Chapter 31: From The Age of Limits to The Age of Reagan Flashcards
Nixon’s pardon
Gerald Ford granted Nixon “a full, free, and absolute pardon” for any crimes he may have committed during his presidency only a month after taking office so as to establish himself as a symbol for political integrity
attempting to spare the nation the ordeal of years of litigation and spare Nixon any suffering
many Americans suspected a secret deal and Ford’s image never fully recovered, but people still generally liked him
“malaise” speech
summer of 1979: OPEC announces major price increase producing 2nd major fuel shortage in US
After 10 days at a presidential retreat, Carter delivers TV address including proposals for resolving the energy crisis
address notable for his bleak assessment of national condition - hence “malaise” speech - in which people believed he was trying to blame his own problems on the US people
Camp David Accords
one of Jimmy Carter’s greatest achievements; a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel
when talks stalled between Sadat (Egypt) and Begin (Israel), Carter invited them to a conference at Camp David in September 1978 while he and other helped mediate dispute between them. There they decided on framework for peace treaty.
March 26, 1979: Begin and Sadat returned to White House to sign a formal treaty, known as Camp David Accords, between the two nations
Deng Xiaoping
the new Chinese leader who was attempting to open his nation to the outside world
Dec. 15, 1978: Washington and Beijing (under president Carter) announced formal resumption of diplomatic nations
SALT II
Carter traveled to Vienna to meet with Soviet Union; created treaty that set limits on the number of long-range missiles, bombers, and nuclear warheads for both the US and the USSR
met with fierce conservative opposition in the US
Iranian Revolution
Since 1950’s, US provided political support and more recently military assistance to gov’t of the shah of Iran, hoping to make Iran a nation against Soviet expansion
citizens didn’t like his autocratic rule and opposed his efforts to modernize/Westernize a fundamental society
Jan. 1979: the shah fled the country
US tried to establish cordial relations with the militant powers that followed, but it was nearly impossible as shown through Iran hostage crisis
Iran hostage crisis
Oct, 1979: Shah arrived in US to be treated for cancer
Nov 4 1974: armed militants invaded US embassy in Tehran, held diplomats/military personnel hostage (for over a year), demanding return of the shah to Iran in exchange for their freedom
Sunbelt
sunbelt: Southeast (including Florida), Southwest (inc. Texas), and CA
rise of the sunbelt was the most widely discussed demographic phenomenon
population of sunbelt came to exceed older industrial regions of the North and East
produced change in political climate; produced strong opposition to the growth of government and resentment of regulation and restrictions that affected the West (including environmental laws, laws to change racial norms)
Sagebrush rebellion
emerged in parts of the west in late 1970’s, mobilized conservative opposition to environmental laws and restrictions on development
sought to portray the west as a victim of government control
complained about large amounts of land the federal gov’t owned in many western states and demanded that the land be opened for development
Moral Majority
a movement launched by Jerry Falwell, a fundamentalist minister in Virginia with television audience
movement attacked the rise of “secular humanism” - a term many conservative evangelicals used to describe the rejection of religion in American culture
reflected rise of evangelical Christianity
Pat Robertson
Pentecostal minister who began a political movement and in the 1990’s launched an organization known as the Christian Coalition
“New Right”
a diverse but powerful coalition that enjoyed a rapid growth in the 1970’s and early 1980’s; included conservative Christians
origins lay in part in the 1964 presidential elections
factor in revival of right-wing leadership: Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford
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Barry Goldwater
suffered shattering defeat in presidential elections of 1964
Richard Viguerie, conservative activist and organizer, took list of 12,000 contributors to the Goldwater campaign and used it to began a formidable communications and fund-raising organization, which led to conservatives in the late 1970’s finding themselves better organized and funded
late 1970’s: right-wing think tanks, consulting firms, lobbyists, foundations, and schools
tax revolt
new and potent conservative issue that was important to the success of the New Right
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election of 1980
one year anniversary of Iranian hostage situation (on Reagan’s inauguration in 81, US hostages were released)
Reagan won vs. Jimmy Carter
Republican party won majority of Senate for first time since 1952
Democrats had slight majority in House, but still large conservative presence
neo-conservatives
a group of intellectuals who gave to the right something it had not had in many years - a firm base among “opinion leaders”
many of these people had once been liberals and, before that, socialists, but during the turmoil of the 1960’s, they had become alarmed by what they considered the dangerous and destructive radicalism that was destabilizing American life, weakening the liberal ardor in the battle against communism
they were sympathetic to complaints and demands of capitalists, but principal concern was to reaffirm Western democratic, anti communist values and commitments
“Reaganomics”
a bold experiment also known as “supply-side” economics, used to restore the economy, which he used in his 1980 campaign for the presidency
a policy that reduced taxes, with generous benefits to corporations and wealthy individuals, in order to encourage new investments. tax cuts means less gov’t revenue (at first), meaning a need to reduce gov’t spending/the federal budget.
deregulation
by getting government out of the way, Reagan officials promised they were ensuring economic revival
various ways of reducing the role of gov’t:
Secretary of the Interior James Watt opened up public lands and water to development
EPA relaxed or entirely eliminated enforcement of many environmental laws and regulations
Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department eased enforcement of civil rights laws
Department of Transportation slowed implementation of new standards on cars and trucks
Strategic Defense Initiative
the most ambitious new military program in many years; widely known as “Star Wars”
proposed by Reagan, claimed that SDI, through the use of lasers and satellites, could provide an effective shield against incoming missiles and this make nuclear war obsolete
SV claimed that SDI would elevate the arms race to newer dangerous levels and insisted that the US give up SDI
reflects how relations with the SV, which had been steadily deteriorating with Carter, grew more tense with Reagan who had long denounced SALT II
escalation of cold war tensions and slowing of arms control initiatives helped produce movement in Europe and US calling for end to nuclear weapons build up
Reagan Doctrine
policy that the Reagan administration supported opponents of communism anywhere in the world
it meant, above all, a new activism in the Third World
ex: Oct. 1982: sent US soldiers into Caribbean island of Grenada to oust an anti-American marxist regime
contras
a guerilla movement drawn from several anti government groups, trying to topple the Sandinista regime (this was in Nicaragua where a pro-American dictatorship had fallen to the revolutionary group the Sandinistas in 1979)
Reagan admin supported the contras so as to get rid of the anti-American Sandinistas
“Morning in America”
In the campaign of 1984, Reagan spoke of the remarkable revival of American fortunes and spirits under his leadership
campaign emphasized the phrase “It’s morning in America” and “America is Back”
Reagan won the election in decisive victory
Mikhail Gorbachev
the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991 when the party was dissolved
quickly became most revolutionary figure in world politics in several decades
1987: began reducing Soviet influence in Eastern Europe, and in 1989, every communist state in Europe, either overthrew its gov’t or forced itself to transform into non communist regime
cordial with Reagan and showed willingness to implement reform by reducing arms by over 50%
glasnost
openness: the dismantling of many of the repressive mechanisms that had been conspicuous features of Soviet life for over half a century
perestroika
reform: an effort to restructure the rigid and unproductive Soviet economy by introducing such elements of capitalism as private ownership and the profit motive
Tiananmen Square
May 1989: students in China launched a mass movement calling for greater democratization, but in June leaders seized control of gov’t and sent military forces to crush the uprising
June 3, 1989: in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, still-unknown number of demonstrators died
incident crushed democracy movement, restored hard-liners to power, but didn’t stop China’s effort to modernize/Westernize its economy
reflects that challenges to communism weren’t successful everywhere
dissolution of the USSR
1991: communism began to collapse at site of its birth: Soviet Union
an unsuccessful coup by Soviet leaders on Aug. 19 triggered dramatic unravelling of communist power
Mikhail Gorbachev returned to power but soon became clear that Communist Party and Soviet gov’t had been fatally injured
by end of Aug: many republics of SV declared independence, Gorbachev, resigned, SV ceased to exist
Iran-contra scandal
Nov. 1968: revealed that the White House sold weapons to revolutionary gov’t of Iran as part of effort to secure release of several Americans being held hostage by radicals in middle east
even more damaging was realization that some of money from the arms deal was being covertly funneled into a fund to aid the contras in Nicaragua
highly publicized series of congressional hearings followed
did serious damage to the Reagan presidency, even though the investigations never tied the president himself to them
First Gulf War
Aug. 2, 1990: armed forces of Iraq invaded and quickly overwhelmed their small, oil-rich neighbor, the emirate of Kuwait. Saddam Hussein, militaristic leader, announced that Iraq would annex Kuwait and entrench forces there.
within weeks, Bush persuaded every important gov’t in the world, including SV and almost all Arab and Islamic states, to join in a UN sanctioned trade embargo against Iraq
US and allies (France, British, Egyptians, Saudis) deploy large military force along border of Kuwait and Iraq
Jan 16, 1991: US and ally forces began massive bombardment of Iraqi forces in Kuwait and also military installations in Iraq. Bombing continued for 6 weeks. 100,000 Iraqi deaths, 141 ally deaths.
Feb 28, 1991: Iraq accepted allied terms for cease-fire and Gulf War came to end
importance: war preserved an independent nation and kept an important source of oil from falling into Iraq’s hands
results: painless victory was very popular in US, while tyrannical regime of Hussein remained, still ruthless. Muslims began to believe that US was threat to their world, and determination to threaten US grew significantly.
Bill Clinton
ran as Democrat in 1992 election against Bush
skillful campaign that emphasized broad economic issues instead of the racial and cultural questions that had divided Democrats in the past
Clinton won; Bush lost (even with success of Gulf War) because the recession worsened in late 1991
