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THE REAGAN YEARSTHE REAGAN YEARS
The 1980SThe 1980S
The 1980 Election
- Pres. Carter runs for re-election against Republican
Ronald Reagan
- Key issues: the Iran hostages
high federal taxes
Reagan’s age and health
strength of US military
- 50% of all registered voters cast ballots
- Reagan’s victory seen as victory for conservatives
Reagan’s Domestic Policies
- supply side economics/ trickle down theory/ Reaganomics
- reduced government spending on social programs
- was shot in the chest in 1981 by Hinckley
- economic recovery begins 1983-1988
- greatly increased military spending; soaring deficit
- appoints first woman Supreme Court Justice; Sandra Day
O’Connnor
- very popular; called “The Great Communicator”
Reagan’s Foreign Policies
- Reagan saw USSR as “the evil empire”
- very concerned over spread of communism in Latin
America
- sent aid to anti-communist rebels in El Salvador (the
Sandinistas) and Nicaragua (the Contras)
-sent US Marines to Lebanon as peacekeepers; a suicide
bomber kills 241 marines
The Second Term
- Reagan easily wins re-election over Democrats Walter
Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro
- supports new B2 stealth bombers and the expensive
Star Wars satellite defense plan
- Michael Gorbachev becomes new leader of USSR and makes
important changes; “glasnost” and “perestroika”
- appoints two more conservative Supreme Court Justices
- the Iran-Contra Scandal; the “Teflon President”
-1987 stock market crashes, partly due to computer trading
-1987 INF Treaty with Gorbachev
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Giving his acceptance speech at the 1984 Republican National Convention
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