1980s
Pre 1980s
Radicalism of the 1960s
Watergate Scandal
Soviet expansion into Afganistan
Energy crisis and gas lines
"Crisis of confidence"
Reagan
Won all but 3 states in the 1980 election
Promised lower taxes, small gov't, and stronger military
"Family, work, neighborhood, peace, and freedom"
Conservative Agenda
Reduce federal bureacracy - reduced budget of agencies, cut welfare programs
Deregulation - significantly reduced gov't regulation
Tax cuts -  Cut taxes by roughly 25%
Defense budget - largest ever peacetime increase in defense budget
Supply Side Economics
Tax cuts stimulate investments
Investments stimulate growth
Growth leads to increased goods and services
"Reaganomics" and "voo doo economics"
Deficit spending
Recession of 1981
Unemployment rose
Gov't spending increased
Less tax money to pay for increases
Higher interest rates
Less borrowing

Foreign Policy 1
Hated detente and containment
Wanted to end the Cold War
Strategic Defense Initiative - shield in space
"Star Wars"
Foreign Policy 2
Weak Russia
Solidarity movement
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
Destroyed over 2,500 missiles
Election of 1988
GHW Bush and Dan Quayle v. Dukakis
Bush wins
Wealthy politician from Texas
Former head of CIA and UN ambassador
Mudslinging led to 50.1% turnout
Ecomony
Continued "Reagonomics"
"Read my lips: No new taxes"
Housing bubble burst when borrowers defaulted
Savings and loan crisis - $152 billion bailout
End of the USSR
Gorbachev was backing away from Communism
Many hard-line Communists tried to overthrow him
Boris Yeltsin took over after Gorbachev resigned
USSR broke apart and arms treaties were signed in 91 and 93
Persian Gulf
Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of 1990
The attack began to interupt fuel supplies to the West
690,000 soldiers from America, England, and France invaded
This marked the beginning of American involvement in the Mid East