Unit 9: Topic 2 - Reagan and Conservatism Flashcards
Who was Barry Goldwater, and why was he significant to Reagan?
The modern conservative movement began with the 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater, who coined “the New Right”.
Ronald Reagan endorsed Goldwater’s campaign by giving a speech.
Describe the 1980 election.
Ronald Reagan first gained fame among Republicans as an effective political speaker in the 1964 campaign, where he endorsed Republican Barry Goldwater. He was known as a movie and television actor but was elected governor of California in 1966.
Reagan ran for president on several occasions, first in 1968, then in 1976, and again in 1980, where he won by a landslide against incumbent Jimmy Carter. Reagan won 50.7% of the popular vote and received 489 out of 538 electoral votes. Reagan received the highest number of electoral votes ever won by a non-incumbent presidential candidate.
What is Reaganomics?
The Reagan administration advocated supply-side economics (also known as ““trickle-down”” economics), arguing that tax cuts and reduced government spending would increase investment by the private sector, leading to increased production, jobs, and prosperity.
This approach contrasted with Keynesian economics, long favored by Democrats, which relied on government spending during economic downturns to boost consumer income and demand.
Reaganomics remains highly controversial today, worsening US economic inequality as the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.
Describe the impact of deregulation during the 1980’s.
Reagan’s economic policy, Reaganomics, relied on reducing government regulation to stimulate the private sector.
He reduced regulations in the auto industry by lowering standards on car emissions and safety regulations.
Reagan’s administration opened federal lands for coal mining and lumber extraction. He also opened offshore waters for oil drilling. Reagan rolled back many of the previous environmental regulations established in the earlier decades.
What were some flaws in Jimmy Carter’s presidency?
Jimmy Carter, Democratic president from 1977 to 1981, suffered turmoil during his presidency, making a Conservative win easy in the next election.
The nation dealt with stagflation, high gas prices from the energy crisis, the poor economy of the 1970s, and perceived US weakness after the Iran Hostage Crisis. These events harmed Carter’s approval ratings.
Carter ran for reelection in the 1980 Presidential election but lost to Republican Ronald Reagan.
What was the PATCO strike?
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), a union for air traffic controllers, called a strike in the summer of 1981. This strike was illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, which stated that federal employees are legally prohibited from striking.
President Reagan opposed the strike. He fired the workers, decertified the union, and ordered the Secretary of Transportation to hire and train thousands of new air traffic controllers at the cost of $1.3 billion. This costly plan ensured government employees knew they had no right to defy the public interest by striking, keeping the precedent of anti-striking. Inspired by Reagan’s example, many private companies began to refuse union demands and discourage union membership.
Why was Reagan so appealing to the New Right?
President Reagan is considered the epitome of the New Right because he embodied the three core beliefs.
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Cold war conservatism - resisted the spread of communism abroad.
-Economically pro-business - desired to roll back liberal regulations, decrease corporate taxes, and create an economic environment where big businesses could flourish.
-Moral and religious conservatism - believed in “traditional values” and was against youth counterculture and liberation of minorities in the 1960s and 70s.
Reagan successfully appealed to these beliefs, making him a desirable candidate.
What were some critiques of Reaganomics?
A significant portion of Reagan’s economic policy surrounded decreased government spending. Reagan’s administration lowered welfare spending by cutting food stamp programs and federal transportation, saving the US federal budget $40 billion.
However, Reagan spent $150 billion on the military budget over the course of his two terms. Reagan’s tax cuts and a large increase in military spending created more than $200 billion in federal deficits annually. Over Reagan’s two terms, the national debt tripled from $900 billion to $2.7 trillion.
The amount the US spent on imports exceeded the value of its exports, causing a trade deficit. In 1985, the US became a debtor nation for the first time since WWI.
Furthermore, Reagan’s economic policies infamously only benefitted the upper class. The term Reaganomics was often given the quip “the rich got richer, and the poor got poorer.” Ultimately widening the income gap and reducing economic mobility.
What was the Economic Recovery Act?
The Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) of 1981 was a federal law enacted to encourage economic growth through reductions in individual income tax rates, the expensing of depreciable property, incentives for small businesses, and savings. President Ronald Reagan signed the ERTA six months after he took office, and it was the largest tax cut in US history.
This included a 25% decrease in personal income taxes over three years, cuts in corporate income taxes, capital gains tax (a tax levied on profit from the sale of property or an investment), and gift and inheritance taxes. This act guaranteed that a large share of the tax relief went to upper-income taxpayers, only widening the poverty gap. Under Reagan, the top income tax rate was reduced to 28%.
What were some successes of the Moral Majority under Reagan?
One of the critical strategies of the Moral Majority was to have conservative judges on the Supreme Court. President Reagan fulfilled this by appointing four judges to SCOTUS: Sandra Day O’Connor (the first woman to the court), William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy.
This major conservative victory allowed the scaling back of liberal achievements such as affirmative action. It also allowed for state-level restrictions on abortions to be passed without judicial review, limiting the provisions of Roe v. Wade.
Describe the impact of the Just Say No movement.
In the early 80s, a cheap, highly addictive form of cocaine known as “crack” was first developed. The popularity of crack led to an increase in the number of Americans who became addicted to cocaine.
President Reagan’s wife, Nancy Reagan, launched the “Just Say No” campaign, encouraging children to reject experimenting with or using drugs by simply saying “no.” The “Just Say No” movement was part of the U.S. government’s effort to revisit and expand the War on Drugs. Just Say No became an American catchphrase in the 1980s.
What was the War on Drugs? How did Reagan contribute to the War on Drugs?
The War on Drugs is the effort in the US to combat illegal drug use by significantly increasing penalties, enforcement, and incarceration for drug offenders. The War on Drugs began in June 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one” and increased federal funding for drug-control agencies and drug-treatment efforts.
When President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, he vowed to crack down on substance abuse and reprioritize the War on Drugs. During the Reagan years, prison penalties for drug crimes skyrocketed, and this trend continued for many years. The number of people incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses increased from 50,000 in 1980 to more than 400,000 by 1997. In addition, criminal penalties for crack cocaine were significantly higher than powder cocaine, resulting in lengthy prison sentences. The war on drugs also disproportionately affected African Americans.
Describe the AIDS epidemic.
AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is an auto-immune disease that affects people with HIV. Doctors first noticed a few cases of what they believed was a rare form of pneumonia or unusual skin cancer in NYC and San Francisco male patients. AIDS originated in Central Africa and spread to the US, where it found its first victims primarily among gay men and eventually among IV drug users.
In May 1983, Congress passed the first bill with specific funding for AIDS research and treatment across the US Department of Health and Human Services. Although being discovered in 1981, President Reagan didn’t publicly talk about HIV until 1987 since he believed the virus was only a problem affecting the LGBTQ community. From 1981 through 1990, 100,777 deaths among persons with AIDS were reported to CDC.
President Reagan’s approach toward the rise of HIV and AIDS is one of his most significant failures because of his lack of attention to the situation and his personal mindset towards those infected.
What was the Challenger explosion?
The NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, just 73 seconds after liftoff. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard. It was later determined that two rubber O-rings, designed to seal the sections of the rocket booster, had failed due to cold temperatures on the morning of the launch. The tragedy and its aftermath received extensive media coverage, prompting NASA to suspend all shuttle missions temporarily.
