1. The Conservative Revolution
Ronald Reagan and the 1980s
The Conservative Revolution

2. The Two Opposing Views Conservative vs. Liberal
Most of America is somewhere in the middle of the two ideologies
Reagan ushered in a new conservative movement for the U.S. that could be traced back to Barry Goldwater in 1964
Backlash against liberal policies of both the Democrats and Republicans over the past 20 years

3. Liberals Think Democrats Government intervention ok in many situations
mainly FDR/ New Deal and LBJ/ Great Society
Government intervention ok in many situations
Regulation of business, environment, etc.
Social programs, often focused on the underserved/underprivileged
Often leads to higher taxes
Foreign policy often uses negotiation instead of force (not so much FDR & LBJ)

4. Conservatives Smaller government
Liberal social and economic programs lead to waste, inflation, and deficits
Deregulate industry
More free market economics
Keep government out of business
Strong, large military that is ready to protect

5. Conservatives Continued
Lower taxes
Let the people keep their money
Cut spending of social welfare programs
Traditional values, mainly religious
Anti-communist

6. The Collapse of the Liberals
The unrest of the 1960s happened a lot while Democrats were in power
Vietnam, race riots
Counterculture alienated white Southerners and religious people everywhere
Political scandals hurts the image of the federal government
Liberal programs didn’t achieve their goals

7. Rise of Religion Rev. Jerry Falwell
The Moral Majority
Political group working to fulfill religious goals
Against: homosexuality, ERA amendment, ban on teaching religion in schools, abortion
Support Republicans nearly all the time

8. Reagan easily wins 1980 election
Who was Reagan?
Former actor turned politician; good in front of a camera and with people
Always involved politically throughout his life
Attempted to win Republican nomination before
Both a economic and social conservative
Small government, free market, traditional religious values, anticommunist
“Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

9. Reagan’s Economic Plan
Need to do something after horrible 1970s economy
Supply-side economics
What is the difficult part of the equation if trying to balance the budget?
Tax cut=popular, spending cuts=unpopular
The rich benefit, the middle and lower class hurt

10. Immediate consequences
Recession
Blue collar workers hit hard
Unemployment rose, many jobs go oversees
Number of working poor increased at same time while rich got richer

11. The deficit Problem
Country had been running deficits for some time, Reagan’s economic policies added to them
Increased deficit leads to increased debt
The spending does lead to the end of the Cold War, so was it worth it?
Savings and Loan crisis: Apparently we don’t learn from history

12. Recovery Economy turns for the better just in time for re-election
As economy improves, so does national spirit
Re-election = chance to make Supreme Court more Conservative
Sandra Day O’Connor
Court upholds Equal Access Act

13. Snapshot of the Era

19. “Tear down this wall!”
End of the Cold War

20. Spend, Spend, Spend
Reagan used America’s greatest strength against the USSR: Money
SDI…”Star Wars”
Mikhail Gorbachev
Soviet president
Instituted many economic and social reforms
Perestroika and glasnost aimed to fix communism, but really killed it instead

21. Reagan and Gorbachev meet
USA & USSR finally open talks after years of silence
USSR no longer the “Evil Empire”
Communism falls apart around Eastern Europe
Berlin Wall comes down

23. What next? How does a one superpower world work?
Troubles don’t go away, just change in scope
Latin America: drug war and communism
Human rights in China
Apartheid in South Africa
Saddam Hussein in Iraq: A monster we created