Age of Reagan

Nota:

• The Sagebrush Rebellion first came broadly into view during Reagan's run for the White House. In 1979, Nevada and four other western state legislatures passed bills that called for state control of many lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. With support from the in-coming President and his controversial Secretary of the Interior James Watt, Sagebrush Rebels seemed poised for success and many observers expressed concern that the states' rights movement would reach for other federal lands, including national forests.

1. Moral Majority
2. Christian Coalition

1. Nixon pardoned

1. honest / outsider
   1. Vision?
   2. born again Christian
      1. human rights
2. Iranian hostages
3. Panama Canal
4. inflation and high interest rates
   1. "malaise speech" - crisis of confidence
   2. OPEC

      Nota:

      • The 1970s OPEC rose to international prominence during this decade, as its Member Countries took control of their domestic petroleum industries and acquired a major say in the pricing of crude oil on world markets. On two occasions, oil prices rose steeply in a volatile market, triggered by the Arab oil embargo in 1973 and the outbreak of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. OPEC broadened its mandate with the first Summit of Heads of State and Government in Algiers in 1975, which addressed the plight of the poorer nations and called for a new era of cooperation in international relations, in the interests of world economic development and stability. This led to the establishment of the OPEC Fund for International Development in 1976. Member Countries embarked on ambitious socio-economic development schemes. Membership grew to 13 by 1975.
5. Camp David Accords

Nota:

• Many of these people had once been liberals and, before that, socialists. But during the turmoil of the 1960s, they had become alarmed by what they considered the dangerous and destructive radicalism that was destabilizing American life, weakening the liberal ardor in the battle against communism. Neo-conservatives were sympathetic to the complaints and demands of capitalists, but their principal concern was to reaffirm Western democratic, anticommunist values and commitments. 

1. supply side/ voodoo/ trickle down

   Nota:

   • Supply-side economics operated from the assumption that the woes of the American economy were in large part a result of excessive taxation, which left inadequate capital available to investors to stimulate growth.  The solution, therefore, was to reduce taxes, with particularly generous benefits to corporations and wealthy individuals, in order to encourage new investments. Because a tax cut would reduce government revenues (at least at first), it would also be necessary to reduce government expenses.  A goal of the Reagan economic program was a significant reduction of the federal budget. 
2. deregulation

   Nota:

   • Men and women whom Reagan appointed fanned out through the executive branch of government, reducing the role of government. Secretary of the Interior James Watt, previously a major figure in the Sagebrush Rebellion, opened up public lands and water to development. The Environmental Protection Agency (before its directors were indicted for corruption) relaxed or entirely eliminated enforcement of many environmental laws and regulations. The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department eased enforcement of civil rights laws. The Department of Transportation slowed implementation of new rules limiting automobile emissions and imposing new safety standards on cars and trucks. By getting government “out of the way,” Reagan officials promised, they were ensuring economic revival. 
3. tax cuts, military spending -- soaring national debt
   1. welfare benefits cut

1. SDI/ Star Wars
   1. Fall of the Soviet Union
      1. Gorbachev

         Nota:

         • But in 1988, after Reagan and Gorbachev exchanged cordial visits to each other's capitals, the two superpowers signed a treaty eliminating American and Soviet intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) from Europe—the most significant arms control agreement of the nuclear age. At about the same time, Gorbachev ended the Soviet Union's long and frustrating military involvement in Afghanistan
2. Terrorism: Marine barracks in Beruit

   Nota:

   • October 23, 1983 - 241 U.S. service personnel, 220 Marines and 21 other service personnel, are killed by a truck bomb at a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon. 300 service members had been living at the four-story building at the airport in Beirut. There were 1,800 Marines stationed in Beirut at the time. A multi-national force with units from France, Italy and the United Kingdom is also on peacekeeping duty in Lebanon at the same time. At the same time the Marine barracks is hit, a suicide bomber drives a pickup truck full of explosives and crashes into a building housing French paratroopers. Approximately 58 French soldiers are killed in the attack. This is the most deadly attack against U.S. Marines since the battle over Iwo Jima in February 1945. The bombing is traced to Hezbollah, a militant and political group that originated in Lebanon in 1982. Iranian and Syrian involvement was also suspected.
3. Americas: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Grenada
   1. Nicaragua: Sandinista vs Contras (Freedom Fighters)
      1. Iran Contra Scandal
4. Tiananmen Square
5. "Evil Empire" Speech

1. "Morning in America"
2. Dem VP candidate: Geraldine Ferraro

1. Election of 1988
   1. "Read My Lips"
2. Recession of early 90s
3. 1st Gulf War
   1. Saddam Hussein
   2. Invasion of Kuwait
4. Election of 1992
   1. Bill Clinton
   2. Ross Perot