Do Now • What is a conservative? What is a liberal.• Answer the following question with true or false

answers:– School prayer, or at least a moment of silence should

be allowed in public schools.– Busing children to schools out of their neighborhoods to

achieve racial balance and desegregation is an infringement of individual rights.

– Taxes should be lowered for businesses so they will create more jobs and improve the economy.

– Private charities and not the govt. should support disadvantaged people such as the homeless.

Liberals

• In the late 1970s Liberals tended to believe that the federal government should play a significant role in improving the lives of all Americans.

• They valued social programs that helped the poor, unemployed and elderly.

• They also sponsored laws that protected the rights of minorities and women.

Conservatives

• Some conservatives felt the govt. endangered economic growth and individual choice.

• They felt liberal policies of the 1960s and 1970s left a legacy of rising inflation and enormous waste.

• They were concerned with the degeneration of society.

• They also criticized the liberal solution of “throwing money” at social problems.

• They were strictly anticommunist.

Activity

Prepare yourself to judge how old things are :)

Ford Carter Reagan

Aim: How did American presidents shape American history in the

second half of the 20th century?

I. Ford

• Gerald Ford came to power after Nixon was disgraced by the Watergate Scandal.

• Ford immediately pardoned Nixon. • Gerald Ford brought a long record of public service

to the white house.• His presidency is most known for his plan to defeat

“stagflation- high inflation combined with slow econ. growth and high unemployment.”

• WIN: Whip Inflation Now• Unfortunately…WIN as a clear failure…

II. Carter 1976-1980

• Carter destroyed Ford in the next election.• Carter was a born again Christian who had little

experience outside of being governor of Georgia.

• Carter’s administration was haunted by stagnation, energy shortages and inflation.

• Abroad he faced several crisis the most famous of which was the 1979 Iran Hostage crisis in which he failed to negotiate the release of all American captives.

• “This is the issue of this election, whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves” -Reagan, “a time for choosing” 1964

III. Reagan

• Conservatives had been on the ropes for years.

• However, the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 marked the full return of the conservatives back to power.

• He made clear his opposition to big government, his support for a strong military, and his faith in traditional values.

IV. Reaganomics

• Reagan brought controversial economic policies to the white house.

• Supply side economics: The theory that government can best stimulate the economy by cutting taxes and encouraging investment in business.

V. International Politics

• Intervention in Central America- The Reagan administration is notorious for its intervention in Latin American countries in the name of stopping communism. (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Grenada)

• Turmoil in the Middle East- Religious conflicts in the middle East increased tensions in the unstable region. (Iran-Iraq War)

President Reagan’s Position

• United States "could not afford to allow Iraq to lose the war to Iran", and that the United States "would do whatever was necessary and legal to prevent Iraq from losing the war with Iran."

Activity

• Creating wanted posters or commemorative plaques for Reagan!