The Reagan Revolution

Social Change and Foreign Policy

Study Guide Identifications Supply side economics/ReaganomicsCarter CorollaryReagan DoctrineOperation CycloneCamp David Accords 1978Feminization of Poverty“New Right”“Religious Right”Sandanistas vs. Contras/“freedom fighters”Renewed Cold war/Evil EmpireMikhail Gorbachev/End of Soviet UnionIran Contra Affair/Boland Amendments/NSC

Study Guide Questions

What was the legacy of the 1960’s?What changes took place concerning identity and women’s roles, or questions of women’s roles?What Characterized the “New Right”?What was the Conservative Social Agenda? What was foreign policy under Reagan?

Legacy of the 1960s Activism

Came to characterize American political life Mass demonstrations - Protest advocacy tool. 1980s - Clamshell alliance

Against a nuclear reactor “Take Back the Night”

Protest sexual assault and violence 1995 Million Man March

Campaign of social reconstruction in black communities

Mass demonstrations - lost power to attract media

Women’s Roles

Ideas of domesticity Reality much different Birth control pill - sexual behavior.

Many women questioned gender based divisions in both public and private sectors.

1970’s-80s activism Distribution of political power Feminization of poverty Women’s self-sufficiency

Group Identity

Increased emphasis on group identity as the basis for social activism grew   Cultural differences among Americans should be

affirmed rather than feared, celebrated rather than simply tolerated.

Battles against discrimination and for cultural pride continued African American American Indian Asian Mexican Homosexual Movements 

Efforts to Reform American Foreign Policy

Ford & Jimmy Carter Administrations in the mid 1970s Cost of Vietnam – speed decline of U.S. as

super power Salt I & II treaties with Soviet Union

Negotiate strategic arms control & relative peace

Carter promise of commitment to Human Rights Condemned policies that allowed the U.S. to

support right wing monarch and military dictators in the name of anti-communism

Carter’s Reform Efforts

Reform CIA & discourage intervention and covert action abroad Make the CIA act within the law, rather than

above the law Temporary changes

Camp David Accords 1978 terms for peace in the Middle East Negotiations between Israel, Egypt &

Palestine Anwar el-Sadat (Egypt), Prime Minister Menachem

Begin (Israel), Arafat (PLO) Conflict since Israel established in 1948 by

Balfour Declaration following World War II

Panama, Nicaragua, Afghanistan & Iran Under Carter

Negotiated return of Panama Canal Zone to Panama by 2000 following independence movement

or revolt against United States control

1979 Sandanista Movement overthrows dictator and U.S. ally Anastasio Somoza Plea for U.S. support denied by Carter

Afghanistan Under Carter Administration

1979 Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan Carter: "The Soviet invasion of

Afghanistan is the greatest threat to peace since the Second World War".30,000 troops sent to crush Islamic independence movement against Soviet influence and control

Carter argued that soviet presence “posed a grave threat to the free movement of Middle East oil”

Carter Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

Affirmed right of the military force to protect the interests in the Persian Gulf Halted exports to Soviet Union Canceled U.S. participation in the Moscow

Olympics Supported Afghanistan Resistance against soviet

occupation In May 1985, the seven principal rebel

organizations formed the Seven Party Mujahideen Alliance to coordinate their military operations against the Soviet army.

Operation Cyclone: CIA under Carter & Reagan provided aid

Armed the Afghan Mujahideen 1979 – 1989, 20 billion

Increased military spending

Iran Hostage Crisis

November 4, 1979 Iranian fundamentalists seized the US embassy in Tehran and held 52 American employees hostage for 444 days. Pahlavi Royal family as the shah of Iran in 1953

millions of dollars into the economy and armed military. In 1979 a revolution led by the Islamic leader

Ayatollah Tuhollah Khomenini had overthrown the Shah. Carter allowed the Shah to seek refuge in California retaliated by taking American staff as hostages.

Attempts to return the hostages failed.

Election of 1980

Walter Mondale & Geraldine Ferraro Emphasized growing deficit, raise in taxes,

called attention to the citizens denied prosperity in America

Ronald Reagan and former CIA director and Texas Oil executive H.W. Bush. Choice between a (D) “government of

pessimism, fear and limits” or his own based on “Hope, Confidence and growth.” Reagan began with an inauguration that cost

millions of dollars, Nancy’s wardrobe cost $25,000 Began a show and celebration of wealth and power

that would prevail His election interpreted by supporters as a mandate

for conservatism that had been growing since the Nixon years

Reagan’s Political Objectives

Limit state support for welfare and social servicesExpand state power to enforce law and orderChampioned anti-communismTapped the resentment over rising property taxes & high inflationBacklash against

Anti-war movement counterculture Women’s liberation Urban uprisings Emphasized “family issues”

Opposed sex education, abortion rights, gay liberation Opposed the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment

c. Emergence of “New Right”

Backlash against liberalism of 1960s Framed goals in terms of emphasis of “Moral Values” Largest component of movement were evangelical or born again

protestants Opposed re-treat from anti-communist foreign policy & domestic

programs that addressed poverty and equalityReligious right Protestants, fundamentalists, Evangelical churches.

Battled to prevent the IRS from denying tax-exempt status to private Christian colleges that opposed racial integration

Roe Vs. Wade mobilized fundamentalists and evangelical leaders

joined with the Catholic conservatives in opposing abortion.  

Conservative Social Agenda

National Conservative Political Action Committee, the Conservative Caucus, the Moral Majority No separation of church & state Defending family values - by opposing abortion and “degenerate” life styles The Male-headed nuclear family needs protection

from moral wrongs of homosexuals and feminists. Education : New ideas such as multiculturalism and

feminism dangerous Movement towards reinterpreting history from a

multicultural non-traditional perspective is under fire.   

Reagan Revolution Rejected the activist welfare states legacy of the New Deal Era Rejected Keynesian economics

traditionally favored moderate tax cuts and increases in government spending to stimulate the economy and reduce unemployment, by putting money in peoples pockets, greater consumer demand would lead to economic expansion.

Supply-siders or Reaganomics called for simultaneous tax cuts and

reductions in public spending, this would give private entrepreneurs and investors greater incentives to start business, take risks, invest capital and create new wealth and jobs.

Supply Side EconomicsReaganomics

The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 benefited the richest fraction of the

population that derives most of its income from rent, dividends and interest instead of from wages.

The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981 cut social and cultural programs,

hardest hit areas included education, environment, health, housing, urban aid, food stamps, research on synthetic fuels and the arts

Greatly increased the defense budgetAnti organized labor – 13,000 federal employees all members of

the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization went who went on strike in 1981, he fired all of them. By 1990 15% of workers belonged to a labor union

Deregulation weakened rules that governed

environmental protection, workplace safety, consumer protection to increase the efficiency and productivity of business.

Large corporations, wall street stock brokerages, investment banking houses, savings and loan industry were allowed to operate with a much freer hand than ever before.

summarized this economic theory: “ A successful economy depends on the proliferation of the rich.” Politically supply-siders look to reward

the most loyal republican constituencies , the affluent and business community.

They reduce the flow of federal dollars to two core democratic constituencies: the recipients and professional providers of health and welfare programs.

George Gilder, conservative author of Wealth and Poverty (1988)

Promise & Reality

Promise to balance the budgetReality National debt tripled from 914 billion (1980) to 2.7 Trillion (1989) Fiscal crisis became a structural problem

Supply side economics ultimately reversed America from being the leading creditor nation in the world to a debtor nation (340 Billion)

Best & Worst Time, Reagan and American popular culture

Popular culture Celebration of wealth, money making and

entrepreneurship Dominated 1980s to present

Greater Inequality Middle class shrinking, poverty rising

Promise of Middle class status Fewer able to improve living standards or

reach the middle class

Reagan’s Promise to Restore World Supremacy

Increased military spendingForeign policy Revival of cold war patriotism Championed U.S. Interventionism

Intervened in Caribbean, Latin and South America Anti-communist Rhetoric centerpiece for

foreign policy Labeled the Soviet Union as the “Evil Empire… the

focus of evil in the modern world” Though soviets dismantling & retreat from arms

race and empire building made cold war framework of international affairs irrelevant by 1980s

Arms Race Nuclear Power

70% of Americans favored nuclear freeze 1982 750,000 people demonstrated, NY

Halt on spending on and deployment of nuclear weapons

1982 Regan announced the SDI initiative Star Wars or the Strategic Defense Initiative

Estimated 27 Billion, spent 17 billion Meaningful arms control undermined Soviet-U.S. relations deteriorated

Foreign Policy & the “Reagan Doctrine”

Reasserted America’s right to intervene anywhere in the world to “roll back” communism by supplying overt and covert aid to “anti-communist resistance movements” Assumed that political instability resulted

from soviet influence

1983 invaded Grenada, Nicaragua, El Salvador 

1983 Grenada, Socialist leader assassinated & installed a friendly government.

CIA Covert Action

Aided anticommunist forces in Afghanistan and the Contras in Nicaragua Waged a renewed cold war to support anticommunist governments that “supported democracy” to constrain the soviets sphere of influence. “Freedom Fighters”

El Salvador

Aided a repressive regime (pro-American) 1983 right wing death squads tortured

and assassinated 1,000’s of opposition leaders Bloody Civil war left 54,000 dead

Reagan looked to Nicaragua Sandanista government “posed an

unusual and extraordinary threat to national security”

NicaraguaNicaragua Sandanista Party 1984 Reagan escalated the undeclared war

against the Sandanistas US augmented its military forces in neighboring

Honduras Conducted training exercises throughout the

region Stepped up economic pressure Launched a psychological offensive to discredit

the Sandanistas. Trained and equipped an opposition military

force of Nicaraguans or Contras.

Supported murderous dictatorships in nearby El Salvador and Guatamala

U.S. Intervention in Nicaragua

1909 - 1933 Taft coup on President Zalaya Trans isthmus Canal Nationalization of land

1936 Guardia Nacional – CoupSomoza Regime 1937 – 47, 1950-561962 the FSLN, Liberation Front, Sandanistas Oppose regime of Anastasio somoza Nationalized banking

Somoza Regime 1967-72, 1974-1979

Public Criticism

U. S. backed regimes were clearly implicated in human-rights abuses

Nuns, journalists, humanitarian aid workers included

Brutality and corruption among the contras or so called freedom fighters brought growing public criticism.

American grass roots opposition Sister city projects offered humanitarian & technical

assistance to Nicaraguan communities

1984 Boland Amendments Congress ban on arms sales Forbade government agencies from supporting “directly or

indirectly military or para-military operations” in Nicaragua

Iran-contra affair

 Denied funding my congress, Reagan turned to the National Security Council to find

a way to keep the contra war going 1984 – 1986 raised 37 million in aid from foreign countries and

private contributors, largest mercenary army in the hemispheric history

1986    sold arms to Pro-Iranian Islamic Radicals in a secret deal to secure the release of American hostages of Muslim militants Sold arms to Iran to channel profits to the contra forces

circumvented Boland Amendments

  

Cover – up & American Amnesia

National Security Counciladvisors Robert McFarlane and Admiral John Poindexter

sold weapons and missiles to Iranians using Israel and the go between.

North and Poindexter lied to congress , shredded evidence and refused to keep the president fully informed to guaranteed his “plausible deniability”

convicted as felons, 1992 H.W. Bush granted pardons to 6 key players in

the scandal.

End of the Soviet Union & Collapse of Communism

Mikhail Gorbachev (General Secretary of the communist party in 1985) Policy of Glasnost (openness) & Perestroika

(economic liberalization) 1987 signed a major Arms Treaty that

reduced each nations supply of range missiles

He declared and end to the cold war Soviet sphere of influence and the union itself would cease to exist 

Consequences of Reaganomics

National debt tripled to 2.7 Trillion 1989 The fiscal crisis became a structural

problem with profound & long lasting implications for the American economy

Became indebted to foreign nations (340 billion) Post WWII the leading creditor, now the

biggest debtor

Greater Inequality

Average weekly and hourly earnings dropped between 1980-1992Share of Total Net Worth of American Families Richest 1% 31% 1983 – 37% 1989 Next Richest 9% 35% to 31% 1989 Remaining 90% 33% to 32%

Environmental De-regulation

Sagebrush Rebellion Sympathetic to western movement of

citizens who wanted vast federal land holdings in the west transferred to the states for less environmental protection and more rapid economic use Trees – timber companies Expanded offshore oil drilling Expedited exploration for minerals

Greater Inequality

Number of Poor, Rate of Poverty and Poverty Line 1979-92Millions of poor 26.1 to 36.9 million in 1992Rate increased from 11.7% to 15%Poverty Line increased from $7,412 to %14,335

Crisis for Organized Labor

Republican offensive against labor unions (Air Traffic Controllers Organization) Other companies followed suit leading to the

decline of union membership and blue collar jobs Hormel Phelps-Dodge National labor Relations Board and other federal

agencies weakened collective bargaining by their interpretation of labor management relations

Workers accepted a roll back in wages and loss of other benefits to be able to keep their jobs

Job Creation

Low wage jobs were created at a growth rate of 50%Middle wage jobs at 31.7%High wage jobs at 11.9% Deindustrialization and blue collar job

destruction led to loss of standard of living achieved in the 1950s and 1960s

Median Family Income by race

All races combined median income increased by $1,000 between 1980 and 1992Income for Whites increased by $1,600Income for Blacks decreased by $450.00Income for Hispanics decreased by $1000.00

Feminization of Poverty

Experience of poverty became the experience of predominately women and childrenJobs available decreased for women with children & were lower payingTook financial support of a male breadwinner to keep a family out of povertyCourts sided on behalf of fathers in court

Loss of alimony Middle class women pushed into poverty Majority of men defaulted on child support payments Divorced men increased standard of living Divorce women decreased standard of living

Female Headed Households, 1992

13.7 million peopleAccounted for 37% of the nations poorNumber of black women as heads of household increased from 30% in 1970 to 47% in 1980

Gender & Economic Contradictions

Social and economic pressure to fulfill traditional rolesVsThe need for women to work

Wage Gap

1980s Women made 60 cents on the male earned dollar2003 women made 75 cents EXPLAINED

Decline of earning among men Better educated women finding better

jobs