Transcript Document 7226330

Chapter Thirty
The Conservative Ascendancy,
1974—1987
"We are all capable of believing things which
we know to be untrue, and then, when we are
finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the
facts so as to show that we were right.
Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process
for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that
sooner or later a false belief bumps up against
solid reality, usually on a battlefield."
George Orwell [1946 essay "In Front of Your
Nose."]
This chapter covers the Ford and Carter administrations and
their attempts to respond to national emergencies with a "“lick
your plate clean"” and take personal responsibility approach
that did not go over well with the public.
Americans discovered the high price of defense in the Cold
War but in the aftermath of Watergate had little confidence in
the federal government.
Grass roots political activity increased but did not expand
nationally. A new conservatism driven by a revived religious
right was energetic but failed to solve the nation’s malaise.
America’s industrial base would continue to erode. Both the
Soviets and Americans would come to realize they could not
continue the Cold War.
Western Europe, Latin America and Japan increased their
share of the world market while the US floundered with its
energy problems, persistent poverty and environmental
issues.
Part One:
Introduction
Concepts
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NIMBYs
William Julius Wilson
1978 Bakke
California’s Proposition 13 in 1978
Roe v. Wade in 1973
Anastasio Somoza, Sandinistas
1980 Olympic Games
Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi [Shah]
Marielitos
October surprise
Sources
• William Julius Wilson, The Declining Significance of Race:
Blacks and Changing American Institutions [1980]
• Gary Sick, October Surprise [1991]
• Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President [1995]
• Barbara Ehrenreich, Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the
Middle Class [1989]
Chapter Focus Questions
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What structural shifts occurred in the economy?
What characterized the Ford and Carter presidencies?
What were the crises in the cities and in the environment?
How did community politics contribute to the rise of the New
Right?
What caused the Iran hostage crisis and how as it resolved?
What contributed to the Reagan Republican presidential
victory?
What were Reagan's domestic and foreign policies?
What contributed to the growth of inequality?
Chronology
1973
1974
1975
Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion / national gov't [Sp. Ct.] forces
all states to allow abortions
Arab embargo sparks oil crisis in the US
Construction of Alaska oil pipeline begins
Richard Nixon resigns presidency; Gerald Ford takes office
President Ford pardons Nixon and introduces anti-inflation
program
Community Development Act funds programs for urban
improvement
Coalition of Labor Union Women formed
Unemployment rate reaches nearly 9 percent
South Vietnamese government falls to communists
Antibusing protests break out in Boston
New York City government declares itself bankrupt
1976
1977
1978
Percentage of African Americans attending college
peaks at 9.3 percent and begins a decline
Hyde Amendment restricts use of Medicare funds
for abortions
Tom Wolfe declares "the Me Decade"
Jimmy Carter is elected president
President Carter announces human rights as
major tenet in foreign policy
Stagflation-- unemployment and inflation
Department of Energy is established
Bakke v. University of California decision places new
limits on affirmative action programs [no quotas]
Senator Edward Kennedy calls attention to "a
permanent underclass"
Panama Canal Treaties arrange for turning the canal
over to Panama by 2000
Camp David meeting terms for Middle East Peace
California passes Proposition 13, cutting
property taxes and government social programs
Inflation reaches 10 percent
1979
1980
Three Mile Island nuclear accident threatens a
meltdown
Moral Majority is formed
SALT II treaty is signed in Vienna but later stalls in
the Senate
Nicaragua Revolution [Sandinistas] overthrows
Anastasio Somoza
Iranian fundamentalists seize the U.S. embassy
in Tehran and hold hostages 444 days
Soviets invade Afghanistan
Equal Rights Amendment, three states short of
ratification, gets a three-year extension but
eventually dies anyway
United States boycotts Olympic Games in
Moscow due to Afghanistan
Ronald Reagan is elected president
Part II:
American Communities
Grass Roots Conservatism
• In 1962, Garden Grove resident Bee Gathright discovered she
was a conservative. Gathright and her husband Neil soon joined
the California Republican Assembly and were active in Barry
Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign.
• In the 1960s and seventies, Orange County had thousands of
"kitchen table" activists began transforming American
conservatism and American politics leading to the election of
Ronald Reagan as president.
• Conservative rhetoric shed its extremist message by
stressing less government and family issues. Evangelical
religion also played a role.
Part III:
The Overextended Society
Oil and the Troubled Economy
• High prices and a stagnant economy led Americans to
question their faith in progress and prosperity.
• Dependence on imported oil had steadily grown.
• When the U.S. backed Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur
War, the Arab states that controlled OPEC pushed through
an embargo leading to skyrocketing prices& public
suspicion that someone was profiting at the public’s
expense.
Oil and Economic Decline
• President Nixon ordered oil conservation measures.
• Soaring energy prices led to rapid, sustained
inflation.
• At the same time, the worst economic decline since
the Great Depression began.
• Steel and auto making faced stiff competition and
declining market shares.
• American productivity and quality continued to
decline.
• Despite increased foreign demand for crops, soaring
energy costs hurt farmers now forced to borrow
money at high interest rates.
Blue-Collar Blues
• Outside of the public sector, the number of unionized
workers steadily declined.
• The number of wage-earning women increased but their
income, relative to men, declined.
• African American women in the North earned nearly as much
as white women, but Hispanic women tended to be confined
to the lowest wage sectors.
Sunbelt/Snowbelt Communities
• The economic slump of the 1970s was most pronounced
in the Midwest and Northeast in contrast to what became
known as the Sunbelt.
• Large-scale migration fueled Sunbelt population growth.
• The burgeoning computer industry and defense contracts
helped Sunbelt communities weather the recession.
• Sunbelt prosperity was not evenly spread and a two-tier class
society developed.
• Snowbelt cities like Philadelphia and New York faced urban
decay.
Phoenix
• Air conditioning, water diversion, and other improvements
turned deserts into suburbs.
The Ford Presidency
• Gerald Ford succeeded to the presidency following Richard
Nixon’s resignation.
• After pardoning Nixon, Ford lost the nation’s trust.
• Ford lacked a clear program and vetoed bills to hold down
spending, many of which Congress passed over his veto.
• Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican
presidential nomination.
• Democrats turned to one-term GA Governor Jimmy Carter.
• Carter narrowly defeated Ford, building on his moderate
image, his outsider status, and his pledge to restore trust.
The Carter Presidency
• Carter was unable to get his legislation through
Congress.
• Carter by and large supported conservative policies like
deregulation and increased military spending.
• Inflation and interest rates soared leading many to
conclude that Carter could not turn the economy around.
Part Four:
Communities and Politics
The New Urban Politics
• Political mobilization during the 1970s frequently focused on
community issues that cut across ideological lines.
• College students along with African Americans and
other minorities mobilized and won power in numerous
communities.
• Several major cities elected black mayors.
• The fiscal crisis of the 1970s frequently foiled their plans
for reforms.
The City and the Neighborhood
• Community groups tried to empower their members to take
control over a wide range of issues.
• By the end of the 1970s, community-based economic
development groups were infusing capital into
neighborhoods.
• After activists had restored a neighborhood, gentrification
soon followed.
• Fraternal Hall City Recreation Dance, July of 1969
• Kern Council for Civic Union, Minority Coalition of Kern Co.
• Bakersfield – 1974 HEW Hearings on segregation in the
Bakersfield City School District and its causes.
• Mom’s religious retreat and the “bag lady.”
The Endangered Environment
• The roots of the environmental movement dated back to the
works of Rachel Carson in the early 1960s.
• Twenty million Americans participated in the first Earth Day.
• The Three Mile Island incident and the linking of cancer at
Love Canal to toxic waste raised U.S. concern over pollution.
• Growing interest in the concept of ecology led Americans to
lobby for renewable energy sources, protecting endangered
species, and reducing pollution.
• Despite public outcries, government officials frequently
responded to other pressures.
Small-Town America
• A growing number of Americans were leaving metropolitan areas
for small towns.
• Suburbs and shopping malls sprang up in small towns, frustrating
established local merchants who had looked for an economic
boom.
• Many communities organized to oppose further growth.
• Areas outside of the Sunbelt and away from cities suffered as
family farms and other businesses failed.
Part V:
The New Conservatism
The New Right
• A variety of forces converged to turn back the Great
Society and form the new right:
– conservative centers like the Heritage Foundation
– paramilitary groups
– religious conservatives who supplied the strongest boost
• The New Right promoted its agenda through televangelists.
• New Right politicians like Jesse Helms amassed huge
campaign chests.
• Lars’ use of Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority
Anti-ERA and Anti-Abortion
• The New Right successfully blocked ratification of the
ERA and rallied support for efforts to make abortions
illegal.
The “Me” Decade
• Critics characterized the 1970s as a decade when
Americans:
– abandoned political change
– focused on personal well being
– Fostered a “culture of narcissism.”
• During the 1970s, a wide range of personal growth techniques
flourished among the middle class.
• Religious cults grew.
• Popular music became increasingly despairing and
nihilistic, nostalgic, or decadent.
Part VI:
Adjusting to a New World
A Thaw in the Cold War
• Presidents Ford and Carter both believe that American power
had been declining and that there should be no more
Vietnams.
• High levels of military spending had hurt the American ability
to compete effectively with economic rivals.
• American diplomats sought a way to wind down the cold
war by getting the Soviets to agree to respect human
rights and by negotiating arms control agreements.
Foreign Policy and Moral
Principles
• Jimmy Carter pledged to put human rights at the center of his
foreign policy.
• Though speaking out about violations in some nations, he
overlooked others in areas vital to United States interests.
• His greatest success came when he negotiated the Camp
David Accord between Egypt and Israel, though the
agreement did not bring stability to the region.
• Carter reformed the CIA and returned the Canal Zone to
Panama.
The Unexpected
• Carter received contradictory advice urging him to be both
tough on and conciliatory towards the Soviets.
• His Third World efforts mixed support for both authoritarian
and revolutionary governments.
• He urged Americans to put aside their “inordinate fear of
Communism,” but reacted strongly to a Soviet intervention
in Afghanistan.
The Iran Hostage Crisis
• Carter's decision to allow the deposed Shah of Iran to enter
the country for medical treatment backfired.
• Iranian students seized the American embassy and held its
personnel hostage.
• He tried diplomacy and at the same time an ill-fated rescue
operation. Both failed.
The Election of 1980
• When his programs failed to stimulate the economy, Carter
claimed that the nation was experiencing a crisis of
confidence.
• The plan backfired and voters lost respect for him.
• As the election of 1980 approached, an unenthusiastic
Democratic convention endorsed him.
• The Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan who asked
voters “are you better off now than you were four years
ago?”
• Reagan won 50.9 percent of the vote but an overwhelming
majority in the Electoral College. [The election was “too
close to call” during the last week of the campaign. The
undecideds chose Reagan during the last couple of days
according to the experts who ran the polls.]
Part VII:
The Reagan Revolution
The Great Communicator
• Ronald Reagan tried to reshape the political landscape of the
nation. Reagan's program aimed to stimulate the
economy by:
– cutting government spending
– government deregulation
– cutting taxes for the wealthy
• He appointed conservatives to head agencies like EPA
that abolished or weakened rules protecting the
environment and workplace safety.
• Reagan called for a massive military buildup.
The Election of 1984
• In the 1984 election, Walter Mondale won the Democratic
nomination by concentrating on the traditional Democratic
constituencies.
• Reagan countered Mondale’s criticisms by claiming that the
nation was strong, united, and prosperous.
• Reagan won in one of history’s biggest landslides.
Recession, Recovery, Fiscal
Crisis
• A recession gripped the economy during the early 1980s.
• By the mid-1980s the economy grew and inflation was
under control.
• Critics claimed the growth resulted from increased
military spending.
• The economic recovery was unevenly spread; most new
jobs did not pay enough to support a family.
• Enormous budget deficits grew to an unprecedented $2.7
trillion as the U.S. became the world’s leading debtor.
• The fiscal crisis was made worse by scandals in securities
industry. In 1987, the stock market crashed, ending the bull
market of the 1980s.
• When Reagan took office, the total US debt was $900
billion. When he left office it was $2.7 trillion – it tripled in
8 years.
Part VIII:
Best of Times, Worst of Times
Family Income and Net Worth
• While the 1980s celebrated wealth and moneymaking, the
gap between rich and poor widened. The middle class also
declined.
Earnings and Poverty
• Average weekly earnings declined.
New Jobs and Poverty
• Half the new jobs did not pay enough to keep a family out
of poverty.
Income, Race, and Gender
• Race sharply defined the gap between rich and poor.
• Women also experienced declining earning power.
Epidemics
• The 1980s saw new epidemics erupt.
• “Yuppie” cocaine and inner-city crack use spiraled,
unleashing a crime wave.
– The Reagan administration declared a war on drugs, but
concentrated its resources on the overseas supply and did
little to control demand at home.
• In 1981, doctors identified a puzzling disease initially
found among gay men—AIDS.
• An epidemic of homelessness grew during the decade.
One third were mental patients discharged from psychiatric
hospitals.
Part IX:
Reagan’s Foreign Policy
The Evil Empire
• Reagan made anti-Communism the centerpiece of his
foreign policy, calling the Soviet Union an “evil empire.”
• Despite American superiority, Reagan pushed to enlarge the
nuclear strike force.
• He called for a space-based “Star Wars” missile defense
system that many saw as an effort to achieve a first-strike
capability.
• Attempts at meaningful arms control stalled.
The Reagan Doctrine and
Central America
• The Reagan Doctrine pursued anti-Communist activity in
Central America.
• Reagan's “Caribbean Basin Initiative” to stimulate economic
growth tied the region’s economy closer to American
corporations.
• Reagan intervened in Grenada, E1 Salvador, and waged a
covert war against the revolutionary government of
Nicaragua.
• “Nuevo Canto” Music – Inti Illimani, Quilapayun, Los
Folkloristas, Sabia, Silvio Rodriguez
Glasnost and Arms Control
• In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet
Union and instituted a series of political and economic
reforms.
• Under his glasnost and perestroika campaigns, Gorbachev
took the lead in negotiating an end to the arms race to allow
economic growth to take place.
• Treaties were finally worked out that called for destruction of
some missiles and allowed for on-site inspections.
• Although the Soviet Union no longer posed the threat it once
had seemed to pose, the Cold War mentality did not
disappear.
The Iran-Contra Scandal
• In 1986, news broke of how the United States traded arms
to Iran in return for their assistance in freeing hostages
held by terrorist groups. The money from the arms sales
was used to fund the Contras in Nicaragua.
• Oliver North, who ran the enterprise, acknowledged that he
had told a web of lies and destroyed evidence, all in the name
of patriotism.
• An investigating commission concluded that Reagan had
allowed a small, unsupervised group to run the operation.
• In 1992, outgoing President George Bush, whose
involvement had been the target of much speculation,
pardoned several officials who were scheduled to be
tried.
The United States in the Middle
East
• The volatility of the Middle East influenced U. S. foreign policy.