Transcript The Resurgence of Conservatism

The Resurgence of Conservatism
Chapter 40: 1980-1992
Chapter 41: 1992-2000
Ronald Reagan’s Presidency
(1981-1989)
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Election of 1980
• Democratic candidate: Jimmy Carter
• Republican candidate: Ronald Reagan
– in favor of Roosevelt’s “Common Man” theory
– “New Right” led by evangelical Christians
concerned about social issues
• independent candidate: John Anderson
• Reagan won over 51% of the popular vote, Carter
41%, and Anderson 7%
Reagan’s Foreign Policies
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Iran Hostage Crisis
• Nov. 4, 1979 a mob of anti-American Muslim militants stormed U.S.
Embassy in Teheran, Iran and took all occupants hostage.
• Captors demanded that the American Authorities ship the exiled
shah back to Iran, who had arrived in the U.S. 2 weeks earlier for
medical treatment.
• On Reagan’s Inauguration Day, January 20, 1981, the Iranians
released the hostages after 444 days of captivity
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Invasion of Grenada
• October 1983, Reagan dispatched heavy-fire-power invasion force
to island of Grenada in the Caribbean
• military coup had killed prime minister and brought Marxists to
power
• demonstrated Reagan’s determination to dominate the Caribbean
Reagan’s Foreign Policies Con’ t
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Issues in Nicaragua
• revolution in 1979 disposed of long-time dictator of
Nicaragua
• “Sandinistas” : anti-American revolutionaries
• Reagan retaliated and accused the Sandinistas of
turning their country into a forward base for Soviet and
Cuban military
• taking photos from spy planes, U.S. administration
claimed Nicaraguans were giving weapons to forces in
El Salvador
• Led to the Iran-Contra Affair
– “Teflon President”
Reagan’s Domestic Policies
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Reagan vowed to boost American economy by: (Reaganomics)
• rolling back government regulations
• lowering taxes
• balancing the budget
promised that lower taxes would increase government revenue
because it would arouse the whole economy
the combination of tax reduction and increases in military spending
opened a broad “revenue hole” of $200 billion annual shortages
in 8 years in office, Reagan added nearly $2 trillion to the national
debt
Reagan appointed three conservative-minded justices to the U.S.
Supreme court, namely Sandra Day O’Conner
• Arizona judge sworn in on September 25, 1981
• became the first woman to rise to the high bench
George Bush’s Presidency
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Election of 1988
• Republican candidate: Bush whose platform was
– Reagan’s tax cuts, strong defense policies,
toughness on crime, opposition to abortion, and
economic expansion
– Vice President: J. Danforth Quayle, senator from
Indiana
• Democratic Candidate: Michael Dukakis, governor of
Massachusetts
– Running mate: Lloyd Bentsen, Senator of Texas
– Bush won, carrying 40 states
Bush’s Foreign Policy
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End of the Cold War
• Several regimes collapsed in Europe between 1989 and 1990
including
– Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Romania
• In December 1989, Berlin Wall torn down
– East and West Germany united and formed Democratic nation
• Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev started to dissolve the
communist govt , giving freedom to many
• 1991, Warsaw Pact disbanded
– Bush and Gorbachev proclaimed the end of Cold War and birth of
“new world order” where democracy and diplomacy would reign
• 1991 coup was attempted to throw Gorbachev from power
– foiled with help of Boris Yeltsin, pres. of Russian Republic
Bush’s Foreign Policy Con’ t
• Dec. 1991, Gorbachev resigned
– USSR dissolved into 15 republics, forming the
Commonwealth of Independent States
– Russia most powerful, but all renounced
communism and embraced democracy and freemarket economies
• 1993, Bush and Yeltsin signed the START II accord,
which committed both powers to reduce their longrange nuclear arsenals by 2/3 in the next 10 years
Bush’s Foreign Policy Con’ t
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Beginning of Gulf War
• Jan. 16, 1991 - U.S. and allies began air campaign
against Iraq
– bombed targets in Iraq and Kuwait
• Iraq responded by firing “Scud” : short-ranged ballistic
missiles against military and civilian targets in Israel
and Saudi Arabia. Bush convinced these countries not
to retaliate
• Commander of allies forces was Gen. Norman
Schwarzkopf
– strategy to soften Iraqis with relentless bombing,
then begin war
Bush’s Foreign Policy Con’ t
• Saddam Hussein, director of Iraq, threatened to wage the
“mother of all battles”
– Iraq had chemical and biological weapons including
anthrax
– Saddam employed ecological warfare: released an oil
slick into the Persian Gulf to stop amphibious assault
• Operation Desert Storm
– began Feb. 23, 1991 and lasted 4 days: “hundred-hour
war”
– succeeded in driving back Iraq’s armies and liberated
Kuwait
– nonstop media coverage
Bush’s Foreign Policy Con’ t
• Results of Persian Gulf War:
– Bush’s approval rating soared, but was criticized for
not removing Saddam Hussein from power
– A U.N. observer force took place in Iraq
– few American casualties
– led to U.N. inspections of Iraq and further military
action against Saddam in 1998 and 2003
Bush’s Domestic Policies
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Bush’s economic policies
• Conservatives wanted Bush to continue Reagan's
policies but Bush saw that he needed to confront a
budget deficit, prosperity that only benefited the
wealthy, and problems from Reagan's cuts in govt
programs
• called for a “kinder, gentler America” and proposed
cuts in military spending
• in his campaign, Bush pledged, “Read my lips: no new
taxes,” a promise he would come to regret
Bush’s Domestic Policies
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Bush and Congress
• 1990, recession hit.
– By 1992, unemployment rate was 7%
– federal budget deficit hit $250 billion
• in battles with Congress, Bush vetoed 35 pieces of
legislation
– for this reason, his presidency called “status quo”
because not much was done
Bush’s Domestic Policy Con’ t
• Bush agreed to budget agreement that included $133 million in
new taxes
– violated campaign promise of no new taxes and would cost
him the 1992 election
• 1990, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed
– prohibited discrimination against Americans with physical or
mental disabilities
• passed several laws to protect the environment, including a law
that reformed the distribution of subsidized water in the West
• 1990, Dept. of Education challenged the legality of college
scholarships for minorities
Bush’s Domestic Policy Con’ t
Bush and the Supreme Court
• Bush made 2 Supreme Court appointments:
David Souter and Clarence Thomas
• Thomas was first African American justice to
be appointed since the retirement of liberal
Thurgood Marshall
Bush’s Domestic Policy Con’ t
• Thomas was very conservative and his nomination was
opposed by organized labor, the NAACP, and the National
Organization for Women (NOW), because he was antiabortion
• Oct. 1991, Anita Hill, law professor a t University of Oklahoma,
accused Thomas of sexual harassment
– after other females colleagues of Thomas said they
witnessed improper behavior, the Senate approved
Thomas with a 52-48 vote
– result: gender gap developed between the political
parties, as women resented the anti-abortion policies of
the Republicans
Bill Clinton’s Presidency
(1993-2001)

Election of 1992
• Republican candidate: Pres. George Bush
• Democratic candidate: Bill Clinton
– campaign theme: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
• independent candidate: H. Ross Perot
• Clinton won with 370 electoral votes to Bush’s 168 and
Perot’s none
Clinton’s Foreign Policy
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Clinton supported the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA)
• created in 1993, free trade zone including Mexico, U.S.,
and Canada
• Effects:
– changed his own stand in the 1992 election
– eliminated the opposition of democratic
protectionists, especially labor leaders afraid of
losing jobs to Mexicans working for less money
In 1994, Clinton promoted World Trade Organization (WTO)
: a global free-trade system
Clinton’s Foreign Policy
Conflicts in Bosnia:
• ethnic conflict raged through Bosnia
• Washington govt hesitated before committing
American troops to a NATO peacekeeping
contingent in late 1995
• abandoned when it became clear that were the
only force capable of preventing new
hostilities
Clinton’s Foreign Policy Con’ t
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Air strikes in Serbia
• President of Serbia, Milosevic, wants “ethnic
cleansing” in Kosovo
• in response, NATO forces led by U.S. launched an air
war against Serbia
– failed to stop ethnic terror and forced Milosevic to
accept a NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo
Clinton’s Impeachment
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Clinton’s role in the Whitewater Land Corporation
prompted federal prosecutor, Kenneth Starr to investigate
Jan. 1998, Clinton blamed for having a sexual affair with a
young White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, and then lied
about it when testified under oath in a civil law suit.
• Law suit brought by Paula Jones who charged that
when the president was governor, he had sexually
harassed her when she was a state employee
• Supreme court permitted case move forward in May
1997
Clinton’s Impeachment
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Clinton publicly denied any relationships with “that woman”
after keeping innocence for 8 months, Clinton forced to admit an
“inappropriate relationship”
Sept. 1998, Starr presented a report to House of Rep.. Charging Clinton
with 11 possible grounds for impeachment, all relating to Lewinsky
matter
House Republicans. In December 1998, passed 2 articles of
impeachment against the president:
• perjury before a grand jury
• obstruction of justice
• The Senate found Clinton “not guilty”
– Not removed from office
– 2nd President to be impeached
ELECTION OF 2000
 Democrats nominate Al Gore (VP) and
Joseph Lieberman (Senator of Connecticut)
 Republicans nominate George W. Bush (son
of former president George H.W. Bush) and
Richard Cheney ( served in the
administrations of Reagan and Bush)
 Green Party nominate Ralph Nader
ELECTION OF 2000
 Candidates fought over the moderate and
independent vote
• Gore’s focus was “working families”
• Bush’s focus was “compassionate
conservatives”
 Gore received over 500,000 more popular
votes then Bush
 Victory hinged on Florida’s 25 electoral
votes
ELECTION 2000
 Democrats asked for a manual recount of
the election punch cards after a partial
recount gave Bush the lead by 537 votes
 The Florida Supreme Court ordered a
recount of all the votes
 The US Supreme Court overruled them in a
split 5-4 decision
BUSH v. GORE
• The Court ruled that the varying standards
used in Florida’s recount violated the 14th
Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause
• Gore ended the election by accepting the
ruling
• Final elector results; Bush 271 to Gore 266
• Closest election since 1876