1. Ronald Reagan
America Moves to the Right
5/15/2013 1

2. Election of 1980
5/15/2013 2

3. TN Curriculum Standards:
• TN Curriculum Standards:
• 4.0- Investigate the impact of political turmoil
on American attitudes toward governance
since 1968.
• -Identify the impact of constitutional change,
various civil rights movements, feminism, and
the Reagan Revolution.
5/15/2013 3

4. Humble Upbringings
• -Ronald Reagan was the son of an Irish American
shoe salesmen. He grew up in Dixon, Illinois.
• After he finished college he became a sports
broadcaster. 5 years later he won his first
contract for a Hollywood movie. For the next 25
years, he continued to star in more than 50
movies.
• *His acting career allowed him to perfect his
speaking skills.
5/15/2013 4

5. Ronald Reagan (the actor)
5/15/2013 5

6. Reagan Enters Politics
• Reagan was extremely
conservative. He was an
excellent speaker and
went all around the
country giving
motivational speeches.
While on these speeches,
he listened to Americans
complain about how
taxes were making their
lives difficult.
• *Wealthy businessmen
began to take interest in
Reagan. They eventually
convinced him to run for
governor of CA. The
businessmen backed his
campaign and he won. 10
years later, he won the
Republican presidential
nomination.
5/15/2013 6

7. Reagan, the candidate
• Reagan was the oldest candidate to ever be
nominated for president.
• He was a Democrat like his father until he
worked for the campaign to elect Barry
Goldwater.
• Reagan used the recession and the hostage
situation in Iran to his advantage to defeat
Jimmy Carter.
5/15/2013 7

8. Reagan, the candidate
• He repeatedly used the line “Are you better off
now than you were 4 years ago?”
• Reagan appealed to Conservatives, anti-
Communists, anti-feminists, fundamentalist
Christians, southerners, and white working-
class Democrats.
• The Religious Right was extremely supportive
of Reagan’s candidacy.
5/15/2013 8

9. The Rise of Conservatism
• The Reagan administration embraced the
Conservative Christian values of the New
Right.
• The New Right didn’t want to simply contain
Communism, they wanted to eliminate it
entirely.
• They also wanted to limit the powers of the
federal government.
5/15/2013 9

10. The New Right
• They wanted the
government to scale
back on providing social
welfare.
• They opposed abortion
and sexual promiscuity.
• They also supported
increasing the role of
religion in politics.
5/15/2013 10

11. Reagan quotes
5/15/2013 11

12. The 1980 Election
• Ronald Reagan promised to cut taxes and
increase defense spending (military). Reagan was
also anti-abortion. This position helped him win
the votes of social conservatives. He won the
presidency by a landslide.
• When Reagan entered the presidency,
unemployment was high and so was inflation. To
boost the economy, Reagan cut taxes. His theory
was that if the business owners had to pay fewer
taxes, they would be able to hire more workers
and get the economy going again.
5/15/2013 12

13. Reaganomics or “trickle down theory”
5/15/2013 13

14. Effects of Trickle-Down
• Liberals were concerned because they believed
that cutting taxes for the business owners would
only benefit the wealthy, not the rest of the
workers.
• Cutting taxes increased the budget deficit (means
we spent more $ than we actually had).
• The national debt was seriously increased under
Reagan. Even so, his popularity helped his vice
president (George H. W. Bush) win his
presidential election.
5/15/2013 14

15. Cuts have to come from somewhere
Reagan was successful in
helping Americans overcome
inflation, but the percentage
of poor Americans increased
under Reagan.
To try to pay for some of these
cuts, Reagan cut funding for
social programs like welfare,
food-stamps, the school lunch
program, Medicare payments,
unemployment, student loans,
and housing assistance.
• The distribution of
wealth became more
unequal under
Reagan.
5/15/2013 15

16. Reagan, the Man
Reagan was extremely popular even by those
who disagreed with him.
He had a sense of humor that helped draw
people to him.
He also gained public sympathy when he was
shot by a would-be assassin in March of 1981.
5/15/2013 16

17. Deregulation of Govt.
• -Reagan believed that
excessive government control
was also to blame for the
problems in the economy. He
signed an executive order that
ended price controls on oil and
gasoline. Gas prices actually
fell after this.
• *The FCC (Federal
Communications Commission)
stopped trying to regulate the
cable industry.
• *The National Highway Traffic
and Safety Administration
reduced requirements for air
bags and higher fuel efficiency
cars.
• He deregulated the airlines
causing ticket prices to fall to
their cheapest rates.
• *He deregulated efforts to
make corporations reduce
pollution and reduced the
requirements for safety checks
on chemicals and pesticides.
• -Unemployment was reduced
under Reagan.
5/15/2013 17

18. Let’s Check for Understanding!
• One main difference between
liberals and conservatives is that,
generally,
A. Conservatives believe in
government regulation of the
economy while liberals do not.
B. Liberals believe in government
regulation of the economy
while conservatives do not.
C. Conservatives believe that all
power should be held by the
national government, while
liberals do not.
D. Liberals believe that all power
should be held by the states,
while conservatives do not.
5/15/2013 18

19. Reagan Oversees a Military Buildup
• In addition to making
serious reforms in the
United States regarding
domestic policies, Reagan
also set his sights abroad.
• He took more active
stance against
containment. He
considered the Soviet
Union to be an “evil
empire” and he did
everything in his power to
defeat them.
5/15/2013 19

20. Peace through Strength
Reagan named his
campaign “Peace through
Strength”. He ordered the
largest military buildup in
American history (during
peacetimes).
The cost for this buildup
was $1.5 trillion (to spread
over 5 years).
Reagan was secretly
hoping that Communist
Russia would spend so
much money trying to
keep up with the United
States that they would
bankrupt their country
and cause their system to
fall apart….essentially
ending Communism there
5/15/2013 20

21. Peace through Strength
5/15/2013 21

22. Fighting Terrorism
• Reagan also tried to stop
other nations from
supporting terrorism.
When the African nation
Libya supported a terrorist
bombing in Berlin
(Germany), the U. S.
launched an air attack on
Libya (Gaddhafi- the leader
that we recently killed was
in power). The raid killed
about 37 people and injured
around 200.
• Increasing the military
created new jobs in
industries that supported
the nation’s defense.
• Although Reagan ran on tax
cuts and balancing the
budget, the budget deficit
(the amount we owe other
countries) went from $80
billion to over $200 billion.
5/15/2013 22

23. The Reagan Doctrine
• Reagan’s plan to
support other guerilla
groups who were
fighting to overthrow
Communist
governments.
5/15/2013 23

24. Aid to Afghan
-In 1979, the Soviet
Union invaded
Afghanistan.
A group of Afghan guerillas
known as the Mujahadeen
launched an attack against
the Soviets.
-Reagan sent $570
million to aid the
Afghan guerillas.
The Soviets found
themselves in a lose-lose
situation (it was similar to
the U. S.’s position in
Vietnam).
The Soviets
found that they
could not defeat
the Afghan
guerillas.
The war caused
their economy
to be financially
strained.
Nine years later,
they withdrew
their troops.
5/15/2013 24

25. Osama Bin Laden with the
Mujahaideen
5/15/2013 25

26. Strange Bedfellows
5/15/2013 26

27. Nicaragua and Grenada
After Afghanistan, Reagan became concerned about the Soviet’s control in
Nicaragua.
At one time, Nicaragua had been ruled by a pro-American dictator.
He had been overthrown by a rebel group known as the Sandinistas.
The Sandinistas set up a Socialist government and started accepting aid
(money) from Cuba and the Soviets (our enemies).
5/15/2013 27

28. Reagan vs. Democratic Congress
Although Reagan was
passionate about fighting
Communism in Nicaragua,
Congress was not.
They passed the Boland
Amendment to specifically
restrict the CIA and the
Department of Defense’s
involvement in Nicaragua.
Two years later, they voted to
strengthen the amendment
and make it nearly impossible
to assist the Contras in
Nicaragua.
5/15/2013 28

29. Going Against the Grain
• Reagan went against Congress and authorized
the National Security Adviser to do whatever
he had to do “to help these people keep body
and soul together”.
5/15/2013 29

30. Iran & Iraq go to War
• In 1985, Iran and Iraq went to war.
• Iran secretly asked if the U.S. to sell them
weapons.
• At the time, a group of Iranian terrorists were
holding Americans hostage in Lebanon.
• Reagan said that he felt like “he had a duty to
bring those Americans home”. Negotiations
were made with the Iranians.
5/15/2013 30

31. Origins of the Iran-Contra scandal
• By sending weapons to
Iran, the Reagan
Administration violated
two of its promises to
the American people.
• The first one being to
never negotiate with
terrorists and the
second one being
violating our embargo
to Iran.
5/15/2013 31

32. Fog of War
Reagan had always been admired by his staff for his
honesty.
This decision to sell weapons to Iran in exchange for
hostages divided his administration.
The U.S. shipped more than 1500 missiles to Iran.
The Iranians did release 3 of the American hostages,
but they quickly replaced them with 3 more.
5/15/2013 32

33. The heat is on!!
• When a Lebanon newspaper got word of the
news and printed it, Reagan went on t.v. and
denied that any such operation had taken
place.
• 1 week later, he had to go back and admit to
the American people that we had sold
weapons to Iran, but it wasn’t in exchange for
hostages.
5/15/2013 33

34. Iran-Contra
• By this time, Americans began to distrust what
Reagan was telling them.
• Another scandal erupted immediately
following this.
• It was discovered that the Iranians had paid
the U.S. $30 million for the weapons, but only
$12 million had actually made it to the U.S.
• The rest had been sent to Nicaragua to help
the Contras fight Communism there.
5/15/2013 34

35. The Cover-Up
• When this was released
to the press, Oliver
North of the National
Security Council,
explained that he had
been under the
impression that this
deal had been
authorized by the
president.
5/15/2013 35

36. Oliver North testifies about Iran-
Contra
5/15/2013 36

37. Facing the Music
In the aftermath, 14 people were
charged with cover-up crimes.
Although most were sure that the
orders had to have come from
Reagan, there was no direct
evidence linking Reagan to the
controversy.
• The Iran-Contra scandal
would be investigated
for 8 years.
• When Reagan’s vice-
president George H. W.
Bush won the
presidency, he
pardoned most of those
that were convicted.
5/15/2013 37

38. Still a Legacy
• The Iran-Contra scandal
seriously damaged
Reagan’s image, but he
still left office as one of
the most popular
presidents the U.S. had
ever had.
5/15/2013 38

39. Arms Race
5/15/2013 39

40. Arms
Control
Since the Soviets had
nuclear weapons in
Eastern Europe,
Reagan decided to put
weapons in Western
Europe.
-This paved the way
for a “nuclear freeze”-
peace movement-
they wanted a halt to
the deployment of any
nuclear missiles.
Reagan offered to
remove his missiles if
the Soviets removed
theirs. The Soviets
refused
5/15/2013 40

41. A Push for Diplomacy
5/15/2013 41

42. Star Wars
• Reagan pushed for the
development of
weapons that could
intercept and destroy
incoming missiles.
• This new program
would come to be
called STAR WARS.
5/15/2013 42

43. Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev became the new leader of the Soviet Union.
He did not wish to engage in an arms race with the United States.
Gorbachev and Reagan had a series of meetings designed to
reduce their nuclear weapons.
Reagan challenged Gorbachev to prove that he really meant
business about seeking peace by tearing down the Berlin Wall. He
did.
Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear
Forces Treaty in 1987…essentially ending the Cold War.
5/15/2013 43

44. 5/15/2013 44

45. Justice for All
5/15/2013 45

46. Check for Understanding
Critics of Reagan’s economic policy
referred to it as “trickle down
economics” because they
• Believed that the plan would
work, allowing wealth to “trickle
down” to the middle and lower
classes.
• Ridiculed the idea that much
wealth would “trickle down” to
the middle and lower classes.
• Believed that the plan was messy
and would cause a great deal of
wasteful government spending.
• Agreed that the richest people
would share their wealth with
the neediest in society.
5/15/2013 46