AP CHAPTER AP CHAPTER 3030Ford Through Ford Through ReaganReagan

NEW PRESIDENTNEW PRESIDENT

Gerald Ford became VP after Agnew resigned and President after Nixon quit

Ford selected Nelson Rockefeller of NY as his VP

GERALD FORD (R) 1974-1977

1st time in American history when the Pres. & VP were not elected by the people

Ford pardoned Nixon of any crimes dealing with Watergate

Very controversial decision

11STST OIL CRISIS OIL CRISISU.S depends heavily on oil from the Middle East

OPEC placed an embargo on oil to the U.S. in 1973

Gas prices skyrocketed to all time highs

American factories were closing and union membership was in rapid decline

LONG GAS LINES

People had to buy gas on odd/even days

U.S. automobile industry was badly damaged

Commonly called the “Energy Crisis”

ENERGY CRISISENERGY CRISIS

Led to a large demand for foreign cars (Rice Burners)

Alaskan Pipeline was built1974 embargo ended U.S. still relies on M.E. oil

ALASKAN PIPELINEALASKAN PIPELINE

SUNBELT/SNOW BELT SUNBELT/SNOW BELT COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

Many Americans began to migrate away from the Northeast

Retirees headed to warmer statesCalifornia became the most populated state

Income was distributed unevenly

CARTERCARTER’’S PRESIDENCYS PRESIDENCY

Election of 1976- Jimmy Carter (D) vs. Gerald Ford (R)

Carter encouraged deregulation of the airlines which lowered fairs

Carter was a bad president

Amnesty for Draft Evaders- pardoned all those that dodged the draft during Vietnam

Three Mile Island- 1979 partial meltdown of a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania

Love Canal when a Buffalo, NY community was dealing with toxic land from chemicals being dumped into the soil

Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring which dealt with the devastating effects of chemicals

THREE MILE ISLAND

NEW CONSERVATISMNEW CONSERVATISMRev. Jerry Falwell formed the Moral

Majority to advocate tough laws against immoral behavior

New Right wing attacked the Roe v. Wade decision

Religious cults formed in large numbers during the 1970s

THAW IN THE COLD WARTHAW IN THE COLD WAR

Helsinki Accords pushed for more human rights in the world

SALT I & II talks limited nuclear weapons

Carter signed n agreement to give back the Panama Canal Zone

MIDDLE EAST MEDIATION

Camp David Accords (1979)Historic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel

Carter mediated it and it was considered his only good thing

IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISISIRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS

1979 Carter allows the former Shah of Iran to come to the U.S. for medical help

Iranians were angry and took over the U.S. embassy

IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS

Iran wanted the Shah for trial and Carter refused to turn him over

1980 Carter initiated a military rescue but it failed

Hostage crisis greatly hurt his reelection effort

ELECTION OF 1980ELECTION OF 1980

Ronald Reagan (R) destroyed Carter (D) Carter said the nation was facing a “Crisis of Confidence” and called for the nation to changes its attitude but that failed

Reagan was considered the Great Communicator

REAGANOMICSREAGANOMICS

Supply- Side Economics- reduced the size of the govt. and relaxed regulation on businesses and gave them more aid

Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981- major revision in the tax plan that significantly lowered taxes

Reagan’s plan led to a huge national debt

Reagan reduced spending on domestic programs but greatly increased military spending

Summer 1981 Air Traffic Controllers went on strike and he fired them all

Reagan greatly weakened the power of the fed. govt. and deregulated industries

ELECTION OF 1984ELECTION OF 1984

Reagan crushed Mondale (D) and his running mate Geraldine Ferraro (1st female to run for office)

Severe recession of 1982 didn’t hurt his election effort and the stock market boomed

National debt tripled during his presidency

American industries found it difficult to compete and many closed or went overseas

Michael Milken was a corporate raider who was convicted of insider trading

Oct. 1987 stock lost 23% of its value

CULTURE OF THE 1980SCULTURE OF THE 1980S

Rise of yuppies and wealth was extremely important

Many television shows such as Dynasty and Dallas portrayed the wealth

America was becoming a two tiered society

Divorce was on the rise and AIDS was an issue

REAGAN’S FOREIGN POLICYREAGAN’S FOREIGN POLICY

Reagan called the Soviet Union the ‘Evil Empire” and created a Strategic Defense Initiative

Reagan sent troops to Lebanon, Grenada and intervened in Nicaragua

Iran Contra Affair – secret/illegal arms deal that tarnished his presidency

COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISMCOLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM

Mikhail Gorbachev won election of the USSR in 1985

Glasnost and Perestroika were drastic programs that opened up Russia but also sped up its collapse

Berlin Wall fell in November 1989 and USSR by 1991

FALL OF THE BERLIN WALLFALL OF THE BERLIN WALL

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSIONSupply Side Economics helped the

economy but led to debt.Berlin Wall collapsing is considered

the end of the Cold WarCountry moved towards

conservatism in the 1980sEnergy crisis hurt the economy in

the mid 1970s