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Ch. 39 The Resurgence of Conservatism (1980-1992)

Terms in this set (29)

Ronald Reagan
(1981-1985) and (1985-1989), first elected president in 1980 and elected again in 1984. He ran on a campaign based on the common man and "populist" ideas. He served as governor of California from 1966-1974, and he participated in the McCarthy Communist scare. Iran released hostages on his Inauguration Day in 1980. While president, he developed Reagannomics, the trickle down effect of government incentives. He cut out many welfare and public works programs. He used the Strategic Defense Initiative to avoid conflict. His meetings with Gorbachev were the first steps to ending the Cold War. He was also responsible for the Iran-contra Affair which bought hostages with guns.
Proposition 13
Also known as the "tax revolt", it was a Californian ballot measure in 1978 that slashed property taxes and forced deep cuts in government services.
Supply Side Economics
An economic philosophy that holds the sharply cutting taxes will increase the incentive people have to work, save, and invest. Greater investments will lead to more jobs, a more productive economy, and more tax revenues for the government.
Boll weevils
Term for conservative southern Democrats who voted increasingly for Republican issues during the Carter and Reagan administrations.
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Popularly known as "Star Wars," President Reagan's SDI proposed the construction of an elaborate computer-controlled, anti-missile defense system capable of destroying enemy missiles in outer spaced. Critics claimed that SDI could never be perfected.
Sandinistas
Members of a leftist coalition that overthrew the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Anastasia Somoza in 1979 and attempted to install a socialist economy. The United States financed armed opposition by the Contras. They lost national elections in 1990.
Contras
Opposed Sandinista regime.
Iran Contra Affair
President Reagan authorized the off-the-books sale of stolen weapons from the Pentagon to Iran in order to fund the Nicaraguan Contras; Congress had forbidden him to use government funds to support the Contras; helped keep Iraq from winning the Iraq-Iran War (did not want a Middle Eastern superpower).
Mikhail Gorbachev
Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe.
Glasnot
Policy initiated by Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-1980s. This policy resulted in a new openness of speech, reduced censorship, and greater critism of Communist Party policies.
Perestroika
A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society.
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
Required the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate and permanently forswear all of their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.
Moral Majority
1979; Reverend Jerry Falwell founded this to combat "amoral liberals", drug abuse, "coddling" of criminals, homosexuality, communism, and abortion.
Jerry Falwell
Leader of the Religious Right Fundamentalist Christians, a group that supported Reagan; rallying cry was "family values", anti-abortion, favored prayer in schools
Sandra Day O'Connor
Arizona state senator from 1969 to 1974, appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 1979. Reagan appointed her to the U.S. Supreme Court, making her the first female Justice of the Supreme Court.
Ward's Cove Packing v. Antonia
Court made it more difficult to prove that an employer practiced racial discrimination in hiring.
Martin v. Wilks
In 1974, the Jefferson County, Alabama Personnel Board signed a consent decree that required them to hire and promote African-American firefighters. The accused, a white fireman, took issue with the agreement, claiming that he and other white firefighters (who were not parties to the original consent decrees signed in 1974) were more qualified than some of the black firefighters receiving promotions. The Supreme Court of the United States upheld the appeal of the white firefighters in a 5-4 decision on the issue of whether the white firefighters have a constitutional right to challenge the previously established decrees
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
(1992) States can regulate abortion, but not with regulations that impose "undue burden" upon women; did not overturn Roe v. Wade, but gave states more leeway in regulating abortion (e.g., 24-hour waiting period, parental consent for minors)
Black Monday
October 19, 1987. Date of the largest single-day decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average until September 2001. The downturn indicated instability in the booming business culture of the 1980s but did not lead to a serious economic recession.
George H.W. Bush
41st President of the United States (1989-1993). A Republican, he had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States (1981-1989), a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency: military operations were conducted in Panama and the Persian Gulf; the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later. Domestically, Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise and after a struggle with Congress, signed an increase in taxes that Congress had passed. In the wake of a weak recovery from an economic recession, along with continuing budget deficits, he lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton.
Tiananmen Square Massacre
A political and social protest by university students in Beijing, China in 1989. The protest called for political and social reforms and resulted in the government using the military to end it, which caused hundreds of deaths, thousands of injured, and many more imprisoned.
Berlin Wall
A fortified wall surrounding West Berlin, Germany, built in 1961 to prevent East German citizens from traveling to the West. Its demolition in 1989 symbolized the end of the Cold War. This wall was both a deterrent to individuals trying to escape and a symbol of repression to the free world.
Boris Yeltsin
The first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. Much of the Yeltsin era was marked by widespread corruption, inflation, economic collapse and enormous political and social problems that affected Russia and the other former states of the USSR.
Nelsen Mandela
South Africa's first democratically elected President in 1994, imprisoned for 27 years, over 90 years old
Operation Desert Storm
..., Military operations that started on January 16, 1991, with a bombing campaign, followed by a ground invasion of February 23 and 24, 1991. The ground war lasted 100 hours and resulted in a spectacularly one-sided military victory for the Coalition. Iraq signed a ceasefire agreement.
Norman Schwarzkopf
American general during the Gulf War, known as "Stormin' Norman"; led Operation Desert Storm, part of his strategy to follow continuous bombing with a ground strike.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Passed by Congress in 1991, this act banned discrimination against the disabled in employment and mandated easy access to all public and commercial buildings.
Clarence Thomas
This man was an African American jurist, and a strict critic of affirmative action. He was nominated by George H. W. Bush to be on the Supreme Court in 1991, and shortly after was accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill. Hearings were reopened, and he became the second African American to hold a seat in the Supreme Court.
Manuel Noriega
Military leader of Panama's National Guard who became so involved in the drug trade that President George Bush sent U.S. troops to Panama in 1989 and was sent to prison in the U.S. for drug trafficking
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