Transcript File - Ms. McLoughlin American History 2

Reagan, Bush, Clinton, G. W.
Bush
Triumph, Tragedy, and Stupidity
The Reagan Revolution
• Ronald Reagan capitalized
on the public's frustration.
• When he ran for the
presidency against Carter in
1980, he asked Americans,
"Are you better off than you
were four years ago?“
• With annual inflation at 18
percent, the answer was a
resounding "No."
The Reagan Revolution
• Reagan won a landslide victory, carrying
43 states and almost 51 percent of the
popular vote compared to Carter's 41
percent.
• In addition, the Democrats lost the Senate
for the first time since 1954.
The Reagan Revolution
• 1980 presidential campaign, Reagan drew
strong support from white Southerners,
suburban Roman Catholics, evangelical
Christians, and particularly, the New Right.
• The New Right was a confederation of
disparate political and religious groups
bound together by their concern over what
they believed were the erosion of values in
America
Conservatism Gains Support (cont.)
• The Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which
made abortion a constitutional right, and the
Supreme Court decisions to limit prayer in public
schools shocked deeply religious Americans.
• Religious conservatives
included many different
faiths, with the largest
being evangelical
Protestant Christians.
• The new conservative
coalition of voters
shared the belief that
American society had
lost its way.
(pages 862–864)
Conservatism Gains Support (cont.)
• Americans had lost faith in their government, lost
confidence in the economy, and longed for stability
and a return to a better time.
• After World War II, a
religious revival began
with Protestant
ministers like Billy
Graham creating a
national following.
(pages 862–864)
Conservatism Gains Support (cont.)
• Television enabled Christian evangelicals to reach
nationwide audiences.
• Televangelists, as they were called, included Pat
Robertson, who founded the Christian Broadcasting
Network, and Jerry Falwell, who used his show The
Old-Time Gospel Hour to create the movement he
called “Moral Majority.”
(pages 862–864)
Televangelist for President
In 1986, CBN leader Pat Robertson
announced his candidacy for President
of the United States in 1988.
His campaign promises included
outlawing pornography and eliminating
the Department of Education.
Although considered a long-shot, he
actually won the Iowa caucus over
eventual Republican nominee George
H. Bush.
Jerry Falwell v. Larry Flint
and the Teletubbies
In 1983, Hustler magazine ran a parody
of an ad that said that Jerry Falwell
had lost his virginity to his mother in an
outhouse. Falwell sued its publisher
Larry Flint for slander, but the
Supreme Court decided that the ad
was protected by the First Amendment.
In 1999 Falwell turned his attention to
children’s television by claiming that
Tinki-Winki was in fact a gay role
model due to the fact that the character
was purple (a gay pride color) and had
a triangle (gay pride symbol).
God the Extortionist?
In 1987, televangelist Oral Roberts,
based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, claimed
that if he did not raise $8 million in
three months, then God was going to
“call him home”.
He was able to raise $9.1 million and
then later claimed that God had given
him the ability to raise people from the
dead, and in 1988 his son claimed to
have witnessed this event.
In 1988, the IRS had discovered that
millions of dollars endowed to Oral
Roberts University had been used to
support his own lavish lifestyle.
The Reverend and the Secretary
In 1987 it was revealed that
PTL leader Jim Bakker had
paid his secretary Jessica
Hahn $279,000 so she
would not report that he
allegedly raped her.
In 1989 it was reported that
he took $3.4 million from his
church for himself and his
wife’s (Tammy Faye) lavish
lifestyle and he was also
sentenced to prison that
year for mail fraud, wire
fraud and conspiracy.
The Reverend and the Prostitute
The televangelist that exposed Jim Bakker
in 1987 was a rival by the name of Jimmy
Swaggart from Louisiana. Yet in 1988
another rival televangelist took pictures of
Swaggart in a motel room with a hooker.
Swaggart appeared on his TV show to
repent and place himself on a three month
suspension. Yet he returned to the pulpit
four weeks later claiming that if he did not
return “millions of people would go to hell”.
In 1991 Swaggart was caught with another
prostitute in California. When addressing his
followers after this tryst he told them "The
Lord told me it's flat none of your business.”.
Reaganomics
• Promised to rebuild the nation's defenses
• Restore economic growth,
– trim the size of the federal government
by limiting its role
• in welfare
• education
• housing.
Reaganomics
• Reagan blamed the nation's economic ills on
declining capital investment and a tax structure
biased against work and productive investment.
• To stimulate the economy, he persuaded
Congress to slash tax rates.
– In 1981, Congress cut taxes 5 percent in
1981
– 10 percent in 1982 and 1983
– In 1986, another tax bill, which reduced tax
rates of the wealthiest Americans to 28
percent, while closing a variety of tax
loopholes
Reaganomics
• August 1981, Reagan dealt blow to organized
labor by firing 15,000 striking air-traffic
controllers
• Strengthened the nation's defenses, doubled the
defense budget--to more than $330 billion by
1987
• Deregulated the banking and natural gas
industries and lifted ceilings on interest rates
• Department of the Interior opened up large
areas such as offshore oil fields, to private
development.
Reaganomics
• Reagan's laissez-faire principles affect approach
to social programs
• Cut spending on a variety of social welfare
programs
–
–
–
–
–
–
Aid to Families with Dependent Children
food stamps
child nutrition
job training for young people
programs to prevent child abuse
mental health services.
Reaganomics
• The Reagan administration
eliminated
– welfare assistance for the
working poor
– reduced federal subsidies
for child-care services for
low-income families
– allow ketchup to be counted
as a vegetable in school
lunches.
Reaganomics
• Reagan left office while the economy was in the
midst of its longest post-World War II expansion.
• The economy was growing faster, with less
inflation, than at any time since the mid-1960s.
• Adjusted for inflation, disposable personal
income per person rose 20 percent after 1980.
– Inflation fell from 13 percent in 1981 to less
than 4 percent annually.
– Unemployment was down to approximately 5
percent
Reaganomics
• Massive federal budget deficit, which
increased $1.5 trillion during the Reagan
presidency--a deficit that was three times
the debt accumulated by all 39 of
Reagan's presidential predecessors.
– The growing income gap between rich and
poor.
– the expensive consequences of reduced
government regulation
• namely, cleaning up federal nuclear weapons
facilities
• bailing out the nation's savings and loans industry.
Reagan and the Evil Empire
• Reagan described the Soviet Union as "an
evil empire" and called for a space-based
missile defense system, derided by critics
as "Star Wars."
• Soviet money and Cuban troops came to
Grenada
– U.S. troops invaded Grenada, killed or
captured 750 Cuban soldiers, and established
a new government
Reagan and the Evil Empire
• In Afghanistan, the United States was
provided aid to anti-Soviet freedom
fighters, ultimately, helping to force Soviet
troops to withdraw
• Nicaragua and the Sandanistas – Daniel
Ortega
– Iran Contra Scandal
– CIA, Oliver North
Reagan and the Evil Empire
• Mikhail Gorbachev at 54 becomes the new
Soviet leader
– called for sweeping political liberalization
(glasnost) and economic reform (perestroika)
– legalized small private business cooperatives,
relaxed laws prohibiting land ownership, and
approved foreign investment within the Soviet
Union.
– He cut the Soviet defense budget, withdrew
Soviet troops from Afghanistan and Eastern
Europe
Reagan and the Middle East
•
•
•
•
•
Lebanon
Bombing raid on Libya
Iran Contra
Support for Taliban
Support for Sadaam Hussein
Reagan Legacy
• He dampened inflation
• Restored public confidence in government
• Presided over the beginning of the end of the
Cold War.
• Doubled the defense budget
• Named the first woman to the Supreme Court
• Launched a strong economic boom
• Created a heightened sense of national unity.
• “Just Say No!”
Reagan Naysayers
• Criticized him for a reckless use of military power and for
circumventing Congress in foreign affairs.
• Fostered greed and intolerance.
• Ripped the social safety net and skimped on the
government's regulatory functions.
• Insensitive on racial issues.
• During the Reagan years, the national debt tripled, from
$909 billion to almost $2.9 trillion
• Corporate and individual debt also soared.
• During the early 1990s, the American people consumed
$1 trillion more goods and services than they produced.
• The United States also became the world's biggest
debtor nation, as a result of a weak dollar, a low level of
exports, and the need to borrow abroad to finance
budget deficits.
The Bush Presidency (41)
• Election of 1988
– Michael Dukakis (D)
– George H. W. Bush (R)
• Main issues:
– taxes
– building a “kinder America”
Domestic Issues
• Supreme Court becomes more
conservative
– toughened laws dealing with the death
penalty
– restricted situations in which women could
have abortions
• Flag-burning
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
War on Drugs
• Illegal drug use
becomes a
national issue
• Bush tries to stop
traffic from
Colombia and
Panama
AIDS Epidemic
• AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome
• Caused by HIV
• Virus destroys the body’s ability to fight off
disease or infection
• Virus is transmitted through the exchange
of bodily fluids
Economic Woes
• High National
Debt
• Savings and
Loan Crisis
• “Read my lips,
no new taxes!”
A New World Order
• Reforming Communist
Societies in the West
• Poland
• Eastern Europe
• Berlin Wall
Fighting for Democracy
• China
– Large demonstrations
in Tianenmen Square
in Beijing
– Thousands of students
arrested
– Still unknown how
many were killed current estimate is
3,000
South Africa
• Apartheid - laws
that force the
segregation of
whites and blacks
• Laws help maintain
white minority rule
• Nelson Mandela
and the ANC
World of Technology
• Birth of Email and the
Internet
• Genetic engineering
• Environmental
changes
– global warming
– deforestation
– acid rain
The Persian Gulf War
Operation Desert Storm
January 16 –
February 28, 1991
Background: The Iran–Iraq War
• 1979 – Saddam Hussein
becomes leader of Iraq
• Sept 1980 – Iraq invades
Iran; Hussein predicts a
two-week war
• July 1988 – Iran accepts
terms of cease-fire
• Iraq wins but now has
$500 billion war debt
World Oil Reserves (1990)
Other
16%
United States
3%
Saudi Arabia
25%
Mexico
6%
Soviet Union
6%
UAE
9%
Iraq
10%
Venezuela
6%
Iran
9%
Kuwait
10%
The Invasion of Kuwait
• August 2, 1990
• Saddam Hussein
announces his
intent to annex
Kuwait
Building an International Coalition
• Economic Sanctions
• Use of Military Force
– US and allies deploy
massive military force
along the Kuwaiti and
Saudi border
– 690,000 troops (425,000
American)
President Bush and
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia
A Line in the Sand
• November 29, 1990 –
UN authorizes military
action to expel Iraq
from Kuwait, if they do
not withdraw by
January 15th
• January 16, 1991 –
Allied forces begin to
attack
World’s Largest Armies (1990)
4,500,000
4,000,000
3,500,000
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
Soviet Union
China
United
States
Iraq
by manpower
Modern Warfare
• Allies rely heavily on air
power
• Ground troops are mostly
secondary to the heavy
bombardment
• Allied bombing lasts six
weeks; meets only token
resistance from small Iraqi
air force
F-117A Nighthawk
Stealth Fighter
End of the War
February 28, 1991 –
Iraq
announces its acceptance of
allied terms for cease fire
agreement.
•US battlefield losses are
less than 150
•Iraqi losses are estimated
at more than 100,000
Ecological Terrorism
• Hussein orders retreating
troops to open the Kuwaiti
pipeline, spilling oil into
the gulf
• 700 oil wells are set
ablaze
• All fires extinguished in
less than a year
The 1992 Election
• Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton defeated George
Bush and Texas businessman Ross Perot to
become the first Democratic president in 12
years.
• The campaign was a bitter, three-way contest
marked by intense assaults on the candidates’
records and character
Bill Clinton won the election with only
43 percent of the popular vote but 370
electoral votes
The Clinton Agenda
• 1st two years in office, a string of legislative
successes.
• To reduce the federal budget deficit,
• Congress raised taxes on the wealthiest
Americans and on gasoline and cut government
spending.
• To create jobs, the Senate ratified the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
eliminating tariff barriers between Canada,
Mexico, and the United States.
• Completed negotiations on the General
Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT),
reducing global trading barriers
Clinton Failures
• President Clinton backed away from a promise
to let gays serve in the military and instead
instituted a compromise policy of "don't-ask,
don't-tell."
• The centerpiece of his legislative agenda--a
program of universal health care coverage--had
to be withdrawn. His plan to guarantee lifelong
healthcare to Americans through local networks
of insurers, hospitals, and doctors was criticized
for its complexity and for excessive government
involvement in the healthcare system.
Clinton Failures
• Allegations of financial and sexual misconduct
before he became president.
• One controversy stemmed from investments he
and his wife had made in the Whitewater
Development Corporation, an Arkansas real
estate development firm.
• Another concerned charges of sexual
harassment made by a former Arkansas
government employee. Clinton eventually settled
the sexual misconduct lawsuit for $850,000 and
was ordered by a judge to pay an additional
$90,000 for lying under oath.
Clinton Fights Back
• Bill Clinton promised to cut the federal deficit in half
create millions of new jobs, and "end welfare as we
know it.“
• Over Republican opposition in Congress, the Clinton
administration raised the minimum wages and the
Earned Income Tax Credit (which provides financial
assistance to the working poor).
• Gave workers up to 12 weeks unpaid leaves to deal with
family emergencies
• Blocked efforts to restrict abortions.
Lowpoints
• World Trade Bombing
(1993)
• Monica Lewinsky
• Oklahoma City Bombing
• Impeachment
George W. Bush
The 2000 Election
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
George W. Bush (Rep.)
Al Gore (Dem)
Ralph Nader (Green Party)
The presidency hung on a few hundred votes in
a single state (Florida)
Lawsuits and requests for recounts
Confusing ballots,
Missing names from voting rolls
Subjecting minority voters to multiple requests
for identification
The Hanging Chad
GWB
• George W. Bush described himself as a
“compassionate conservative” committed to the
principles of limited government, personal
responsibility, strong families, and local control.
• Proposed to improve public schools by insisting
on competency testing.
• “Faith-based initiative,” religious institutions
would be able to compete for government funds
to provide social services.
• A major legislative success involved cutting tax
9/11/01
• 1998, Osama bin Laden had formed a
terrorist network called Al-Qaeda, which in
Arabic means “the base.”
• He provided training camps, financing,
planning, recruitment, and other support
services for fighters seeking to strike at the
United States.
9/11/01
• Four previous attacks against the U.S.
– the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
– the 1996 killing of 19 U.S. soldiers in
Saudi Arabia
– the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania
– the 2000 attack on the USS Cole at a
port in Yemen, in which 17 U.S. sailors
were killed.
9/11/01
• Hijackers turned commercial airlines into
missiles and attacked key symbols of
American economic and military might.
– the World Trade Center towers in New York
– destroyed part of the Pentagon,
– left Americans in a mood similar to that which
the country experienced after the devastating
Japanese attack on the American fleet at
Pearl Harbor in 1941.
9/11/01
• George W. Bush organized an
international coalition against Al-Qaeda
and the Taliban government in
Afghanistan that supported it. He
persuaded Pakistan, which had been the
main sponsor of Afghanistan’s Taliban
government, to support the United States
diplomatically and logistically.
9/11
• U.S.-led coalition launched an attack against
targets in Afghanistan--the beginning of what
President Bush has promised would be a long
campaign against terrorist groups and the states
that support them.
• The American strategy involved using American
air power and ground targeting to support the
Northern Alliance, the major indigenous force
opposing the Taliban.
• U.S. and British forces coordinated ground
operations against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Iraq
• March 20, 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom
• Successful in overthrowing the dictator
Sadaam Hussein
• Civil War and insurgency
2004 Election
The Results
Nominee
George
W. Bush
John
Kerry
Party
Republica
n
Democrati
c
Home state
Texas
Massachu
setts
Running m
ate
Dick
Cheney
John
Edwards
Electoral v
ote
286
251[1]
States carri
ed
31
19 + DC
Popular vot
e
62,040,61
0
59,028,44
4
Percentage
50.7%
48.3%
Katrina (2005) and Rita (2005)
• 80% 0f New Orleans underwater, avg. 15
ft.
• Rita a much larger storm, however Katrina
had scared the heck out of people
2008 Election
• Issues
– The economy had cratered
– Bank and housing collapse
– Car industry imploded
– Still in Iraq and Afghanistan
Houston Flees
2008 election
Nominee
Barack Obama
John McCain
Democratic
Republican
Illinois
Arizona
Running mate
Joe Biden
Sarah Palin
Electoral vote
365
173
States carried
28 + DC + NE-02
22
Popular vote
69,456,897
59,934,814
Percentage
52.9%
45.7%
Party
Home state