The Reagan Revolution

1. The Reagan Revolution 1) With the exception of the Eisenhower (1952-58) and Nixon/Ford Administrations (1968-1976) the Democratic Party virtually controlled the executive branch from 1932-1980. However, Jimmy Carter’s inability to address runaway inflation, an oil crisis, U.S. hostages held in Iran, and general public mistrust of government led to a conservative resurgence in the election of 1980.

2. The Reagan Revolution 2) Despite a significant primary challenge from Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter gained the Democratic nomination and ran for re-election in 1980. Carter’s Republican opponent was a former actor, a onetime spokesperson for the General Electric Corporation, and the former Governor of California. Ronald Reagan ran as a fiscal conservative that also espoused social conservative stances by denouncing abortion, homosexuality, feminism, and affirmative action. Reagan won the election of 1980 in an electoral landslide.

4. 3) The Reagan Revolution: A) The Devolution Revolution – President Regan countered the “Big Government” of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal Revolution by cutting taxes, government spending, and transferring many federal responsibilities to state governments. He declared, “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.”

5. 3) The Reagan Revolution: B) Reaganomics– President Reagan supported a form of “supply-side” economics that cut income taxes as a means of generating economic growth. His polices seemed to stimulate the economy, but his across-the-board tax cuts obviously benefitted high-income earners the most. Reagan’s policies did stimulate economic growth, but also resulted in an increasing gap between the rich and poor.

6. 3) The Reagan Revolution: C) Judicial Appointments – The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate the judges to the federal courts as well as the justices of the Supreme Court. Reagan appointed judges/justices that exercised “judicial restraint”. Advocates of “judicial restraint” enforce existing laws according to strict wording of the Constitution. They rarely overturn previous decisions and they defer to the legislative branch to make policies.

7. 3) The Reagan Revolution: D) Deregulation– Reagan cut government spending by greatly reducing the number and scope of many government programs. Reagan believed that government regulation unnecessarily hampered productivity and limited economic growth.

8. 3) The Reagan Revolution: E) DefenseSpending – Regan dramatically increased defense spending as a result of his aggressive foreign policy during the latter years of the Cold War. He sought to strengthen the American military by expanding the nuclear arsenal and funding various programs like the missile defense system known as the “Strategic Defense Initiative” (SDI). Reagan later negotiated with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in order to significantly decrease the nuclear stockpiles of the two superpowers.

9. A “Center-Right” Nation 3) The popular election of Reagan’s Vice President, George H.W. Bush, gave further evidence that Reagan Revolution had resulted in a broad political realignment that would impact future elections. Consequently, moderate Democrats became more viable candidates than the left-wing liberals of the FDR mold. For example, Bill Clinton was a centrist Democrat that endorsed conservative stances like welfare reform, reducing government spending, and balancing the federal budget.

10. A “Center-Right” Nation 4) Bill Clinton’s Democratic victory in 1992 also resulted in a 1994midtermelection where the Republican Party regained control of the House of Representatives. The Clinton impeachment scandal also helped build further momentum for the Republican campaign of conservative Republican George W. Bush in the 2000 election.

11. President George H. W. Bush A) Fall of communism in Eastern Europe – The “Satellite States” behind the Iron Curtain increasingly resisted Soviet rule during the 1980s. For example, the pro-western “Solidarity Movement” in Poland resulted in the election of a non-communist leader in 1989.

12. President George H. W. Bush B) Reunificationof Germany – The independence of many Eastern European countries in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the reunification of Eastern and Western Germany.

13. President George H. W. Bush C) Collapse of Yugoslavia – Yugoslavia was a collection of various ethnicities, religions, and nationalities that had been foolishly lumped together by the Treaty of Versailles (1918).

14. President George H. W. Bush D) Breakup of the Soviet state – the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and Communism was abandoned as an economic policy.

15. E) Persian Gulf War 1) President George H.W. Bush employed U.S. military forces in the Middle East in order to defend the oil-rich country of Kuwait from an invasion by neighboring Iraq. Plagued by war-debts from an eight-year war with Iran, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein attempted to increase his nation’s wealth and power by expanding his control of Middle Eastern oil supplies.

16. E) Persian Gulf War 2) UnitedNations (U.N.) quickly condemned the action and pledged to use military force to remove the Iraqi forces. The United States represented the bulk of the forces, but over 270,000 troops from 28 other countries united in the U.N. coalition against Iraq.

17. 3) Operation Desert Storm A) After months of negations and economic sanctions against Iraq, the U.S. and its U.N. allies launched a series of air strikes for 37 days against targets in occupied-Kuwait and Iraq. Saddam Hussein responded by launching missile strikes against U.S. allies, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

18. 3) Operation Desert Storm B) “Operation Desert Storm” was the codename given to the massive invasion of U.S. and U.N. ground troops into Iraq. They completely overwhelmed the enemy and outflanked the Iraqi occupation forces in Kuwait and prevented them from reinforcing the Iraqi forces on the homefront. This precise and cunning battle plan was developed and executed by Generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell.

19. 3) Operation Desert Storm C) Saddam Hussein accepted a ceasefire on February 27th, 1991 and Kuwait was liberated. Regime change was not an objective of this war and U.S. forces were evacuated from Iraq after the armistice was signed.

20. 3) Operation Desert Storm D) This was also the first war where American women participated in combat.

21. President William J. Clinton 1) Bill Clinton governed over the most prosperous period in American history as e-commerce through the internet greatly expanded the U.S. economy. In 1998, Clinton became the only President in the last three decades to produce a balanced federal budget.

22. 2) Clinton’s Achievements A) North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – NAFTA was an international economic agreement that established free trade between the United States, Mexico, and Canada in 1993. This illustrated Clinton’s centrist economic views because many labor union advocates within his own party strongly opposed free-trade policies that would send many domestic manufacturing jobs south of the border.

23. 2) Clinton’s Achievements B) Vietnam– Despite the tangled and contentious history of U.S relations with Vietnam, President Clinton established full diplomatic relations with the Communist nation of Southeast Asia.

24. 2) Clinton’s Achievements C) South Africa – Clinton normalized relations with South Africa when the predominantly-white government ended the policy of apartheid that had been enforced against the indigenous black population.

26. 2) Clinton’s Achievements D) Yugoslavia – The end of the Cold War produced severe ethnic and religious strife in Yugoslavia during the 1990s. Yugoslavia was a collection of various states in the Balkans region of Southeastern Europe. When the Yugoslav state of Serbia attempted to carry out a violent “ethniccleansing” campaign against Bosnians and ethnic Albanians, Clinton convinced NATO allies to initiate air strikes against Serbia. This was followed by a NATO peace-keeping force that prevented a wholesale genocide.

27. President George W. Bush 1) The Clinton years resulted in a vibrant economy, but continued allegations like the Whitewater investigation and the MonicaLewinsky scandal distracted from Clinton’s record and tarnished his legacy. The impeachment process completely preoccupied the nation for months and made the public weary of the incumbent party.

28. President George W. Bush 2) The 2000election was one of the closest in history. Many still dispute the results because of a contentious battle over a Florida recount that ended because of a Supreme Court ruling. Despite receiving 500,000 less popular votes, Texas Governor, George W. Bush was able to achieve an electoral majority over Democratic Vice President, Al Gore.

31. President George W. Bush 3) 9/11/2001 – The terrorist attacks of September 11th against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon irrevocably redefined U.S. foreign policy.

32. President George W. Bush 4) The Afghan War – The U.S. declared war on Afghanistan in October of 2011 in order to remove a government of Muslim extremist-sect known as the Taliban. The Taliban had given shelter to a radical terrorist organization led by Osama Bin Laden known as “Al Qaeda.” U.S. troops quickly overran the Taliban and secured a pro-Western government led by Hamid Karzai.

34. President George W. Bush 5) War in Iraq – The Bush administration widened its military involvement in the Middle East by launching an invasion of Iraq in May of 2003. Many members of the Bush Administration claimed that Saddam Hussein was attempting to acquire nuclear weapons, but little evidence of this was discovered in the wake of the U.S. invasion. Much like the first Persian Gulf War, ground forces easily overwhelmed Iraqi forces, but the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime compelled U.S. forces to occupy Iraq. A violent insurgency developed as Shia and Sunni factions struggled to form a coalition government.

35. United States responses to terrorism A) Heightened security at home (Patriot Act) B) Diplomatic and military initiatives (Iraq and Afghanistan)

36. The Supreme Court 1) The membership of the United States Supreme Court has included women and minorities, such as Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Clarence Thomas.

38. The Supreme Court 2) The civil rights movement of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s provided a model that other groups have used to extend civil rights and promote equal justice.

39. The Supreme Court 3) The United States Supreme Court protects the individual rights enumerated in the Constitution of the United States.

40. The Supreme Court 4) The United States Supreme Court identifies a constitutional basis for a right to privacy that is protected from government interference.

41. The Supreme Court 5) The United States Supreme Court invalidates legislative acts and executive actions that the justices agree exceed the authority granted to government officials by the Constitution of the United States.

42. MODERN IMMIGRATION 1) New and increasing immigration to the United States has been taking place from many diverse countries, especially Asian and Latin American countries.

43. A) Reasons for immigration • Political freedom • Economic opportunity

44. B) Effects of immigration • Bilingual education/English as a Second Language (ESL) courses • Effects on public policy (Cuban Americans and policy toward Cuba) • Politics/voting

45. C) Issues related to immigration policy • Strain on governmentservices • Filling low-paying jobs in the United States • Border issues • Pathway to citizenship • Bilingual education (ESL and ELL) • Increasing cultural diversity

46. D) Contributions of immigrants • Diversity in music, the visual arts, and literature • Roles in the labor force: achievements in science, engineering, and other fields

47. THE MODERN REVOLUTION IN TECHNOLOGY 1) In the early 1960s, President John Kennedy pledged increased support for the American space program. The race to the moon continued through the 1960s. U.S. astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. In 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first person to step onto the moon’s surface. He proclaimed, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

49. THE MODERN REVOLUTION IN TECHNOLOGY 2) In 1983, Sally Ride became the first female American astronaut.

50. THE MODERN REVOLUTION IN TECHNOLOGY 3) Over the past three decades improved technology and media have brought about better access to communication and information for rural areas, businesses, and individual consumers. As a result, many more Americans have access to global information and viewpoints.