USA chapter 4- political change 1960 to 2000

Question 1

key dates

Answer 1

1960 to 1963 – John F. Kennedy (Democrat)
1963‐1967 – Lyndon B Johnson (Democrat)
1968 to 1974 – Richard M. Nixon (Republican)
Gerald Ford (Republican)
Jimmy Carter (Democrat)
1981 to 1989 – Ronald Regan (Republican)
1989‐1993 – George Bush Snr (Republican)
1993 to 2001 – Bill Clinton (Democrat)

Question 2

John F Kennedy president 1960-63

Answer 2

John F. Kennedy introduced the New Frontier in 1960 The New Frontier focused on three changes: Civil Rights, the economy and Social Economy: Cut taxes and increased spending and increased minimum wage from $1.00 to $1.25 Civil Rights: Attempted to pass the Civil Rights Bill aimed to bring about equality in education and housing. This was rejected by Congress Civil Rights: Appointed Thurgood Marshall (a civil rights activist) as a Federal Judge Social: Created Medicare, a cheap health care system, to help the poor Social: The Housing Act (1960) cheap loans to buy housing

Question 3

nixon 1968-1974 and the events of the watergate scandal

Answer 3

set up CREEP(committee to reelect the president) June 17, 1972: Five men are arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National
Committee at the Watergate hotel
November 11, 1972: Nixon is re‐elected by a landslide
January, 1973: Watergate burglars go on trial. Nixon again denies all knowledgeNixon refuses to turn over presidential tapes (oval office recordings) to those investigating the scandalNixon is later forced to hand over tapes but they have been heavily edited
1974 ‐ Nixon is made to hand over all tapes, unedited

Question 4

consequences of watergate

Answer 4

Congress moves to impeach Nixon = charging obstruction of justice. August 8, 1974: Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign The day after Nixon resigned, Gerald Ford became President of America Ford promised that he would clean up the Government after the Watergate scandal – but he kept most of Nixon’s workers and he later pardons Nixon of all charges Other countries, especially the USSR criticised the corruption of the USA In the 1976 election Jimmy Carter (democrat) became President because Americans lost favour withRepublicans

Question 5

ronald reagan 1981-1989 and reaganomics

Answer 5

Introduced the economic policy Reaganomics ‐ cut welfare and cut taxes Cut welfare programmes by over $20 billion in first three years e.g. food stamps and programmes for struggling mothers Slashed taxes ‐ 1981 Recovery Tax Act. Reduced taxes by $33 billion. This was the largest tax cut in history Success Made it easier for Business to keep profit; Poverty decreased (only by 1%); Unemployment decreased;
Economy grew Failure Trebled the debt the government was in; Spent millions on unsuccessful space programmes; 1987 economic crash

Question 6

other policies under reagan

Answer 6

Declared a ‘War on drugs’ and co‐ordinated groups to investigate drug related policies 1985 the disease HIV/AIDS was an increasing killer with no cure. Regan’s government spent $2.3 billion a year on
research into prevention and cures. Opposed abortion and a lack of concern for gender issues Opposed making Martin Luther King Day a national holiday

Question 7

george bush senior 1989-1993

Answer 7

Promised to reduce tax and continue with Reaganomics However, he was faced with masses of debt from Reagan’s administration and was forced to increase taxes In 1990, the Government’s debt was three times more than it was in 1980 because the economy was not growing as quickly as it was in the 1980s under Reagan There were race riots in 1992. Rodney King, a Black man, was beaten up by police officers using excessive force. In 1990 he signed the American Disability Act. This protected disabled people from prejudice The same year, he passed The Clean Air Act. This focused on reducing urban smog, curbing acid rain and eliminating industrial emissions of toxic chemicals Unemployment also increased during his presidency to 7.8% by 1992

Question 8

bill clinton 1993-2001

Answer 8

When Clinton became President the gap between the richest and poorest in society had grown wider As a result, he decided to move away from Reaganomics Unemployment was the lowest in 30 years Unemployment in African Americans and Hispanics fell to the lowest rates on record Minimum hourly wage was increased in 1996 and again in 1997