The Extent To Which The Presidency & US Politics Were Revitalised

Question 1

What was the political environment like when Reagan was elected.

Answer 1

• Became president after Nixon’s Watergate Scandal.
• Ford’s pardon of Nixon.
• And Carter’s awkward management of the presidency.

Question 2

What were the feelings possessed by the electorate like towards the presidency when Reagan was elected?

Answer 2

• Many Americans were distrustful of the government.

- Many felt helpless as it didn’t matter who they voted for things would just carry on declining regardless.

Question 3

What was Carter’s approval rating before the 1980 election?

Answer 3

• 28.

Question 4

What was Reagan’s initial and average approval rating?

Answer 4

• Initial= 68.

- Average= 52.

Question 5

What was Reagan’s involvement in legislation like?

Answer 5

• Reagan’s initial success with Congress was not repeated.
• Some of the legislation he wanted to introduce, urged on by the Religious Right, was blocked by Congress.
• Reagan was also advised against some legislation and was prepared to listen to this advice.
• Reagan was pragmatic and flexible in his approach towards policy.

Question 6

What was Bush’s involvement in legislation like?

Answer 6

• He was a poor communicator and was less able to charm the public or congress or present them with a clear vision of his policies.
• He had less support in Congress, so he had to struggle more and was less adept at managing Congress.

Question 7

How many Republican Senators were there in Bush’s first term?

Answer 7

• 45.

Question 8

How many Republicans were there in the House of Representatives in Bush’s first term?

Answer 8

• 175.

Question 9

How many Republicans were there in the House of Representatives in Reagan’s first term?

Answer 9

• 189.

Question 10

How many Republican Senators were there in Reagan’s first term?

Answer 10

• 54.

Question 11

What did Bush promise to continue?

Answer 11

• He promised to continue Reagan’s most popular policies, keeping taxes low and defence spending up.
• Eventually, he had to give in to Congress and raise taxes.

Question 12

What was Clinton’s involvement in legislation like?

Answer 12

• Clinton also struggled to get legislation passed after his first big healthcare legislation package failed.
• Increased presidential involvement in legislation did not last long.

Question 13

When was the Iran-Contra affair?

Answer 13

• 1986.

Question 14

What was the Iran-Contra affair?

Answer 14

• White House officials had supplied arms to Iran in order to free several US hostages.
• The officials had used the money from the arms sales to Iran to support Contra rebels is Nicaragua, who were fighting the existing government. The White House also supplied the rebels with weapons.
• All of this was done without the agreement of Congress and went against policies of neutrality in the Iran-Iraq war and of not supplying the Contras with weapons.
• Reagan lied to Congress and the public.
• The officials involved destroyed documents and other evidence in an attempted cover-up.

Question 15

Why were the electorate losing faith in the presidency as a result of the 1986 Iran-Contra affair?

Answer 15

• People were beginning to ask themselves what was worse: a president who ordered this and lies, or a president who was so oblivious that officials could do this without his knowledge.
• Once Reagan’s involvement became clear the presidency was damaged.
• However, due to his initial popularity many people told themselves that because he had an operation when he gave the orders he could’ve been confused.
• They also felt that he was doing this to save hostages, not his own neck.

Question 16

By 1988, which party had a majority in both the House and the Senate?

Answer 16

• The Democrats (Reagan’s presidency therefore did not bring a long period of Republican control).
• However, they lost this in 1996 and the Republicans gained control of both.

Question 17

What was ‘New Right’ thinking?

Answer 17

• Rejected many assumptions in place since the New Deal about how involved in society and how liberal government should be.

Question 18

What was the significance of Reagan bringing ‘New Right’ thinking into politics?

Answer 18

• In Reagan’s first term, he united a significant number of Republicans and Democrats under a conservative coalition banner. It was this that enabled him to push through his early legislation.
• The coalition was reacting against the political climate of the 1970s as they saw it.
• However, there was a split between support for these ideas generally and accepting Reagan’s more extreme policies.
• Time and again, polls showed that people thought the welfare system was being exploited, but also thought more should be done to help the poor.

Question 19

What did the Conservative coalition object to?

Answer 19

• Objected to the increase of ‘lazy’ and ‘welfare dependant’ poor.
• The rising number of strikes and demonstrations.
• The increasing lack of ‘law and order’.
• The support given by the government to issues such as gay rights, women’s liberation, affirmative action and abortion.

Question 20

What did Congress and the states manage to block?

Answer 20

• Managed to block a lot of legislation suggested by the Reagan administration on ‘social’ issues and on ‘big government’ handovers of control.
• For example, moving funding for road building from federal to state control.

Question 21

Why could it be argued that the Reagan administration didn’t change Republican politics enough?

Answer 21

• Republicans saw their victories as a sensible swing to their way of thinking, rather than (as it often was) a temporary reaction to Democrat mistakes.
• As a result, they didn’t feel a need to change their way of thinking.
• More Americans in the 80s and 90s cared about liberal ideas than Republicans thought.
• People wanted a fair society, closer to the American Dream than Republican big business would ever want.

Question 22

Why was Reagan seen as a danger to the Democrats?

Answer 22

• The fact that Reagan could swing enough Democrats in the House to get his 1981 legislation was seen as a danger by the Democrats.
• However, the Democrats were a divided party and were even split over candidates.

Question 23

Who was Jesse Jackson?

Answer 23

• Civil rights activist and Baptist minister.
• Ran to be chosen as their presidential candidate in 1984, he wasn’t chosen and their candidate lost.
• Jackson ran again in 1988, he lost again and the Democrat candidate who beat him lost heavily to Bush.

Question 24

Why did the Democrats feel they had to regroup after their defeat in 1984?

Answer 24

• They had lost badly, too often.
• They formed the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) to revitalise the party.
• The ‘old’ liberal order of Kennedy and Johnson was tarnished and a ‘New Democrat’ ideology was born.

Question 25

What was the ‘New Democrat’ ideology?

Answer 25

• The new ideology accepted the need for low taxes and low federal intervention.
• This shifted Democrats closer to conservative thinking.
• However, they stressed the need to provide social welfare.

Question 26

Who promoted the ‘New Democrat’ ideology?

Answer 26

• Promoted by the chairman of the Council in 1990: Bill Clinton.

Question 27

What was the ‘New Democrat’ take on providing social welfare?

Answer 27

• As ‘welfare’ became increasingly synonymous with ‘supporting the lazy’, the Democrats evolved a new take on it.
• They said they would abolish welfare and provide support.
• Clinton campaigned on this promise in 1992.

Question 28

What was Bill Clinton’s ‘New Covenant’?

Answer 28

• He would bring change and replace policies that weren’t working.
• The same offer Reagan had made in 1984.

Question 29

What was the significance of business being involved in politics?

Answer 29

• Reagan brought business back into government.
• Businesses made their impact in polices through huge campaign contributions.
• Candidates with funding could buy more air-time television, run more slicker and appealing campaigns which would give them political edge that had nothing to do with their political ideas or skills.

Question 30

What issues were raised by the Christian right under Reagan?

Answer 30

• The Christian right became more outspoken and involved in political issues under Reagan.
• They spoke out about issues such as abortion, teenage pregnancy and what was taught in schools.

Question 31

Why did the Christian Right become increasingly more vocal under Reagan?

Answer 31

• They believed that they had given Reagan support and brought in a lot of views.
• They expected, as a reward, government legislation on the issues they raised.
• However, whilst Reagan was outspoken in his views that coincided with the Christian right, he was advised against any actual legislation and made it clear that he was merely expressing personal opinions.

Question 32

How many people viewed the first televised Presidential debate in 1960?

Answer 32

• 70 million.

Question 33

How many viewers were there of the Reagan-Carter debate?

Answer 33

• 80.6 million.

Question 34

How many people watched the 1984 election?

Answer 34

• 67.5 million.

Question 35

How many people watched the 1988 election?

Answer 35

• 65.1 million.

Question 36

How many people watched the 1992 election?

Answer 36

• 69.9 million.

Question 37

How many people watched the 1996 election?

Answer 37

• 36.3 million.

Question 38

What can be said about the Reagan presidency?

Answer 38

• Reagan was a popular president and changed the view of the public, media and political parties on the role of government.
• Even if Reagan didn’t make the sweeping changes in legislation he had hoped for, he made the presidency look like a proper political role again.
• He made people feel as if the system of government was basically sound and just needed the correct people in office in order to make it work.

Question 39

To what extent did Reagan change the presidency?

SIGNIFICANT CHANGE

Answer 39

• Placed higher emphasis on popularity with people as opposed to implementing his own views.
• Increased popularity of the Presidency under Reagan.
• Succeeded in getting his economic legislation passed.
• Listened to his advisors.
• Survived scandal (Nixon didn’t survive Watergate)

Question 40

To what extent did Reagan change the presidency?

LIMITED CHANGE

Answer 40

• Clinton and Bush were both less popular than Reagan.
• Congress blocked much of Reagan’s legislation as well as Bush’s and Clinton’s.
• Reagan had his own scandal (Iran-Contra Affair)