Date post: | 30-Dec-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | meredith-ryan |
View: | 220 times |
Download: | 0 times |
A Conservative Revolution
• How should we interpret the 1980s?– Reagan led a conservative
revolution to roll-back New Deal/Great Society legacy.
– Positive or Negative effects?
• My argument:– Reagan mostly achieved goals, but at great social and
economic cost to women, poor, and minorities.• Left U.S. economically and socially divided.
Reagan: The Man, the Myth
• Early Years– Grew up poor in Dixon, IL
• Held onto small town values his whole life.
– Hollywood “B” Actor
– President of Screen Actor’s Guild• FBI Informant
• Spokesman for General Electric– Preached small government, traditional
values, and anticommunism.
• Governor of California 1966-1974
Reagan: The Man, the Myth
– Goals: weaken big government, increase defense spending, reassert American world dominance.
• Early Years– Elected President in 1980
– Told Americans: “Government is not the solution. Government is the problem.”
Reagan: The Man, the Myth
• The Acting President– Understood the constant “entertainment
culture” of the 1980s
– The “Great Communicator”• Performance over substance.
– Master of imagery and a superb speaker.• Used personal reflections and symbols to
persuade.
– Assassination attempt (March 31, 1981)• A political plus for Reagan.
The Reagan Revolution
• Conservative Social Agenda– Sought a return to “traditional values” circa 1950s.
• Goal: make government smaller through spending cuts in: – Environment, consumer, protection, poverty
programs, education, transportation.
• Reagan appointed conservative judges to help dismantle Warren/Burger courts legacy piece by piece.
The Reagan Revolution
• Environmental Policies– Corporations/ranchers vs.
environmentalists • Logging/mining/grazing vs.
scenic/recreational use.
– Reagan sided with corporations and ranchers
• Paid fees below market value.
– Reagan appointees openly hostile to environmentalists.
• But not reflective of mainstream view which was pro-environment.
The Reagan Revolution
• Ideological Underpinnings– A conservative ideological
devotion to free markets, smaller government, and individual responsibility (circa 19th century).
– Liberal Critics• Reagan agenda unrealistic for complex social/economic problems
of 20th century.
• Federal government needs to take a role.
The Reagan Revolution• Reaganomics
– Top tax rate reduced from 70% to 28%
– Supply-side economics• Theory that if you cut taxes, Americans will invest more and tax
revenues will increase (NOT!)
– Annual Budget deficit reached $220 billion a year in 1986. • $1.8 trillion added to National Debt
The Reagan Revolution• The Decade of Greed
– Reagan’s economic policies reflected mood of country in 1980s.
– Stock market was overvalued and personal debt increased.
– Corporate tycoons were the American heroes
• Michael Milken, Leona Helmsly, and Ivan Boesky
– The Material Girl in a Material World
Ivan Boesky Material Girl
The Reagan Revolution
• Morning in America– Deep recession in 1981-82, but economy
steamed ahead as inflation declined.• Inflation went from 12.4% in 1980 to 4% in
1982.
• 1984 Election– Reagan won a 49 state victory
against Democrats Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro (first woman VP for a major party).
Reagan’s Style of Leadership
• A “Hidden-Hand Presidency?”– Reagan called “out of touch” and
lost without a script.
• A Detached Presidency– A lack of leadership at the top.
• Uninterested in minutia of policy
• Delegated authority.
– Administration’s second term nearly brought down by Iran-Contra Scandal in 1986.
Oliver North testifies to Congress.
The Revolution’s Impact
• A Stratified Society– Top 1% received 60% of
after-tax income.
– Top 1% controlled 39% of nation’s wealth in 1989.
• (15% for bottom 80%)
– 20 million jobs created, but most were non-unionized low wage service sector jobs.
The Revolution’s Impact
• Economic Consequences to Poor– Minimum wage was poverty wage.
– 24% increase in homelessness (1979-1987)
– 20% of children (and 50% of Black children) lived in poverty.
• Reagan not solely responsible, but his policies contribute greatly to a stratified society between “haves” and “have-nots.”
Final Thoughts
• Reagan could look back in 1989 with satisfaction:– Growing economy.
– Conservative judiciary.
– Even an advantage to spiraling deficit• Americans had to rely on other sources
for assistance besides federal government.
• But could the Revolution continue under George Bush without Ronald Reagan?