APUSH Dr. I. Ibokette

Unit 13: From Carter to Reagan

Sub-Themes:

  1. The Cold War: Detente, Escalation & the Collapse of the “Iron Curtain”, 1970s – 1980s
  2. Conservatism Versus Liberalism: The Dynamics of Race and Class in American Politics - Reagan to Obama

As usual, use the recommended “4-step” reading and note-taking process. Also, use the “looking ahead” and “recall and reflect” questions; as well as the “study questions” and key terms and names provided as guides to both the context and significance of sub-themes within the unit.

Chapter 31: “From the ‘Age of Limits’ to the Age of Reagan”

Key Terms and Names:

  1. Gerald Ford
  2. Jimmy Carter
  3. Camp David Accords
  4. Iranian Hostage Crisis/Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
  5. Sunbelt
  6. Sagebrush Rebellion
  7. Moral Majority and Christian Coalition
  8. Neo-Conservatives
  9. Pat Robertson
  10. New Right
  11. Jerry Falwell
  12. Ronald Reagan
  13. Ross Perot
  14. Reagan Coalition
  15. Reaganomics
  16. SDI
  17. Reagan Doctrine
  18. Mikhail Gorbachev
  19. glasnost and perestroika
  20. Tiananmen Square Massacre
  21. Iran-Contra scandal
  22. George H.W. Bush
  23. Saddam Hussein
  24. First Gulf War
  25. Bill Clinton

Sub-Sections

  1. Setting the Stage 865

“Looking Ahead”

  1. What economic and energy problems plagued the presidencies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter? How did Ford and Carter attempt to deal with these problems?
  1. What was the “New Right” and what effect did its rise have on American problems?
  2. What was Reaganomics, and how did this policy affect the national economy?
  1. Politics and Diplomacy after Watergate, 866
  2. The Rise of the New American Right, 869
  3. The “Reagan Revolution”, 874
  4. America and the Waning of the Cold War, 878
  5. End-of-Chapter Review, 883

 Looking Back

Significant Events

Recall and Reflect,

  1. Did the Ford and Carter presidencies fail to repair the damage done to the reputation of the presidency by the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s Administration? If so, why?
  1. Why did the American electorate become increasingly conservative during the 1970s and 1980s? What are some examples that testify to this increasing conservatism?
  1. What groups constituted the Reagan coalition? What shared beliefs united the diverse groups the comprised this coalition?
  1. How philosophy guided foreign policy under Reagan? How did the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev alter Reagan’s foreign policy towards the Soviet Union?
  1. A Timeline of seven to ten key events/developments

Study Questions

  1. Make a case for the positive changes in the American political process that resulted from the Watergate scandal.
  1. What were the assets and liabilities faced by Gerald Ford’s presidency?
  1. Why was President Ford challenged from both political extremes in his party in 1976?
  1. On what well-received political themes did Jimmy Carter run for the presidency in 1976, and how did these became liabilities once he was in office?
  1. What were President Carter’s major political successes and failures?
  1. What were the sources of the nation’s economic troubles during the Carter administration?
  1. Why did Jimmy Carter end up being one of the least popular presidents in American history?
  1. How do you account for the rise of the American right? What was its agenda?
  1. What constituted the “Reagan Revolution”? Was it successful or not? Why or why not?
  1. How did President Carter and President Reagan differ in their handling of foreign policy?
  1. Why did communist governments rapidly collapse throughout Europe during the late 1980s and early 1990s?
  1. What was the effect of “Reaganomics”? Was it a sound economic plan?
  1. Explain why the United States saw its economy rapidly grow during much of the 1980s.
  1. Why were some conservatives disappointed with the Reagan presidency by the conclusion of its two terms?
  1. Why was Ronald Reagan able to maintain his personal popularity and political support despite serious scandals within his administration?
  1. Some Americans consider Ronald Reagan to be one of the nation’s “great” presidents. Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
  1. How did George H. W. Bush’s decisions in the Gulf War pave the way for the second Gulf War that followed twelve years later? Do you agree with Bush’s decisions? Why or why not?
  1. Compare George H. W. Bush’s handling of the first Gulf War with his son George W. Bush’s handling of the second Gulf War. What are the main differences?

Chapter 32: “The Age of Globalization”

Key Terms and Names:

  1. Bill Clinton
  2. NAFTA
  3. Newt Gingrich
  4. Clinton impeachment/Monica Lewinsky
  5. 2000 election
  6. George W. Bush
  7. Alan Greenspan
  8. Arpanet
  9. globalization
  10. “New Economy”
  11. underclass
  12. AIDS epidemic
  13. right to life movement
  14. pro-choice movement
  15. Al Qaeda; Osama binLaden
  16. Patriot Act 2001
  17. “New World Order”
  18. Al Gore
  19. Iraq War
  20. No Child Left Behind
  21. John McCain
  22. Hilary Rodham Clinton
  23. Barack Obama
  24. Tea Party

Sub-Sections

  1. Setting the Stage 887

“Looking Ahead”

  1. How did the increasing partisanship affect the presidential elections of the 1990s and 2000s, and what the effects on the presidential administrations of those decades?
  1. How did globalization account for the ups and downs of the national economy from the 1980s to the present day?
  1. How did the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001, affect the American citizenry and American foreign policy?
  1. A Resurgence of Partisanship, 888
  2. The Economic Boom, 892
  3. Science and Technology in the New Economy, 894
  4. A Changing Society, 896
  5. A Contested Culture, 899
  6. The Perils of Globalization, 902
  7. Turbulent Politics, 906
  8. End-of-Chapter Review, 913

 Looking Back

Significant Events

Recall and Reflect,

  1. What challenges did Bill Clinton face upon his election to the presidency? What were the accomplishments of his administration? What were his setbacks and failures?
  1. What led to the economic boom of the 1980s and 1990s? What setback to the economy occurred in those years?
  1. On what issues do the critics of genetic and stem cell research focus their opposition?
  1. What was the digital revolution, and how did it affect US politics, economy and the society?
  1. How has America’s relationship to the rest of the world changed as a result of the war on terrorism and the US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan?
  1. What were Barack Obama’s most important achievements in his first two years as president? What have been his principal failures?
  1. What is America’s place in the world today? What are the challenges and opportunities facing the nation?

j. A Timeline of seven to ten key events/developments

Study Questions

  1. What agenda did Bill Clinton bring to the presidency in 1992? What were his successes and failures in enacting that agenda?
  1. Describe the key differences among the post-Cold War foreign policies of the first Bush, Clinton, and second Bush administrations.
  1. What accounted for the Republican resurgence in 1994? How did President Clinton respond to this and how successful was his response?
  1. Was Bill Clinton a Democrat in the New Deal tradition, or the Great Society tradition, or something else?
  1. What accounted for the high degree of public support for President Clinton? Why did scandals and the impeachment trial fail to erode his support?
  1. Characterize the controversies in the 2000 presidential election. Do you agree or disagree with the manner in which the final result was determined? Why?
  1. Describe the effect of Hurricane Katrina on public perception of the Bush administration. Do you think this perception was fair? How could the administration have handled events differently?
  1. Other than Katrina, what else accounted for the political woes faced by the Bush administration in its second term? How might they have ameliorated or even avoided these political problems?
  1. Consider television and the personal computer: Which product has been of more significance in altering American society?
  1. How has the Internet changed American society and the American economy? Do you believe these change are permanent?
  1. What economic changes have highlighted the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries? How have those changes altered American society?
  1. What role did education play in the “two-tiered” economy of the 1990s?
  1. Discuss America’s relationship with terrorism before and after the September 2001 attacks. In what ways had the nation confronted terrorism before then? How were the September 2001 attacks distinctive?
  1. How was America transformed by the events of September 11, 2001? How did the events of that day impact the second Bush administration? How did they transform American foreign policy? How did they alter the daily lives of Americans?
  1. Evaluate the Bush administration’s rationale and handling of the Iraq War. How does it compare to the first Bush administration’s handling of the 1991 Gulf War? What would you have done differently?
  1. Evaluate the role of immigrants and immigration in the U.S.? How and why did the U.S. population look different in 2010 than it had looked in 1965?
  1. Briefly explain the series of financial problems that beset the U.S. beginning in mid-2007. What triggered the problems and what has been the outcome?
  1. With a bit of hindsight, how would you characterize the 2008 presidential and congressional elections? Were they a “referendum” on the Bush administration or is it perhaps better described another way?
  1. What factors limited President Obama’s success in achieving his agenda in his first few years as president?

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