Transcript Chapter 31 Power Point

TO A NEW CONSERVATISM,
1969-1988
America: Past and Present
Chapter 31
Nixon in Power
• Apparent success in first term
• Triumphs in foreign affairs
• Nixon cuts himself off from Congress,
his own cabinet, and the nation
Reshaping the Great
Society
• Nixon and the Great Society
• more efficient administration
• shift responsibility to the states
• shift school desegregation to the courts
• Shift to conservative Supreme Court
• appointment of conservatives and
moderates
• Burger Court similar to Warren Court
• Pace of change slows but continues
Nixonomics
• Nixon and inflation
• inflation spurred by Vietnam
• federal spending cuts
• interest rates forced up
• 1970--Nixon-induced recession
• 1971--wage and price controls
• Economy revives
Building a Republican
Majority
• Nixon obsessed about reelection
• Inactive on desegregation to win South
• Attack cultural revolution to win “middle
America”
• Democrats retain majority by joining
crusade against drugs, crime
In Search of Détente
• Foreign-policy assumptions
• Cold War to be managed, not won
• America must make a strategic retreat
• improve relations with China to neutralize
Russia
• February 1972--Nixon visits China
In Search of Détente:
Outcome of China Visit
• February 1972--U.S. recognition of
Communist China set in motion
• May 1972--Russians sign SALT I
• Apparent mutual desire to reduce Cold
War tensions
Ending the Vietnam War
• Nixon’s plan
• gradual reduction of American troops
• intensify American bombing
• hard line at the peace talks
• 1970--invasion of Cambodia
• January, 1973--peace talks conclude
with disguised American surrender
The Crisis of Democracy
• June, 1972--Nixon agents arrested for
attempted Watergate break-in
• Nixon stonewalled the press about
White House involvement
• even instructed aides to lie under oath
The Election of 1972
• Nixon’s opponents
• American Independent George Wallace-shot and disabled, followers vote for Nixon
• Democrat George McGovern--nomination
alienates middle class
• Nixon landslide suggests new alignment
• middle class shifting to Republicans
• African Americans, Jews, the poor remain
strongly Democratic
The Watergate Scandal
• Summer 1973--Senate investigation
• damaging Senate hearings on cover-up
• White House tapes discovered
• Summer 1974
• Nixon must relinquish tapes
• House Judiciary committee recommends
impeachment
• August 9, 1974--Nixon resigns
The Watergate Scandal:
Consequences
• Demonstrates growing power of the
executive branch
• Illustrates vitality of institutions
• the press
• the federal judiciary
• Congress
Energy and the Economy
• U.S. way of life based on cheap energy
• 1970s energy crisis sparks inflation
The October War
• October, 1973--Yom Kippur War pits
Egypt, Syria against Israel
• U.S. supplies weapons to Israel
• Arab oil nations retaliate with boycott
• prices of gasoline and home heating fuel
rose sharply
The Oil Shocks
• Effects of soaring oil prices
• consumer spending plunges
• recession by 1974
• inflation persists through 1970s
• Tax cut aids recovery
• 1979--Iranian Revolution causes
second surge in oil prices
The Oil Shocks: Price Increases of
Crude Oil and Gasoline, 1973-1985
The Search for an Energy
Policy
• Ford tries to encourage production
• Carter tries to encourage conservation
• Congressional legislation to
• encourage production, e.g. Alaska pipeline
• encourage conservation, e.g. gas rationing
• Energy problem persists
The Great Inflation
• Oil prices drive inflation
• price of goods soars
• real income declines
• Attempted government controls result in
record high interest rates
The Shifting American
Economy
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U.S. share of world markets declines
U.S. heavy industry declines
High technology prospers
Businesses tend to diversify
Private Lives—Public Issues
• Traditional American family gives way to
more diverse living arrangements
• Number of working women increases
sharply
• Gay rights movement emerges
The Changing American
Family: Family Life by
1990
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21% of women solely in childrearing
30% of married coupes without children
25% of households consist of one adult
Birthrate begins to climb after 15-year
fall
• Divorce rate levels and drops slightly
The Changing American
Family: New Family
Structure
• Many never marry or postpone marriage
• Most mothers work outside the home
• Proportion of single-parent households
doubled
• Women without partners head 1/3 of
impoverished families
• Children comprise 40% of the poor
Types of Households in the
United States, 2000
Gains and Setbacks for
Women
• Rapid movement of women into work force
• Breakthroughs for women
• leaders in industry, higher education
• Roe v. Wade strengthens reproductive rights
• women appointed to Supreme Court
• Resistance
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most women remain in female-dominated jobs
wages only 77.5% of men’s earnings
Equal Rights Amendment fails
abortion widely stigmatized
Voting on the Equal Rights
Amendment
The Gay Liberation
Movement
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1969--Stonewall Riot sparks gay rights movement
1980--Democrats include gay rights plank
1980s--AIDS activism
1987--600,000 march on Washington
1993--“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy a setback
1996--Defense of Marriage Act prohibits state
recognition of same-sex unions
• 2000--Vermont legalizes same-sex “civil unions”
Politics After Watergate
• Watergate erodes public trust
• Confrontation leaves nation leaderless
The Ford Administration
• Pardon of Nixon unpopular
• Democratic Congress alienated
• disclosure of illegal CIA activities under
Kennedy and Johnson
• opposes Democratic bills protecting the
environment and civil rights
The 1976 Campaign
• Ford damaged by Watergate
• Democrat Jimmy Carter wins close vote
• former governor of Georgia
• campaigns as outsider
• calls for decency, morality in government
Disenchantment with Carter
• Carter displays lack of political vision
• Outsider status hampers effectiveness
• 1979--Carter blames American people
for "national malaise"
From Détente to Renewed
Cold War
• U.S. international dominance declined
sharply in the 1970s
• Internal and external events weakened
foreign policy
Retreat in Asia
• April 1975--North Vietnam captures
Saigon
• U.S. response--evacuation, no aid
• Subsequent incidents met with caution,
restraint
Accommodation in Latin
America
• 1977--treaty returns Panama Canal to
Panama
• 1979--U.S. refuses aid to Nicaraguan
government against Sandinistas
• Carter assists El Salvador against
Marxist rebels
The Quest for Peace in the
Middle East
• Carter’s success
• 1978--Camp David Accords
• 1979--Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty
• Carter’s failure
• 1979--Iranian Revolution
• November--U.S. embassy in Teheran
invaded, 58 Americans taken hostage
• Carter fails to secure hostages’ release
The Cold War Resumes
• Carter, Brzezinski shift from Détente
• condemn Soviet human rights abuses
• new missile systems deployed
• increased aid to China
• December, 1979--Russians invade
Afghanistan
A Failed Presidency
• Carter lost public confidence during the
Iranian hostage crisis
• Double-digit inflation also contributed to
voter disappointment
Reagan in Power
• Roosevelt coalition continues to splinter
• Republican party picks up pieces
The Reagan Victory
• Carter’s negatives
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Iranian hostage crisis
economic ills
• Reagan’s positives win the election
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warm telegenic personality
optimistic message
draws Jewish, working class vote
• Republicans win majority in the Senate
Cutting Spending and
Taxes
• Reagan’s premise: cut spending to
encourage private investment
• Reagan cuts over three years
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federal spending by more than $40 billion
social services included in cuts
taxes cut by 25%
Limiting the Role of
Government
• Environmental regulations relaxed
• Attempted cuts in Social Security
• Neglect of interest-group opponents
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labor hurt in air traffic control firings
lack of support for civil rights legislation
women ignored in judicial appointments
Reaganomics
• Reagan’s reductions in spending and
taxes prompt conflicting expectations
• Supply-side economists expect
economic growth
• Reagan’s critics expect massive
deficits, economic stagnation
Recession and Recovery
• 1981-1982--unemployment hits 10%
• 1983--economic recovery
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rise in consumer spending
prices remain level
worldwide decline in energy prices
The Growing Deficit
• Basis for the Reagan prosperity
includes
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massive deficit spending
massive inflows of foreign investment
• 1983--federal budget deficit $200 billion
• Spending caps on defense, services
• 1985--U.S. becomes a debtor nation
U.S. Budget Deficits, 19801997
The Rich Grow Richer
• Gains of Reaganomics
• inflation reduced to 4%
• employment grows after 1982
• growth in service sector jobs
• Losses of Reaganomics
• high-paying manufacturing jobs decline
• increasing social inequality
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wealthy benefit
poor left in poverty
middle class hurt
Share of Aggregate Household
Income by Quintiles, 19751995
Reagan Affirmed
• Perception of improving economy
• 1984 election
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Reagan trounces Walter Mondale
Republicans lose seats in Congress
Reagan and the World
• Reagan determined to restore
America's international position
• Steep increase in military spending
• Aggressive foreign policy
Challenging the "Evil
Empire"
• Reagan: Soviet Union the "focus of evil
in the modern world"
• Unfavorable deals on arms reductions
• U.S. response to Russian refusal
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deployment of cruise missiles in Europe
development of anti-missile system
• Russians build up nuclear arsenal
Turmoil in the Middle East
• 1982--Israeli invasion of Lebanon
• International response
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U.S., France send troops to maintain order
PLO evacuates Beirut
• 1984--200 U.S. Marines killed in
terrorist bombing
• U.S. evacuation of Lebanon
Trouble Spots in the Middle
East
Confrontation in Central
America
• Intervention against Latin American
leftist insurgents
• Covert subversion of Sandinistas
• October, 1983--invasion of Grenada
Trouble Spots in Central America
and the Caribbean
Trading Arms for Hostages
• Advanced weapons sold to Iran for
influence in freeing American hostages
• November, 1986--Iran-Contra scandal
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profit from Iran arms sales to Contras
funding violates Congressional prohibition
Reagan escapes impeachment
Reagan the Peacemaker
• 1985--Mikhail Gorbachev assumes
power in Russia
• 1985-88--Reagan-Gorbachev summits
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1987--destroy intermediate range missiles
1988--Afghanistan evacuated
• Foreign policy triumphs restore
Reagan’s popularity
Social Dilemmas
• AIDS epidemic
• Drug abuse
The AIDS Epidemic
• 1981--AIDS first detected
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apparent confinement to homosexual men
results in early public inaction
spread to drug users, recipients of blood
transfusions prompts panic
• Reagan Administration’s response
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fund research
little funding for education, prevention
1987--appointment of AIDS commissioner
The AIDS Epidemic (2)
• 1996--500,000 infected
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majority homosexuals, drug users
15% heterosexual, non-drug abusers
• 1996--AIDS death rate begins dropping
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new drugs
safer sexual practices
The War on Drugs
• Mid-1980's--crack cocaine introduced
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addiction spread through all classes
exploding crime rate
• Reagan attempts interdiction of supply
• Bush, Clinton continue Reagan policy
• At the end of the century there seemed
to be no end to the war on drugs
Passing the Torch to Bush
• Republicans hope for major political
realignment
• Factors reinforcing trend
• 1980s economic boom
• promise of the end of the Cold War
The Changing Palace Guard
• 1985--Donald Regan chief of staff
• Second-term victories
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tax reform package
appointment of conservatives
• Changes in the Supreme Court
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Senate blocks Bork appointment to Court
Bush appointments help turn the Court
more to the right