CHAPTER 26: THE TRIUMPH OF

CONSERVATISM, 1969–1988

Title 1X• A ban on gender discrimination in higher education

• is a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity

Nixon and China• Full diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of

China were not established until 1979, but Nixon’s visit sparked a dramatic increase in trade between the two countries.

Nixon and the Great Society• More efficient administration

• Shift responsibility to the states

• Shift school desegregation to the court

Nixon Pardon• Among his first acts as president, Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon, shielding him from

prosecution for obstruction of justice.

Iranian Hostage Crisis• When Carter in November 1979 allowed the deposed shah of Iran to seek medical

treatment in the United States, Khomeini’s followers invaded the American embassy in Tehran and seized fifty-three hostages. They did not regain their freedom until January 1981, on the day Carter’s term as president ended. Events in Iran made Carter seem helpless and inept and led to a rapid fall in his popularity

Iran-Contra Affair

• Scandal of the second Reagan administration involving sales of arms to Iran in partial exchange for release of hostages in Lebanon and use of the arms money to aid the Contras in Nicaragua, which had been expressly forbidden by Congress.

Family Assistance Plan• A ''negative income tax'' that would replace Aid to Families with Dependent

Children (AFDC) by having the federal government guarantee a minimum income for all Americans.

Block Grants• Grants given to states to spend as they see fit, rather than for specific purposes.

San Antonio Independent School District V. Rodriguesz • A 5-4 Court majority ruling that the Constitution did not require equality of school

funding

Reverse Discrimination• Claims that, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause,

minorities were granted special advantages over whites.

Regents of the University of California V. Bakke• Case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the California university

system�s use of racial quotas in admissions but allowed the use of race as one factor in admissions decisions.

• was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. It upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy.

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks• Agreements which froze each country’s arsenal of intercontinental missiles capable

of carrying nuclear warheads.

My Lai Massacre• An incident in which a company of American troops killed some 350 South

Vietnamese civilians.

• A mass killing of helpless inhabitants of a village in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, carried out in 1968 by United States troops under the command of Lieutenant William Calley.

War Powers Act• Law passed in 1973, reflecting growing opposition to American involvement in

Vietnam War; required congressional approval before president sent troops abroad

• Congress passed this to limit the power of the president in military affairs

• Congress also passed the congressional budget and impoundment act which forced the president to spend any money he attempted to hold onto

Stagflation• A combination of stagnant economic growth and high inflation present during the

1970s.

Misery Index• The sum of the unemployment and inflation rates

Helsinki Accords• Agreements made in 1975 between the United States and Soviet Union that, over

time, inspired movements for greater freedom within the communist countries of eastern Europe.

Camp David Peace Treaty• A peace agreement between Egypt and Israel facilitated by Jimmy Carter.

Neoconservatives• A group of intellectuals who charged that the 1960s had produced a decline in

moral standards and respect for authority

Regan Revolution• A reference to how Reagan reshaped the nation’s agenda and political language

more effectively than any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt

Reaganomics• Popular name for President Ronald Reagan’s philosophy of supply side economics,

which combined tax cuts with an unregulated marketplace.

• The ascendancy of conservation in the 1980’s can be partially attributed to the economic “stagflation” of the Carter years

• Regan espoused supply-side economic theory

• Supply-sides favored simultaneous tax cuts and reduction in spending to encourage investors and entrepreneurs

• Conservative author George Glides wrote “a successful economy depends on the proliferation of the rich”

Watergate• Watergate Scandal• Summer 1973-Senate investigation

• Damaging Senate hearings on cover-up

• White House tapes discovered

• Summer 1974• Nixon must relinquish tapes

• House Judiciary committee recommends impeachment

• August 9,1974• Nixon resigns

• Watergate Scandal Consequences• Demonstrates growing power of the executive branch

• Illustrates vitality of institutions• Press

• Federal judiciary

• Congress

• Watergate• Nixon had attorney general appoint a special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, to help in the

investigation• After, Cox asked Nixon to give him the tapes, Nixon ordered the attorney general to fire cox• Response to that, the attorney general resigned as well as top aides to him

Gerald Ford• Vice president

• Nixon appoint Gerald Ford as his new VP

• Nixon did release written transcripts of the tapes although they were heavily edited

• Supreme court ordered Nixon to hand over the tapes and he did

• Tapes revealed direct evidence of a cover up of the break-in

Jimmy Carter• James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician and member of the

Democratic Party who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace

Regan Revolution• following his overwhelming victory Reagan and his political allies began an effort to

reverse the political legacy of the New Deal and Great society

• His 1st Inaugural Address: “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem government is the problem”

• Regan was able to capitalize on the new conservative national sentiment with a simple message: low taxes. Smaller government and strong national defense

• Addition to delivering a clear, concise agenda, Reagan conveyed a sense of optimism and accessibility that earned him the title “the Great Communisator”

• Turoil of the 1960s and economic problems of 1970s made a conservative turn inevitable

• Watergate bought democrats more time

• Reagan was the attractive candidate republicans needed to assure decisive victory

Ronald Reagan• The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan

administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989

• Reagan Administration:1980-1988• Ascendancy of conservatism

• Promoted the concept that social programs had not solved poverty

• Did not favor social programs to aid the poor

• Social spending was incompatible with economic growth

• Did not support federal civil rights

Detente• Nixon more interested in foreign policy

• Henry Kissinger was his primary advisor

• Nixon and Kissinger had practical approach to diplomacy

• Cold war traditional Great Power struggle. Not ideological war with Communism

• Detente-Relaxation of tension with soviets

Détente: Tactics and Actions• Nixon’s 1972 visit to china and the “China Card”

• Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM)• Limited each side to 200 ABMs

• Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)• Froze number of offensive ballistic missiles for 5 years