The United States since 1974

The Ford, Carter, and Reagan Years

Gerald Ford (1974-1977)

• Pardoned Nixon• Vaccillated on many

policies

Jimmy Carter

• 1976• Victory over Ford,

Nixon, & Watergate.• “I won’t lie to you”

Carter’s Foreign Affairs

• 1978- Camp David Accords

• Panama Canal

Foreign Affairs (con’t)

• Iranian Revolution (1979)

- Shah overthrown• Hostage Situation• Soviet Invasion of

Afghanistan (1979)

Carter’s Domestic Affairs

• Inflation- 13%• Oil Prices Trade

Deficit• Stagflation- inflation

and a stagnant economy

• Deregulation

Enter Ronald Reagan

• Election of 1980• “It’s morning in

America.”• Anybody But Carter• Iranian Hostages were

released upon Reagan’s inauguration

The Reagan Image

Reaganomics

• “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.”

• Supply Side Economics Cut all taxes. “Trickle Down.”

• Cut Taxes• Cut Inflation• Continued Deregulation

Social Conservatism

• The Moral Majority• Anti-abortion• Defender of School

prayer.• Supported by

“Televangelists”.

Foreign Policy

• Renew the Cold War

-outspend the USSR

-force the USSR to redistribute money to its crippled economy.

• Invasion of Grenada• Iran-Contra Scandal• SDI- Star Wars

Reagan and Gorbachev

• Glasnost• Perestroika

Legacy• Large Deficit• Defeated Soviet Union• Resurgence of

Conservatism rejection of ’60s radicalism

• Reagan’s legacy is/will be highly contested.