Changing Political Environment - Topic 1.1 Flashcards

Changes in governance, presidents and confidence

1
Q

Why did the Democrats fail to win the 1920 Election?

What factors led to their failure?

A
  • Involvement in WWI
  • Debts to European nations
  • Wilson didn’t want to run for President again
  • Wanting to be more involved globally after 1918 (e.g., League of Nations)
  • Russian Revolution of the First Red Scare
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2
Q

How did the Republican Party rise to power?

What was their campaign?

A

Republicans wanted to return focus back onto America to solve:

  • High unemployment
  • Protests, strikes and riots
  • Balance the government books and reduce government taxation
  • Introduce tariffs to protect US trade and industry
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3
Q

How did the Republican party intend to solve America’s economic problems?

What were their promises?

A
  • Policy of Laissez-faire
    (Keep spending under control and manage only social issues, do not get very involved in everything else)
  • Promote big business
  • Don’t control wages, working conditions, hours or prices
    (Market economy)
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4
Q

How did FDR win the 1932 Election?

What qualities and promises led him to win?

A
  • The ‘New Deal’
    A deal for the forgotten man, who aimed to provide help and work for different sections of society, on a state-to-state basis.
  • FDR proved himself
    He was an effective governor of New York who was a brilliant communicator and had a snappy campaign
  • Failures of the Republican party
    In the lead up to the Great Depression and during, the Republicans under Hoover did very little to actually help the poor and disadvantaged.
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5
Q

How did FDR get the public to believe and trust in him?

What did he do to bring his personality out and build trust?

A

He did a series of radio broadcasts called ‘fireside chats’ where he explained his policies to people as if he was with them in a cafe. He received lots of letters from the ordinary person both asking for help and thanking him. He understood the power of the media and their support.

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6
Q

What were the Neutrality Acts?

A

A series of laws designed to prevent the US from being dragged into a foreign war by clearly stating the terms of U.S. neutrality.
There were 4 Neutrality Acts - 1935, 36, 37 and 39

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7
Q

Styles of Presidents:

Harry S. Truman

Personality and Policies

1945-1953

A

Presidential Change:

  • Compared heavily to FDR
  • Post-war consensus begins
  • Lacked connection with other people, congress or the public

Policies:

  • Signatory of the NATO Treaty
  • Marshall Aid
  • Korean War (1950-53)
  • ‘Fair Deal’, similar to Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’
  • Federal Aid to Education
  • Anti-lynching Law
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8
Q

Styles of Presidents:

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Personality and Policies

1953-1961

A

Presidential Change:

  • Liberal stance
  • Has a war record - Supreme Leader of the Allied Forces
  • Post-war consensus; Middle ground between Democrats and Republicans - “Modern Republicanism”
  • A friendly old man

Policies:

  • Suez Crisis of 1956
  • ‘New Look’ Policy - Shifted military focus to nuclear weaponry focus
  • Containment of communism and Arab nationalism in the Middle East
  • U2 Incident
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9
Q

Styles of Presidents:

John F. Kennedy

Personality and Policies

1961-1963

A

Presidential Change:

  • Persuasive - Both on the TV and in speeches
  • Learns more about the idea of persona
  • Styles himself in the Modern Era
  • Young, attractive, catholic, Irish, wealthy, popular, Northern,

Policies:

  • ‘New Frontier’
  • Lower taxes, protect the unemployed and increase the minimum wage
  • Energise housing and energy sector
  • Civil Rights; Enforce current laws but didn’t create new ones
  • Bay of Pigs; Failed as he backed out at the end
  • Cuban Missile Crisis:
  • Space Race - Vital in its success in the decade
  • Limited nuclear testing with the UK and USSR in space, underwater and in the atmosphere
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10
Q

Styles of Presidents:

Lyndon B. Johnson

Personality and Policies

1963-1969

A

Presidential Change:

  • Democratic Texan - 6’4” - Came from a poor background
  • Used his height to control and maintain power in a conversation
  • Example of the failure of the ‘Imperial Presidency’

Policies:

  • ‘The Great Society’ - Passionate and compassionate, focused more on the poor
  • Desegregated accommodations
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Fair Housing Act of 1968
  • Higher Education Act and Public Broadcasting Act
  • Medicare - Old people and Medicaid - Low income
  • Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 - Preference system via skills and connections to Americans
  • Began the Viet’Nam War (Cold War) - Continued JFK’s Containment policy
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11
Q

Styles of Presidents:

Richard M. Nixon

Personality and Policies

1969-1974

A

Presidential Change:

  • New Federalism - Destroys big government; destroys trust
  • Paranoid - He recorded talks in the Oval Office
  • Watergate Scandal - Second term, DNC, wipe phones and steal documents Impeached, but resigns

Policies:

  • “War on drugs” - Harsher drug laws; DEA was created in 1973
  • More Rehabilitation
  • Larger incarceration rate
  • Wage and Price control - Tackled inflation and stabilise the economy
  • Environmental protection - EPA and Clean Air Act
  • Continued to support oil and coal industries
  • Finished the Apollo Space program and worked with others internationally.
  • “Vietnamisation” - Reduce troop involvement in 1973
  • Normalised relations between China PR and USA; recognised them - Detente
  • SALT I - Limited ICBMs and ABMs one could possess. Reassured MAD
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12
Q

What factors, people or events?

What led to the decline in confidence?

LBJ and Nixon

1968-80

A

LBJ - (D)

  • Realisation of the Imperial Presidency
  • Sacrifices the “Great Society” for the Viet’Nam War

Nixon - (R)

  • Destroys big government which leads to the lack of trust in D.C. politicans
  • Watergate Scandal - Destroys all trust of Washington Insiders
  • Woodstock Generation - Baby Boomers who subscribed to American counterculture (e.g., Hippies and drugs)
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13
Q

What factors, people or events?

What led to the decline in confidence?

Events

A

Martin Luther King Jr’s Assassination - 14/04/1968

  • Increase in riots and violence

Robert F. Kennedy’s Assassination - 06/06/1968

  • Progressivism in the Supreme Court dwindled

Oil Crisis of 1973

  • Oil prices go up = Economic downturn = Stagflation
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14
Q

What factors, people or events?

What led to the decline in confidence?

Other factors

1974-1998

A

Congress wants to limit the powers of the President (Separation of powers):

  • War Powers Act of 1973 - Needs congress’ consent for armed conflict
  • Ethics in Government Act of 1978 - Prevent and resolve conflict of interst; public service

Conservative Backlash:

  • Evangelical Christianity on the rise
  • They can show anything on TV without regulations and reprecussions
  • Want to return to the ‘American Dream’ and ‘Christian values’

Rise of the ‘New Right’:

  • Baptist Falwell aimed to rid the “unchristian” morals
  • Return to rugged individualism and laissez-faire
  • Ronald Reagan (Governor of California)
  • 3 Mile Island accident - Partial meltdown of a reactor - Anti-nuclear demonstrations
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