America in the 1980s: An Overview

America in the 1980s: An OverviewAmerica in the 1980sThe challenges of America that followed the Watergate scandal, the energy crisis and Vietnam would have dimmed the national optimism that followed World War IIFormer California Governor Ronald Reagan proposed to restore national optimism though conservative government and aggressive foreign policyThe 1980s would usher in a new age of growth and the end of the Cold WarAs is always the case, we can also see the seeds of future challenges in American society being sown in the 1980sGlobal terrorismGrowing economic inequalityThe Conservative RevolutionGovernor Reagan would challenge President Carter in the election of 1980 as it was mired in great foreign and domestic challengesAmerican were taken hostage in Tehran, Iran in November 1979Protesting Americas support of the brutal dictatorial rule of the Shah who had fled to America following a revolutionAmerican economy suffering another energy crisis and high inflationAmericans were growing frustrated by feeling of weakness and lack of strong leadershipPresident Reagan promised to restore America leadership Americas leadership in the worldRan along with Republican rival George HW Bush for VPPresident Reagan won a resounding victory in 1980Reagan received strong report from the New Right including conservative Christians in the newly organized Moral MajorityFelt that Christian values and liberalism had pushed America of its moral centerFelt welfare and civil rights policies compromised Pushed for the reversal of the Roosevelt-Johnson welfare stateReagans big win in 1980 gave his conservative program a mandate

A Conservative AdministrationPresident Reagan promised a departure from liberal social programs and regulation to restart the American economyFree market economy and deregulationAllow the forces of capitalism dominate economic activityLower taxesDecrease social welfare programs to manage spendingConservative social valuesSupport of school prayerGun rightsAnti-abortionThese ideas made him popular among the New Right and Moral MajorityThis support would dominate presidential politics for 12 years to 1992Reagan was known as the Great Communicator-effective at communicating conservative messageReaganomics: Engineering a RecoveryPresident Reagan viewed high taxes and regulation as the cause of Americas anemic economySolution- Reaganomics (aka trickle down economics)Cut income tax on wealth to encourage investment and job creationCut regulation that made economic development more difficultOpen public lands for economic developmentBenefits would trickle down to the middle class and poor

The success and failure of ReaganomicsSuccessKnocked down inflation and unemployment- stagflation was gone by 1983Stock market soared through much of the 1980sOn average, Americans were earning 10% more in inflation adjusted dollars by the end of the Reagan yearsProblemsTax cuts and growing defense spending increased budget deficits and accumulated national debtDeregulation of banks and stock market generated significant meltdowns by 1987Environmental deregulation hurt the environmentThe distribution of income between rich and poor widenedReagan and the World:President Reagan promised a hard line against the Soviet UnionReferred to the Soviet Union as The Evil EmpireBelieved that aggressive posturing was the way to engage the Soviet Union- not morality or realpolitikAmerican hostages in Iran freed the day Reagan was inaguratedReagan engineered the largest peace time expansion of the military in American historyBudget nearly doubledPush to develop Strategic Defense InitiativeMake Soviet missiles powerless through laser interceptionCritics called it Star Wars- impracticalReagans critics claimed he neglected the poorest Americans to build weapons Attracting CriticismThe combination of higher defense spending and cuts to social programs angered manyReaganomics made some investors rich but left many people without supportWere the costs of Reaganomics and the defense build up worth it?

Pressing the Evil Empire and Global Communism1980 might be considered the high point in the power and influence of global communismCommunist governments dominated Eastern Europe, China, southeast Asia as well as the USSR and were growing in Africa and Latin AmericaTensions with the Soviet Union deepened- (dtente broke with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979)Cold War Challenges: First TermPoland 1981Americans warned Moscow not to invade Poland when a growing labor movement Solidarity challenged martial law declared by Polands governmentNear Korea 1983Korean passenger airliner shot down by Soviet fighter- claims it was a spy planeEurope 1983- Americans place nuclear weapons in Britain and GermanySoviets and Warsaw Pact boycott 1984 Los Angeles Olympics- joined by many Communist countriesPresident Reagan supported anti communist groups in Latin America while knocking out a communist government in Grenada in 1983Opponents wanted to limit Americas support of anti-communist forces in Nicaragua (Contras)- another Vietnam?Morning in America: The Reagan Reelection of 1984President Reagan easily won reelection in 1984 against Democrats Walter Mondale and Geraldine FerraroReagan Campaign Ad- Why was this message effective?Reagan won by a larger margin than 1980Reagan became the oldest American inaugurated as President

Economic Challenges: The Public SectorHigher defense spending and tax cuts induced soaring budget deficits that Reagan vowed to stopGramm-Hollings Act required across the board cuts in government spending to address deficitsFederal Deficit- gap between budgeted government income and spendingFederal Debt- accumulated money owed to banks and individuals loaning money to the federal governmentBudget deficits and debts have been a federal problem since the New Deal and World War IIA Look at Budget Deficits

Economic Challenges: The Private SectorDeregulation of the economy was supposed to stimulate economic growthLess regulations invited corruptionInsider trading scandal in the stock marketThe use of confidential information to gain advantage in the purchase and sale of stocksThis was a cause of the collapse of the market in 1929Discourages most people from investing- like poker with a stacked deckDecline in trust led to a market crash in 1987 bigger than 1929A crisis in the Savings and Loan banks generated by a collapse in real estate markets forced government to cover billions in lossesNeither crisis generated a depression lingering power of New Deal?A Foreign Policy Crisis: The Iran-Contra AffairAt any time in a presidency, the president will have a number of foreign policy crisesAmericas anti-communist foreign policy supported the efforts of Nicaraguas ContrasPro-Iranian groups in Lebanon held American hostagesThe president must work within the Constitution and CongressThe Reagan Administration tried to solve these problems outside of its legal rightsWhat happened?Administration sold weapons to IranIran desperate needed weapons for war against IraqAmerica had no formal relations with Iran following hostage crisisAmerica hoped Iran would press pro-Iranian hostage takers to release hostages in LebanonProfits from sale diverted to anti-Communist contrasCongress had forbidden direct support of ContrasReagan not directly involved by subordinates shredded documents Members of the White House staff implicatedReagan criticized for his lack of control over subordinates

The Warming of the Cold WarA new type of leader took control of the Soviet Union in 1985- Mikhail GorbachevEconomic reformer- perestroikaPush to create a consumer economy- cut down government and military spendingPolitical reformer- glasnost opennessFreedom of expressionGorbachev needed to negotiate to decrease military spendingGorbachev grew popular in the United StatesHope to lower cold war tensions

Negotiating a Thaw in the Cold WarPresident Reagan and Chairman Gorbachev negotiated many important arms control agreementsNegotiated the end of intermediate range nuclear missiles in Europe and the end of the Soviet occupation in AfghanistanGorbachev renounced the use of force in foreign policy- later announced a policy of non-intervention in Eastern EuropeAnti-communist groups in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary worked to unseat communist governmentsRebellion in East Germany led to resignation of its Communist leaderEast German solders quit patrolling the Berlin Wall9 November 1989- Citizens of Berlin take the wall down- symbolic end of the Cold War in Europe The Republican Revolution ContinuesVice President Bush continued Reagans policies defeating liberal Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis In his first year, communism collapsed- end of the Cold WarThe Soviet Union breaks up on 25 December 1991- What a Christmas present for Cold Warriors!

A New Crisis in the GulfAugust 1990, Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein invade oil rich KuwaitClaim that it was historically part of IraqIraq owed Kuwait money for its war against IranNations in region concerned about Iraqs power grab- America concerned about balance of power and oil wealthUN condemned invasionAmerica and a coalition of countries mobilized troops in Saudi Arabia (1/2 million Americans)Largest troop deployment since VietnamWide global supportWaiting for 15 January 1991 UN deadline for Iraq withdraw

Overcoming the Vietnam SyndromePresident Bush believed it was important to clearly communicate that he was not LBJ and this was not VietnamIdentified clear objectives- remove Iraqi forces from KuwaitIdentified limits of the mission- no mission creepProvide full support for soldiers and sailrs deployedHave alliesThis war would last 100 hours and would meet its objectives A New Kind of WarStep 1- Operation Desert ShieldDeploy troops to Saudi Arabia to check further Iraqi expansionThis would anger many in Saudi Arabia including Osama bin Laden- Crusaders in the Holy Land of the ProphetStep 2- Air attack Operation Desert StormBombing of Iraqi targets began 16 JanuaryHi-tech smart bombs do serious damage to BaghdadStep 3- Operation Desert Storm Attack on Kuwait began 23 FebruaryIraqis driven out days later- 100,000 killedUnited Nations forces accept a negotiated armistice with Saddam- Quick decisive victory ends Vietnam Syndrome Economic ChallengesPresident Bush inherited some of the problems of Reagans second termLarge budget deficits created by defense spending and tax cutsSavings and Loan mess- cost of bail outA trade deficit was a growing problemCities like Pittsburgh were ravaged by the decline of the steel industryAuto industry continued to struggle with the challenge of foreign competitionAmerican economy fell into recessionIn spite of his challenge read my lips, no new taxes he raised taxes to bridge budget deficitHis popularity quickly fell as he approached election of 1992 American Political and Economic History In a NutshellMore conservative government ended stagflation of the 1970s, but the plight of the poor became more difficult and distribution of income widened (rich got richer and poor got poorer)A more aggressive foreign policy directed the end of the Cold War and pushed Iraq out of Kuwait in the Gulf War, but high military spending plagued the budget and new enemies in the Middle East would be looking for an opportunity to hit AmericaWe will look at American social history and popular culture next