America in the 1980s and 1990s

President Ronald Reagan

 “Are you better off today than you were four years
ago?”
 Reagan appeals to diverse factions of Republican
party, as well as Southern Democrats, working class
 1980--Republicans win presidency, majority in
Senate
Supply-Side Economics
 Reagan’s premise: cut spending to encourage private
investment
 Similar approach used by John F. Kennedy
 Reagan cuts over three years
 Federal spending by more than $40 billion
 Taxes by 25%

 Economic recovery, but increasing deficit

 1983--federal budget deficit $200 billion
 Drop in unemployment
 Increasing gap between rich and poor
Facing the “Evil Empire”
 Reagan: Soviet Union the "focus of evil in the
modern world"
 Russians build up nuclear arsenal
 1985--Mikhail Gorbachev assumes power in Russia
 1985-88--Reagan-Gorbachev summits
 1987--destroyintermediate range missiles
 “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Election of 1988
 Republican George Bush defeats Democrat Michael
Dukakis
 Bush television ads attack Dukakis as soft on crime,
unpatriotic
 “Kindler, gentler nation”
 “Read my lips, no new taxes”
 Republicans lose seats in Congress

 Bush faces economic recession, ballooning federal

deficit; raises taxes
Persian Gulf War
 August, 1990--Iraq occupies Kuwait
 January, 1991--Operation Desert Storm
 Stated purpose: defend American way of life
 “Precision bombing” misses target 1 out of 3

 Outcome of Desert Storm

 February 24--Iraqi force collapses
 Bush’s approval hits 90%
 Estimated 1 million Iraqi deaths as a direct result of a
decade of economic sanctions
Shifting Population
 1980--majority shifts to the South and West
 Climate
 Jobs in defense industry
 1990--Los Angeles second-largest city

 Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965

stimulates immigration
 1970-1990--14 million legal immigrants, especially from
Latin America and Asia
 1986--approximately 4 million illegal immigrants, about
200,000 per year
Melting Pot or Multiethnic Diversity?
 Melting pot ideal waning
 Various metaphors of enduring difference existing
in harmony on the rise
Economic Woes
 1990--economy in recession
 Increase in unemployment
 Decline in Gross Domestic Product
 Lower wages

 No permanent middle-class gains since 1973

 Requires more hours, more family members working
 1992--gradual recovery begins
Election of 1992
 Bush’s weaknesses
 Increasingdeficit
 Economic recession
 Democrat Clinton runs on promise to revitalize
economy
 “New Democrat”
 Downplays importance of foreign affairs

 Independent Perot runs on promise to cut the deficit

Clinton Agenda
 1993--Democrats split over NAFTA
 Clintonargues free trade would create jobs
 Labor fears cheap labor in Latin America
 Clinton health care reform defeated
 1994--Republicans win both houses of Congress
with “Contract with America”
 Republican Congress enacts only 4 minor parts of
Contract with America
 House Speaker Newt Gingrich loses popularity
Triangulation
 Clinton distances himself from conservative
Republicans and liberal Democrats
 Clinton signs welfare reform bill to capture center
 Clinton mounts television advertising campaign to
attack Republican cuts
 Defeats Republican Bob Dole
 Stress education, health care to win women and
minorities
Attack on Serbia
 1998--Claims of Serbian “ethnic cleansing” against
Albanians in Kosovo
 March, 1999—Clinton orders air strikes against
Serbian infrastructure
 May, 1999—60% of Serb electrical capacity destroyed
 June 10, 1999—Serbs agree to evacuate all ground forces
from Kosovo
 7000 tons of explosives dropped, 1000 civilians killed

 “Smart bombs” off-target over 25% of the time

Another Perspective on Serbia
 “As Slavs flee the protracted violence, Kosovo is
becoming what ethnic Albanian nationalists have been
demanding for years, and especially strongly since
the bloody rioting by ethnic Albanians in Pristina in
1981 - an ''ethnically pure'' Albanian region, a
“Republic of Kosovo” in all but name… The hope is
that something will be done then to exert the rule of
law in Kosovo while drawing ethnic Albanians back
into Yugoslavia's mainstream. “
 New York Times, Nov. 1, 1987
Realignment of Hawks and Doves
 Attacks on Serbia  Attacks on Serbia
supported by: Opposed by:
 Bob Dole  Pat Buchannan
 Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
 Alexander Cockburn
 Jon McCain (R-AZ) (The Nation)
 Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
 Charles Colson

 Alan Keyes

 Garry Wills
1990s Economy
 1990s mark the longest sustained period of economic
growth in American History
 Federal budget transformed from deficit to surplus
 Republicans argue for tax cuts
 Democrats argue for shoring up federal programs

 NAFTA
 420,000 jobs sent to Mexico
 Wages in Mexico drop 27% in real dollars

 U.S. trade deficit increases by $39 million

Terrorism at home
 Ruby Ridge, Idaho, 1992—Federal agents shoot and
kill survivalist mother and son
 Waco, Texas, 1993—standoff at Branch Davidian
compound ends in death of 75
 Oklahoma City, 1995—Timothy McVeigh explodes
truck bomb at Murrah federal building
 1996—the Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski
captured in Montana
 1999—Violent protest at World Trade Organization
meeting in Seattle
“It depends on what your definition of
is is….”
 After repeated denials, President Clinton admits to sexual
relationship with intern Monica Lewinski
 Special prosecutor reports 11 possible impeachment charges
to Congress; public sentiment for /against impeachment.
 House votes to impeach Clinton (similar to grand jury
indictment);
 2/3 Senate vote required for conviction on charges;
Republicans press ahead but unable to win simple majority
 Clinton’s presidency badly damaged
A Divided Nation 2000
 Dominant trends of election year 2000
 Economic boom favors Democrats
 Disappointment with Clinton’s failings favors
Republicans
 The Candidates
 Republican George W. Bush calls for limiting
government and relying on the market
 Democrat Al Gore calls for expanded federal role in
education and health care
Election of 2000
 Extremely close race ends up hanging on disputed
Florida vote
 Gore leads in popular vote (eventually 500,000) and
Electoral College (267)
 Florida’s 25 electoral votes would bring Bush total to
271
 Gore calls for recount of Florida vote
 December 12, 2000—U.S. Supreme Court ends
recount efforts with ruling in Bush’s favor
Voting Patterns in 2000 Election
Birthrate, 1820-2000
Death Rate, 1900-2000
Life Expectancy, 1900-2000
Urban/Rural Population, 1750-1900
Women in the Labor Force, 1890-1990