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The election of Ronald Reagan, 1980
• Reagan was well suited to lead the conservative crusade.
• He sided with the new right on social issues.
• He denounced the activist government and failed social engineering of 1960.
• He preached a populist political philosophy.
• Reagan got his start in life in the depressed 1930s.
• He helped purge communities of communists.
• By 1980 the Republican Party was ready to challenge the democrats.
• The ABC anybody but carter ran strong even in his own party.
• Carter showed dignity in defeat delivering the Farewell address that stresses his efforts to protect human rights and protect the environment.
The Reagan Revolution
• Reagan assembled a conservative cabinet of the best and the brightest and relied on them to make important decisions.
• James Watt was the secretary of the interior.
• Reagan declared that government isn’t the solution to the problem.
• In 1973 the budget of the department of health and welfare surpassed that of the department of defense.
• Reagan proposed a new fed budget that 35 billion mostly in social funds.
• A gunman shot Reagan on March 6, 1981.
• Reagan recovered 12 days later and continued to work.
The Battle of the Budget
• Reagan’s triumph amazed political observer’s especially defeated democrats.
• Reagan’s supply side economics seemed to be a beautiful theory mugged by a gang of brutal facts.
• Unemployment reached nearly 11% in 1982.
• Reagan also had reganomics to produce promised results.
• Federal budget results topped 100 billion in 1982.
• American international trade deficit reached a record 152 billion in 1987.
Reagan renews the Cold War
• Hard as nails Reagan attacked the Soviet Union in his Campaign speeches.
• He saw no reason to soften up.
• He believed in negotiating with the soviets but only from a position of strength.
• Reagan in March launched the SDI.
• This emphasized defense rather than offense.
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