The Rest of American History

America Torn Apart• The Watergate scandal broke Americas trust with the

government • Gerould Ford became president and was ineffective

because of his association with Nixon

Jimmy Carter

• From Georgia• First southern president since Civil War• Democrat • 1977-1980• Overwhelmed by the Presidency and Politics • Iran Crisis

1980 Election

“Are Better you better off than you were 4 years ago”

Ronald Reagan• Republican• From CA• 1981-1988• Great Speaker• VP: George H Bush• Tough to political

enemies, gentle towards public

Economics

• Supply Side Economics- “Reaganomics”• If you lower taxes than it will encourage

people to produce more goods thus have to hire more people• A good Economy

Domestic Issues

• Lower Taxes• Air traffic controllers' strike• Air traffic controllers wanted more $• They are government employees• If they do not work planes are grounded, that

will kill the economy• Reagan gives them 48 hours to end the strike,

they do not• He fires 12,000 people

• Against major Environmental changes

Budgets

• Cut a lot of Public Spending • Infrastructure • Entitlements • Etc• Increases

defense spending

Foreign Policy

• USSR•Wanted to end Communism• Breaks the USSR by forcing them to keep

pace in military spending causing their eventual demise • Star Wars

• Iran• Hostage Crisis ends because of the threat

of having to deal with Reagan

Ethics

• Emphasized Christian Values •Opposed Roe v Wade •Wanted to pass an Amendment to

allow Public Pray in School

Values

•Conservative•Wanted to preserve a traditional America

End of Reagan Years

•Reagan developed dementia after his presidency was over• Legacy•Restored respect to the presidency

George H Bush

•Reagan’s Vice President• From Texas•Republican•1989-1993• Elected by the Success of Reagan•Moderate Republican

Economics

• cut government spending• Promised to never raise taxes• “Read my lips, no new taxes”• Deficit forced him to raise taxes• Broken Promise

Domestic

• Large Budget Deficits• Bad Economy • Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990•Made it illegal to discriminate based on

disability • Clean Air Act• Prevent Acid Rain

Budget

•Large Debt Increase•Late in his term increased taxes to limit deficit

•Different than Reagan?

Foreign policy• Panama • Manual Noriega

• Leader of Panama• Trafficked drugs and laundered money • US captured and imprisoned him

• Soviet Union • Ceased to be on December 25, 1991• Many countries were created out of the Soviet Union (Russia,

Poland, etc• Iraq • Persian Gulf War

• Saddam Hussein(Iraq) invaded Our ally Kuwait • We ran them out of Kuwait and stopped at the border of Iraq • Mistake?

• Generational values

•Moderate •A mixture of conservative and

liberal ideas

George H Bush

• In the Election of 1992 Conservatives (Republicans) were unhappy with the bad economy and the fact that he raised taxes •Many supported a third party candidate named Ross Perot •Bush vs Perot vs Clinton

Presidential candidate Party Home state

Popular voteElectoralvote

Running mate

Count PctVice-presidential candidate

Home state Elect. vote

Bill Clinton Democratic Arkansas 44,909,806 43.01% 370 Al Gore Tennessee 370

George H. W. Bush

Republican Texas 39,104,550 37.45% 168 Dan Quayle Indiana 168

Ross Perot Independent Texas 19,743,821 18.91% 0 James Stockdale

California 0

Bill Clinton• From Arkansas• Democrat• 1993-2000• Strong Suit: Ability to Connect• Strong Speaker

Economics

•Economic boom•Balance Budget•budget surplus•Cut taxes on middle class

Domestic• Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993• People cannot be fired because they take off for illness of

themselves or family• Brady Bill• Background checks on all firearms

• “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy• Sexual Orientation cannot be a factor In military as long as it is

not discussed • Healthcare reform• Free Healthcare • Fails to pass in congress

Foreign policyAnalyze the advantages and disadvantages of increased

global trade and competition on the U.S. economy• NAFTA• (pros) world’s largest trade area; increase in trade; increase in US

Agricultural exports; increase in foreign direct investment• (cons)- loss of US jobs, loss of US wages, worker exploitation, Mexican

farmers out of business

• Import quotas- • (pros)- limit on quantity of goods imported in to a county• (cons)- corruption, smuggling, higher prices

• Free trade agreements- • (pros)- trade goods without taxes• (cons)- domestic industries have reduction in profits due to lower

prices of imported goods

Foreign Policy

• Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia• Army helicopter shot down • 18 men killed by insurgence

• NAFTA• Operation Desert Fox • Bombing of Iraq• Limit Iraq’s ability to make Weapons of Mass

Destruction

Ethics

• Impeachment • Lied under Oath about an Affair he had

in 1994; Monica Lewinski • House passes impeachment charges• Senate did not remove him

Generational Values

• Liberal • Believe in changing America in a major way

Bill Clinton

• After Impeachment Clinton was ineffective • Importance• Balanced Budget