Recent American History

1. Recent American History 1974-2000

2. Gerald Ford 1974-1977 • From Michigan • University of MI football • Congress 1948-1973 • 1965 House Minority Leader • 1963-4 Warren Commission • Chosen by Nixon to be VP after Spiro Agnew resigned • Became president when Nixon resigned in Aug. 1974

3. “Pardon Me” • “I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed…”

4. Domestic Policy • Inflation plagued economy as high as 11.2% (did drop to 5.3%) • Attempted to tackle unemployment and energy crisis • Campaign Finance Reform (1974)

5. Foreign Policy • Kept Henry Kissinger as Secy. of State • Continued Détente • 1975 Helsinki Agreement which ratified European borders & supported Human Rights • Urged Congress to send resources to South Vietnam—government quickly collapses • 1975 Mayaguez incident

6. “Sour odor of illegitimacy” Comedian Chevy Chase Ford in Salzburg

7. 1976 Election

8. Jimmy Carter • 39th president (1977-1981) • Naval officer • Peanut Farmer from Georgia • GA State Senator • GA Governor 1971-75 • Washington “outsider” • Won election during nation’s bicentennial

9. Domestic policy • Created Department of Energy & Department of Ed. • Energy crisis

10. OPEC • The 1973 oil embargo happened in October following the United States' and Western Europe's support of Israel against Arab nations in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Iran being chief among those angered by western support of Israel. As a nation Iran stopped providing oil to the United States and Western Europe. In doing so, the oil pricing for the United States went from 3 dollars a barrel to 12 dollars a barrel, spurring gas rationing.

11. Stagflation • A situation in which the inflation rate is high and the economic growth rate slows down and unemployment remains steadily high.

12. Malaise: “A crisis of confidence” • “I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy. . . . I do not refer to the outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might. The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. . . . “

13. Foreign Policy • Arab-Israeli conflict • Camp David Accords, 1978 Anwar El Sadat (Egypt) & Meacham Begin (Israel) w/ President Carter

14. Panama Canal Treaty 1977 • The treaty, signed by President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos, contained two parts; one promised an end to U.S. control of the canal beginning in 2000; Panama was to take over operation and defense of the canal. The neutrality component of the treaty gave the U.S. permanent authority to defend the canal if it were placed under threat as a neutral water passage.

15. Iranian Hostage Crisis • The Iran hostage crisiswas a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian Revolution. The Ayatollah Khomeini

16. SALT II 1979 • President Jimmy Carter and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. • SALT II was the first nuclear arms treaty which assumed real reductions in strategic forces. Six months after the signing, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and in September of the same year, the Soviet combat brigade deployed to Cuba was discovered. In light of these developments, the treaty was never formally ratified by the United States Senate.

17. Int’l Politics & the Olympics • The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott of the Moscow Olympics was a part of a package of actions initiated by the United States to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan. • It preceded the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott carried out by the Soviet Union and other Communist friendly countries.

18. Carter since his Presidency • When he first left office, Carter's presidency was viewed by most as a failure, now record appears mixed. • Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale are the longest-living post-presidential team in American history. • 2002 Nobel Peace Prize • Carter's presidential approval rating, which sat at 31% just prior to the 1980 election, was polled in early 2009 at 64%. Carter's continued post-Presidency activities have also been favorably received.

19. Reagan: Man & Actor • Born 1911 in Illinois • Actor who appeared in 50 films including Knute Rockne, All American, Kings Row, and Bedtime for Bonzo. Reagan served as president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1940s and early 50s.

20. Republican & Governor • Reagan began his political career as a liberal Democrat, admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and an active supporter of New Deal policies. • In 1962 Reagan formally switched to the Republican Party, stating, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me.” • Governor of California 1967-1975

21. Triumph of Conservatism

22. Domestic policy • Reagan's presidency has been termed the "Reagan Revolution," or the Age of Reagan in recognition of the political realignment both within and beyond the U.S. in favor of his brand of conservatism and his faith in free markets. • Reagan's economic policies, similar to supply-side economics and dubbed "Reaganomics," achieved a 25% cut in the federal personal income tax, moderate deregulation and tax reform, which he believed would remove barriers to efficient economic activity. After a sharp recession, a long period of high economic growth without significant inflation ensued.

23. Reagan’s AIDS legacy • Following discovery of the first cases in 1981, it soon became clear a national health crisis was developing. But President Reagan's response was "halting and ineffective," according to his biographer Lou Cannon. • Those infected initially with this mysterious disease -- all gay men -- found themselves targeted with an unprecedented level of mean-spirited hostility. • A significant source of Reagan's support came from the newly identified religious right and the Moral Majority, a political-action group founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell. AIDS became the tool, and gay men the target, for the politics of fear, hate and discrimination. Falwell said "AIDS is the wrath of God upon homosexuals."

24. 1984 Election

25. Foreign Affairs • It was characterized by a strategy of "peace through strength" followed by a warming of relations with the Soviet Union, and resulting in an end to the Cold War when Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power. • As part of the policies that became known as the "Reagan Doctrine," the United States also offered financial and logistics support to the anti-communist opposition in central Europe and took an increasingly hard line against socialist and communist governments in Afghanistan, Angola, and Nicaragua.

26. Soviet Union changes & collapses • History of the USSR (1922-1991) • Perestroika: Its literal meaning is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-80s. Perestroika is often argued to be a cause of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe, and the end of the Cold War. • Glasnost: was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union. 1988

27. Foreign Affairs • 1982 U.S. Marines to Lebanon • 1983 car bomb kills 17 U.S. servicemen in Beirut • 1983 invasion of Grenada • 1986 Air raid against Libya

28. “Star Wars” • The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1983, to use ground- and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles

29. Iran Contra Affair 1986

30. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, the subject of an arms embargo.Some U.S. officials also hoped that the arms sales would secure the release of hostages and allow U.S. intelligence agencies to fund the Nicaraguan Contras. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress. Oliver North

31. Indictments for key figures • Marine Colonel Oliver North • Admiral John Poindexter at the NSC • Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger

32. The End of the Cold War • 1985: -- Mikhail Gorbachev ascends to power in Soviet Union • 1986: -- Gorbachev ends economic aid to Soviet satellites • 1986: -- Reagan and Gorbachev resolve to remove all intermediate nuclear missiles from Europe • 1987: -- Reagan and Gorbachev agree to remove all medium and short-range nuclear missiles by signing treaty • 1989: -- Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan • 1989: -- China puts down protests for democracy; Poland becomes independent • 1989: -- Hungary becomes independent • 1989: -- Berlin Wall falls • 1989: -- Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania; Soviet empire ends

33. Ronald Reagan • Survived assassination attempt in 1st term • Oldest president to serve • Appointed Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court (1st woman) • Known as the “Teflon President” • Brought glamour and respect back to Washington after Vietnam & Watergate • Alzheimer's disease

34. George H. W. Bush

35. Bush biography • Decorated naval aviator during WWII • Elected to Congress 1966, 1968 • Ambassador to UN • Chairman of the RNC • Envoy to China • Director of the CIA • Vice President 1981-1989 • Wins 1988 race against M. Dukakis

36. Dukakis’ “Tank moment” This publicity image of Michael Dukakis was taken to combat criticisms that he would be soft on issues of defense, but it backfired and seriously damaged his presidential campaign when many found it silly and unsubtle.

37. 1988 Election Win

38. “Read my lips” • "Read my lips: no new taxes" is a now-famous phrase spoken by then American presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination. • The impact of the election promise was considerable, and many supporters of Bush believe it helped Bush win the 1988 presidential election.

39. Domestic Policy • Space Station Freedom • Americans With Disability Act 1990 • Immigration Act of 1990 (increased legal immigration by 40%) • Two Supreme Court Appointments (David Souter, 1990 and Clarence Thomas, 1991) • S&L crisis involved the failure of about 747 out of the 3,234 savings and loan associations

40. Foreign Policy • Invasion of Panama to capture leader Manuel Noriega 1989 • Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, 1989 • Gulf War I (1990-1991) after Saddam Hussein invades its oil-rich neighbor Kuwait

41. NAFTA • Bush's administration, along with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, spearheaded the negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which would eliminate the majority of tariffs on products traded among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, to encourage trade amongst the countries.

42. President Clinton

43. How Clinton won • “I feel your pain.” • “I still believe in a place called Hope.” • “When I was in England I experimented with marijuana a time or two -- and didn't like it -- and didn't inhale and never tried inhaling again.” • Ran on his centristrecord as Governor of Arkansas • TV ads were aired showing a clip of Bush's infamous 1988 campaign speech in which he promised "Read my lips ... No new taxes."

44. Ross Perot • Independent candidate Ross Perot received 19,741,065 with 18.9 percent of the popular vote for President. The billionaire used his own money to advertise extensively, and is the only third-party candidate ever allowed into the nationally televised presidential debates with both major party candidates.

45. Domestic Policy • Failed attempt at health care reform • Don’t ask, don’t tell • Signed the Defense of Marriage Act • Family and Medical Leave Act • Brady Bill (waiting period before hand gun purchase)

46. Foreign Policy • NAFTA becomes law • Unsuccessful at capturing Osama Bin Laden • Tried to get Ehud Barak of Israel and Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian National Authority, to agree to a final settlement agreement.

47. Impeachment • Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, 1998, but acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999. • It was only the second impeachment of a President in American history, the other being that of Andrew Johnson.

48. Election of 2000

49. And the winner is…