Chapter 31

1. Chapter 31 Power and Politics Since 1974 Web

2. Gerald Ford’s Caretaker Presidency • Domestic Policy • Appointed Nelson Rockefeller, a liberal,as his vice president • Pardoned Richard Nixon • Whip Inflation Now (WIN) campaign • Battled with Congress over economic program • Foreign Policy • South Vietnam collapsed, April 1975 • Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia, April 1975 • Majaguez incident, May 1975 • Election of 1976 • Ford challenged for Republican nomination by Ronald Reagan • Democrats nominated Jimmy carter • Promised to give government back to the people • Won a narrow victory

3. Jimmy Carter’s Domestic Policy • Welfare initiatives • Requested additional cash assistance and more jobs for the needy • Failed to win congressional approval • Energy initiatives • Ambitious energy program, pursued unilaterally • Decrease reliance on foreign oil and natural gas • Expand domestic energy production • Discourage gasoline use through new taxes • Encourage energy-saving measures to foster conservatism • Promote non-Petroleum energy sources • Congress rejected • Economic initiatives • Ambitious economic agenda • Lower unemployment and inflation • Stimulate greater economic growth • Balance federal budget • Failed to accomplish any of his goals • Economic crisis affected cities and urban areas as well

4. Jimmy Carter’s Foreign Policies • Amnesty for Vietnam War draft resisters • Panama Canal treaties • Camp David peace accords’ • Concern for human rights • Best known feature of Carter’s foreign policy • Helped to trigger trend toward democratization in 1980s and 1990s • Immediate impact was ambiguous • Crisis in Iran, November 1979 • Hostage situation at U.S.Embassy in Tehran • Despite constant attention, Carter unable to resolve the situation • Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, December 1979 • Series of ineffectual, non-Military responses

5. Election of 1980 • Edward Kennedy tried to Challenge Carter for Democratic nomination • Republicans ran Ronald Reagan • Opposition to domestic programs • Stronger national defense • Seized on economy, traditionally a Democratic issue • Won with just over 50 percent of vote

6. ©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. Presidential Election, 1980

7. Ronald Reagan’s Domestic Policies • Pursuing supply-side economics • Justified tax cuts for wealthy by saying they would stimulate growth • Period of non-inflationary growth, 1982-1986 • Unemployment remained high • High government spending resulted huge federal deficits • Borrowed abroad and piled up largest foreign debt in the world • Economic benefits unevenly distributed throughout society • “Underclass” especially hurt

8. Constructing a Conservative Agenda • General anti-union policy • Air traffic controllers, 1981 • Appointment of conservatives at all levels • Judges and justices • Non-judicial appointments • Eliminated and reduced some social welfare programs • Comprehensive Employment and Training Act • Food Stamps

9. Election of 1984 • Reagan wildly popular • Democrats ran Walter Mondale • Expansion of social-welfare programs • Higher taxes to pay for expanded programs • Reagan won landslide victory

10. Reagan’s Second Term • Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act of 1985 • Mandated balanced federal budget by 1991 • Family Support Act of 1988 • Mandated training programs for welfare recipients and eventual purging of welfare rolls • Supreme Court • Appointments of William Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia • Defeat of Robert Bork • Charges of corruption and mismanagement • Savings and loan crisis

11. Reagan’s Foreign Policy • Renewed Cold War • Dramatic increased in defense spending • Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) or Star Wars • International Offensive abroad • Funded various conservative groups abroad • Radio Mart to Cuba • CIA activities • Aid to anti-Communist forces in Afghanistan • Funding for contras in Nicaragua • General funding for opposition movements in countries aligned with the soviet Union • Willingness to use U.S. Military power • Lebanon, 1982 • Grenada, 1983

12. Iran-Contra Affair • U.S. aid for contras blocked by Democratic-controlled Congress in 1984 • Circumvent by having wealthy conservatives and other countries provide aid • Against backdrop of violence and kidnappings of Americans and other westerners in Middle east • Administration sold arms to Iran in exchange for help in winning release of captives • Flew in face of stated policy of not rewarding captors • Then funneled profits to contras as way of getting around congressional ban • Caused public outcry • Investigators unable to paint as serious constitutional crisis

13. Beginning of the End of the Cold War • Thaw in U.S. Soviet relations after 1985 • Role of Mikhail Gorbachev • “Glasnost” and “perestroika” • Loosened Moscow’s grip on Soviet Empire • Reykjavik summit, October 1986 • Reagan plan for wholesale ban on nuclear weapons

14. ©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. Collapse of the Soviet Bloc

15. George H.W. Bush’s Domestic Policy • Election of 1988 • Republicans nominated Bush, Reagan’s vice-president • Democrats nom9inated Michael Dukakis • Pledge to bring competence and honesty t0o the White House • Avoided talk of taxes and new domestic programs • Featured much negative campaigning • Bush won, but margin of victory not as large as originally believed • Domestic programs • Civil Rights Act of 1991 • Bush failure to veto angered conservatives • Accepted new taxes as way of addressing deficit • Democratic Congress and Republican White House often approached gridlock

16. George H.W. Bush’s Foreign Policy • End of Cold War • Began in Poland in 1989 • One by one, nations of Eastern Europe overthrew their Communist governments • Provinces that comprised the Soviet Union also declared independence • Global economy • Administration pushed for economic liberalization • Redefinition of “national Security” • Help to bring democracy to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala • Overthrow of Manuel Noriega in Panama, December 19989

17. George H.S. Bush’s Foreign Policy (cont.) • Persian Gulf War • Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, August 1990 • Operation “Desert Shield:” • UN action against Iraq • Launched military offensive in January 1991 • Stopped short of removing Saddam Hussein, something the UN had not authorized • Temporarily boosted Bush’s popularity • Administration not very successful in setting post-Cold war diplomatic goals • Mixed foreign policy legacy

18. Election of 1992 • Bush lacked coherent vision of either domestic or foreign policy • Allowed conservative activists to dominate 1992 Republican Convention • Didn’t appeal to democrats who had supported Reagan and then Bush in 1988 • Democrats ran Bill Clinton • Focused on economic issues • Increase spending for job creation and long-term growth • Comprehensive revision to nation’s health care system • Reduce taxes for middle-class Americans • Cut the deficit • Shrink size of government • Won by comfortable margin

19. Bill Clinton’s Domestic Policy • Social Issues • Abortion counseling at family planning clinics • Family leave for working parents • Americorps program • Brady Bill • Economic issues • Tax increase and spending cuts to reduce deficit • Setbacks on health care and personal financial history

20. Republican Congress, Democratic White House • Elections of 1994 brought big GOP victories • Contract with America • Rolling back federal spending • Cutting many programs and government regulations • Overplayed hand • Public not ready for overt “revolution”Government shutdowns in late 1995 and early 1996 blamed on Republicans • Strong economy buoyed Clinton’s presidency • Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 • Ended AFDC program • Created Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) • Each state to formulate its own welfare-to-work program

21. Victory and Impeachment • Election of 1996 capped Clinton’s political comeback • Defeated Bob Dole and Jack Kemp • Legislative cooperation with Republicans • Timetable for deficit reduction • Public scrutiny of the president’s private life • Kenneth Starr investigation • Impeachment attempt • Economic growth kept Clinton’s popularity high

22. Post-Cold War Foreign Policy • Clinton had expansive, internationalist vision • Debate over when to sue U.S. Military power in localized conflicts • Critics feared nation would get sucked into disputes with no clear way out • Defenders hailed flexibility and the opportunity to work with allies • Efforts to promote peace and defuse conflict • Nuclear disarmament efforts • Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, 1995 • Lowering trade barriers and expanding global markets highest priority • World Trade Organization

23. Election of 2000 • Democrats ran Al Gore • Distanced himself from Bill Clinton • Probably a mistake • Republicans ran George W. Bush • Election results initially too close to call • Gore carried popular vote by 500,000 • Electoral college tally hung on results in Florida • Original tally gave state to Bush with less than 1,000 vote victory • Democrats demanded recount in selected counties • Controversy reigned for a month • Supreme Court finally intervened • Stopped selected recount, saying it was unconstitutional • Declared Bush winner by 5-4 margin • Five conservative Republicans versus 2 Democrats and two liberal Republicans

24. ©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. Presidential Election, 2000

25. George W. Bush’s Domestic Policy • Economic downturn • Stock Market decline • Growing Federal and State deficits • Corporate accounting scandals • Administration policies • Tax cut plan described as an economic stimulus package • Energy policy that favored oil companies • Controversial educational policy • Mandatory nationwide test of children to assess schools’ effectiveness

26. George W. Bush’s Foreign Policy • September 11, 2001 • Bush Doctrine • Preemptive war to protect U.S. interests • Huge increase in Bush’s approval ratings • War on Terrorism • Became administration’s foreign policy focus • Patriot Act • Broad executive branch latitude over surveillance and detention of people considered threats to national security • Iraq • Administration mounted campaign against Saddam Hussein • Aiding terrorists • Stockpiling weapons of mass destruction • Began preparing for preemptive war in fall of 2002 Web