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Carter and the Reagan Revolution. Carter was an unusual figure in the Presidency; Lucky to be elected; eked out a victory over Gerald Ford—people voted against Vietnam, Watergate and Nixon to elect Carter.
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Carter was an unusual figure in the Presidency; Lucky to be elected; eked out a victory over Gerald Ford—people voted against Vietnam, Watergate and Nixon to elect Carter. • His Christian persona, uncontaminated by Washington (outsider) made him an interesting alternative after Watergate; • Ostensibly a convicted Christian with ethics, Journalists and policy professionals were mesmerized by his Judeo-Christian attitude.
His eccentric family provided plentiful material for colorful media stories • Carter struggled to make respect for human rights central to his foreign policy • He withdrew American support for the shah of Iran • He withdrew American support for the Nicaraguan dictator Somoza
He tried to promote lasting peace in the Middle East. The Camp David Accord between Israel and Egypt (1978) was his most important contribution to world stability. • He relinquished American control of the Panama Canal.
Carter’s economic policies were hamstrung by an awkward combination of slow growth and inflation (stagflation). • The 1979 oil crisis intensified inflation. • He faced a bruising challenge in the Democratic Party for the 1980 nomination.
The Carter administration ended in a pair of complex foreign-policy crises. • Iranian revolutionaries seized 71 American diplomats and embassy staff members in November 1979 and held 52 of them as hostages for 444 days. • The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979) poisoned the détente atmosphere.
Ronald Reagan • Reagan’s victory in 1980 indicated a shift in the Republican Party and the new energy of the Religious Right.
The Moral Majority, led by Jerry Falwell, brought the concerns of evangelical Christians into the political arena for the first time since the 1920s. • The objected to the “permissive society”, the sexual revolution, feminism, and a perceived breakdown of the family • They aimed to restore religion to a central place in public life.
Conservative Republicans had gained control of local party branches since the Goldwater fiasco of 1964. • Reagan’s earlier fame, based on his radio, Hollywood, and television careers, gave Republican conservatives a handsome, relaxed, media-savvy representative.
Reagan, like Eisenhower, deliberately gave the impression of being less politically capable than he, in fact, was. • Surviving an assassination attempt soon after his inauguration enhanced his popularity. • His persona, as much as his policies, helped to ensure Reagan's reelection in 1984, especially when the Democrats pursued controversial policies and candidates.
The Democrat’s choice of a female vice-presidential candidate backfired. • Jesse Jackson’s role in the Democratic Party contributed to its disarray. • Reagan abandoned the bipartisan consensus of recent decades in both domestic and foreign policy. • He espoused the supply-side revolution in economic policy. Tax cuts, providing entrepreneurial incentives, would increase economic growth and enhance revenue.
Reagan abandoned the bipartisan consensus of recent decades in both domestic and foreign policy. • He espoused the supply-side revolution in economic policy. Tax cuts, providing entrepreneurial incentives, would increase economic growth and enhance revenue.
The Libertarian side of Republicanism gained more than the pro-family and evangelical side, whose policy plans presupposed more government intervention and surveillance. • Reagan, despite his rhetoric, did little to legislate against abortion or for school prayers. • He found it difficult to follow through on his promise to diminish the reach of the federal government.
Rapid military escalation created budget deficits. • Ragan’s militant Cold War posture strained relations with the Soviet Union and contributed to bitter conflict in Latin America.
Reagan’s supported the anti-regime contras in Nicaragua’s civil war and the pro-U.S regime in El Salvador. • The “Star Wars” program prepared to militarize even beyond Earth’s atmosphere. • Concessions in the START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) talks augured the Soviet Union’s internal crisis. • His “Teflon” image enabled Reagan to weather even the embarrassing Iran-Contra scandal of his second term.
