The Carter Presidency

While Jimmy Carter had some notable achievements, such as the Camp David Accords, his administration suffered from legislative inexperience, a deepening economic recession, soaring inflation, and the Iranian hostage crisis. His sermonizing about the need for Americans to lead simpler lives compounded the public’s loss of faith in his presidency.

The Rise of Conservatism

Ronald Reagan’s charm, coupled with disillusionment over Carter’s presidency, won Reagan the election in 1980. The Republican insurgency was dominated by Christian conservatives like those who made up the Moral Majority. The migration of older Americans and others to conservative southern and western states increased the voting power of the so-called sunbelt, where voters were socially conservative and favored lower taxes and a smaller, less intrusive federal government.

Reagan introduced a “supply-side” economic philosophy, commonly called Reaganomics, that championed tax cuts for the rich, reductions in government regulations, cuts to social welfare programs, and increased defense spending. Reagan was unable to cut domestic spending, however, and the tax cuts failed to pay for themselves as promised. The result was a dramatic increase in the national debt.

Reagan’s military buildup, including preliminary development of a space-based antiballistic-missile system called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), helped force the Soviets to the negotiating table to conclude the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty—the beginning of the end of the cold war. But Reagan’s foreign-policy efforts were badly tarnished by the Iran-Contra affair, in which members of his administration sold American-made armaments to Iran in exchange for Iranian influence to secure the release of American hostages held in Lebanon (despite the president’s public claims that he would never deal with terrorists).

Americans in the eighties not only experienced unprecedented prosperity but also rising poverty and homelessness. Conservatives condemned (and dismissed) HIV/AIDS as a “gay” disease. The development of the microprocessor paved the way for the computer revolution, which dramatically increased productivity and communications while generating whole new industries. Consumerism flourished all too well during the eighties, the result of which was massive public and private debt.

Toward the end of the 1980s, democratic political movements emerged in Eastern Europe. In the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev’s steps to restructure the economy (perestroika) and promote more open policies (glasnost) led to further reform and the collapse of the Soviet Empire. But new trouble spots quickly emerged. Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990. When Iraq did not withdraw, American-led allied forces launched Operation Desert Storm, and the Iraqis surrendered within six weeks.

While Jimmy Carter had some notable achievements, such as the Camp David Accords, his administration suffered from legislative inexperience, a deepening economic recession, soaring inflation, and the Iranian hostage crisis. His sermonizing about the need for Americans to lead simpler lives compounded the public’s loss of faith in his presidency.

Ronald Reagan’s charm, coupled with disillusionment over Carter’s presidency, won Reagan the election in 1980. The Republican insurgency was dominated by Christian conservatives like those who made up the Moral Majority. The migration of older Americans and others to conservative southern and western states increased the voting power of the so-called sunbelt, where voters were socially conservative and favored lower taxes and a smaller, less intrusive federal government.

Reagan introduced a “supply-side” economic philosophy, commonly called Reaganomics, that championed tax cuts for the rich, reductions in government regulations, cuts to social welfare programs, and increased defense spending. Reagan was unable to cut domestic spending, however, and the tax cuts failed to pay for themselves as promised. The result was a dramatic increase in the national debt.

Reagan’s military buildup, including preliminary development of a space-based antiballistic-missile system called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), helped force the Soviets to the negotiating table to conclude the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty—the beginning of the end of the cold war. But Reagan’s foreign-policy efforts were badly tarnished by the Iran-Contra affair, in which members of his administration sold American-made armaments to Iran in exchange for Iranian influence to secure the release of American hostages held in Lebanon (despite the president’s public claims that he would never deal with terrorists).

Americans in the eighties not only experienced unprecedented prosperity but also rising poverty and homelessness. Conservatives condemned (and dismissed) HIV/AIDS as a “gay” disease. The development of the microprocessor paved the way for the computer revolution, which dramatically increased productivity and communications while generating whole new industries. Consumerism flourished all too well during the eighties, the result of which was massive public and private debt.

Toward the end of the 1980s, democratic political movements emerged in Eastern Europe. In the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev’s steps to restructure the economy (perestroika) and promote more open policies (glasnost) led to further reform and the collapse of the Soviet Empire. But new trouble spots quickly emerged. Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990. When Iraq did not withdraw, American-led allied forces launched Operation Desert Storm, and the Iraqis surrendered within six weeks.

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