9.2: Reagan and Conservatism
9.2: Explain the causes and effects of continuing policy debates about the role of the federal government over time.
Welcome to the very last unit of AP United States History! This unit covers everything from 1980 to the present and now, we’re going to be talking about the presidency of 40th President Ronald Reagan and conservatism.
Economics Under Reagan
In the Election of 1980, Reagan campaigned against Carter and due to general dislike for Carter’s presidency, Reagan won 45 states and was elected as the 40th President.
Reagan practiced Reaganomics, which advocated for supply-side economies, meaning that the government should increase the supply of goods as much as possible to revive the economy. This was different from the Keynesian economics that the Democrats practiced, which relied on government spending to increase demand as much as possible, instead of supply. Under Reagan, many tax cuts were made to increase investment and production in the private sector, but this also increased wealth inequality because the reduced taxes made the rich get richer.
In 1981, the Economic Recovery Act was passed, which reduced personal income taxes by 25% over the next three years. In addition, many other forms of taxes, such as corporate income taxes, capital gains taxes, and inheritance taxes received cuts as well. As Reaganomics took hold and many businesses and agencies received budget cuts, the economy rebounded and started recovery in 1983. But still, wealth inequality greatly increased and while the standard of living of the middle class stayed stagnant, the upper class went from earning six figures to earning millions.
But Reagan also really increased military spending in the United States. And as a result of the tax cuts, by the mid-1980s, the United States was losing more than $200 billion a year and by 1985, the U.S. became a debtor nation.
NASA, Drugs, AIDS, and the Supreme Court
In 1981, NASA’s space shuttle fleet started its first launch and started 30 years of space missions, ending in 2011.
Also in 1981, Reagan vowed to crack down on drugs and greatly increased penalties for drug crimes, causing the number of people imprisoned for drug offenses to go from 50,000 in 1980 to over 400,000 in 1997, leading to the problem of prison overpopulation today. In addition, the “Just Say No” campaign was launched, which encouraged children to just say no to drugs.
During Reagan’s presidency, there was also the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s. At first, many believed that AIDS was a gay disease and this led to a new rise in distrust and discrimination against gay men. Due to the Reagan administration’s slow reaction to the epidemic when it first started and the stigma against AIDS, more than 300 thousand people had died from it by 1996.
Another important aspect of Reagan’s presidency was his Supreme Court nominations. He appointed three conservative judges: Sandra Day O’Connor (the first woman in the Supreme Court), Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy. Led by a new Chief Justice, William Rehnquist, the Supreme Court became highly conservative and weakened affirmative action along with limiting Roe v. Wade by allowing states to impose regulations on abortion.
After the New Deal and the Great Society, many conservatives had disliked the power of the federal government and the amount of government spending. They blamed 39th President Jimmy Carter for stagflation, high gas prices, and the weak American economy. In addition, during this time, crime was rising alongside anti-war protests, which conservatives disliked. Many of these conservatives also opposed affirmative action. And as Carter’s first term ended, inflation reached the double-digits and the United States entered a recession.
