1. Reagan and Bush

2. Ronald Reagan

3. The Conservative Movement Grows
Liberal Viewpoint
Favored more gov’t involvement to lessen extreme economic inequalities through
Social programs
Gov’t regulation of industry
Favored international diplomacy to combat communism In other countries
Conservative Viewpoint
Favored limited gov’t involvement in order to stimulate economic growth by
Reducing taxes
Decreasing regulation of industry
Favored relying on our own national defense and actively fighting against communism in other countries

4. Ronald Reagan
Reagan promised to rebuild military strength and to fix the economy, all while creating a balanced budget and cutting taxes
Assassination Attempt March 1981
1993 Brady Bill – Federal background check to purchase a gun

5. Reaganomics Reagan raised interest rate
restricted the money supply and controlled inflation
He also cut taxes by 25% on the rich
“Trickle-down” theory:
“supply-side” economics: lower taxes would increase revenue because it would stimulate the economy
Reagan also deregulated the energy, automobile, and cable television industries to promote growth in competition

6. Recession of 1982 Unemployment rose Banks closed
Anti-inflation policies were started by the Federal Reserve in 1979 led to recession
Income gaps widened between the rich and poor
Median household income actually declined in the early 1990s
Major deficit was a result of military expenditures (costs)
$2 trillion

7. Terrorism Beirut (Oct. 23, 1983):
Israel invaded Lebanon, seeking to destroy Palestinian bases
Reagan sent Marines on a peace-keeping mission but withdrew forces after attacked by a suicide bomber, killing 241 Americans
Libya (Apr. 15, 1986): After Libyan sponsored terror attacks in Germany, the US retaliated with an air strike aimed at taking out Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and terrorist training facilities

8. Reagan & The Cold War Abandoned all efforts at détente
Declaring them an “evil empire”
Goal: deplete their economy through military spending
$1.5 trillion on defense
“Star Wars”

9. The Reagan Doctrine
Reagan believed that that the US had a moral obligation to show support for guerrilla groups who were fighting communist or pro-Soviet governments
This policy would lead to US intervention in several conflicts
Afghanistan ($570 million in military aid)
Nicaragua (secret aid to Contras)
Iran Contras Scandal
Grenada
Ousted insurgents that created a military corp brought Marxists to power

10. Iran-Contra Scandal Government secretly funded Contras in Nicaragua
Congress directed that US cut off aid
Reagan’s administration had instead been funding them with the illegal sale of weapons to Iran
Reagan claimed to have no knowledge
of the operation, placing blame on his
Security Council and the CIA
14 men were indicted, including Col.
Oliver North who had run the entire
operation, but none ever did any
prison time

11. 1988 Election
Republicans nominated vice-president George Bush who made the famous campaign promise: “Read my lips - No new taxes!”
Democrats nominated Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis over civil rights activist Jesse Jackson
Bush won easily. Thanks largely to Reagan’s success as president

12. Bush: End of the Cold War and Gulf War

13. The Cold War Ends Communism ends in Eastern Europe:
Communist regimes in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Romania collapsed.
Fall of the Berlin Wall (Nov. 89) symbolized the end of communism in Europe
Soviet Union Breaks Apart (1991):
Gorbachev’s policies glasnost and perestroika moved away from a socialist controlled economy.
USSR separated into 15 independent republics. Boris Yeltsin was the new leader of the Russians Federation
Tiananmen Square (1989)

14. Tiananmen Square Chinese students staged a prodemocracy protests
In the heart of Beijing
Americans hoped that this might result in fall of communism in China
Chinese tanks rolled in and killed, crushed, and imprisoned activists
RESULT: Bush administration condemned action and suspended arms sales to China

15. Former Soviet Union
After the fall of the Soviet Union long-suppressed ethnic and racial hatreds were exposed
Ethnic warfare and “ethnic cleaning” campaigns begin
Western Europe was now threatened by social and economic weakness of former communist lands

16. The Persian Gulf War August 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait
Saddam Hussein invaded to secure oil reserves- He could control 20% of world’s oil
The UN objected to Iraq’s aggression, taking economic sanctions and setting a deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait
700,000 troops were assembled in Saudi Arabia- American, British, French, and Egyptian

17. Operation Desert Storm
January 16, 1991
American-led attack on Iraqi forces
Air and missile attacks before beginning a ground invasion of Kuwait
148 American deaths
Bush elected not to fully conquer Iraq because the UN-approved mission had been to simply liberate Kuwait and the political consequences of removing Saddam Hussein from power would have been too steep

18. 1992 Election Republicans nominated Bush for re-election
Democrats nominated Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, who promised widespread reforms
Billionaire H. Ross Perot ran as an independent, promising to run America like a business by cutting the federal deficit and balancing the budget
Clinton won in a hotly contested election

19. Was Reagan A Good President?
Pros
Cons
List 5 facts from the reading
THIS IS YOUR LEFT SIDE FOR TODAY