chapter 38 // BOLDED Flashcards
stagflation
Term referring to the simultaneous occurrence of low employment growth and high inflation in the national economy. The phenomenon characterized the economic troubles of the 1970s and posed both an intellectual challenge to economists and a policymaking challenge to government officials.
Watergate
Series of scandals that resulted in President Richard Nixon’s in August 1974 amid calls for his impeachment. The episode sprang from a failed burglary attempt at Democratic party headquarters in Washington’s Watergate Hotel during the 1972 election.
“smoking gun” tape
Recording made in the Oval Office in June 1972 that proved conclusively that Nixon knew about the Watergate break-in and endeavored to cover it up. Led to a complete breakdown in congressional support for Nixon after the Supreme Court ordered he hand the tape to investigators.
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
An amendment that declared full constitutional equality for women. Although it passed both houses of Congress in 1972, a concerted grassroots campaign by antifeminists led by Phyllis Schlafly persuaded enough state legislatures to vote against ratification. The amendment failed to become part of the Constitution.
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Landmark Supreme Court decision that forbade states from barring abortion by citing a woman’s constitutional right to privacy. Seen as a victory for feminism and civil liberties by some, the decision provoked a strong counterreaction by opponents to abortion, galvanizing the pro-life movement.
New Right
Term for a loose network of conservative political activists and organizations that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. More populist in tone than previous generations of conservatives, the New Right emphasized hot-button cultural issues like abortion, busing, and prayer in school. They also espoused a nationalist foreign policy outlook that rejected detente and international treaties.
malaise speech (1979)
National address by Jimmy Carter in July 1979 in which he chided American materialism and urged a communal spirit in the face of economic hardships. Although Carter intended the speech to improve both public morale and his standing as a leader, it had the opposite effect and was widely perceived as a political disaster for the embattled president.
SALT II
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty agreement between Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and American president Jimmy Carter. Despite an accord to limit weapons between the two leaders, the agreement was ultimately scuttled in the U.S. Senate following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
Iranian hostage crisis
The 444 days, from Nov 1979 to Jan 1981, in which U.S. embassy workers were held captive by Iranian revolutionaries. The Iranian Revolution began in January 1979 when young Muslim Fundamentalists overthrew the oppressive regime of the American-backed shah, forcing him into exile. Deeming the U.S. “the Great Satan,” these revolutionaries triggered an energy crisis by cutting off Iranian oil. The hostage crisis began when revolutionaries stormed the American embassy, demanding that the United States return the shah to Iran for trial. The episode was marked by botched diplomacy and a failed rescue attempt by the Carter administration. After permanently damaging relations between the two countries, the crisis ended with the hostages’ release the day Ronald Reagan became president, Jan 20, 1981.
Phyllis Schlafly
Conservative activist who was influential in preventing the Equal Rights Amendment from passing through her STOP ERA campaign; she thought that ERA would remove legal protections for women rather than help women.
