Consolidating the Revolution

1
Consolidating the Revolution

• George Bush
• 1988 - 1993

2
1988 Campaign

• 54 of the vote
• Bush called for a kinder, gentler America and
  pledged Read my lips no new taxes
• Continued to play on racism
• Stressed Reagans achievements
• Better soviet relations
• Low inflation
• 14 million new jobs
• Jesse Jackson war on poverty and drugs
• Michael Dukakis stressed managerial skills
• this election is not about ideology, its about
  competence

3
Collision of values

• 1988 presidential nomination.
• (R) Pat Robertson
• tapped discontent of changes that had taken place
  since the 60s.
• He used the mailing list from his 700 Club
  program to mobilize conservative Christians
• Push the Republican party further to the rights
  on family and social issues
• Social ills due to over indulgence
• (D) Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader and
  minister from Chicago
• grass roots campaign to move the Democratic party
  to the left.
• rainbow coalition (labor unionists, feminists,
  and others)
• Social ills due to racism and economic inequality

4
Pro-Bush Advertisements

• Themes
• Fear of crime
• Fear or concern with racial tension
• Fear of perceived erosion of social values
• Rhetorical war on crime and drugs was his major
  domestic policy

5
War on Drugs

• Federal drug control budget tripled
• 1980s ¼ of federal inmates were drug offenders
• Longer sentences
• Mandatory jail time
• Tougher parole terms for drug crimes pushed the
  proportion over 50 by 1990

6
Debtor Nation

• Previous to Reagan foreigners owed the US and its
  citizens about 2500.00/family
• By Bush each family owed about 7000.00
• After pledging not to raise taxes
• Bush raised taxes in 1990

7
Foreign policy

• South Africa
• 1986 over a Reagan Veto congress imposed economic
  sanctions against white government
• including a ban on corporate investment
• Movement led by Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu
• Pressure to release ANC leader Nelson Mandela
• Negotiations, elections
• 1992 first president, Mandela
• Berlin
• 1991Dismantling of the Soviet Union
• Many soviets states broke away and established
  Republics
• 1991 Bush Gorbachev signed a treaty in Moscow
  to reduce strategic nuclear arsenals by 25 over
  5 years
• Gorbachev Resigned and replaced with Boris Yeltsin

8
Foreign policy

• Nicaragua
• Bush abandoned U.S. funded contra war against the
  socialist democratic Sandanista government
• Continued to interfere politically and
  economically
• Panama
• 1989 Bush ordered invasion to capture General
  Manuel Noriega, formerly on the CIA payroll
• Fall guy for war on drugs

9
Persian Gulf War

• August 2, 1990 President Saddam Hussein of Iraq
  seized the oil rich country of Iraq
• Quick Conquest gave Iraq 20 of the worlds oil
  production and reserves
• Anti-Iraq coalition
• Bush demanded unconditional withdraw
• Enlisted European Arab allies
• Convinced Saudi Arabia to accept substantial U.S.
  Forces

10
Justifications of Invasion

• Desire to punish armed aggression
• Presumed need to protect Iraqs other neighbors
• No evidence of Iraqi preparations against Saudi
  Arabia.
• The build up of American air power plus effective
  economic sanctions would have accomplished both
  protection and punishment.
• Sanctions and diplomatic pressure might also have
  brought withdrawal from most or all of Kuwait.
• Additional American objectives
• Destroy Iraqs capacity to create nuclear weapons
  
• to topple Saddams regime

11
Resolution 678

• Troops in Saudi Arabia increased to 580,000
• Security Council Resolution 678
• all necessary means to liberate Kuwait
• United Nations Umbrella
• Ignored compromise and concessions

12
Operation Desert Storm

• January 16, 1991
• Massive air attacks
• Bombed transportation facilities, utilities, food
  supplies
• 40 day bombing, prelude to ground assault
• After 100 hours a ceasefire was called
• 148 dead (35 friendly fire) 467 wounded U.S.
• 15,000 dead and 65,000 wounded Iraqis

13
Persian Gulf War

• Proved Americans were again ready to use military
  might to pursue national interests
• By God, weve kicked the Vietnam Syndrome once
  and for All
• H.W. Bush

14
1990s impact of Reagan era tax cuts and
deregulation

• Collapse of the Savings and Loan industry
• Provider of home loans and secure return to
  investors
• Due to policies 1988-1990 600 SLs failed
• Wiped out savings for depositors
• Government bailouts 400 billion
• The bailout, the war the medicare/medicaid
  payments increased national deficit
• Recession increased jobless rate to above 7 and
  Americans living in poverty increased to 34
  million from 2.1 million

15
Domestic PolicyRodney King Riot

• April 1992, Los Angeles, California
• Reminder of the nations inattention to the
  problems of racism and poverty
• Confirmation of biased behavior of police towards
  minorities
• Televised trial of not guilty verdict for those
  officers who savagely beat king
• 4 days of rioting
• African Americans, Central and South Americans,
  Mexicans (1/3 of 12,000 arrests)
• Attacked Korean and Vietnamese owned shops as
  symbols of economic discrimination

16
Growth in the Sunbelt

• Rise in military and defense spending
• Growth in the sun belt
• Southern and western regions of the united
  states anchored in Florida, Texas and
  California.
• Outsourcing to the South and foreign countries

17
Defense Spending

• Military bases and defense contractors remolded
  the economic landscape
• south and western regions attracted 75 of
  military payrolls
• Large universities
• (MIT, UM, Cali Institute for Tech, Stanford
• leading defense contractors
• 1/3 of all engineers worked in defense.

18
Immigration Nationality Act 1965

• Transformed the ethnic mix of the U.S. and helped
  to stimulate the Sunbelt boom
• abolished the National Quota System
• 1924-1965 Western Europeans
• Negative added to number of non union workers
• Positive abundance of opportunities for talent
  and ambition for expanding economy

19
Cross-Border Economy

• 1960a Mexican Government encouraged a platform
  economy
• allowing companies on the Mexican side of the
  border to import components and inputs duty-free
• 80 of the items were re-exported and 90 of the
  workers were Mexican.
• Encouraged American companies to locate assembly
  plants south of the border
• Maquila industries
• lower wage workers
• avoid strict antipollution laws
• (leading to serious threats to public health on
  both sides)
• 1800 plants employed ½ million workers

20
Womens Rights Public Policy

• 1960s gains
• Title IX of the Educational Amendments (1972)
  the Civil Rights Act
• Prohibited discrimination by sex in any
  educational program receiving federal aid
• Expanded athletic opportunities for women
• Slowly equalized the balance of women and men in
  faculty positions

21
Equal Rights Amendment

• 1972 Congress sent the ERA to the states for
  ratification
• Equal rights under the law shall not be denied
  or abridged by the United States or by any state
  on account of sex
• 20 states ratified the ERA within the first few
  months
• Conservatives rallied strong opposition
• Time limit for ratification expired in 1982 three
  states short

22
Abortion Rights

• January 1973 The U.S. Supreme Court expanded the
  debate about womens rights with the case of Roe
  v. Wade
• Struck down state laws forbidding abortion and
  set guidelines for abortion during remaining
  months
• 14th amendment includes a right to privacy that
  blocks states from interfering with a womans
  right to terminate a pregnancy

23
Opposition to Womens Rights

• Fueled by rhetoric
• Male fears of increased job competition during a
  time with fewer employment opportunities
• Male fears about traditional family roles
• Female demands that women are equal individuals
• Female conservative belief that women had a
  special role as anchors of families

24
Women in the Work force

• Eroding wages and ability to live on one income
  increased womens need to participate in the paid
  labor force
• 2000 61 married women looking for work
• 69 single women looking for work
• Jobs continued to be segregated by sex through
  2000
• Women continued to be hired in female jobs
• Some changes due to pressure of womens movement
  increased number of women in traditionally male
  jobs

25
Supreme Court Nominations

• Clarence Thomas
• Anita Hill Trial for sexual harassment by Thomas
• Appointments blunted liberalism of previous
  decades
• Narrowed rights of arrested persons
• Barred physicians in federally funded clinics
  from discussing abortion with patients
• Planned Parenthood v Casey
• court affirmed Roe v Wade but upheld a Penn. law
  restricting abortion rights

26
Environmental policies

• 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in
  Prince William Sound, Alaska, 10 million gallons
  of oil
• Fouled coastal habitats, killed 1000s of animals,
  
• Jeopordized the herring and salmon industries
• Air pollution
• in more than 100 cities exceeded federal
  standards
• 1991 the Environmental Protection Agency
• study found that pollutants were seriously
  depleting the atmospheres ozone layer
• Scuttled treaties on global warming
• Backed oil exploration in Alaskan wilderness
  preserves
• Proposed to open protected wetlands to developers
  

27
Ideological Shift/Conservative Backlash

• 1950-60s Americans argued over
• foreign policy
• racial justice
• economy
• Since the 1980s they have quarreled over
• beliefs and values
• patterns of family life
• Religious belief has heavily influenced politics
  as groups and individuals try to shape America
  around their own ideas of a godly society