History

END TO THE COLD WAR When Bush became president, the Soviet empire was on the verge of collapse . Gorbachev’s efforts to open up the USSR’s economy ap- peared to be floundering . In 1989, the Communist governments in one Eastern European country af- ter another simply collapsed, after it became clear that Russian troops […]

BUDGETS AND DEFICITS Bush administration efforts to gain control over the federal budget deficit, however, were more problem- atic . One source of the difficulty was the savings and loan crisis . Savings banks — formerly tightly regulated, low-interest safe havens for ordinary people — had been deregulated, al- lowing these institutions to com- pete

THE PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE H. W. BUSH President Reagan enjoyed unusu- ally high popularity at the end of his second term in office, but under the terms of the U .S . Constitution he could not run again in 1988 . The Republican nomination went to Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush, who was elected

U.S.-SOVIET RELATIONS In relations with the Soviet Union, President Reagan’s declared policy was one of peace through strength . He was determined to stand firm against the country he would in 1983 call an “evil empire .” Two early events increased U .S .-Soviet tensions: the suppression of the Soli- darity labor movement in Poland

FOREIGN AFFAIRS In foreign policy, Reagan sought a more assertive role for the nation, and Central America provided an early test . The United States pro- vided El Salvador with a program of economic aid and military training when a guerrilla insurgency threat- ened to topple its government . It also actively encouraged the transition

THE ECONOMY IN THE 1980s President Reagan’s domestic pro- gram was rooted in his belief that the nation would prosper if the power of the private economic sector was un- leashed . The guiding theory behind it, “supply side” economics, held that a greater supply of goods and services, made possible by measures to increase

CONSERVATISM AND THE RISE OF RONALD REAGAN For many Americans, the eco- nomic, social, and political trends of the previous two decades — crime and racial polarization in many ur- ban centers, challenges to traditional values, the economic downturn and inflation of the Carter years — en- gendered a mood of disillusionment . It also

THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDER “I have always believed that there was some divine plan that placed this great continent between two oceans to be sought out by those who were possessed of an abiding love of freedom and a special kind of courage.” California Governor Ronald Reagan, 1974 ficient Japanese carmakers

A SOCIETY IN TRANSITION Shifts in the structure of Ameri- can society, begun years or even de- cades earlier, had become apparent by the time the 1980s arrived . The composition of the population and the most important jobs and skills in American society had undergone major changes . The dominance of service jobs in

THE FORD INTERLUDE Nixon’s vice president, Gerald Ford (appointed to replace Agnew), was an unpretentious man who had spent most of his public life in Con- gress . His first priority was to restore trust in the government . However, feeling it necessary to head off the spectacle of a possible prosecution of Nixon, he