Ronald Reagan Flashcards
Party
Republican
Term
1980-1988
Election of 1980
Source: Brinkley page 880 and the Princeton Review page 186
Reagan was victorious against Jimmy Carter and John Anderson. Reagan won 51% of the vote to 49% of Jimmy Carters and 7% of John Anderson. Reagan won 489 electoral votes to Carters 49. Reagan had presented himself as Carters opposite during the election. Carter blamed Americas people for the countries problems, but Reagan had stressed the positive aspects of the country.
This election was significant in that the Republican party won control over the senate for the first time since 1952.
Neo-Conservatives
Source: Brinkley Page 880-881
The neo-conservatives were intellectuals who were once liberals and they had felt that radicalism were destabilizing American Life. They wanted to reinstall “political correctness” to American society.
They were significant because they had reinstalled a vision in America to change the way the government was ran.
Recession of 1982
Source: Brinkley page 882
Early 1982, the United States had went into a severe recession, where unemployment had reached 11%, which was the highest it had been in forty years. By late 1983, unemployment had fallen by 8.2%. The economy continued to grow, and unemployment, as well as inflation, for the next decade.
This event was significant because it was a result from the Reagan administration getting the government out of the way in hope for economic revival in 1981.
“Star Wars”; Strategic Defense Initiative
Source: Brinkley page 884; Princeton Review page 187
One of the most expensive and ambitious military programs, which used lasers and satellites to provide an effective shield against incoming missiles and amke nuclear war obsolete.
This program was significant because it resulted in an arms agreement between America and the Soviet Union, making the United States abandon SDI.
Grenada
Source: Brinkley page 884; Princeton Review page 187
In October 1982, the reagan administration had sent American soldiers and marines to the island of Grenada, with the goal to topple a new Communist government that had been established there.
This event is significant because it furthered Americas resentment towards Moscow and the Marxist governments.
“Sandinistas”
Source: Brinkley page 884; Princeton Review page 187
Nicaragua had a pro-American dictatorship that had fallen to this group, the “Sandinistas”, and there was a revolution between the Contras (which America supported), and the Sandinistas.
This event is significant because the Contras were torturing and murdering civilians which led congress to cut off aid to the group, but Reagan was so committed to the group that they continued to fund them, despite what congress had ruled.
Terrorism
Source: Brinkley page 885
In the Third world there was an increasing reliance on terrorism in hopes to advance their political aims. Examples of acts of terrorism that occurred in the 1980s were attacks on airplanes, cruise ships, commercial and diplomatic posts.
This is significant because it frightened much of the western world, and it was a pressing example of the changing of character in the Third World.
Mikhail Gorbchev’s “Perestroika”
Source: Brinkley page 885; Princeton Review page 188
Perestroika means reform, and it was an effort implemented by Mikhail Gorbachev (the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, who later became known as a revolutionary figure). The reform was an effort to restructure the rigid and unproductive soviet economy by introducing different aspects of capitalism.
This was significant because it was a step towards the removal of communism in the Soviet Union.
USSR Dissolution
Source: Brinkley page 886
The Soviet Union began to collapse in 1991 when several republics in the Soviet Union had declared independence, leading to the loss of support of the communist government most commonly associated with the USSR.
This is significant because the United States had worked for years trying to dissolve the USSR, just to have it break within itself.
Iran-Contra Scandal
Source: Brinkley page 887; Princeton Review 187
This scandal was the widespread pattern of illegal covert activities put together by the white house, which did serious damage to the Reagan administrations, Since they were the ones illegally selling guns to Iran who in turn supplied them to the Contras.
This was significant because it represented a constitutional crisis, although some supporters felt that the president had good intentions.
