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diff --git a/smith/21_reagan b/smith/21_reagan new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2c1467 --- /dev/null +++ b/smith/21_reagan @@ -0,0 +1,223 @@ +The Presidency of Ronald Reagan +"It's Morning Again in America." +- Developed his personal brand on the 80s + - The country was in trouble, brought down by leaders brought down + by nagging dilemmas. + - "Rescue America" and restore confidence. + - Emulated FDR's + - Used the power of the presidency to gut the welfare state + - Excoriated the Great Society (welfare recipients are too + lazy to get a job, lambasted the Soviet Union) + - Anti-environmentalism + - Gorbachev in the Soviet Union helped dissolve Am-Sov conflict. + Reagan took credit. + - Believed that slashing taxes would make America rich. Also wanted + to "crush the enemy" + - Treated as an essentially a religion; treated as infallible + despite any possible contradictory evidence + +Questions +- What factors led to the election of Ronald Reagan and the rise of the + conservative movement? +- What is "Reaganomics?" What were its effects on American society and + the economy? +- How did Reagan's foreign policy toward the Soviets help end the Cold + War? + +- Reagan was not a deepthinker. He was a patriot. + - Son of Irish-Catholic shoe salesman. Devout bible + - Won a football scholarship to a small college in Illinois during + the Great Depression. Washed dishes to make money in college. + - Worked as a sportscaster before Hollywood, served 3yrs in the army + in World War, making training films. + - Was a Democrat at the time. +- Delivered a speech on national television in support of Barry + Goldwater +- Won Governor of Calif. in 1966 +- Part of his popularity came from his great ability as a speaker + (baritone voice and a wealth of entertianing stories) + - New Right was behind Reagan. Migration to the Sun Belt. + - Property taxes were reduced in California. Overwhelming majority + of voters agreed to Prop 113 to slash property taxes by 57%, also + making it harder to increase taxes later on. + - The idea spread across the nation. The New York Times called + it the modern Boston Tea Party, key in support for + conservative support for politicians like Reagan. + - Megachurches crusading against liberalism at home and + communism abroad sprung up. +- Reagan succeeded because he focused on a few main points: + - Reducing inflation, taxes + - Anti-Soviet foreign policy. + - Shrewd negotiator with congressional leaders and foreign heads of + state. Realized that running a democracy required compromise. + - Lots of optimism like FDR gave people a renewed sense of + confidence and purpose. "You have every right to dream" +- First thing Reagan did was freeze federal hiring. Replaced Truman in + the cabinet room with Coolidge (super anti-gov president). Reagan + believed government was the problem. +- 6 shots fired at Reagan before election. Increased support for him by + electorate. + +Insiders at Reagan's White House realized he remained detached from +details of the decisionmaking process. + - Very relaxed, buoyant, elegant. + - Read newspapers over breakfast, went to his office at 9, an hour + of personal time, lunch, watched television. Whenever possible, + his schedule conduced to a positive, upbeat atmosphere. + - Reagan appointed officials who would help him succeed. + - David Gergen, office of WH Communications, worked to influence + news coverage of the WH. + - He and other aides operated under the premise that the press's + portrayal of the president would strongly affect public + opinion of the president. + - Gergen was proactive about establishing a "line of the day," a + single point of discussion with reporters. Said they "had to think + like a television producer." + +Reaganomics +- Reflected two beliefs of Reagan: + - Least gov is best gov + - Give economic power to the private sector for sustained prosperity +- David Stockman, not a cabinet member but head of OMB, masterminded + Reaganomics. +- 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act + - Aug 1, 1981, Reagan signed economic recovery tax act, cutting + personal income taxes by 50%, lowered max tax rate from 70% to 50% + - "Common sense economic plan." + - Theorists call it "Supply Side" economics + - Proposed solution to stagflation, believing that the rich would + spend their money on goods, and the spending would "trickle down" + benefits to the lower classes. + - Did not work as planned, causing the Recession of 1981-1982 and + increasing the federal budget deficit. +- Reduced Social Security and Medicare, the most expensive and most + popular fed. social programs to meet the budget deficit. + - According to Stockman, Reagan was too kind and gentle to make the + necessary cuts to balance the budget. + - Also continued subsidies for big corps. Reagan never fully + dismantled federal programs. + - Also made massive increases in military spending, @ $1.2T over + three years. + - The recession also had huge unemployment levels + - "Revenue increases" (tax lifting) were pushed by his aides, + including Stockman, but the Recession continued. + - Dems picked up 21 House seats. + - By summer 1983, economy started to recover because of increased + spending, lower interest rates, and partially because of lower tax + rates. + - Reaganomics did not help balance the budget. +1986 Tax Reform Act + - Top tax rate 50% -> 28% and bottom 11% -> 15%. + - Fed budget deficit went from $90B to $283B + - America had to borrow and raised interest rates to attract + capital + - Foreign money flooded into America, and the dollar rose + dramatically. + - Cheapened imports, forcing American companies to relocate + outside the country. + - Largest creditor nation -> largest debtor nation. Trade imbalance + of $170B by 1987. +- More jobs created in 1980s than lost, but half of those lost were in + high-wage industries and half of those gained were below the poverty + line. + - Exacerbated growing wealth inequality, a two-tiered society. + +Reagan and Foreign Policy +- Reagan's Foreign Policy was very supported by the public. +- Very anti-communist interventionist foreign policy + - Reagan Doctrine wanted to roll back communism in the "third world" + - Gave military support to freedom fighters in Angola, others + - Military advisers and millions of dollars to reactionary + regime in El Salvador and overthrow of Sandinistas by Contras. +- Reagan believed the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons would be + achieved by "peace through strength." + - Believed a strong defense was the best deterrent to aggression + - Secretly authorized contact with Soviet leadership, but acted like + a hawk in public about the Soviets. Denounced the "evil Empire." +- Reagan escalated the arms race with the announce of the Strategic + Defense Initiative ("Star Wars") to intercept and destroy missiles in + flight before they hit the US. + - Skepticism by the media, gov officials, and scientists + - But Congress eventually allocated $30B to the program, but SDI, + although never implemented, when matched by the Soviets, helped + bankrupt the country. + +1984 Presidential Election: Reagan vs Walter Mondale +- Mondale took the midwestern ethos of hard work and public service. +- Jimmy Carter's runningmate. Took an active and daily role in all major + decisions. +- Mondale had a chance of winning if he could capitalize on Americans' + sense of fairness. + - Said proposals were a Trojan Horse for lowering taxes on the + wealthy + - Redistribution of wealth and power from gov to private, poor to + rich, workers to capitalists + - Reagan claimed to believe in conservative egalitarianism + - In hindsight, there is no way anyone could have beaten out + Reagan. The economy was booming, unemployment was low, Moscow + Olympics boycott gave Reagan a ton of pub support. + - Mondale lost in a landslide, only getting Minnesota. +- The election was about traditional values and America's opinion of + itself as well as the economic status of the country +- There were growing questions about foreign policy. +- Reagan said, "we brought America back" as his campaign slogan. +- Americans wanted to celebrate the new era of "good feelings." + +War in Nicaragua +- Dictator in Nicaragua overthrown by leftwing uprising of Sandinistas. +- Reagan suspended foreign aid to Nicaraguan gov't and authorized covert + war to bring down Sandinistas in favor of the Contras. +- Reagan's justification of intervention was to prevent the growth of + communism. +- Support of contras was unpopular because of a fear of another Vietnam. + - Boland Amendment passed by Congress banned CIA and DOD from + funding the Contras. + - National Security Council Advisor John Poindexter and Oliver North + authorized plan to fund the Contras. + - Authorized arm sales to Iranian government. Hostile to the US, + but Reagan was critical of Carter's stance on the gov. + - US asked Iran to pressure Lebanon to release American + hostages kidnapped by Hezbollah, paramilitary group funded + by Iran. + - North overcharged Iran for the weapons and used the extra + money to supply the anti-Communist forces with arms and + supplies + - Trading arms for hostages were problematic, since more + American hostages were taken by Hezbollah when one was + released. This was in secret because Reagan said he + wouldn't negotiate with terrorists. + - Scheme unraveled when American cargo plane for the Contras + crashed in Nicaragua. Three died, one captured. Journalists + revealed the scandal. +- John Tower's investigation gave the administration a slap on the wrist +- John Walsh, investigator under multimillion, contradicted Tower + investigation by concluding that it was directed by the top of the + Reagan administration. + - Congress, at the time, found no smoking gun that Reagan knew about + or authorized the Iran-Contra Deal. + - North got limited protection from prosecution and took a + melodramatic tone. +- Congress, Speaker of House decided not to impeach Reagan because + Reagan would be treading on thin ice: either Reagan authorized his + admin or he couldn't control it. + - Ruined his public image. Investigations led to 6 indictments. + - Only John Poindexter received a jail sentence---6 months for + obstruction. + +Mikhail Gorbachev and the End of the Cold War +- Gorbachev came to power in 1985. Reintroduced detante to reduce arms + and focus on economy. Glasnost, openness, was a better form of + "superpower cooperation" that Reagan wanted. +- Reagan originally acted like the threat of Communism was to blame for + every problem of the United States. + - Gorbachev was willing to consider mutual reductions in nuclear + weaponry. +- INF Treaty was cuts to nuclear weapons and destruction of various sys. + - Did not end the Cold War, but it helped +- Soviet Union announced it would stop Brezhnev and allow satellite + Communist states to self-determine. + - Bruce Springstein performed in East Berlin, requested by the East + Berlin to boost their image. + - "I'm not here for any government. I'm here for you to play + rock and roll." + - The Wall topples, but this is just the beginning. |