what was the result of present reagans ledge to reduce federal spending

The Reagan Administration

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States, serving from 1981 to 1989.

Learning Objectives

Compare and contrast the policies of President Reagan and those of President Carter.

Key Takeaways

Fundamental Points

• Reagan made the transition from an interim career to a career as a politician in the 1950s, following a job every bit the spokesperson for Full general Electric.
• Reagan came to national political prominence with an influential spoken communication on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964, winning election equally Governor of California in 1966 and 1970.
• After declining to win the nomination as Republican presidential candidate in 1968 and 1976, Reagan was elected President of the United States in 1980 and 1984.
• Every bit president, Reagan's domestic policy involved lowering taxes to stimulate growth, anti-inflationary monetary policy, deregulation of the economy, and reducing government spending.
• Reagan'south foreign policy took a difficult anti-communist line, aiding anti-communist movements around the earth, describing the Soviet Union as the "evil empire," and engaging in an artillery race.
• Reagan'due south presidency is credited with generating an ideological renaissance amid American conservatives, although some of his policies also receive strong criticism.

Key Terms

• détente: A term frequently used in reference to the general easing of the geo-political tensions between the Soviet Union and the United states of america, beginning in 1969 equally a foreign policy of U.South. Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
• Reaganomics: The economic ideas and policies of American President Ronald Reagan and his two administrations (1981-1989).
• Mikhail Gorbachev: A quondam Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991.
• deregulation: The procedure of removing constraints, especially government-imposed economic constraints.

Overview

Ronald Wilson Reagan (February half-dozen, 1911-June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United states of america, serving from 1981 to 1989. Prior to that, he was the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975, and a radio, motion-picture show, and telly actor.

Groundwork

Born in Tampico, Illinois, and raised in Dixon, Reagan was educated at Eureka College, earning a Available of Arts degree in economic science and sociology. Later his graduation, Reagan moved kickoff to Iowa to work as a radio broadcaster, and then to Los Angeles in 1937, where he began a career as an actor— start in films and afterward in television. Some of his most notable films include Knute Rockne, All American, Kings Row, and Bedtime for Bonzo. Reagan served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and later as a spokesman for General Electric (GE); his offset in politics occurred during his piece of work for GE. Originally a member of the Democratic Political party, his positions began shifting rightward in the late 1950s, and he switched to the Republican party in 1962. Afterwards delivering a rousing speech in support of Barry Goldwater'due south presidential candidacy in 1964, he was persuaded to seek the California governorship, winning two years later and over again in 1970. He was defeated in his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 as well as 1976, but won both the nomination and general election in 1980, defeating incumbent President Jimmy Carter.

Presidential Legacy

Every bit president, Reagan implemented sweeping new political and economic initiatives. His supply-side economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics," advocated reducing tax rates to spur economic growth, decision-making the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulating the economy, and reducing government spending. In his first term in office, Reagan survived an assassination attempt, took a hard line against labor unions, and ordered an invasion of Grenada. He was reelected in a landslide in 1984, proclaiming that it was "Forenoon in America."

Reagan's 2nd term was primarily marked by foreign matters, such as the ending of the Cold War, the 1986 bombing of Libya, and the revelation of the Iran-Contra affair. Publicly describing the Soviet Union every bit an "evil empire," he supported anti-communist movements worldwide and spent his outset term forgoing the strategy of détente past ordering a massive military buildup in an arms race with the Soviet Union. Reagan later negotiated with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, culminating in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the decrease of both countries' nuclear arsenals. Gorbachev'south attempts at reform, equally well every bit summit conferences with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his reorientation of Soviet strategic aims, contributed to the stop of the Cold State of war and the dissolution of the Soviet Wedlock.

Reagan left office in 1989. In 1994, the quondam president disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer'southward disease earlier in the year; he died ten years later at the historic period of 93. His presidency is credited for generating an ideological renaissance on the American political right.

Reagan's opinion on Socialism: In 1961, when Congress began to explore nationwide health insurance for the elderly under Social Security, Reagan made a recording for the American Medical Clan in which he denounced the idea (which was later adopted every bit Medicare) every bit "socialized medicine." Such a plan, Reagan warned his listeners, was the first stride to the nation's demise equally a free society.

The Election of 1980

In the ballot of 1980, Republicans won the presidency, control of the Senate, and 34 seats in the House of Representatives.

Learning Objectives

Assess Reagan's victory in the election of 1980

Key Takeaways

Primal Points

• Although incumbent President Jimmy Carter led Reagan in the polls in belatedly Oct, Reagan ultimately won 50.7% of the popular vote to Carter's 41%.
• The election of 1980 followed a period of economic problems, including low economic growth, loftier inflation and interest rates, and energy shortages.
• Reagan nominated his chief rival in the Republican primaries, George H.W. Bush, as his running mate, despite initial interest in former President Gerald Ford as a running mate.
• In the 1980 campaign, Reagan articulated his supply-side economics vision and his goal of inciting an economic revival by cut taxes and government spending.
• Reagan was strongly supported by a growing grouping of white, conservative, and very wealthy Americans, who emerged in the wake of the social reforms and cultural changes of the 1960s and 1970s.

Key Terms

• George H. W. Bush-league: An American politician who served every bit the 41st President of the United States (1989-1993); he had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States (1981-1989), a congressman, an ambassador, and a Director of Central Intelligence.

Overview

The 1980 presidential campaigns of both Republican Ronald Reagan, and incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter, were conducted during times of corking domestic concern—times that also included the ongoing Iranian hostage crisis. Reagan's campaign emphasized many of his fundamental principles: lowering taxes to stimulate the economy, reducing government interference in people's lives, strengthening states' rights, building up the national defense, and restoring the U.S. Dollar to a gold standard.

Reagan's Campaign

After receiving the Republican nomination, Reagan selected George H.W. Bush, one of his primary opponents, to be his running mate. During the presidential campaign, reporters posed questions to Reagan about his stance on the Briggs Initiative (also known as Proposition half dozen), a election initiative in Reagan's home country of California that proposed the banning of gays, lesbians, and supporters of LGBT rights from working in California's public schools. As the former governor of California, Reagan'due south opposition to the initiative was instrumental in its landslide defeat by Californian voters. Reagan published an editorial in which he stated that "homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles…" and that prevailing scientific stance suggests that a child'south sexual orientation cannot exist influenced by someone else.

Throughout the 1970'southward, the Us underwent a wrenching period of depression economic growth, high inflation and interest rates, and intermittent energy crises. Reagan was a proponent of supply-side economics, which argues that economic growth can be created most effectively by offer incentives for people to produce (supply) goods and services. Such incentives included adjusting income tax and capital gains tax rates. Accordingly, Reagan promised an economic revival that would affect the unabridged population. Reagan theorized that cutting tax rates would actually increase tax revenues because the lower rates would encourage people to work harder in guild to exist able to keep more of their money.

Reagan called for a drastic cutting in "big government" programs, and pledged to deliver a balanced budget for the first time since 1969. In the Republican primaries, Bush famously called Reagan'south economic policy "voodoo economics" because it promised to lower taxes and increment revenues at the aforementioned time.

Election Results

Reagan'south showing in the October televised argue boosted his campaign. Weeks before the ballot, Reagan had trailed Carter in most polls. Following his sole debate with President Carter on October 29, withal, Reagan overcame the poll deficit, and within i calendar week, the Associated Printing reported that the race was "as well shut to call."

Reagan ended up winning the election in a landslide, carrying 44 states with 489 balloter votes to Carter'southward six states (also every bit Washington, D.C.) and 49 electoral votes. Additionally, Reagan received 50.seven% of the popular vote while Carter took only 41% (Independent John B. Anderson, a liberal Republican, received 6.7%). Republicans captured the Senate for the first time since 1952, and gained 34 House seats, but the Democrats retained a majority.

Reagan's victory was the result of a combination of dissatisfaction with the presidential leadership of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in the 1970s, and the growth of the New Right. This group of conservative Americans included many very wealthy fiscal supporters, and emerged in the wake of the social reforms and cultural changes of the 1960s and 1970s. Many were evangelical Christians, like those who joined Jerry Falwell'southward Moral Majority, and opposed the legalization of abortion, the feminist movement, and sex activity education in public schools. Reagan also attracted people, often dubbed neoconservatives, who would not previously have voted for the same candidate equally conservative Protestants did. Many were eye- and working-course people who resented the growth of federal and state governments, specially benefit programs, and the subsequent increment in taxes during the late 1960s and 1970s. They favored the revenue enhancement revolts that swept the nation in the late 1970s under the leadership of predominantly older, white, middle-class Americans, which had succeeded in imposing radical reductions in local property and state income taxes.

Voter turnout reflected this new conservative swing, which not simply swept Reagan into the White Firm, just created a Republican majority in the Senate. Only 52%of eligible voters went to the polls in 1980, the lowest turnout for a presidential ballot since 1948. Those who did cast a election were older, whiter, and wealthier than those who did not vote. Potent support amid white voters, those over 45 years of historic period, and those with incomes over $fifty,000, proved crucial for Reagan's victory.

Reagan 1980 Entrada: Reagan campaigns with married woman Nancy and Senator Strom Thurmond (correct) in S Carolina, 1980.

Free Enterprise Economics and Reaganomics

"Reaganomics" refers to the economic policies promoted past U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s.

Learning Objectives

Analyze the theoretical justification, also as the critiques, of "Reaganomics."

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• The four pillars of Reagan's economical policy were to reduce the growth of government spending, reduce income revenue enhancement and capital gains tax, reduce government regulation of the economy, and control money supply to reduce aggrandizement.
• Reagan implemented policies based on supply-side economics, and advocated a classical liberal and laissez-faire philosophy, seeking to stimulate the economy with large, across-the-board tax cuts that especially benefited the wealthiest Americans.
• As a corollary to supply-side economics, Reagan affirmed "trickled-down economics," a theory which held that tax cuts on the investor class would stimulate investment; more investment would lead to lower unemployment and high wages, benefiting the poorest Americans.
• During the Reagan administration, the number of Americans living in poverty increased and many key services to depression-income groups were cut.
• Income inequality increased nether the Reagan assistants, with rises in the percent of wealth accounted for by the highest income brackets, and declines in the percentage of wealth deemed for by the lowest income bracket.

Fundamental Terms

• Reaganomics: The economical ideas and policies of American President Ronald Reagan and his 2 administrations (1981-1989).
• "Trickle-Down Economics": A term in United States politics that refers to the idea that tax breaks or other economic benefits provided by government to businesses and the wealthy will do good poorer members of order by improving the economic system as a whole.
• Arthur Laffer: An American economist who commencement gained prominence during the Reagan assistants equally a member of Reagan's Economical Policy Informational Board (1981-1989); all-time known for his analogy of the theory that in that location exists some tax charge per unit betwixt 0% and 100% that volition outcome in maximum revenue enhancement revenue for governments.

Economics of the Reagan Administration

Reagan's primary goal upon taking office was to stimulate the sagging economic system while simultaneously cutting both government programs and taxes. His economical policies, called " Reaganomics " by the press, were based on a theory called supply-side economics, about which many economists were skeptical. The four pillars of Reagan'due south economic policy were to reduce the growth of government spending, reduce income tax and capital gains tax, reduce government regulation of economy, and control money supply to reduce inflation.

Theoretical Justification

Influenced by economist Arthur Laffer of the University of Southern California, Reagan cut income taxes for those at the top of the economical ladder (the wealthiest of Americans), which was supposed to motivate the rich to invest in businesses, factories, and the stock market in anticipation of high returns. Co-ordinate to Laffer'due south argument, this would somewhen translate into more jobs further down the socioeconomic ladder. Economic growth would besides increase the total tax revenue—even at a lower tax charge per unit. In other words, proponents of "trickle-downwards economics" promised to cut taxes and rest the budget at the same fourth dimension. Reaganomics also included the deregulation of industry and higher interest rates to control inflation; notwithstanding, these initiatives preceded Reagan and were conceived in the Carter assistants.

Reagan'south Entrada and Skepticism

Many politicians, including Republicans, were wary of Reagan'southward economic program; fifty-fifty his eventual vice president, George H. Westward. Bush-league, had referred to it as "voodoo economics" when competing with him for the Republican presidential nomination. When Reagan proposed a xxx% cut in taxes to be phased in over his first term in office, Congress balked. Opponents argued that the revenue enhancement cuts would benefit the rich and not the poor, who needed help the most. In response, Reagan presented his plan straight to the people.

Reagan was an articulate spokesman for his political perspectives and was able to garner support for his policies. Often called "The Slap-up Communicator," he was noted for his power, honed through years every bit an role player and spokesperson, to convey a mixture of empathy and concern, while taking humorous digs at his opponents. In his 1980 entrada speeches, Reagan presented his economic proposals as merely a return to the free-enterprise principles that had been in favor before the Great Low. Americans found this rhetorical style extremely compelling. Public support for the plan, combined with a surge in the president'due south popularity after he survived an assassination attempt in March 1981, swayed Congress, including many Democrats. On July 29, 1981, Congress passed the Economic Recovery Tax Act, which phased in a 25% overall reduction in taxes over a period of 3 years.

Implementing the Policies

Taxation Decreases and Increases

During Reagan's presidency, federal income tax rates were lowered significantly with the signing of the bipartisan Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, which lowered the meridian marginal tax subclass (for the wealthiest Americans) from seventy% to 50%, and the lowest bracket (for the poorest Americans) from fourteen% to 11%. The Chore Training Partnership Deed of 1982 initiated one of the nation's start public/private partnerships and a major part of the president'south job creation plan. The Tax Reform Deed of 1986, another bipartisan effort championed by Reagan, further reduced the elevation charge per unit to 28%, raised the bottom subclass from eleven% to xv% (significant the poorest Americans would pay more than), and cutting the number of tax brackets to four.

Conversely, Reagan signed into police force taxation increases of some nature in every year from 1981 to 1987 in order to continue funding such government programs equally the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA), Social Security, and the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (DEFRA). Despite the fact that TEFRA was the "largest peacetime revenue enhancement increase in American history," Reagan is amend known for his revenue enhancement cuts and lower-taxes philosophy.

Budget Cuts

Reagan's policies proposed that economic growth would occur when marginal tax rates were low plenty to spur investment, which would then lead to increased economical growth, higher employment, and higher wages. Critics labeled this "trickle-downward economics"—the conventionalities that tax policies that benefit the wealthy will create a "trickle-down" outcome to the poor. Questions arose near whether Reagan's policies benefited the wealthy more than those living in poverty, and many poor and minority citizens viewed Reagan equally indifferent to their struggles. These views were exacerbated by the fact that Reagan's economic regimen included freezing the minimum wage at $three.35 an hour, slashing federal assist to local governments by 60%, cutting the budget for public housing and Section 8 rent subsidies in half, and eliminating the antipoverty Community Development Cake Grant program. The widening gap between the rich and poor had already begun during the 1970s before Reagan'southward economic policies took effect. Along with Reagan's 1981 cut in the top regular tax rate on unearned income, he reduced the maximum capital gains rate to only xx%—its everyman level since the Hoover assistants.

Post-obit his less-regime intervention views, Reagan cutting the budgets of non-military programs, including Medicaid, food stamps, federal teaching programs, and the Ecology Protection Agency. While he protected entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, his administration attempted to purge many people with disabilities from the Social Security disability rolls.

Deregulating the Economy

Reagan also focused on deregulating industry and weakening the power of labor unions. Banks and savings and loan associations were deregulated. Pollution control was enforced less strictly past the Environmental Protection Agency, and restrictions on logging and drilling for oil on public lands were relaxed. Believing the complimentary marketplace was cocky-regulating, the Reagan administration had little use for labor unions, and in 1981, the president fired 12,000 federal air traffic controllers who had gone on strike to secure ameliorate working atmospheric condition (which would also take improved the public'southward safety). His action effectively destroyed the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organisation (PATCO), and ushered in a new era of labor relations in which, following his example, employers simply replaced striking workers. The weakening of unions contributed to the leveling off of real wages for the average American family during the 1980s.

Effects

Inflation and Unemployment Rates

President Ronald Reagan's tenure marked a time of economic prosperity for some Americans and the opposite for many others. Reagan's economic policymakers succeeded in breaking the bike of stagflation that had been plaguing the nation, but at pregnant toll. In its attempt to curb high inflation with dramatically increased interest rates, the Federal Reserve as well triggered a deep recession. Inflation did drop during Reagan's presidency, but borrowing became expensive and consumers spent less.

In Reagan's first years in office, bankruptcies increased and unemployment reached most 10%, its highest level since the Great Low. Homelessness became a significant problem in cities, a fact the president made light of past suggesting that the press exaggerated the problem and that many homeless people chose to alive on the streets. Economical growth resumed in 1983, and gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an boilerplate of iv.5% during the residuum of his presidency. By the terminate of Reagan's second term in function, unemployment had dropped to nearly 5.3%, but the nation was nearly $3 trillion in debt. An increase in defense spending coupled with $3.6 billion in taxation relief for the 162,000 American families with incomes of $200,000 or more fabricated a balanced budget, one of the president's campaign promises in 1980, impossible to achieve.

Low income groups were also afflicted by the reduction of social spending, and inequality throughout the nation increased. The share of full income received by the tiptop 5% highest-earning households grew from xvi.5% in 1980 to 18.iii% in 1988, and the share of the 2nd highest fifth of households increased from 44.i% to 46.iii% during this. In contrast, the share of total income of the lowest 5th of households fell from four.ii% in 1980 to 3.8% in 1988, and the 2d poorest fifth barbarous from x.two% to nine.6%.

The National Debt

In gild to cover newly spawned federal upkeep deficits, the The states borrowed heavily both domestically and abroad, raising the national debt from $997 billion to $2.85 trillion. As a result, the Usa went from being the world'due south largest international creditor to becoming the world's largest debtor. Reagan described the new debt every bit the "greatest disappointment" of his presidency.

U.S. Culture: From Hippies to Yuppies

The Reagan years were a complicated era of social, economic, and political change, with many trends operating simultaneously and sometimes at cross-purposes. While many suffered, others prospered. The 1970s had been the era of the hippie, and Newsweek magazine declared 1984 to be the "yr of the Yuppie." Yuppies, whose name derived from "(y)oung, (u)rban (p)rofessionals," were akin to hippies in beingness young people whose interests, values, and lifestyle influenced American culture, economy, and politics, just as the hippies' credo had washed in the tardily 1960s and 1970s. Different hippies, withal, yuppies tended to be materialistic and focused on prototype, comfort, and economic prosperity. Although liberal on some social issues, they were economically conservative. Ironically, some yuppies were sometime hippies who gave upwards their crusade confronting "the establishment" to become businessmen.

Reagan's Accost on Taxes: Ronald Reagan'southward televised address from the Oval Office, in which he outlined his programme for tax reduction legislation; July 1981.

Battles in the Courts and Congress

President Reagan made many new court appointments during his administration and ran into challenges with the Democrats in Congress.

Learning Objectives

Appraise Reagan'southward Nominations for the Supreme Court, and his relationship with Congress

Key Takeaways

Primal Points

• President Reagan'due south Court appointees included Sandra Day O'Connor, Anton Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and William Rehnquist as Primary Justice. President Reagan appointed Justice Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court, after his initial nominee, Robert Bork, did non receive Senate confirmation.
• President Reagan made a total of 376 judicial appointments, 83 to U.S. Court of Appeals, and 290 to U.S. District Courts; only 9 were not confirmed.
• Reagan's appointees eschewed judicial activism, arguing that courts should interpret laws as enacted; nevertheless, critics charged that these judges were equally active on behalf of big business organisation interests equally liberal justices had been on behalf of other interests.
• Adherence to the principle of stare decisis ensured that the Supreme Court's new conservative majority did not overturn the more than controversial decisions of the approachable Warren court.
• Congressional Democrats resisted Reagan's spending cuts in domestic programs, including Social Security, Medicaid, and federal education programs.

Key Terms

• Warren Court: The Supreme Court of the United States between 1953 and 1969. It led a liberal bulk that used judicial power in dramatic manner to the consternation of bourgeois opponents. During this time, civil rights, civil liberties, judicial power, and the federal power were expanded in dramatic ways.
• Robert Bork: An American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. He served as a Yale Police force Schoolhouse professor, Solicitor General, Interim Chaser General, and judge for the Usa Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was nominated in 1987 to the Supreme Courtroom by President Ronald Reagan, but was rejected past the Senate.
• stare decisis: A legal principle by which judges are obliged to respect the precedents established by prior decisions.

The Judiciary

Supreme Court Nominations

In 1981, President Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to fill up the Supreme Court Justice vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Potter Stewart, equally he had promised during his 1980 presidential campaign. O'Connor was a conservative Republican and strict constructionist. Though the far-right of the Republican Party was dissatisfied past O'Connor, who refused to condemn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion and supported the federal Equal Rights Amendment, Senate Republicans and the vast majority of Americans canonical the pick, and she was confirmed unanimously past the Senate. O'Connor would later take more moderate positions.

In 1986, during his 2nd term, President Reagan elevated Justice William Rehnquist to succeed outgoing Primary Justice Warren Burger, and named Antonin Scalia to occupy the seat left by Rehnquist. In 1987, when Associate Justice Louis Powell retired, Reagan nominated conservative jurist Robert Bork to the loftier court. Within 45 minutes of Bork's nomination to the Court, Democrat Ted Kennedy took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork in a nationally televised speech, declaring:

Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens ' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not exist taught nearly evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the government, and the doors of the federal courts would be close on the fingers of millions of citizens.

The rapid response of Kennedy's "Robert Bork'southward America" speech stunned the Reagan White House; though conservatives considered Kennedy's accusations slanderous ideological smears on a well-qualified candidate for the bench, the attacks went unanswered for two and a half months. Bork refused to withdraw himself and his nomination was rejected 58-42; Anthony Kennedy was somewhen confirmed in his place.

Other Nominations

Reagan appointed 83 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals and 290 judges to the United States commune courts. His full of 376 appointments is the most by any president. Reagan appointed many leading conservative academics to the intermediate The states Courts of Appeals, including Bork, Ralph Thou. Winter, Jr., Richard Posner, and Frank Easterbrook. Most of these nominations were not controversial, although a handful of candidates were singled out for criticism by civil rights advocates and other liberal critics. 9 nominees for various federal appellate judgeships were not confirmed. In some cases, the nominations were non processed by the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee before Reagan's presidency concluded, while in other cases, nominees were rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee or even blocked by unfriendly members of the Republican Party. Both his Supreme Court nominations and his lower court appointments were in line with Reagan's expressed philosophy that judges should interpret law as enacted and not "legislate from the bench." By the stop of the 1980s, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court had put an end to the perceived "activist" trend begun nether the leadership of Principal Justice Earl Warren. Some argued that the conservatives justices were as activist, only that their sympathies lay with corporate America, rather than with ceremonious rights. However, general adherence to the principle of stare decisis, along with minority support, left most of the major landmark case decisions (such as Chocolate-brown, Miranda, and Roe 5. Wade) of the previous three decades still continuing equally binding precedent.

Human relationship with Congress

Reagan'southward back up for an increased defense upkeep at the pinnacle of the Common cold War was supported by Congressional Democrats and Republicans. However, Congress was reluctant to follow Reagan's proposed cuts in domestic programs. In accordance with Reagan's less-government intervention views, many domestic government programs were cut or experienced periods of reduced funding during his presidency; these included Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps, and federal education programs. Though Reagan protected entitlement programs, such equally Social Security and Medicare, in i of the about widely criticized actions of his administration, Reagan attempted to purge tens of thousands of people with disabilities from the Social Security inability roles, alleging they were not "truly disabled." Funding for government organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency, were also reduced. He cut the EPA 'south budget by 22%, and his director of the EPA, Anne M. Burford, resigned over alleged mismanagement of funds. Tax breaks and increased military spending resulted in an increment of the national budget deficit, and led Reagan and Congress to approve two tax increases, aiming to preserve funding for Social Security, though not as high as the 1981 tax cuts.

Reagan with Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, 1987: Reagan nominated conservative jurist Robert Bork to the high courtroom. Within 45 minutes of Bork's nomination to the Court, Ted Kennedy (D-MA) took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork in a nationally televised spoken language.

The Gay Rights Movement

The Gay Rights Movement grew out of the Gay Liberation Move of the 1970's, pursuing equality through the framework of civil rights.

Learning Objectives

Analyze the Gay Rights Movement

Key Takeaways

Primal Points

• From the Gay Liberation Motion of the early 1970s arose a more reformist and unmarried-issue Gay Rights Movement of the 80s and 90s, which portrayed gays and lesbians as a minority group and used the language of civil rights. Harvey Milk became the first openly gay American elected to public office in 1977, before he was assassinated in 1978.
• The "Salve Our Children" campaign supported a police that banned homosexuals from serving as teachers in public schools, leading to many firings of gay men and lesbians, and posing a setback to the Gay Rights Move.
• In the 1980s, the rise of HIV/AIDS, which became importantly and inaccurately associated with the gay community, grew to crunch proportions as heterosexuals and the federal government failed to deed.
• In response to inaction by the government, gay men organized advancement groups, such as ACT UP, to fight for research on HIV/AIDS.

Key Terms

• Gay Liberation movement: A social movement of the belatedly 1960s and early to mid 1970s that urged lesbians and gay men to "come up out" by publicly revealing their sexuality to family, friends, and colleagues as a grade of activism, and to counter shame with gay pride.

Overview

From the anarchistic Gay Liberation Movement of the early 1970s arose a more reformist and unmarried-issue Gay Rights Movement of the 80s and 90s. This new movement portrayed gays and lesbians equally a minority grouping and used the language of civil rights.

Gay and lesbian rights advocates argued that ane's sexual orientation does not reflect on one'south gender. Gays and lesbians were presented as identical to heterosexuals in all ways except private sexual practices; from within this more conformist movement, butch "bar dykes" and flamboyant "street queens" were seen equally negative stereotypes of lesbians and gays. Many transgender activists, such as Sylvia Rivera and Beth Elliot, were sidelined or expelled from the dominant Gay Rights Motion.

Pregnant Events of the Menstruation

In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Lath of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. Milk was later on assassinated by Dan White, a former urban center supervisor, in 1978.

During that same yr, Anita Bryant, a former Miss America contestant, began the "Salvage Our Children" campaign in Dade County, Florida. This proved to be a major set-back in the Gay Rights Movement. The campaign promoted an subpoena to the laws of the county, which resulted in the firing of many public school teachers on the suspicion that they were homosexual.

Marker Segal and Gay Press

As a young gay activist, Mark Segal understood the power of media. In 1973, Segal disrupted the CBS evening news with Walter Cronkite—an event covered in newspapers beyond the country and viewed past sixty% of American households, many seeing or hearing about homosexuality for the first time. Before the networks agreed to put a stop to censorship and bias in the news partitioning, Segal went on to disrupt The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Today Prove with Barbara Walters. As a pioneer of the local gay press move, he was one of the founders and sometime president of both The National Gay Press Association and the National Gay Newspaper Guild. He is also the founder and publisher of the accolade-winning Philadelphia Gay News (PGN).

International Events

In 1979, a number of people in Sweden called in ill with a case of existence homosexual, in protest of homosexuality being classified equally an affliction. This was followed by an activist occupation of the main part of the National Board of Health and Welfare. Within a few months, Sweden became the outset country in the world to remove homosexuality every bit an illness.

In Canada, the coming into effect of Section xv of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1985 saw a shift in the Canadian gay rights motion, as Canadian gays and lesbians moved from liberation to litigious strategies. Premised on Charter protections and on the notion of the immutability of homosexuality, judicial rulings rapidly advanced rights, including those that compelled the Canadian government to legalize same-sex union. Information technology has been argued that while this strategy was extremely effective in advancing the safety, dignity, and equality of Canadian gays and lesbians, its emphasis on sameness and conformity to the mainstream came at the expense of difference, and may have undermined opportunities for more meaningful change.

The AIDS Crisis

In the early on 1980s, doctors noticed a disturbing trend—young gay men in big cities, specially San Francisco and New York, were being diagnosed with, and somewhen dying from, a rare cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma. Because the illness was seen nearly exclusively in male homosexuals, information technology was rapidly dubbed "gay cancer." Doctors soon realized it often coincided with other symptoms, including a rare course of pneumonia, and they renamed it "gay related immune deficiency" (Grid), although people other than gay men, primarily intravenous drug users, were dying from the affliction as well. The connexion between gay men and GRID—later on renamed human immunodeficiency virus/autoimmune deficiency syndrome, or HIV/AIDS—led heterosexuals to largely ignore the growing health crunch in the country, wrongly bold they were safe from its effects. The federal government also overlooked the disease, and calls for more money to enquiry and notice the cure were largely ignored, due to embedded social stigma confronting gays and lesbians.

Even after it became apparent that heterosexuals could contract the disease through blood transfusions and heterosexual intercourse, HIV/AIDS continued to exist associated primarily with the gay customs, especially past political and religious conservatives. Indeed, the religious correct regarded information technology as a class of divine retribution meant to punish gay men for their "immoral" lifestyle. President Reagan, e'er politically careful, was reluctant to speak openly about the developing crisis, fifty-fifty as thousands faced certain expiry from the disease.

With picayune assistance coming from the government, the gay community quickly began to organize its own response. In 1982, New York Metropolis men formed the Gay Men's Wellness Crisis (GMHC), a volunteer organization that operated an information hotline, provided counseling and legal assistance, and raised money for people with HIV/AIDS. Larry Kramer, one of the original members, left in 1983 and formed his own organization, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), in 1987. Human activity UP took a more militant approach, holding demonstrations on Wall Street, exterior the U.S. Nutrient and Drug Administration (FDA), and inside the New York Stock Substitution to call attention and shame the government into action. Ane of the images adopted by the group, a pink triangle paired with the phrase "Silence = Death," captured media attention and speedily became the symbol of the AIDS crisis.

Silence=Death: The AIDS crisis: The pink triangle was originally used in Nazi concentration camps to identify acts of homosexuality. Reclaimed by gay activists in New York as a symbol of resistance and solidarity during the 1970s, it was further transformed as a symbol of governmental inaction in the face of the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s.

The Election of 1984

Reagan won the ballot of 1984 in a landslide, winning 58.8% of the popular vote to Mondale'southward twoscore.6%, and a record 525 electoral votes.

Learning Objectives

Describe the ballot of 1984

Central Takeaways

Key Points

• Incumbent President Reagan was re-elected in the November 6 election in an balloter and popular vote landslide, winning 49 states. Reagan won a record 525 balloter votes total (of 538 possible), and received 58.8 percent of the pop vote.
• Democratic candidate Walter Mondale 's 13 electoral college votes (from his habitation state of Minnesota and the Commune of Columbia ) marked the lowest total of any major presidential candidate since Alf Landon's 1936 loss to Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• Mondale ran a liberal campaign, supporting a nuclear freeze and the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). He spoke against what he considered to be unfairness in Reagan'southward economic policies and the need to reduce federal budget deficits.
• Analysts of the election attributed the Republican victory to " Reagan Democrats," millions of southern whites and northern blue-neckband workers who traditionally voted Democrat, but who voted for Reagan considering they credited him with the economic recovery.

Central Terms

• Walter Mondale: An American Democratic Party politician who served every bit the 42nd Vice President of the Usa (1977-1981) under President Jimmy Carter, and as a The states Senator from Minnesota (1964-1976); he was the Democratic Political party's presidential candidate in the Usa presidential election of 1984.
• Reagan Democrats: Traditionally Democratic voters, especially white working-class Northerners, who defected from their party to support Republican President Ronald Reagan in both the 1980 and 1984 elections.

Overview

The United States presidential election of 1984 was held on Tuesday, November 6. The contest was between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan as the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale every bit the Autonomous candidate. Reagan carried 49 of the fifty states, becoming only the second presidential candidate to do so, later on Richard Nixon 's victory in the 1972 presidential election. Reagan'due south success was aided by a strong economical recovery from the deep recession of 1981-1982. Mondale'southward only balloter votes came from the District of Columbia and his home land of Minnesota, which he won by a mere 3,761 votes. Reagan's 525 electoral votes (out of 538) is the highest total e'er received past a presidential candidate. Mondale's thirteen electoral votes is also the 2nd-fewest always received by a second-place candidate, second only to Alf Landon's eight in 1936. In the national popular vote, Reagan received 58.eight% to Mondale'due south forty.6%. No candidate since then has managed to equal or surpass Reagan's 1984 balloter consequence. In improver, no postal service-1984 Republican candidate has managed to lucifer or better Reagan's balloter performance in the American Northeast, known to be a very Democratic region in modernistic times.

The Primaries

Only 3 Democratic candidates won whatsoever country primaries: Mondale, Gary Hart, and Jesse Jackson. Initially, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, after a failed bid to win the 1980 Democratic nomination for president, was considered the de facto front-runner of the 1984 master. However, afterward Kennedy ultimately declined to run, former Vice-President Mondale was so viewed every bit the favorite to win the Democratic nomination. Mondale had the largest number of political party leaders supporting him, and he had raised more coin than any other candidate. However, both Jackson and Hart emerged as surprising opponents. Mondale gradually pulled abroad from Hart in the consul count, and at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco on July 16, Mondale received the overwhelming back up of the united nations-elected super delegates from the party establishment to win the nomination.

The Campaign

Mondale ran a liberal campaign, supporting a nuclear freeze and the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). He spoke against what he considered to exist unfairness in Reagan's economic policies and the demand to reduce federal budget deficits. Reagan was the oldest president to accept always served (he was 73 years old past this indicate), and there were many questions about his capacity to endure the grueling demands of the presidency, specially after Reagan had a poor showing in his starting time contend with Mondale on Oct vii. He referred to having started going to church "here in Washington," although the debate was in Louisville, Kentucky; referred to military uniforms every bit "wardrobe"; and admitted to being "confused," among other mistakes. However, in the adjacent debate on October 21, Reagan effectively neutralized the issue by quipping, "I volition not brand historic period an issue of this entrada. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.

Results

Reagan was re-elected in the November half dozen ballot in an electoral and popular vote landslide. Analysts of the election attributed the Republican victory to "Reagan Democrats"—millions of Democrats who voted for Reagan, as in 1980. They characterized such Reagan Democrats as southern whites and northern blue neckband workers who voted for Reagan because they credited him with the economical recovery, saw Reagan as strong on national security issues, and perceived the Democrats as supporting the poor and minorities at the expense of the eye course. The Autonomous National Committee commissioned a study after the election that came to these conclusions; notwithstanding, it suppressed the "explosive report" out of fearfulness that it would offend its key voters.

Electoral College 1984: 1984 presidential electoral votes by state. Reagan (red) won every state except for Mondale'south home land of Minnesota, and Washington, D.C. (blue).

The Poor, the Homeless, and the Victims of AIDS

President Reagan has been criticized for his political responses to poverty, homelessness, and the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic.

Learning Objectives

Analyze Reagan's response to the AIDS epidemic, homelessness, and poverty

Fundamental Takeaways

Central Points

• Reagan's signing of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act greatly exacerbated homelessness among the mentally ill. The law lowered the standards for involuntary commitment in civil courtrooms, and was followed past meaning de-funding of 1,700 hospitals caring for mental patients.
• Churches, public libraries, and atria adopted stricter anti-vagrancy policies as the homeless population grew larger; together, these strategies effectively criminalized homelessness in many areas around the country.
• The 1980s too saw a standing tendency of deinstitutionalization of mental-health hospitals; information technology is believed that a large percentage of released patients ended up in the homeless system.
• Perchance the greatest criticism of President Reagan involves his silence near the AIDS epidemic spreading in the 1980s. Although AIDS was commencement identified in 1981, Reagan did not mention it publicly for several more years.
• Maybe in deference to the views of the powerful religious right, which inaccurately saw AIDS as a disease express to the gay male community and spread by "immoral" behavior, Reagan prevented his Surgeon General from speaking out about the epidemic.

Key Terms

• ACT Upward: The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power; an advocacy group for people with AIDS and HIV-related illnesses, founded in 1987 on the premise of direct action. It is all-time known for its dramatic protests during the height of the AIDS crunch in the belatedly 1980s and early 1990s.

Homelessness During the Reagan Era

The Customs Mental Wellness Human activity of 1963 was a predisposing factor in setting the stage for homelessness in the Usa. Long-term psychiatric patients were released from state hospitals, and were supposed to be sent to community mental health centers for treatment and follow-upwardly. The community mental health centers, however, were non adequately supported, and members of the released population were oft found living in the streets shortly afterwards release, with no sustainable back up system.

Many feel that Ronald Reagan's signing of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (1967) greatly exacerbated homelessness amongst the mentally ill. This law lowered the standards for involuntary delivery in ceremonious courtrooms, and was followed by pregnant defunding of 1,700 hospitals caring for mental patients.

Anti-Vagrancy Laws

Many places where people were one time allowed freely to loiter, or purposefully exist present, became areas that were off-limits to "vagrants." Churches, public libraries, and atria became stricter equally the homeless population grew larger. Park benches started to be designed so that no one could lie down on them. Some churches restricted admission when mass or services were non being held. Libraries began enforcing "no eyes shut," and sometimes even imposed dress codes. Some public places hired private security guards to carry out these policies, creating social tension.

All of these strategies together effectively criminalized homelessness in many areas around the land. The homeless population was banished to sidewalks, parks, under bridges, and subway and railroad tunnels. Many homeless people tried to become socially invisible to avoid enforcement of new anti-vagrancy penalties.

1980s Homelessness Crisis

The 1980s saw a standing trend of de-institutionalizing mental health hospitals, and large numbers of released patients ended up homeless. Many existing shelters and soup kitchens had to expand their facilities to arrange the larger number of homeless people. By the mid-1980s, there was also a dramatic increase in family unit homelessness. Tied to this was an increasing number of impoverished and runaway children, teenagers, and young adults creating a new sub-stratum of the homeless population.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

In response to the ensuing homelessness crisis, in that location was a push from concerned citizens beyond the land for the federal regime to provide help. Finally, in 1987, President Reagan signed into law the McKinney-Vento Homeless Aid Act. The McKinney Act originally had fifteen programs providing a spectrum of services to homeless people, including the Continuum of Intendance Programs— the Supportive Housing Program, the Shelter Plus Intendance Program, and the Single Room Occupancy Programme, likewise as the Emergency Shelter Grant Program. This remains the only piece of federal legislation that allocates funding to the directly service of homeless people.

Poverty Level

During the period from 1980-1988, the pct of the total population below the poverty level ranged from a low of 13.0% in 1980 and 1988, to a loftier of 15.2% in 1983. During Reagan'south first term, critics pointed to homelessness as a visible problem in America'due south urban centers. In the closing weeks of his presidency, Reagan told The New York Times that the homeless "make it their own pick for staying out there." Political opponents chided his "Trickle-downwards economic science" policies, due to the significant cuts in taxes for the wealthiest Americans; supporters pointed to the driblet in poverty later on his policies took upshot to validate that the tax cuts did indeed trickle down to the poor.

Reagan's Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis

Perhaps the greatest criticism surrounds Reagan'south silence well-nigh the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Although AIDS was first identified in 1981, Reagan did not mention it publicly for several more years, notably during a press conference in 1985 and several speeches in 1987. During the printing conference in 1985, Reagan expressed skepticism in allowing children with AIDS to continue in school. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had previously issued a report stating that "casual person-to-person contact as would occur amongst schoolchildren appears to pose no take a chance." During his 1987 speeches, Reagan supported pocket-size educational funding on AIDS, increased AIDS testing for union licenses, and mandatory testing for high-risk groups.

Reagan was widely criticized for not supporting more than active measures to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS. Nigh public officials and celebrities were besides afraid to bargain with this subject area until celebrity Elizabeth Taylor spoke out publicly about the awe-inspiring amount of people quickly dying from the new disease. Reagan prevented his Surgeon Full general, C. Everett Koop, from speaking out most the epidemic, possibly in deference to the views of the powerful religious right, which saw AIDS every bit a disease limited to the gay male community and spread by "immoral" beliefs.

When, in 1986, Reagan was highly encouraged by many other public officials to qualify Koop to consequence a study on the epidemic, he expected it to be in line with conservative policies; instead, Koop'southward Surgeon General'due south Report on Caused Allowed Deficiency Syndrome greatly emphasized the importance of a comprehensive AIDS education strategy, including widespread distribution of condoms, and rejected mandatory testing. This approach brought Koop into conflict with other administration officials, such as Pedagogy Secretary William Bennett. Because of the awareness-raising deportment of groups similar ACT Upward, Reagan responded in 1987 past appointing the Watkins Commission on AIDS, which was succeeded by a permanent advisory quango.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/the-reagan-administration/

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