The Reagan Revolution

1
The Reagan Revolution

• History 17B
• Lecture 20

2
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.

3
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 Actors Guild
• FBI Informant

• Spokesman for General Electric
• Preached small government, traditional values,
  and anticommunism.
• Governor of California 1966-1974

4
Reagan The Man, the Myth

• Early Years
• Elected President in 1980
• Told Americans Government is not the solution.
  Government is the problem.

• Goals weaken big government, increase defense
  spending, reassert American world dominance.

5
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.

6
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.

7
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.

8
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.

9
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

10
The Reagan Revolution

• The Decade of Greed
• Reagans 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
11
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).

12
Reagans 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.
• Administrations second term nearly brought down
  by Iran-Contra Scandal in 1986.

Oliver North testifies to Congress.
13
The Revolutions Impact

• A Stratified Society
• Top 1 received 60 of after-tax income.
• Top 1 controlled 39 of nations wealth in 1989.
• (15 for bottom 80)

• 20 million jobs created, but most were
  non-unionized low wage service sector jobs.

14
The Revolutions 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.

15
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?