The Late Cold War Era: Part I

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The Late Cold War Era Part I
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The U.S. in the 1970s The Economy

• The U.S. gave up the war in Vietnam
• The economy was drained by the war and
  experienced high unemployment and a rising rate
  of inflation.
• Energy prices skyrocketed and an Iranian oil
  embargo turned it into an energy crisis.
• The U.S. automobile industry declined as
  consumers turned to small, energy-efficient
  Japanese imports.

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The U.S. in the 1970sThe Government

• President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 after
  the Watergate Scandal in which he obstructed
  justice by covering up a Republican Party
  break-in of Democratic headquarters.
• Gerald Ford succeeded him and granted Nixon a
  pardon.
• The public grew to distrust government and
  elected an outsider in Jimmy Carter.

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The U.S. in the 1970sThe Government

• President Carter could not improve the economy
  inflation, slow growth, and high unemployment
  became stagflation and Republicans began to track
  the misery index
• The Americans of the 1970s became the me
  generation
• College students concentrated on getting good
  grades in order to survive in a tightening
  economy
• Not interested in social concerns or national or
  international issues

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The U.S. in the 1980sThe Government

• Ronald Reagan united economic and cultural
  conservatives to win the White House in 1980
• Government was the problem, not the solution
• Congress slashed support for the poor (food
  stamps, school lunches, Medicaid)
• Biggest tax cut in the nations history
• Major increase in military spending

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The U.S. in the 1980sThe Government

• Economic results were mixed
• Inflation dropped sharply
• People in poverty increased unemployment rate
  grew to over 10
• The economy did recover and unemployment dropped
  however, many of these jobs were low-paying with
  few fringe benefits
• The national debt soared with the combination of
  tax cuts and military increases

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The U.S. in the 1980sSociety

• Yuppies or young urban professionals were
  concerned with their private lives rather than
  public issues
• Upper-middle-class standard of living depended on
  both husband and wife holding full-time jobs
• Cocaine addiction crime and AIDS were a problem
• Campaigns were started against drunk driving and
  tobacco smoking

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Mexico

• A huge increase in population and rising
  inflation plagued Mexico
• Many U.S. corporations established manufacturing
  in Mexico however, low wages only helped widen
  the gap between the poor and the rich.
• Millions of illegal Mexican immigrants and
  seasonal workers crossed into the United States.
• A huge drug traffic from Mexico to the U.S.
  flourished

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Brazil, Argentina, Chile

• In all three countries the military ousted
  civilian governments and took control.
• These repressive regimes (especially General
  Pinochet in Chile) imprisoned, tortured, and
  killed thousands of people.
• Floundering economies and massive foreign debt
  would eventually force the restoration of
  civilian governments.
• Argentina would fight a war with Great Britain in
  1982 over the Falkland Islands

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Urban Poverty

• Latin America became the most urbanized of the
  three impoverished world areas (73 Asia,
  33Africa 34).
• Mexico City became the worlds largest city with
  over 20 million.
• The poor lived in shantytowns on the edge of
  cities, while the middle class and the elite
  remained in city centers.

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The Cold War Returns to Latin America

• In 1983, the U.S. invade the tiny island of
  Grenada to topple a pro-Castro regime
• In 1978, Pres. Carter negotiated a treaty for the
  withdrawal of the U.S. from the Panama Canal by
  2000.
• In 1990, the U.S. invaded Panama and arrested and
  imprisoned dictator Manuel Noriega for drug
  trafficking and installed a pro-U.S. government
  in Panama.

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The Cold War Returns to Latin America

• Guerrilla warfare broke out in Nicaragua, El
  Salvador, and Guatemala
• In Nicaragua, Sandinistas took control of the
  government in 1979.
• Reagan considered them a Marxist ally of Cuba and
  supported Anti-Sandinista Nicaraguans (Contras)
  however, U.S. congressional support wavered.
• In 1989, free elections were held and both the
  Sandinistas and Contras disbanded.