan for eight years.

45. George H.W. Bush
Foreign
Sent troops to Panama in December 1989 to assist in overthrowing dictator Manuel Noriega.
Launched the Persian Gulf War in 1991, which united international forces in driving Iraq out of Kuwait.
Proposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1991 between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

46. Domestic Issues in the Bush Presidency
Education became a political topic as schools in the United States seem be failing nationwide.
Students continued to score low on standardized exams and were perceived as unable to compete globally.
School vouchers (government checks spent on private schools) were an alternative offered by conservatives to force government schools to improve or loose funding.
Liberals argued that it took funding away from government schools and discriminated against poor school districts.

47. Domestic Issues in the Bush Presidency
In the early 1980s, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) became a major issue as the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) spread originally in certain communities in the United States.
By 1990, it had killed nearly 200,000 Americans.
Without a cure, Bush began funding for research on the disease which also became a political issue in the 1990s./

48. Domestic Issues in the Bush Presidency
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ensured that those with disabilities received the same opportunities in employment and access to public transportation and public places as other Americans.

49. Invasion of Panama
In 1989, President Bush sent 12,000 soldiers to arrest Manuel Noriega (the dictator of Panama) for drug trafficking in the United States.
He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

50. Tiananmen Square
In the Spring of 1989, Chinese students captured the world’s attention by staging pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square (center of Beijing, China).
Many in China and in parts of the world hoped that it meant the fall of communism in China.
In June, Chinese tanks rolled into the Square, killed hundreds of protestors, and crushed the demonstrations.
Bush condemned the action of the Chinese government and levied minor sanctions against China.

51. Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square

52. Changes in South Africa
By the end of the 1980s, economic and political pressure on South Africa’s forced that nation to end Apartheid (oppressive system of rigid segregation) and initiate a series of reforms.
In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison and met with President Bush,
and in 1994, was elected president of South Africa.

53. Persian Gulf War
On August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein (President of Iraq) invaded Kuwait in an effort to take oil fields.
President Bush began building a coalition of nearly 700,000 troops from nearly 40 nations.
Planning and leader of the coalition was Colin Powell (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff).
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54. Persian Gulf War Operation Desert Storm— The name
of the United States-led attack on Iraqi forces in Kuwait (January 16, 1991).
By the end of February, coalition troops compelled the Iraqi forces to retreat from Kuwait.
Despite the victory and President Bush’s approval rating near 90%, Saddam Hussein remained in power.

55. Persian Gulf War

56. Operation Desert Storm
Persian Gulf War
Operation Desert Storm

57. “The Conservative Resurgence” (p. 4)
4. What actions did the United States take abroad during George H. W. Bush’s presidency?
Took action to control the flow of drugs from the nation of Panama.
Sent peacekeeping forces to Bosnia and Somalia.
Suspended the sale of arms to China to protest human rights violations.
Initiated Operation Desert Storm to free Kuwait from the Iraqis.

58. “The Conservative Resurgence” (p. 4)
5. How did George H. W. Bush approach the war against Iraq in 1991?
Bush approached the war by creating a coalition of many nations that opposed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
He created a limited military action that could be carried out in a short time.