Chapter Thirty

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Chapter Thirty

• The Conservative Ascendancy, 19741987

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"We are all capable of believing things which we
know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally
proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as
to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is
possible to carry on this process for an
indefinite time the only check on it is that
sooner or later a false belief bumps up against
solid reality, usually on a battlefield." 
George Orwell 1946 essay "In Front of Your
Nose."
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This chapter covers the Ford and Carter
administrations and their attempts to respond to
national emergencies with a "lick your plate
clean" and take personal responsibility approach
that did not go over well with the public.
Americans discovered the high price of defense
in the Cold War but in the aftermath of Watergate
had little confidence in the federal government.
Grass roots political activity increased but did
not expand nationally. A new conservatism driven
by a revived religious right was energetic but
failed to solve the nations malaise. Americas
industrial base would continue to erode. Both
the Soviets and Americans would come to realize
they could not continue the Cold War. Western
Europe, Latin America and Japan increased their
share of the world market while the US floundered
with its energy problems, persistent poverty and
environmental issues.
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Part One

• Introduction

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Concepts

• NIMBYs
• William Julius Wilson
• 1978 Bakke
• Californias Proposition 13 in 1978
• Roe v. Wade in 1973
• Anastasio Somoza, Sandinistas
• 1980 Olympic Games
• Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Mohammed Reza
  Pahlavi Shah
• Marielitos
• October surprise

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Sources

• William Julius Wilson, The Declining Significance
  of Race Blacks and Changing American
  Institutions 1980
• Gary Sick, October Surprise 1991
• Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith Memoirs of a
  President 1995
• Barbara Ehrenreich, Fear of Falling The Inner
  Life of the Middle Class 1989

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Chapter Focus Questions

• What structural shifts occurred in the economy?
• What characterized the Ford and Carter
  presidencies?
• What were the crises in the cities and in the
  environment?
• How did community politics contribute to the rise
  of the New Right?
• What caused the Iran hostage crisis and how as it
  resolved?
• What contributed to the Reagan Republican
  presidential victory?
• What were Reagan's domestic and foreign policies?
• What contributed to the growth of inequality?

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Chronology

• 1973 Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion / national
  gov't Sp. Ct. forces all states to allow
  abortions
• Arab embargo sparks oil crisis in the US
• Construction of Alaska oil pipeline begins
• 1974 Richard Nixon resigns presidency Gerald
  Ford takes office
• President Ford pardons Nixon and introduces
  anti-inflation program
• Community Development Act funds programs for
  urban improvement
• Coalition of Labor Union Women formed
• 1975 Unemployment rate reaches nearly 9 percent
• South Vietnamese government falls to communists
  
• Antibusing protests break out in Boston
• New York City government declares itself
  bankrupt

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1976 Percentage of African Americans attending
college peaks at 9.3 percent and begins a
decline Hyde Amendment restricts use of
Medicare funds for abortions Tom Wolfe
declares "the Me Decade" Jimmy Carter is
elected president 1977 President Carter
announces human rights as major tenet in foreign
policy Stagflation-- unemployment and inflation
Department of Energy is established 1978 Bakke
v. University of California decision places new
limits on affirmative action programs no
quotas Senator Edward Kennedy calls attention
to "a permanent underclass" Panama Canal
Treaties arrange for turning the canal over to
Panama by 2000 Camp David meeting terms for
Middle East Peace California passes Proposition
13, cutting property taxes and government social
programs Inflation reaches 10 percent
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1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident threatens
a meltdown Moral Majority is formed SALT II
treaty is signed in Vienna but later stalls in
the Senate Nicaragua Revolution Sandinistas
overthrows Anastasio Somoza Iranian
fundamentalists seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran
and hold hostages 444 days Soviets invade
Afghanistan Equal Rights Amendment, three
states short of ratification, gets a three-year
extension but eventually dies anyway
1980 United States boycotts Olympic Games in
Moscow due to Afghanistan Ronald Reagan is
elected president
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Part II

• American Communities

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Grass Roots Conservatism

• In 1962, Garden Grove resident Bee Gathright
  discovered she was a conservative. Gathright and
  her husband Neil soon joined the California
  Republican Assembly and were active in Barry
  Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign.
• In the 1960s and seventies, Orange County had
  thousands of "kitchen table" activists began
  transforming American conservatism and American
  politics leading to the election of Ronald Reagan
  as president.
• Conservative rhetoric shed its extremist message
  by stressing less government and family issues.
  Evangelical religion also played a role.

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Part III

• The Overextended Society

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Oil and the Troubled Economy

• High prices and a stagnant economy led Americans
  to question their faith in progress and
  prosperity.
• Dependence on imported oil had steadily grown.
• When the U.S. backed Israel during the 1973 Yom
  Kippur War, the Arab states that controlled OPEC
  pushed through an embargo leading to skyrocketing
  prices public suspicion that someone was
  profiting at the publics expense.

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Oil and Economic Decline

• President Nixon ordered oil conservation
  measures.
• Soaring energy prices led to rapid, sustained
  inflation.
• At the same time, the worst economic decline
  since the Great Depression began.
• Steel and auto making faced stiff competition and
  declining market shares.
• American productivity and quality continued to
  decline.
• Despite increased foreign demand for crops,
  soaring energy costs hurt farmers now forced to
  borrow money at high interest rates.

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Blue-Collar Blues

• Outside of the public sector, the number of
  unionized workers steadily declined.
• The number of wage-earning women increased but
  their income, relative to men, declined.
• African American women in the North earned nearly
  as much as white women, but Hispanic women tended
  to be confined to the lowest wage sectors.

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Sunbelt/Snowbelt Communities

• The economic slump of the 1970s was most
  pronounced in the Midwest and Northeast in
  contrast to what became known as the Sunbelt.
• Large-scale migration fueled Sunbelt population
  growth.
• The burgeoning computer industry and defense
  contracts helped Sunbelt communities weather the
  recession.
• Sunbelt prosperity was not evenly spread and a
  two-tier class society developed.
• Snowbelt cities like Philadelphia and New York
  faced urban decay.

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Phoenix

• Air conditioning, water diversion, and other
  improvements turned deserts into suburbs.

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The Ford Presidency

• Gerald Ford succeeded to the presidency following
  Richard Nixons resignation.
• After pardoning Nixon, Ford lost the nations
  trust.
• Ford lacked a clear program and vetoed bills to
  hold down spending, many of which Congress passed
  over his veto.
• Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the
  Republican presidential nomination.
• Democrats turned to one-term GA Governor Jimmy
  Carter.
• Carter narrowly defeated Ford, building on his
  moderate image, his outsider status, and his
  pledge to restore trust.

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The Carter Presidency

• Carter was unable to get his legislation through
  Congress.
• Carter by and large supported conservative
  policies like deregulation and increased military
  spending.
• Inflation and interest rates soared leading many
  to conclude that Carter could not turn the
  economy around.

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Part Four

• Communities and Politics

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The New Urban Politics

• Political mobilization during the 1970s
  frequently focused on community issues that cut
  across ideological lines.
• College students along with African Americans and
  other minorities mobilized and won power in
  numerous communities.
• Several major cities elected black mayors.
• The fiscal crisis of the 1970s frequently foiled
  their plans for reforms.

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The City and the Neighborhood

• Community groups tried to empower their members
  to take control over a wide range of issues.
• By the end of the 1970s, community-based economic
  development groups were infusing capital into
  neighborhoods.
• After activists had restored a neighborhood,
  gentrification soon followed.
• Fraternal Hall City Recreation Dance, July of
  1969
• Kern Council for Civic Union, Minority Coalition
  of Kern Co.
• Bakersfield 1974 HEW Hearings on segregation in
  the Bakersfield City School District and its
  causes.
• Moms religious retreat and the bag lady.

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The Endangered Environment

• The roots of the environmental movement dated
  back to the works of Rachel Carson in the early
  1960s.
• Twenty million Americans participated in the
  first Earth Day.
• The Three Mile Island incident and the linking of
  cancer at Love Canal to toxic waste raised U.S.
  concern over pollution.
• Growing interest in the concept of ecology led
  Americans to lobby for renewable energy sources,
  protecting endangered species, and reducing
  pollution.
• Despite public outcries, government officials
  frequently responded to other pressures.

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Small-Town America

• A growing number of Americans were leaving
  metropolitan areas for small towns.
• Suburbs and shopping malls sprang up in small
  towns, frustrating established local merchants
  who had looked for an economic boom.
• Many communities organized to oppose further
  growth.
• Areas outside of the Sunbelt and away from cities
  suffered as family farms and other businesses
  failed.

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Part V

• The New Conservatism

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The New Right

• A variety of forces converged to turn back the
  Great Society and form the new right
• conservative centers like the Heritage Foundation
• paramilitary groups
• religious conservatives who supplied the
  strongest boost
• The New Right promoted its agenda through
  televangelists.
• New Right politicians like Jesse Helms amassed
  huge campaign chests.
• Lars use of Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority

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Anti-ERA and Anti-Abortion

• The New Right successfully blocked ratification
  of the ERA and rallied support for efforts to
  make abortions illegal.

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The Me Decade

• Critics characterized the 1970s as a decade when
  Americans
• abandoned political change
• focused on personal well being
• Fostered a culture of narcissism.
• During the 1970s, a wide range of personal growth
  techniques flourished among the middle class.
• Religious cults grew.
• Popular music became increasingly despairing and
  nihilistic, nostalgic, or decadent.

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Part VI

• Adjusting to a New World

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A Thaw in the Cold War

• Presidents Ford and Carter both believe that
  American power had been declining and that there
  should be no more Vietnams.
• High levels of military spending had hurt the
  American ability to compete effectively with
  economic rivals.
• American diplomats sought a way to wind down the
  cold war by getting the Soviets to agree to
  respect human rights and by negotiating arms
  control agreements.

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Foreign Policy and Moral Principles

• Jimmy Carter pledged to put human rights at the
  center of his foreign policy.
• Though speaking out about violations in some
  nations, he overlooked others in areas vital to
  United States interests.
• His greatest success came when he negotiated the
  Camp David Accord between Egypt and Israel,
  though the agreement did not bring stability to
  the region.
• Carter reformed the CIA and returned the Canal
  Zone to Panama.

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The Unexpected

• Carter received contradictory advice urging him
  to be both tough on and conciliatory towards the
  Soviets.
• His Third World efforts mixed support for both
  authoritarian and revolutionary governments.
• He urged Americans to put aside their inordinate
  fear of Communism, but reacted strongly to a
  Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

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The Iran Hostage Crisis

• Carter's decision to allow the deposed Shah of
  Iran to enter the country for medical treatment
  backfired.
• Iranian students seized the American embassy and
  held its personnel hostage.
• He tried diplomacy and at the same time an
  ill-fated rescue operation. Both failed.

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The Election of 1980

• When his programs failed to stimulate the
  economy, Carter claimed that the nation was
  experiencing a crisis of confidence.
• The plan backfired and voters lost respect for
  him.
• As the election of 1980 approached, an
  unenthusiastic Democratic convention endorsed
  him.
• The Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan who asked
  voters are you better off now than you were four
  years ago?
• Reagan won 50.9 percent of the vote but an
  overwhelming majority in the Electoral College.
  The election was too close to call during the
  last week of the campaign. The undecideds chose
  Reagan during the last couple of days according
  to the experts who ran the polls.

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Part VII

• The Reagan Revolution

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The Great Communicator

• Ronald Reagan tried to reshape the political
  landscape of the nation. Reagan's program aimed
  to stimulate the economy by
• cutting government spending
• government deregulation
• cutting taxes for the wealthy
• He appointed conservatives to head agencies like
  EPA that abolished or weakened rules protecting
  the environment and workplace safety.
• Reagan called for a massive military buildup.

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The Election of 1984

• In the 1984 election, Walter Mondale won the
  Democratic nomination by concentrating on the
  traditional Democratic constituencies.
• Reagan countered Mondales criticisms by claiming
  that the nation was strong, united, and
  prosperous.
• Reagan won in one of historys biggest landslides.

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Recession, Recovery, Fiscal Crisis

• A recession gripped the economy during the early
  1980s.
• By the mid-1980s the economy grew and inflation
  was under control.
• Critics claimed the growth resulted from
  increased military spending.
• The economic recovery was unevenly spread most
  new jobs did not pay enough to support a family.
• Enormous budget deficits grew to an unprecedented
  2.7 trillion as the U.S. became the worlds
  leading debtor.
• The fiscal crisis was made worse by scandals in
  securities industry. In 1987, the stock market
  crashed, ending the bull market of the 1980s.
• When Reagan took office, the total US debt was
  900 billion. When he left office it was 2.7
  trillion it tripled in 8 years.

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Part VIII

• Best of Times, Worst of Times

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Family Income and Net Worth

• While the 1980s celebrated wealth and
  moneymaking, the gap between rich and poor
  widened. The middle class also declined.

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Earnings and Poverty

• Average weekly earnings declined.

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New Jobs and Poverty

• Half the new jobs did not pay enough to keep a
  family out of poverty.

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Income, Race, and Gender

• Race sharply defined the gap between rich and
  poor.
• Women also experienced declining earning power.

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Epidemics

• The 1980s saw new epidemics erupt.
• Yuppie cocaine and inner-city crack use
  spiraled, unleashing a crime wave.
• The Reagan administration declared a war on
  drugs, but concentrated its resources on the
  overseas supply and did little to control demand
  at home.
• In 1981, doctors identified a puzzling disease
  initially found among gay menAIDS.
• An epidemic of homelessness grew during the
  decade. One third were mental patients discharged
  from psychiatric hospitals.

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Part IX

• Reagans Foreign Policy

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The Evil Empire

• Reagan made anti-Communism the centerpiece of his
  foreign policy, calling the Soviet Union an evil
  empire.
• Despite American superiority, Reagan pushed to
  enlarge the nuclear strike force.
• He called for a space-based Star Wars missile
  defense system that many saw as an effort to
  achieve a first-strike capability.
• Attempts at meaningful arms control stalled.

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The Reagan Doctrine and Central America

• The Reagan Doctrine pursued anti-Communist
  activity in Central America.
• Reagan's Caribbean Basin Initiative to
  stimulate economic growth tied the regions
  economy closer to American corporations.
• Reagan intervened in Grenada, E1 Salvador, and
  waged a covert war against the revolutionary
  government of Nicaragua.
• Nuevo Canto Music Inti Illimani, Quilapayun,
  Los Folkloristas, Sabia, Silvio Rodriguez

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Glasnost and Arms Control

• In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the
  Soviet Union and instituted a series of political
  and economic reforms.
• Under his glasnost and perestroika campaigns,
  Gorbachev took the lead in negotiating an end to
  the arms race to allow economic growth to take
  place.
• Treaties were finally worked out that called for
  destruction of some missiles and allowed for
  on-site inspections.
• Although the Soviet Union no longer posed the
  threat it once had seemed to pose, the Cold War
  mentality did not disappear.

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The Iran-Contra Scandal

• In 1986, news broke of how the United States
  traded arms to Iran in return for their
  assistance in freeing hostages held by terrorist
  groups. The money from the arms sales was used to
  fund the Contras in Nicaragua.
• Oliver North, who ran the enterprise,
  acknowledged that he had told a web of lies and
  destroyed evidence, all in the name of
  patriotism.
• An investigating commission concluded that Reagan
  had allowed a small, unsupervised group to run
  the operation.
• In 1992, outgoing President George Bush, whose
  involvement had been the target of much
  speculation, pardoned several officials who were
  scheduled to be tried.

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The United States in the Middle East

• The volatility of the Middle East influenced U.
  S. foreign policy.

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