1. President Ronald Reagan January 20, 1981 January 20, 1989 Created & edited by Steve Armstrong SHS, 1994-2006

2. Rise of Christian conservatism and the Moral Majority  Jerry Falwell, founder  Demanded that the Supreme Court reverse its decisions on school prayer and abortion  Agitated by the sexual revolution  Promoted “family values”

3. Anti-abortion rally, 1979

4. Fight against ERA  Phyllis Schlafly and her organization fought against ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment  ERA defeated in Illinois in 1979

5. New conservative agenda  Conservatives blamed 20-years of liberals in Congress for large budget deficits  Californians passed Proposition 13, an initiative to freeze property taxes  Conservatives blamed liberals for the 1970s period of stagflation  Conservatives in England elected Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister (1979)

6. 1980 Election Campaign  Ronald Reagan, former governor of California was nominated for president  Reagan pushed a conservative agenda  Reagan criticized welfare, affirmative action programs and high taxes

7. George Bush ran as well  Former CIA Director and Ambassador to China sought the Republican nomination, too  Bush called Reagan’s economic program voodoo economics

8. Democrats were divided  Senator Ted Kennedy sought the nomination  Kennedy’s DUI which resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne haunted his try for the presidency The Chappaquiddick incident

9. Independent Party  John Anderson ran as a third party candidate

10. Libertarian Party  Ed Clark ran as the Libertarian candidate  Promised to reduce the size of government and significantly cut taxes

12. Reagan’s victory  Republicans won in traditional Democratic areas  Reagan’s coalition included Jews, some Blacks, anti-government crusaders  Reagan’s public speaking ability eased Americans

13. Reagan’s inaugural parade

16. Reagan, Ford, Carter, Nixon

17. Reaganomics  Reagan strived to reduce taxes, particularly reducing the highest tax bracket Tax Reform Act of 1985 reduced brackets from 70% to 28%  Argued that Americans should be free of strict government regulation

18. Reagan pushed tax cuts

19. Reagan blamed the bad economy on President Carter

20. Criticism of Reaganomics  Critics said that Reagan’s “trickle- down” theory benefited only the wealthy

22. Reagan wanted to open federal lands to exploration

23. Assassination attempt, 1981

25. Agent Tim McCarthy took a bullet meant for Reagan

28. Reagan survived  Reagan’s humor after the incident relieved Americans  Reagan quipped, “Are any of you doctors Republicans?”  He said to his wife, “Nancy, I forgot to duck!”

30. And returned to the White House

31. Air traffic controller strike  Reagan fired members of the Air Traffic Controllers Union (PATCO), who went out on strike  Some businesses pushed for non-union workers

32. Reaganomics in practice  Factors such as a rising stock market, deindustrialization in the USA, outsourcing, led to a decline in the standard of living for some Americans  “Greed is healthy” said Wall Street financier Ivan Boesky  Yuppies -> Young urban professionals earned higher incomes

33. Downside of Reaganomics  Increased defense spending created large federal deficits  National debt expanded  Federal government bailed out failed Savings & Loans and other banks  National debt = $3 trillion, by 1988

34. Reagan and Pope John Paul II

36. Reagan’s Civil Rights  Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Conner as the first woman on the Supreme Court  Reagan cut back on some Great Society programs  Reagan did not push the religious right’s agenda: abortion remained legal, etc.

37. But Reagan signed the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Bill

38. At 40th anniversary of D-Day

39. Reagan sought reelection  Reagan was easily renominated for another term  Questions about his age were mentioned, but did not diminish his ability to campaign

40. Democrats nominated Mondale

42. Reagan’s sketchbook

43. Challenger accident, 1986

44. Fuel leak causes accident  A broken o-ring seal caused the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger

47. Shuttle debris retrieved from Atlantic Ocean

48. Reagan at Challenger Memorial Service

49. Reagan’s foreign policy  Reagan was determined to reverse the “Vietnam syndrome”  Reagan sent troops to Grenada to oust a pro-Cuban government  The invasion lasted only a few days with only 19 Ameican deaths

50. Lebanon bombing, Oct 1983

51. USA attacked Libya  April 1986, USA forces carried out a night time attack against Libya  USA accused Libya of harboring terrorists, and being behind a bombing in Germany which killed 63 soldiers

52. Artists conception of attack

54. Reagan called Russia the “evil empire”

60. Russia’s crackdown in Poland  Russia stifled pro-democracy movements in Poland  USA sent strongly worded messages to Russia

61. Russia hired an assassin to kill Pope John Paul II (1981)

62. Pope John Paul II wounded

63. Iran-Contra Affair  Congress passed a law banning arms sales to the Nicaraguan Contras  Contras were fighting the Sandinista government of Nicaragua  Lt. Oliver North set up a scheme to by-pass that law

65. Iran-Contra-GATE  Congress held public hearings on the Iran- Contra Affair  President Reagan appointed to Tower Commission to investigate  11 members of Reagan’s administration were convicted

66. Reagan’s good relations with China

67. Reagan and the Soviet Union

68. Reagan met Gorbachev four times  Mikhail Gorbachev wanted to reform Russia  Gorbachev proposed glasnost (political openness) in Russia  Gorbachev and Reagan proposed reductions of military weapons

69. Reagan in Berlin (1987): “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

71. Gorbachev in Washington, 1987

72. Reagan in Moscow, 1988

74. AIDs in the 1980s  AIDs became known in the early 1980s  Government response to the AIDs crisis was slow  Conservatives stated that nature was giving its revenge against decadence  Government promoted public education programs

75. Reagan left office in 1989

76. Reagan’s legacy  Reagan did not dismantle New Deal programs  Reagan kept executive departments he threatened to eliminate: Department of Education  Reagan did not push the programs of the religious right  Reagan created a new political agenda  Renewed America’s spirit  Placed the Democratic Party on the defensive