AP US History

May 7 - 11 -2018

So, you have finally achieved the impossible: finished your AP US materials despite the interruptions, shortened classes, and ridiculous standardized testing! 5th Period will have slightly different assignments b/c our schedule was NEVER altered.

All of the left over materials are history period 9 and there will be no essays related to this era or, period 1. MC and SA are completely possible

I realize that some of you will miss class this week for AP exams so good luck on those and I hope that you find a bit of time.

Your last Unit Test is posted on Quia.com and it is literally called "The Last Test Periods 8-9" It MUST BE COMPLETED BY WEDNESDAY 11:59 PM. Remember that this is a test score so, if you have any of a number of difficulties, you MUST email me and you MUST bring a signed note per your signed agreement at the start of the school year.

I have opened up all of the quia quizzes for review (no grades)

Look at the bottom of this page and see the links to practice tests (good website)

On Friday be sure to have a #2 pencil and a blue/black pen. I would also advise you to bring a watch. No cell phones will be allowed.

MONDAY (5th Period we use the study guide for a practice test)

  • Examine the Reagan Administration domestic and foreign affairs

MaterialsStrategy/Format

NotesLecture-discussion and docs analysis

Introduction

  • As we saw yesterday, the 1980 Election was hugely lopsided. Ronald Reagan capitalized on the public's frustration. When he ran for the presidency against Carter in 1980, he asked Americans, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" Reagan won a landslide victory, carrying 43 states and almost 51 percent of the popular vote compared to Carter's 41 percent. In addition, the Democrats lost the Senate for the first time since 1954.
  • What came to be known as the Reagan Revolution marked major shifts in American politics. The 1970s had been a period of stalemate as you know. Watergate, stagflation, the energy crisis, the decline of American industry, the defeat of South Vietnam, and the Iranian hostage crisis--produced a severe loss of confidence among the American people. Americans were deeply troubled by the relative loss of American strength in the world; the decline of productivity and innovation in American industry; and the dramatic growth of lobbies and special-interest groups that seemed to have paralyzed the legislative process. Many worried that too much power had been stripped from the presidency and that political parties were so weakened and Congress so splintered, that it was impossible to enact a coherent legislative program.
  • The election revealed a social split also in the political landscape. Southerners termed "blue dog" Democrats flocked to the Republican Party because of social issues. This coalition became known as the New Right or Neo-Conservatives.
  • Economic Issues: Reaganomics
    Reagan's theory that if you cut taxes, it will spur the growth of public spending and improve the economy. It included tax breaks for the rich, "supply-side economics," and "trickle down" theory. Supply side economics ("trickle down"). Reaganomics policy based on the theory that allowing companies the opportunity to make profits, and encouraging investment, will stimulate the economy and lead to higher standards of living for everyone. Argued that tax cuts can be used stimulate economic growth. Move money into the hands of the people and they will invest, thus creating prosperity.
  • Reagan's plan had many detractors. Between the tax cuts and increased Federal spending on the military, people feared that there could be a return for the terrible inflation of the earlier 1970s. Reagan believed that consumer spending would drive up the economy. In reality, both sides were correct. The middle class wealth of the 1980s did translate into fantastic growth. But there were massive deficits run. It seemed that Reagan, once a New Deal Democrat was using Keynesian economics.
  • Another key aspect of Reaganomics was deregulation. Reagan expanded the Carter administration's efforts to decontrol and deregulate the economy. Congress deregulated the banking and natural gas industries and lifted ceilings on interest rates. Federal price controls on airfares were lifted as well. The Environmental Protection Agency relaxed its interpretation of the Clean Air Act; and the Department of the Interior opened up large areas of the federal domain, including offshore oil fields, to private development.
  • The results of deregulation were mixed. Bank interest rates became more competitive, but smaller banks found it difficult to hold their own against larger institutions. Natural gas prices increased, as did production, easing some of the country's dependence on foreign fuel. Airfares on high-traffic routes between major cities dropped dramatically, but fares for short, low-traffic flights skyrocketed. Most critics agreed, however, that deregulation had restored some short-term competition to the marketplace. Yet in the long-term, competition also led to increased business failures and consolidation. Another issue that ultimately led to the Recession of 2008-2012 was the laxity of loaning practices on housing.

Reagan's Foreign Policy

  • Initially it would seem that the days of Eisenhower had returned and that the Cold War was intensifying. During the early years of the Reagan presidency, Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified. Reagan entered office deeply suspicious of the Soviet Union. Reagan described the Soviet Union as "an evil empire" and called for a space-based missile defense system, derided by critics as "Star Wars." The official name was the Strategic Defense Initiative or SDI.
  • One of the first actions of fighting communism for Reagan occurred in the Caribbean. In October 1983, Prime Minister of Grenada, a small island nation in the Caribbean, was assassinated and a more radical Marxist government took power. Afterwards, Soviet money and Cuban troops came to Grenada. When they began constructing an airfield capable of landing large military aircraft, the Reagan administration decided to remove the Communists and restore a pro-American regime. On October 25, U.S. troops invaded Grenada, killed or captured 750 Cuban soldiers, and established a new government. The invasion sent a clear message throughout the region that the Reagan administration would not tolerate communism in its hemisphere. While the invasion was not without casualties it was celebrated as a healing of the ineptitude of the 1970s.
  • Also in Latin America the Reagan Doctrine was employed. n 1979, Nicaraguans revolted against the corrupt Somoza regime. A new junta took power dominated by young Marxists known as Sandinistas. The Sandinistas insisted that they favored free elections, non-alignment, and a mixed economy; but once in power, they postponed elections, forced opposition leaders into exile, and turned to the Soviet bloc for arms and advisers. For the Reagan administration, Nicaragua looked "like another Cuba," a Communist state that threatened the security of its Central American neighbors.
  • In his first months in office, President Reagan approved covert training of anti-Sandinista rebels (called "contras"). While the contras waged war on the Sandinistas from camps in Honduras, the CIA provided assistance. In 1984, Congress ordered an end to all covert aid to the contras. This situation also led to one of the worst scandals since Watergate known as the Iran-Contra Scandal.
  • The Reagan administration circumvented Congress by soliciting contributions for the contras from private individuals and from foreign governments seeking U.S. favor. The president also permitted the sale of arms to Iran, with profits diverted to the contras. The arms sale and transfer of funds to the contras were handled surreptitiously through the CIA intelligence network, apparently with the full support of CIA Director William Casey. Exposure of the Iran-Contra affair in late 1986 provoked a major congressional investigation. The scandal seriously weakened the influence of the president. He refused to answer questions on the activities and never was proven to have directly ordered arms shipments that ended up in Iran. It has been implied that the sudden end of the Iran Hostage Crisis on the day that Reagan was inaugurated our hostages in Tehran were released had its roots in the secret deal. The American preoccupation with Nicaragua began to subside in 1987. In 1990, the Nicaraguan opposition routed the Sandinistas, bringing an end to ten turbulent years of Sandinista rule.

The Beginnings of the End of the Cold War

  • Reagan had already expressed hope that a change of leadership in the Soviet Union might bring about renewed negotiations on arms control. In quick succession two old guard Soviet premiers had died. The new (and last Soviet premier) Mikhail Gorbachev called for sweeping political liberalization (glasnost) and economic reform (perestroika). He allowed wider freedom of press, assembly, travel, and religion. He persuaded the Communist party leadership to end its monopoly on power; created the Soviet Union's first working legislature; allowed the first nationwide competitive elections in 1989; and freed hundreds of political prisoners. In an effort to boost the sagging Soviet economy, he legalized small private business cooperatives, relaxed laws prohibiting land ownership, and approved foreign investment within the Soviet Union.
  • Perhaps more importantly In foreign affairs, Gorbachev completely reshaped world politics. He cut the Soviet defense budget, withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan and Eastern Europe, allowed a unified Germany to become a member of NATO, and agreed with the United States to destroy short-range and medium-range nuclear weapons. Most dramatically, Gorbachev actively promoted the democratization of former satellite nations in Eastern Europe. For his accomplishments in defusing Cold War tensions, he was awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize.
  • The Reykjavík Summit was a summit meeting between Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, held in Höfði in Reykjavík, the capital city of Iceland, on October 11–12, 1986. The talks collapsed at the last minute, but the progress that had been achieved eventually resulted in the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. The INF Treaty was the first major downsizing of nuclear forces with inspectors on both sides watching. This had been the idea of Eisenhower in the 1950s.

Conclusion

When Reagan left office in 1988 his legacy was firmly entrenched. His VP George HW Bush assumed the White House. In his inaugural address, Bush signaled a departure from the avarice and greed of the Reagan era by calling for a "new engagement in the lives of others." He promised to be more of a "hands on" administrator than his predecessor, and he committed his presidency to creating a "kinder, gentler" nation, more sensitive and caring to the poor and disadvantaged. However, Bush and most of the world was shocked by the sudden collapse of communism in eastern Europe with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Homework

Work on the take home test and take a few of the quia practice quizzes.

TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY (The last test is due today)

  • Examine key foreign and domestic issues of the Clinton George W. Bush years

MaterialsStrategy/Format

ppt/docsLecture-discussion/docs

The Clinton Years 1992 - 2000

  • After gaining such positive clout from the Gulf War and the end of the Cold War, one would think that George H.W. Bush would have been unbeatable. However, headed into the last years of his Presidency the specter of economic recession returned. And despite the foreign policy gains the rejoinder of "It’s the economy, stupid." rang through the halls of the Democratic Party. In 1992, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton defeated George Bush and Texas businessman Ross Perot (who sapped many conservative Republican votes away from Bush) to become the first Democratic president in 12 years. The campaign was a bitter, three-way contest marked by intense assaults on the candidates’ records and character President George Bush, whose popularity had soared to 90 percent after the Persian Gulf War, only received 38 percent of the vote--largely as a result of a stagnating economy. Clinton obtained 43 percent of the vote, while Perot received 19 percent.
  • The youngest person elected to the presidency since John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton had served nearly 12 years as governor of Arkansas before entering the White House. A self-described "New Democrat," Clinton promised a new approach to government between the unfettered free market championed by the Republicans and the welfare state economics that the Democratic Party had represented in the past.
  • As president, Clinton committed his administration to ending 12 years of "legislative gridlock" and "social neglect." During his first two years in office, he had a string of legislative successes. To reduce the federal budget deficit, he persuaded Congress to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and on gasoline and to cut government spending. To create jobs, he persuaded the Senate to ratify the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), eliminating tariff barriers between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. He also completed negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), reducing global trading barriers. To aid working parents, he signed parental leave legislation, allowing parents to take unpaid leave during family emergencies. To combat violent crime, he convinced Congress to enact a waiting period for handgun purchases and to impose a ban on the sale of assault weapons.
  • But two of his proposals alienated many voters. In the face of vocal opposition, President Clinton backed away from a promise to let gays serve in the military and instead instituted a compromise policy of "don't-ask, don't-tell." This policy satisfied no one. Meanwhile, the centerpiece of his legislative agenda--a program of universal health care coverage--had to be withdrawn. His plan to guarantee lifelong healthcare to Americans through local networks of insurers, hospitals, and doctors was criticized for its complexity and for excessive government involvement in the healthcare system.
  • Clinton also suffered from allegations of financial and sexual misconduct (Monica Lewinsky) before he became president. One controversy stemmed from investments he and his wife had made in the Whitewater Development Corporation, an Arkansas real estate development firm. Another concerned charges of sexual harassment made by a former Arkansas government employee. Clinton eventually settled the sexual misconduct lawsuit for $850,000 and was ordered by a judge to pay an additional $90,000 for lying under oath.
  • In the mid-term elections of 1994, Republicans won control of both houses of Congress. Campaigning on a ten-point "Contract With America," Congressional Republicans led by Newt Gingrich called for welfare reform; term limits for political office holders; a moratorium on environmental, health, and safety regulations; and a Constitutional Amendment requiring a balanced budget.
  • Public support for President Clinton rebounded, however, after the Congressional Republicans temporarily shut down the federal government in an effort to force budget cuts and tax reductions. Public support further deepened after anti-government extremists blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people--including 19 children--and injuring 624.
  • When he ran for office, Bill Clinton promised to cut the federal deficit in half, create millions of new jobs, and "end welfare as we know it." During his presidency, he achieved many of his goals. Over Republican opposition in Congress, the Clinton administration raised the minimum wages and the Earned Income Tax Credit (which provides financial assistance to the working poor). His administration also started "AmeriCorp," a national service program; gave workers up to 12 weeks unpaid leaves to deal with family emergencies; and blocked efforts to restrict abortions. Working with Congressional Republicans, the administration reduced the size of the government workforce, expanded international trade, and eliminated the federal budget deficit. Clinton and the Congressional Republicans also ended the 60-year-old welfare system. The welfare reform measures limited the time that people could spend on welfare rolls and required welfare recipients to work or receive training.
  • The low-point in Clinton's presidency began when he was accused of encouraging a 24-year-old White House intern to lie to lawyers in a sexual harassment lawsuit about whether she had an affair with the president. For seven months, the president denied that he had an inappropriate relationship with the intern, but ultimately, acknowledged the relationship and admitted that he had misled the American people about it.
  • In December 1998, the House Judiciary Committee, voting along straight party lines, approved four articles of impeachment. The articles asserted that Clinton had committed perjury, obstructed justice, and abused his power. Later that month, the House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment, making Clinton only the second American president to face an impeachment trial in the Senate. On the article charging the President with committing perjury before a grand jury, Senators voted 45 guilty and 55 not guilty. On the charge of obstruction of justice, 50 Senators voted guilty and 50 not guilty. A two-thirds vote was required for conviction and removal from office.

The 2000 Election