america in the 1980’s: an overview
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America in the 1980’s: An Overview. America in the 1980’s. The challenges of America that followed the Watergate scandal, the energy crisis and Vietnam would have dimmed the national optimism that followed World War II - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
America in the 1980’s: An Overview
America in the 1980’sThe challenges of America that followed the
Watergate scandal, the energy crisis and Vietnam would have dimmed the national optimism that followed World War II
Former California Governor Ronald Reagan proposed to restore national optimism though conservative government and aggressive foreign policy
The 1980’s would usher in a new age of growth and the end of the Cold War
As is always the case, we can also see the seeds of future challenges in American society being sown in the 1980’sGlobal terrorismGrowing economic inequality
The Conservative RevolutionGovernor Reagan would challenge President Carter in
the election of 1980 as it was mired in great foreign and domestic challengesAmerican were taken hostage in Tehran, Iran in November
1979 Protesting America’s support of the brutal dictatorial rule of the
Shah who had fled to America following a revolutionAmerican economy suffering another energy crisis and
high inflationAmericans were growing frustrated by feeling of
weakness and lack of strong leadershipPresident Reagan promised to restore America
leadership America’s leadership in the worldRan along with Republican rival George HW Bush for VP
President Reagan won a resounding victory in 1980
Reagan received strong report from the New Right including conservative Christians in the newly organized Moral MajorityFelt that Christian values and
liberalism had pushed America of its moral center
Felt welfare and civil rights policies compromised
Pushed for the reversal of the Roosevelt-Johnson welfare state
Reagan’s big win in 1980 gave his conservative program a mandate
A Conservative Administration
President Reagan promised a departure from liberal social programs and regulation to restart the American economyFree market economy and deregulation
Allow the forces of capitalism dominate economic activityLower taxes
Decrease social welfare programs to manage spendingConservative social values
Support of school prayerGun rightsAnti-abortion
These ideas made him popular among the New Right and Moral Majority
This support would dominate presidential politics for 12 years to 1992
Reagan was known as the Great Communicator-effective at communicating conservative message
Reaganomics: Engineering a Recovery
President Reagan viewed high taxes and regulation as the cause of America’s anemic economy
Solution- Reaganomics (aka “trickle down economics)Cut income tax on wealth to
encourage investment and job creationCut regulation that made economic
development more difficultOpen public lands for economic
developmentBenefits would “trickle down” to the
middle class and poor
The success and failure of ReaganomicsSuccess
Knocked down inflation and unemployment- stagflation was gone by 1983
Stock market soared through much of the 1980’s
On average, Americans were earning 10% more in inflation adjusted dollars by the end of the Reagan years
ProblemsTax cuts and growing
defense spending increased budget deficits and accumulated national debt
Deregulation of banks and stock market generated significant meltdowns by 1987
Environmental deregulation hurt the environment
The distribution of income between rich and poor widened
Reagan and the World:President Reagan promised a hard line against the Soviet
UnionReferred to the Soviet Union as The Evil EmpireBelieved that aggressive posturing was the way to engage the
Soviet Union- not morality or realpolitikAmerican hostages in Iran freed the day Reagan was
inaguratedReagan engineered the largest peace time expansion of the
military in American historyBudget nearly doubledPush to develop Strategic Defense Initiative
Make Soviet missiles powerless through laser interception Critics called it Star Wars- impractical
Reagan’s critics claimed he neglected the poorest Americans to build weapons
Attracting CriticismThe combination of
higher defense spending and cuts to social programs angered many
Reaganomics made some investors rich but left many people without support
Were the costs of Reaganomics and the defense build up worth it?
Pressing the Evil Empire and Global Communism1980 might be considered the high point in
the power and influence of global communismCommunist governments dominated Eastern
Europe, China, southeast Asia as well as the USSR and were growing in Africa and Latin America
Tensions with the Soviet Union deepened- (détente broke with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979)
Cold War Challenges: First TermPoland 1981
Americans warned Moscow not to invade Poland when a growing labor movement Solidarity challenged martial law declared by Poland’s government
Near Korea 1983Korean passenger airliner shot down by Soviet fighter- claims
it was a spy planeEurope 1983- Americans place nuclear weapons in Britain
and GermanySoviets and Warsaw Pact boycott 1984 Los Angeles Olympics-
joined by many Communist countriesPresident Reagan supported anti communist groups in
Latin America while knocking out a communist government in Grenada in 1983Opponents wanted to limit America’s support of anti-
communist forces in Nicaragua (Contras)- another Vietnam?
Morning in America: The Reagan Reelection of 1984
President Reagan easily won reelection in 1984 against Democrats Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro
Reagan Campaign Ad- Why was this message effective?
Reagan won by a larger margin than 1980
Reagan became the oldest American inaugurated as President
Economic Challenges: The Public SectorHigher defense spending and tax cuts induced
soaring budget deficits that Reagan vowed to stopGramm-Hollings Act required across the board
cuts in government spending to address deficitsFederal Deficit- gap between budgeted government
income and spendingFederal Debt- accumulated money owed to banks and
individuals loaning money to the federal governmentBudget deficits and debts have been a federal
problem since the New Deal and World War II
A Look at Budget Deficits
Economic Challenges: The Private SectorDeregulation of the economy was supposed to stimulate
economic growthLess regulations invited corruption
Insider trading scandal in the stock market The use of confidential information to gain advantage in the
purchase and sale of stocks This was a cause of the collapse of the market in 1929 Discourages most people from investing- like poker with a
stacked deck Decline in trust led to a market crash in 1987 bigger than 1929
A crisis in the Savings and Loan banks generated by a collapse in real estate markets forced government to cover billions in losses
Neither crisis generated a depression… lingering power of New Deal?
A Foreign Policy Crisis: The Iran-Contra AffairAt any time in a presidency, the president
will have a number of foreign policy crisesAmerica’s anti-communist foreign policy
supported the efforts of Nicaragua’s ContrasPro-Iranian groups in Lebanon held American
hostagesThe president must work within the
Constitution and CongressThe Reagan Administration tried to solve
these problems outside of its legal rights
What happened?Administration sold weapons to Iran
Iran desperate needed weapons for war against IraqAmerica had no formal relations with Iran following
hostage crisisAmerica hoped Iran would press pro-Iranian hostage
takers to release hostages in LebanonProfits from sale diverted to anti-Communist contras
Congress had forbidden direct support of ContrasReagan not directly involved by subordinates
shredded documents Members of the White House staff implicated
Reagan criticized for his lack of control over subordinates
The Warming of the Cold WarA new type of leader took control
of the Soviet Union in 1985- Mikhail GorbachevEconomic reformer- perestroika
Push to create a consumer economy- cut down government and military spending
Political reformer- glasnost “openness”Freedom of expression
Gorbachev needed to negotiate to decrease military spending
Gorbachev grew popular in the United StatesHope to lower cold war tensions
Negotiating a Thaw in the Cold WarPresident Reagan and Chairman Gorbachev negotiated
many important arms control agreementsNegotiated the end of intermediate range nuclear missiles in
Europe and the end of the Soviet occupation in AfghanistanGorbachev renounced the use of force in foreign policy- later
announced a policy of non-intervention in Eastern EuropeAnti-communist groups in Poland, Czechoslovakia and
Hungary worked to unseat communist governmentsRebellion in East Germany led to resignation of its
Communist leaderEast German solders quit patrolling the Berlin Wall9 November 1989- Citizens of Berlin take the wall down-
symbolic end of the Cold War in Europe
The Republican Revolution Continues
Vice President Bush continued Reagan’s policies defeating liberal Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis
In his first year, communism collapsed- end of the Cold War
The Soviet Union breaks up on 25 December 1991- What a Christmas present for Cold Warriors!
A New Crisis in the Gulf August 1990, Iraqi forces under
Saddam Hussein invade oil rich KuwaitClaim that it was historically part of Iraq Iraq owed Kuwait money for its war
against Iran Nations in region concerned about
Iraq’s power grab- America concerned about balance of power and oil wealth
UN condemned invasion America and a coalition of countries
mobilized troops in Saudi Arabia (1/2 million Americans)Largest troop deployment since VietnamWide global supportWaiting for 15 January 1991 UN deadline
for Iraq withdraw
Overcoming the “Vietnam Syndrome”
President Bush believed it was important to clearly communicate that he was not LBJ and this was not VietnamIdentified clear objectives- remove Iraqi forces
from KuwaitIdentified limits of the mission- “no mission
creep”Provide full support for soldiers and sailrs
deployedHave allies
This war would last 100 hours and would meet its objectives
A New Kind of WarStep 1- Operation Desert Shield
Deploy troops to Saudi Arabia to check further Iraqi expansionThis would anger many in Saudi Arabia including Osama bin
Laden- Crusaders in the Holy Land of the ProphetStep 2- Air attack Operation Desert Storm
Bombing of Iraqi targets began 16 JanuaryHi-tech “smart bombs” do serious damage to Baghdad
Step 3- Operation Desert Storm Attack on Kuwait began 23 February
Iraqis driven out days later- 100,000 killedUnited Nations forces accept a negotiated armistice with
Saddam- Quick decisive victory ends Vietnam Syndrome
Economic ChallengesPresident Bush inherited some of the problems of
Reagan’s second termLarge budget deficits created by defense spending and tax
cutsSavings and Loan mess- cost of bail outA trade deficit was a growing problem
Cities like Pittsburgh were ravaged by the decline of the steel industryAuto industry continued to struggle with the challenge of foreign
competitionAmerican economy fell into recession
In spite of his challenge “read my lips, no new taxes” he raised taxes to bridge budget deficit
His popularity quickly fell as he approached election of 1992
American Political and Economic History… In a NutshellMore conservative government ended stagflation
of the 1970’s, but the plight of the poor became more difficult and distribution of income widened (rich got richer and poor got poorer)
A more aggressive foreign policy directed the end of the Cold War and pushed Iraq out of Kuwait in the Gulf War, but high military spending plagued the budget and new enemies in the Middle East would be looking for an opportunity to hit America
We will look at American social history and popular culture next…