1. The Reagan Revolution Section 23.2
Close-up of Reagan, our first actor President

2. What was the zeitgeist of America under Jimmy Carter?
Economic struggles
Military humiliation
Lack of patriotism
America had lost confidence in itself
Montage of negative 1970s images

3. Who was Ronald Reagan? ‘B’ movie actor
President of Screen Actors Guild
Aided HUAC in its anticommunist investigations
Governor of California ( )
Known as “The Great Communicator”
Used TV to present his political point of view brilliantly
Extremely Optimistic
Delegator of authority
Very conservative
Favored strong military
Above: early movie comic; below: Reagan the smiling cowboy

4. Capture from clip on the Reagan presidency

5. Who were the neoconservatives?
Reagan’s most ardent supporters
Came from broad coalition of voters
Economically
Against government regulation, hated high taxes
Favored small government that stayed out of people’s business
Believed liberalism just wasted taxpayer’s money on welfare programs
Socially
Against: abortion, gay rights, communism, social experimentation
Favored strong military and continued anti-communism
Above: Reagan at a parade; below: protest outside abortion clinic

6. What was the Religious Right?
Evangelical Christians who favored conservatism
Agreed with neo-cons on economic and foreign policy but focus was on social conservatism
Moral Majority
Political organization that registered nearly 3 million voters
Led by preacher Jerry Falwell
Had major political influence on Reagan and Republican Party
Above: Reagan and Falwell share a laugh; below: Falwell on TV

7. Capture from clip on social conservatism

8. How did political allegiances shift in the 1980s?
Great Lakes and Northeast
“Reagan Democrats”
Blue collar and ethnic voters from traditionally democratic states who supported Reagan
Liked Reagan’s views on communism, abortion, lower taxes
South
Many voters joined religious right
Former Democratic strongholds supported Reagan and the Republicans
Elderly
Believed Reagan at 69 understood their issues better
Top: Reagan poster; above: the first Reagan landslide

9. What is Reaganomics?
Reagan’s economic policy of lowering taxes and cutting ‘wasteful’ government programs
Keynesian economic theory (Traditional)
Government spending key to stimulating economy
Great Depression
Reaganomics or Supply-side economics
Lower taxes will stimulate investment which would lead to business expansion and more jobs
More jobs means more products and therefore lower prices for consumers
Economic Recovery Tax Act (1981)
Slashed taxes (especially for the wealthy)
Cut social programs
Welfare benefits, food stamps, unemployment compensation
Above: Reagan’s Time cover
George H.W. Bush, in the primaries, had called it ‘voodoo economics’

10. Capture from clip of Reagan speech

11. What were some of the negative effects of Reaganomics?
Initially a severe recession
Factories and mines shut down
Unemployment reached 10% (1982)
Farms foreclosed
Had taken high interests loans
Crime and poverty increased in urban areas
Deficit skyrocketed
National Debt:
- Nearly $1 Trillion (1980)
- Nearly $2.5 Trillion (1987)
Below: chart shows debt as a growing percentage of GDP in 1980s

12. Capture from clip on urban problems (effects of Reaganomics)

13. What were some of the positive effects of Reaganomics?
After 1983 the economy boomed
Interest rates fell greatly
Companies invested again
Lower inflation allowed consumers to consume, plan, invest
1984: GNP rose by 9%
Most since 1951
Set up second (larger) Reagan landslide
Above: jubilant stock traders celebrate an up day on Wall St.; below: the Merrill Lynch bull

14. Capture from clip on Wall Street in the 1980s

15. Describe Reagan’s policies regarding the regulation of business?
Laissez-Faire
Presidential Taskforce on Regulatory Relief
Advised Reagan on loosening rules for certain industries
Eased demands for air bags, fuel efficiency, fossil fuel emissions, airline traffic routes
Opened up public lands for oil drilling, mining, logging
Above: Reagan economic team; below: oil rig in Texas

16. How did the Supreme Court become more conservative under Reagan?
Appointed conservative justices
Wanted to reverse some of Warren Court decisions on:
Abortion
Prayer in school
Gay rights
Affirmative action
Appointed Sandra Day O’Connor
1st female on Supreme Court
Court showed restraint by not completely reversing Warren Court
Above: Reagan with O’Connor
A later, more reactionary appointee was rejected by Senate

17. Social Change in the 1970s and 1980s
What the media portrayed in the 1960s, Americans became in the 1970s. This was when Baby Boomers in their greatest numbers flooded into high school and college, and when the Establishment “gave up” its fight against SDR+R
The 1980s saw a partial reversal: Reagan and the Moral Majority were part of the reason, but young Americans were also chastened by the AIDS epidemic and the deaths of ‘crackheads’
First Lady Nancy Reagan with her simple, memorable anti-drug message

18. The 1988 Election Main issue was the Reagan presidency
Election of George H.W. Bush considered “Reagan’s Third Term”
Democrats pulled leftward by Jesse Jackson’s ‘Rainbow Coalition’
Nominee, Michael Dukakis, hurt by poor campaign tactics
Left: Dukakis, tank commander; right: a Rainbow Coalition van