The Impact Of The Reagan Presidency

Question 1

What was Reagan’s aims?

Answer 1

Domestic policies = focus on economic = Reaganomics

Lower taxes

Reduce ‘big gov’

Question 2

Why did Reagan become president?

Answer 2

Loss of confidence in presidency e.g watergate and Vietnam, oil crises in the 1970s

Question 3

What were the similarities between the 1980s Republican gov and 1920s gov?

Answer 3

Laissez-faire

Both believed in tax reductions = both reduced top-level personal tax from 70% to 27% and made business tax concessions.

The rich benefitted from the changes they made. With ‘rugged individualism’ where individuals flourish and the poor was mentally divided.

Question 4

What happened in the 1979 public opinion poll?

Answer 4

Majority of Americans though their children’s lives = worse than theirs.

First time. Even during the watergate scandal (1972) = only 30% believed this.

Question 5

What were Reagan’s beliefs?

Answer 5

Christian = got helped from the religious right = gave jobs to them in the White House.

Opposed homosexuality and abortion.

Tried to pass law severely restricting access to abortion (from influence of the religious right) but was opposed by Congress.
^ Religious right = hoped more conservative but it wasn’t.

Question 6

What influenced Reagan’s economic policies?

Answer 6

Supply-side theory = suggested that high taxes was the cause of productivity falling the 1970s

Question 7

How did Reagan get the support to reform?

Answer 7

Presented whole budget policy until 1984 to Congress. Congress had to accept budget cuts.

Question 8

What was the aims of Reaganomics?

Answer 8

Cutting federal deficit

Personal and business tax reductions

Deregulation

Planned control of the money supply

Question 9

What did Reagan plan to do in regards with cutting federal deficit?

Answer 9

Reduce federal deficit from 22% of the GNP in 1981 to 19% in 1986.

Hastily put together = cuts of $74 billion decided later.

^ through cutting Johnson’s Great society.

Question 10

What was the Economic Recovery Tax Act?

Answer 10

13th August 1981

Cuts marginal income tax by 23% over 3 years. Highest income tax band fell from 70% to 50%

Question 11

Did Reagan’s policies stop inflation and unemployment?

Answer 11

After a year of his presidency =large increase and in 1983 = nearly 11,000 people were unemployed.

Question 12

Why did unemployment rise in 1983?

Answer 12

Put pressure on the federal Reserve Board (FRB) = tighter restrictions on money supply. Lead to sharp rise in interest rates. Hurst industries = buy in credit/ loans with long pay-back period.

Question 13

How many people was not considered employable in 1988?

Answer 13

34.5% of the population was not included in this figure bc seen as unemployable.

In 1979 unemployed = 7.2% of pop rate gone down to 5.5%

Question 14

Did his policies increase personal wealth?

Answer 14

Tax cuts made people rich and the poor poorer

But, by 1988 Forbes = billionaires was 52 when in 1981 = 26.

Question 15

Did Reagan’s policies increase productivity?

Answer 15

1983 = highest productivity (4.5 output per work per hours hours) this isn’t maintained. There are dips in productivity e.g 1987

Question 16

Did the policies encourage people to save and interest?

Answer 16

End of 1982 = businesses doing well again = more people save and invest.

Policies lead to deregulation in financial sector = led to organisation taking more dangerous risks to win more customers.

^ Savings and Loans collapse = by 1988 lost $10 billion.

^ stock market crash in 1987

Question 17

Did the policies reduce debit?

Answer 17

Failures 1980 = $59 billion and in 1983 = $208 billion.

^ 1980 Human Resources = 28% and in 1987 = 22%

Question 18

What happened after Reagan’s presidency’s came to an end?

Answer 18

Bush continued his policies.

Policies were less popular bc their long term effects were clear.

Question 19

Why did the New Democrat develop

Answer 19

Reagan influenced voters to support low taxes.

Same aims as Reagan but wanted to increase welfare and medical care = in homage to older democrats.

Question 20

Was reducing big gov good?

Answer 20

Less federal interference in state and local affaires, businesses, finance and people’s lives. People were sus of gov intervention.

Seen as less funding for state and local gov projects and less regulation of business expansionism and greed. Less social welfare.

Question 21

STE of big gov?

Answer 21

Used deregulation e.g26 February 1983 = deregulation of natural gas.

Federal strike force = stop gov fraud and waste = saved $2 billion in 6 months.

Question 22

Was Reagan’s use of deregulation revitalising the presidency?

Answer 22

Carter deregulated airlines and drafted bills on deregulating trucking, railways and areas of finance.

Question 23

What was the problems of deregulation?

Answer 23

Rise of conglomerates during 1980s

Businesses set own regulations on safety = lower than gov originally set.

Rural areas suffered bc even though lower prices at the beginning bc competition. Big businesses grew and would ‘fix’ price. They would maximise profits.

Question 24

What were the effects of the policies on trade?

Answer 24

Foreign imports = cheaper = Americans lost businesses textile industries over 300,000 workers lost their jobs.

American businesses were begin bought by foreign countries

Question 25

What were the negatives of deregulation p overall?

Answer 25

When bush came to power people were not keen on rude regulation and federal withdrawal form state and local affaires bc businesses were more interested in profit rather than public benefit.

Question 26

What happened between the rich and poor?

Answer 26

1981-1996 = rough for the poorest families. E.g OBRA finance cuts federal spending on projects for the poor. Aid to Families with Dependant Children = less eligible

Question 27

How did Reagan policy effect workfare?

Answer 27

By January 1987 v 42 states running work programmes most required the claimant to be looking for work.

Question 28

How did Reagan’s policies affect social housing?

Answer 28

In 1978 federal government spent = $32.2 billion on low-cost housing projects. By 1988 = $9.2 billion.

By 1985 = 3.u million families who were qualified for low income homes but could move because there weren’t enough.

Question 29

How was homelessness affected by Reagan policies?

Answer 29

8in 1984 = federal funding to the horseless was $300 million. In 1988 $1.6 billion.

Question 30

What was the impact on living and work conditions?

Answer 30

1980-1987 = mortgage debt 30% and repossession of homes quadrupled.

Deregulation = workers had 16hrs of leisure time. 1973 = hrs.

Question 31

What were the impacts of Reagan’s policies on minorities?

Answer 31

A1982 = The Ceiss magazine of NAACP = inaction was harming all minority groups.

Reagan appointed Sandra Say to the Supreme Court.

Question 32

How did Reagan’s policies support businesses?

Answer 32

Supported big businesses when it promised to do this for small businesses.

Farmers were struggling = 1980 17% of farmers were taking up 60% of the subsidy fund.

Question 33

What is the bicoastal boom?

Answer 33

Industries that did well in the 1980s = employment and peoples want to move to theses areas. 1987 = Cali and states on the East Coast = 5.6 unemployment comprised to 7.8 in the rest of the country.

Question 34

To what extent was the presidency revitalised?

Answer 34

Presidential involvement in legislation did last long in Clinton and Bush. But was able to pass bills.

Question 35

How was the public image of the president revitalised?

Answer 35

He was able to come back form the Iran-Contra affair whilst Nixon couldn’t.

Question 36

What is new right thinking?

Answer 36

Reagan united republican and deomocrats under a a conservative coalition banner.

Objected to lazy and welfare dependant poor.

Question 37

Revitalised politicians?

Answer 37

Clinton = New Democrat ideology

• low texts and low federal intervention
• stressed need for social welfare
• close to conservative thinking.
• when people hated benefits to the poor = abolish welfare and provide support in 1992 campaign promise.

Question 38

How did other cages to the political environment change?

Answer 38

Businesses into government.

Money = influence politics through campaign contributions. More air time on TV. Gave competitive edge.

Christian Right = more outsole and involved in political issues under Reagan

Question 39

How did public interest and involvement change?

Answer 39

Reagan-Carter d eats had over 80 million viewers compared to the 1996 debate with 36.3 million - lowest figure in history