Reagan Before Flashcards
What was the Moral Majority?
The Moral Majority was a southern-oriented organization organized by Jerry Falwell, a Baptist preacher, and it appealed to evangelical Christians. The Moral Majority provided electoral support to Ronald Reagan and conservative candidates in the 1980s.
Many credit the Moral Majority with shaping the Republican Party’s campaign stances on school prayer and abortion.
During his 1980 campaign, Ronald Reagan called for tax breaks and tax cuts for wealthier Americans. How did Reagan justify these cuts?
Reagan’s policy was known as “trickle-down economics.” He argued that tax breaks and cuts for the wealthy would improve the economy as a whole becauset he benefits would “trickle down;” to poorer members of society.
Trickle-down economics is part of a larger economic theory, supply-side economic.
During the 1980 Election, President Carter advocated for demand-side economics (as had all Presidents since 1932), while Ronald Reagan support supply side economics. How do these two systems view the role of the government in the economy?
Demand-Side advocates argue that economic growth comes from increased demand (total spending in the economy), and that in times of recession demand should be increased by government spending to restart economic growth.
Supporters of supply-side economics contend that economic growth results from reduced barriers for people to supply goods and services, such as lowering tax rates and reducing regulation. Consumers then benefit because more goods and services are available at lower prices.
Ronald Reagan, former governor of California, received the Republican presidential nomination in 1980, running with the campaign slogan “Make American Great Again.” What did Reagan mean?
Reagan and his supporters were deeply concerned with what they viewed as the decline of America; economically, militarily, and morally. Reagan promised a national renaissance.
Reagan’s other 1980 slogan, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” also proved appealing to voters, many of whom were worse off.
Although he fended off a primary challenge from Edward Kennedy, Jimmy Carter still faced two significant liabilities in the 1980 election. What were they?
First, although the economy had begun a tepid recovery, many voters were frustrated with Carter’s attempts to solve the problem of stagflation. Second, Carter’s seeming inability to solve the Iranian hostage crisis made him (and the United States) appear weak and vacillating.
What were the results of the 1980 Presidential Election?
In the 1980 Election, President Reagan gained 91% of the electoral vote. Republicans also gained control of the Senate, the first time the Republicans controlled one of the Houses of Congress since 1954.
Further, shortly before Reagan’s inaguaration, the Iranian hostages were released after 444 days in captivity.
Although President Reagan cut some government spending as he had promised, these cuts were offset by spending on what type of items?
During the Reagan presidency, military spending skyrocketed. Reagan believed that military spending would spur job creation, but also saw it as a means towards victory in the Cold War, as the Soviet Union’s weak economy could not afford to match American military production
How did President Reagan respond to a 1981 labor strike by Air Traffic Controllers, who demanded a 32-hour work week?
Reagan ordered the controllers to return to work, pursuant to the Taft Hartley Act. When most refused, he fired them, then broke the strike by hiring replacements or borrowing them from the military.
Inspired by Reagan’s example, many private companies began to refuse union demands and discourage union membership.
In 1981, President Roosevelt appointed _____ _____ _____ to the Supreme Court, the first woman to serve on the Court.
Sandra Day O’Conner
Reagan also appointed Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy to the Court.
Although the inflation rate had been 13% in 1980 (basically meaning prices rose 13% per year), by 1984 it had been reduced to 4%. How did Reagan accomplish this feat?
Reagan (and Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker) engineered a recession by keeping interest rates high for two years. This forced companies and individuals to retrench, slowing outsized price and wage increases.
Once inflation ended, the economy entered a period of high growth for much of the remainder of Reagan’s Presidency.
What was the Reagan Doctrine?
As part of the Adminstration’s hard-line stance against communism, under the Reagan Doctrine the U.S. provided aid to anti-communist resistance movements in an effort to supplant Soviet-backed communist governments in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
In contrast to his predecessors’ focus on détente, President Reagan took a hard-line on the Soviet Union. What term did he apply to the U.S.S.R. in 1983?
Reagan called the Soviet Union the “Evil Empire,” while making for deploying U.S. nuclear missiles to NATO countries, after the U.S.S.R. had done the same in Eastern Europe. Reagan’s rhetoric and actions marked an intention to match agressive Soviet behavior.
Arguing that the Soviet Union would shortly fall, Reagan stated “I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written.”
What was the Boland Amendment (1982)?
The Boland Amendment forbade President Reagan from providing assistance to Nicaraguan Contras, a rebel group attempting to overthrow Nicaragua’s left-wing government.
Aid had flowed to the Contras as part of the Reagan Doctrine.
A 1983 bombing by an Islamic suicide bomber in _____ killed 241 American servicemen.
Beirut
U.S. and French forces were attacked by truck-driving suicide bombers. Both countries had troops in Lebanon as part of a multinational force sent by the United Nations.
In 1983, President Reagan announced support for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which pundits dubbed “Star Wars.” What was the SDI?
The Strategic Defense Initiative called for using ground and space based systems to protect the United States from nuclear attack. Underlying the concept was a break from the policy of Mutual Assured Destruction, since the policy proposed to ensure that the United States could survive a nuclear attack.
It also put pressure on the Soviet Union to match the U.S. effort, which the Soviet Union could ill afford.
