standard 11.11.2 discuss the significant domestic policy speeches of truman, eisenhower, kennedy,...
TRANSCRIPT
Standard 11.11.2
• Discuss the significant domestic policy speeches of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton (e.g., education, civil rights, economic policy, environmental policy)
• Essential Question: How would you characterize the 1980s from an economic and societal standpoint?
ModerateCentrist
ConservativeRepublican
LiberalDemocrat
Issues
low taxessocial programs
pro-military
police force
gun rights
pro-life
Christian value
little/no regulation
environmentalismlaissez-faire
pro-choice
labor rights
affirmative action
freedom of speech
stem cell research
death penalty
censorship
anti-illegal immigration
Gay marriage
euthanasia
personal drug use
Minimum wage
Universal health care
ModerateCentrist
ConservativeRepublican
LiberalDemocrat
The People
African American
unions
veterans
Gays-Lesbians
Moral Majority
Catholics
PhDs
White
Protestant
rural
urban Elderly55+
under 35
HispanicAsian
women
men
single
married
Cubans
Reagan
• Ronald Reagan– charismatic, humorous ex-CA governor
• the Great Communicator• the Teflon President• age 70 at the beginning of his presidency• shot by John D. Hinckley in 1981
– Reagan restarted the arms race– he fought for “traditional” American values
R Ronald Reagan 43,899,248 489
D Jimmy Carter 35,481,435 49
I John B. Andersen 5,719,437 --
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
Liberal Conservative
•national government •state government
•higher taxes on rich •reduce taxes on rich
•social programs •feared growing debt
•regulation of industry •deregulation
•diplomacy •strong military
The New Right
• New Right– new coalition of conservative voters
• lost faith in Great Society• suburban voters• southern whites• Moral Majority
– abortion, gay rights, school prayer
Reagan + Economics = Reaganomics
• Reaganomics– Reagan cut taxes by 25%– Investment = Jobs
• unemployment rose to 10% in 1982 but fell after that• hit blue collar and farm workers the hardest
– increased military spending– cut $40 billion from the budget (mostly social
programs)– deregulated banks, airlines, and telecommunications
Another Crash
• Black Monday, 1987
–biggest single-day stock market drop of all time• 508-point stock plunge
–Federal Reserve Bank stepped in to avoid collapse
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• budget deficit– the amount the government
is short at the end of the year
• $79 billion in 1981• $221 billion in 1986
• national debt– the amount the national
government owes• rose to 2.5 trillion
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• Sandra Day O’Connor– Reagan appointed her to the Supreme Court
in 1981– held the deciding vote on the court for several
years
1986 - 2005
R Ronald Reagan 52,609,797 525
D Walter Mondale 36,450,613 13
1980s Culture
Reagan’s Foreign Policy
• Strategic Defense Initiative, 1983– high-tech space-based laser defense system
to shoot down enemy missiles• (don’t write this )the “Star Wars” system
would have been more expensive than gold-plated nuclear missiles
– combined with funding for B-1 bombers and MX missiles restarted the arms race
Two L’s
• Lebanon, 1983– truck filled with explosives
crashes into Marine headquarters in Beirut
• 241 U.S. peacekeeping troops killed
• Libya, 1986– Muammar Qaddafi claimed he
bombed a nightclub in Berlin– Reagan bombed Libya killing
one of Qaddafi’s daughters
Iran-Contra Affair
• Iran-Contra Affair, 1986– Reagan feared “domino effect” in Latin
America– US military sold weapons to Iran then
sent the money to anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua
– Oliver North destroyed any evidence that might link Reagan to the scandal
• Reagan said he didn’t know it was happening
Mikhail Gorbachev
• Mikhail Gorbachev– Soviet secretary implemented reforms in
USSR that led to the end of the USSR– glasnost
• allowed limited freedom of speech, press and religion
– perestroika• allowed limited capitalism
USA + USSR = BFF’s?
• US-USSR summits, 1985 – 1989– four meetings between Reagan and
Gorbachev– discussed cutbacks in weapons and START I