election 1980
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Election 1980. Carter’s Crisis of Confidence. President Carter struggled with inflation, high unemployment, and soaring energy costs. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran stopped oil shipments to the US. He delivered a televised address that became known as the "Malaise Speech." - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Election 1980
Carter’s Crisis of Confidence
• President Carter struggled with inflation, high unemployment, and soaring energy costs.
• After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran stopped oil shipments to the US.
• He delivered a televised address that became known as the "Malaise Speech."
• Carter asks Americans to return to the attitudes and values that made America strong and to share the responsibility of energy conservation.
• Carter's approval rating plummeted.
• ISSUE: The president was criticized for "blaming" the American people and offering few solutions.
Carter’s “Malaise Speech”• “In a nation that was proud of hard
work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption.”
• “This intolerable dependence on foreign oil threatens our economic independence and the very security of our nation. The energy crisis is real.”
• “Every act of energy conservation like this is more than just common sense -- I tell you it is an act of patriotism.”
Gas lines during the energy crisis
Iran Hostage Crisis Discredits Carter• After US-backed Shah of Iran
was deposed in January 1979, the most westernized country in the Middle East transitioned to an Islamic fundamentalist regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini.
• When President Carter allowed the Shah into the United States for cancer treatment, a student group stormed the US embassy in Iran and took 53 staff members hostage.
Public support for Carter quickly waned as the months dragged on with no progress.
Iran Hostage Crisis Discredits Carter
• The operation ended in disaster before getting close to the embassy when two helicopters malfunctioned and another collided with a cargo plane, killing eight service members.
• Iranians displayed the burned corpses before television cameras.
• The Iran Hostage Crisis became symbolic of the decline of US prestige in the world and the President was criticized for incompetence.
• After 444 days of captivity, the hostages were released immediately after Reagan's inauguration in January 1981.
Wreckage of Operation Eagle Claw
Election of 1980 • President Carter grappled
with economic issues coupled with foreign policy nightmares Panama “giveaway” and strained Soviet-American relations.
• ISSUE: Reagan questioned Carter's competence, while Carter tried to cast him as a dangerous extremist.
• The election came down to a single televised debate in October 1980. Reagan closed the debate with the campaign's signature refrain, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"
Election of 1980
Majority party Minority party
Leader Howard Baker Robert Byrd
Party Republican DemocraticLeader's seat Tennessee West VirginiaLast election 41 seats 58 seatsSeats won 53 46Seat change +12 -12Popular vote 26,597,169 30,699,463Percentage 44.7% 51.6%Swing -2.9% +1.0%
SENATE
Leader Tip O'Neil Bob Michel
Party Democratic Republican
Leader's seat Massachusetts-8th Illinois-18th
Last election 277 seats 158 seats
Seats won 243 192
Seat change -34 +34
Popular vote 39,178,066 37,068,791
Percentage 50.3% 47.6%
Swing -3.1% +2.9%
HOUSE
Reagan Landslide• The election ended in a
landslide victory of Ronald Reagan and the first Republican majority in the Senate since 1952.
• Dismal voter turnout suggested disaffection and apathy toward the political process as the 1970's came to an end and the "Reagan Revolution" began.
The Reagan Background
• Hollywood Actor in 1937; made 53 films• Although Reagan began his political life as a Democrat, by
1962 he found his home in the Republican Party.• In 1966 he became the governor of California.• Reagan was the hero of a growing movement called the
socially/economically moderate people looking for a candidate
• His powerful personality, optimism, and acting skills drew many Americans—even Democrats—to his side.
• Reagan’s wife, Nancy Reagan, was one of his greatest allies.
Reagan v Mondale 1984
Bush v Dukakis 1988
SILENT MAJORITYREAGAN
DEMOCRATS new hero
RONALD REAGAN
GREAT AWAKENING 1970sNEW RIGHT
NEW RIGHT
Antonio Scalia
William Rehnquist Chief Justice
Judicial Constraint
Anthony Kennedy
A Dramatic Start to the Reagan Presidency
• In 1981, Reagan appointed the first female Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Although she identified herself as a moderate Republican, foes of abortion and the ERA condemned her appointment to the bench.
Roe v. Wade Mobilizes Conservatives• In Roe v. Wade (1973), the
Supreme Court ruled that state laws restricting abortion violated a woman's constitutional right to privacy.
• The issue of legalized abortion helped galvanize the rise of the Christian Right in the 1970's and 1980's.
• In the aftermath of the sexual revolution and the women's liberation movement, many conservatives sought to restore "traditional family values".
NEW RIGHT
National Right To Life
Created by Conference of Catholic Bishops (NRL PAC) is the largest and by far the most effective single-issue pro-life political action committee in the country.
Pope John Paul II 1970 conservative movement
1960s Vatican II “modernized the church”
WOMEN: Opposed ERAEquality of rights under
the law shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on
account of sex.
NEW RIGHT
Phyllis Schlafly and the ERA • One item on the agenda of social
conservatives --- Equal Rights Amendment.
• "traditional family values" had been undermined by the women's liberation movement.
• Others were repelled by what they believed was intervention by the state into the private sphere.
• The campaign to stop ratification, led by activist and self-described homemaker Phyllis Schlafly, demonstrated the financial and political capabilities of the emerging
New Right.
• ERA died in 1982, just three votes short of passage.
The Christian Right• The growth of evangelical
Christianity in the 1970's concern for what many a decline in traditional moral values.
• By 1978, 40% of Americans described themselves as "born again," including President Carter.
• The divisive issues pervading American politics, including abortion and women's rights, contributed to the proliferation of evangelical political organizations.
NEW RIGHT
Political Influence of the Christian Right
• Reverend Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority
• pioneered the use of sophisticated campaigning and fundraising techniques such as direct mail.
•The influence and campaign tactics of Christian Right delivered a critical proportion of votes to Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Rev. Jerry Falwell
Organizations in eighteen states by 1980
Southern-oriented organization of the Christian Right
The Moral Majority’s headquarters were in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Moral Majority claimed over four million members and over two million donors
The Moral Majority was an organization
made up of conservative Christian
political action committees which
campaigned on issues its personnel
believed were important to maintaining
its Christian conception of moral law
disbandment of the Moral Majority in 1989
PAT ROBERTSONCHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NETWORK
FAMILY CHANNELhost of The 700 Club, a Christian TV program airing on channels throughout the United States
Robertson is a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister.
holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He preaches that the Holy Spirit directly communicates through people. He is a faith healer .
The Coalition is a political organization, made up of pro-family Americans who care deeply about ensuring that government serves to strengthen and preserve, rather than threaten, our families and our values. To that end, we work continuously to identify, educate and mobilize Christians for effective political action. Our Mission:Represent the pro-family point of view before local councils, school boards, state legislatures and CongressSpeak out in the public arena and in the mediaTrain leaders for effective social and political actionInform pro-family voters about timely issues and legislationProtest anti-Christian bigotry and defend the rights of people of faith
PAT ROBERTSON
Televangelism• Charismatic "televangelists"
like Jim Bakker/ Praise the Lord Club delivered rousing sermons that resonated with disaffected, working class evangelicals and translated into political action.
• Work CBN • California- PLC / 12 million
viewers /satellite system to distribute their network 24 hours MASS MEDIA
Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker
NEW RIGHT
Jimmy SwaggartA Study in the Word programs
Pentecostal American pastor, teacher, musician, television host,
and televangelist1980s telecast was transmitted to over 3,000 stations and cable systems each week
United Republicans of California ("UROC") was founded 1963, by then State Senator Joe Shell and Assemblyman Bruce Reagan to promote the candidacy of Senator Barry Goldwater for President of the United States.
Many Republicans were disgusted with the old corporate agenda adopted by big business , big-money brokers who had controlled the Republican Party for so long
The Libertarian Party was officially founded on December 11, 1971
have more presence on the campus / individual freedom / free market economics/ the value Constitution /
NEO-CONS
DEFENSE
NEW RIGHT
CORPORATE AMERICAFree Enterprise
No Regulations
New Gilded Age
Big Business is key to healthy economy
No redistribution of wealth
North East AmericaMerge with Sun Belt
Intellectual Foundations of Modern Conservatism: Goldwater
• Senator Barry Goldwater is widely regarded as the Father of Modern American Conservatism.
• Goldwater's libertarian orientation often put him at odds with the social and moral agenda of the Reagan Administration and the Christian Right by the 1980's.
Teflon President
American Exceptionalism
The “Reagan Revolution” Begins • began an effort to reverse the
political legacy of the New Deal and Great Society.
• In his first Inaugural Address: "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
• In addition to delivering a clear, concise agenda, Reagan conveyed a sense of optimism and accessibility that earned him the title "The Great Communicator."
A Dramatic Start to the Reagan Presidency • In 1981, Reagan
enjoyed high public approval and success campaign promises.
• Immediately following his inauguration, Iranian terrorists released the American hostages after 444 days of captivity.
A Dramatic Start to the Reagan Presidency
• On March 30, 1981, Reagan survived an assassination attempt by John Hinkley Jr, who shot the president in an effort to impress actress Jodie Foster. Reagan was more badly injured than the administration reported, but he remained optimistic and his approval rating reached 73%.
Reaganomics• The rise of conservatism in
the 1980's can be partially attributed to the economic "stagflation" of the Carter years.
• Reagan supply-side economic theory.
• Supply-siders favored simultaneous tax cuts and reductions in spending to encourage investors and entrepreneurs.
• "a successful economy depends on the proliferation of the rich."
What Reagan Faced:The Economic Problems
• The inflation creep of the 1970s• Oil Stagflation• Social security tax and Medicare had also increased the
personal tax burden. (automatic raises)• 31 million jobs had been destroyed between 1978 and
1982. (Rust Belt)(foreign competition)• Fully one-third of all private sector jobs that existed in
1978 had disappeared by 1982.
What Reagan Faced:Defense Issues
• Defense spending had declined from 9.6% of GNP in FY1962 to 5.5% of GNP in FY1981, a decline of 43%.
• More of the defense spending in 1981 was directed toward salaries and pensions than in 1962.
• CIA reports showed that defense expenditures in the Soviet Union were twice as high than U.S. defense expenditures, implying that the U.S.S.R. was spending 45% more on defense than the U.S.
• In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the U.S. embassy in Iran was seized.
A fix to the unemployment and inflation of the time.
Reaganomics
The Four PillarsReagan + Economics=Reaganomics
1. reduce govt. spending / except defense
2. reduce tax rates on income from labor and capital
3. reduce government regulation of the economy
4. control the money supply to reduce inflation
Reduce government Spending
Reduce Marginal Tax Rates
Reduce govt. Regulation of Economy
Control $ supply to reduce inflation
Defense Spending Increases • One facet of Reagan's
ideological outlook was the need to bolter America's defense capability.
• Despite vowing to dramatically reduce taxes and government spending, the Reagan Administration increased military spending by over 50% between 1981 and 1988.
• Reagan emphasized the increasing military capability of the USSR. He acknowledged the expense of the military buildup, but insisted it was vital to national security.
Star Wars • In 1983, President Reagan proposed
his Strategic Defense Initiative as an additional check on Soviet nuclear capability.
• Reagan envisioned space-based missile defense technology capable of striking down nuclear weapons before they reached the United States.
The press derisively dubbed the plan "Star Wars“- enormous expense and technical innovation that it would require to become operational.
"Wouldn't it be better to save
lives than to avenge them?"
1981 Man of the Year