• Ford’s administration was a continuation of Nixon’s for the most part–Election of 1976: Ford ran for the

Republicans against GA Democrat, Jimmy Carter•Carter won, pledging economy

reform and running as an “outsider” to bring morality back to politics

• Carter, although capable, did not end up having a very successful presidency due to international trouble– Economic trouble continued: same problems plus

a fuel crisis caused problems• Fuel crisis: had begun back in 1973 when OPEC

placed an oil embargo on the U.S. for supporting Israel–Under Carter’s administration, OPEC created

another embargo and raised prices

• Foreign policy:– Camp David Accords: Carter attempted to broker

peace in the Middle East• Negotiated a peace agreement b/t Egypt and

Israel, but tensions existed elsewhere• First time peace agreement had been signed by

Middle Eastern nations

• Iranian Hostage Crisis: huge failure for Carter– Iran had a revolution overthrowing their shah with

a Muslim fundamentalist, Ayatollah Khomeini– Shah had cancer and U.S. allowed him to get

treatment in the U.S.• Angry Iranians invaded the U.S. embassy in Iran and

took 52 hostages, demanded shah return to Iran for trial• U.S. did not comply but wanted hostages released;

tried negotiating w/Iran but did not work

• Carter placed economic sanctions on Iran and got UN to condemn Iran– Tried a rescue mission, but that also failed

• Hostages held over a year—444 days, released when newly-elected Ronald Reagan took office

• The Reagan Years—1980s– Reagan, a Republican, won Election of 1980

against weak incumbent, Jimmy Carter and put major tenets (ideas) of conservatism into practice while president• “Morning in America:” restoring confidence in

American public, getting away from weak image• Very strong politically, almost seemed

unassailable, but did hit a few rough spots

• Formation of (more)modern political ideologies occurred during Reagan’s presidency– Conservative Coalition: composed of business

leaders, middle class, disaffected Democrats (due to Dems. support of civil rights) and fundamentalist Christians (Moral Majority)

– New Right: groups of conservatives who typically supported single issues that reflected key interests• Focused on social issues: anti-abortion, anti-

ERA, anti-busing, anti-affirmative action

• Reaganomics: implemented conservative policies seeking limited powers for federal government– Used “trickle-down”(supply-side) economics

principles that favored business through tax cuts to stimulate the economy

– Deregulation: cut back on federal regulation of economy/industry• Most notable regulation was his cut to budget of the

EPA

• budget cuts, tax cuts, and increased defense spending– some cuts went to social programs, which ended

up hurting low-income Americans, causing a recession, but consumer spending eventually stimulated the economy

• foreign policy– given credit for ending the Cold War—picked up

where Nixon left off• funneled money into defense through Strategic

Defense Initiative (SDI)—“Star Wars”– Soviets wanted to keep up with U.S., kept diverting funds

toward defense, which made it weak

• Soviets also had a reform-minded leader, Mikhail Gorbachev– Policies of glasnost and perestroika: allowed for

free speech and economic reform– Showed democratic trend eventually led to

collapse of communist Soviet Union– Berlin Wall fell in 1989—symbolic end of Cold War

• Iran-Contra Scandal: Reagan’s biggest failure—involved in two illegal activities!– Iran and Iraq had been at war U.S. official position

was to support Iraq• Iran was key in helping releasing various U.S. hostages, so

secretly backed Iran while publically supporting Iraq

– U.S. sold weapons to Iran, then used funds from weapons sales to fund a revolution in Nicaragua fought by people called the Contras

– Congressional investigation revealed that a “secret government” existed promoting government through secret and illegal means

– Added more fuel to public opinion of corruption in politics

• One of Reagan’s (and Bush, his successor) biggest triumphs as a conservative was shifting judicial politics to the right, which ended liberal control of the Court

• George H.W. Bush, Reagan’s VP, continued Reagan’s conservative policies after winning Election of 1988– During the campaign, Bush promised not to raise

taxes (built on Reagan’s legacy) but had to raise them when the economy dipped into a recession decreased his popularity

– Foreign policy: U.S. relationship with Iraq worsened when Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded oil-rich Kuwait and then moved on toward Saudi Arabia, an important supplier of U.S. oil• U.S. carried out Operation Desert Storm to

liberate Kuwait as a part of the Persian Gulf War–Successful Kuwait freed, but Hussein

remained in power in Iraq

• Due in part to recession, Bush did not do well in the 1992 Election and lost to Democrat Bill Clinton– Clinton focused on the economy but he took a

moderate approach during campaign, appealed to both Dems. and Reps.

– Domestic concerns: • Economy: reformed the welfare system; achieved a

balanced budget and used a surplus to pay U.S. debt showed his moderation• Attempted healthcare reform led by wife, Hillary

Clinton, but it was not well received

– Foreign policy: Clinton saw flourishing trade as essential to U.S. prosperity, supported North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which brought Mexico into free-trade zone with Canada and U.S. • Supporters claimed agreement would help

economies of all involved• Opponents claimed American jobs would be

lost to Mexico—protested outside the World Trade Organization (WTO), which promotes and encourages economic development

– Scandal: Clinton faced impeachment from House of Rep. due to charges of improper use of funds and lying under oath about an improper relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky• Clinton denied the charges and the Senate

acquitted him so he was not removed from office• Second president to be impeached but not

convicted (Andrew Johnson was 1st)

• After Clinton’s two terms, the nation had two new choices for president in the 2000 Election– Clinton’s VP, Al Gore, ran against George W. Bush

—most controversial election of recent times– Election was close---Gore won the popular vote,

but the race for electoral votes was “too close to call”

• Controversy centered around Florida, which was a narrow victory for Bush, who won the state–Narrow margin of victory in Florida called for an

automatic recount further manual recounts–Republicans wanted to stop the manual recounts, so

brought case before the Supreme Court• Supreme Court voted 5-4 to stop manual recounts, which

gave the victory to Bush–BUT, said their ruling could NOT influence public policy

or similar situations in the future

• George W. Bush’s precedency was heavily influenced by foreign policy, which was touched off by the September 11th attacks– Began waging a war on terror abroad and

tightening security at home with new executive department, Department of Homeland Security

• Commenced bombings and invasion of Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom), which was believed to harbor Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network, who were connected with the September 11th attacks

• war on terror was later extended to fighting in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom), ultimately led to downfall of Saddam Hussein, who was believed to be in possession of weapons of mass destruction, but actually did not have any

• domestic concerns: passed education and economic reforms—No Child Left Behind and tax cuts– both policies caught controversy: No Child Left

Behind criticized for putting too much emphasis on assessment and tax cuts were criticized for benefitting the rich and not creating the jobs it promised