Finishing the last few chapters.

2. Conservativism on the Rise (Nixon)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCrxD19DHA8&l
ist=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s&inde
x=42
The (rest of the) Seventies (Ford
and Carter)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyN5LPHEQ_0
We’ll start this week with a recap of how and why conservatism
experienced a resurgence after the progressive 1960s. Then the
second video will look at the rest of the 1970s.

3. Background Info: Oil and the Global
Economy in the 1960s-1990s
3
In 1960, oil exporting countries formed an economic cartel called OPEC (Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries) to counterbalance American and Western conglomerates in an effort for their
countries to better benefit from the increasing global dependence on fossil fuels. Iran, Iraq, Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, and Venezuela were founding members. Today OPEC controls 44% of global oil
production, and holds over 80% of the world’s oil reserves.
In 1973 OPEC placed an embargo on the US and Western Europe. This was in response to Western
support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Oil and gas prices skyrocketed in the US and Western
Europe. This was followed by another embargo in 1979, which combined with conservative domestic
economic policies pushed the US into a recession dubbed “stagflation.”
Eventually, the economic boom for OPEC countries resulted in international banks issuing loans to
developing countries which by the 1990s resulted in many countries in Africa and Latin America being
in debt to major US and European banks, shifting the economic balance back to the West.

4. The 1980s…but first 1979
• In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan…
• There was no chance the US could intervene overtly
• Pres. Carter stops trade with the USSR and starts using the CIA to train and arm
Afghan rebels (How does that turn out?)
• The Soviets stay in Afghanistan for a decade before withdrawing (this basically
the Soviet Vietnam)
• Also in 1979, Islamist revolutionaries take over Iran from the Shah
• They stormed the Embassy and took 66 hostages
• The crisis is only ended after Carter agrees to release frozen Iranian assets to
ransom the hostages
• They are released after 444 days in January of 1981 (just as Ronald Reagan takes
office – he had won the 1980 presidential election)
• This unrest in the oil rich Iran raised fuel costs worldwide, leading to
further shortages in the US.

5. The 1980s…
• In the election of 1980 Jimmy Carter only won 6 states
• Reagan promised a new conservatism and stronger leadership than
Carter
• The economy had slowed under Carter and Reagan set about trying to
change that using “Reaganomics,” or trickle-down economics
• Reagan and Conservative Republicans cut taxes on the wealthy and on
corporations. It didn’t work, and pushed the US into a full-on recession
• The response was then to cut back on government spending, which
was complicated, since most spending was on the military (which could
not be cut because of the Cold War)
• Eventually, taxes had to be raised, but it was too little, too late

6. The 1980s…
• Reagan was particularly bad for labor unions and actively sought to reduce
their power
• He did appoint Sandra Day O’Connor (bottom left) to the Supreme Court (a
brief progressive moment)
• 1983 – Your illustrious professor was born just after Hurricane Alicia hit the
Texas Gulf Coast
• In 1984 Reagan defeats Walter Mondale largely because he promised not to
raise taxes again. Mondale is remembered for choosing Geraldine Ferraro as
his VP running mate (bottom right)
• The federal deficit tripled under Reagan’s presidency

7. Ugly CarsThe steep jump in oil prices in the late 1970s and early 1980s put a halt to the production
of larger vehicles with big engines, resulting in the increase of more fuel efficient cars
from Japanese companies (like Honda and Toyota), and the abominations of the 1980s
domestic brands. I mean, really, it was like they thought cars had to be ugly to be more
fuel efficient…
7

8. The 1980s…
• In 1986 it came out that the US was secretly selling arms to Iran, then used the
money to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua – this is the Iran-Contra Affair
• In 1987 there was a stock market crash (the Dow lost 22.6%)
• AIDS begins to spread in America
• The Federal Government completely ignores the epidemic, until a doctor named Anthony Fauci
(yes, that Dr. Fauci) convinced the conservative leaders that this was a serious problem.
• The use of hard drugs like Crack/Cocaine and Heroin rose
• Prompting the “War on Drugs,” which predominantly targeted (targets) POCs
• That being said, the decade was not completely bad
• Computers see their mainstream debut (both Apple and Microsoft are founded)

9. The End of the Cold War
• Reagan takes a more hardline approach to the Cold War than
previous presidents
• Increased military spending to 25% of the federal budget
• Supports programs like “Star Wars,” the Strategic Defense Initiative
• Lasers in space to shoot down nukes (no, seriously)
• This never-ending increase in spending strained the Soviet economy
as they struggled to keep up
• This is often seen as one of the main reasons for the collapse
• After 1968 and the violent suppression of reform in Czechoslovakia
by Soviet troops, resistance within the Eastern Bloc becomes a civil
and social effort (rather than political)
• People would go to work at state jobs, remain party members, and “support”
state communism, while going to rock concerts, wearing smuggled blue jeans,
and transporting illegal Western books and records, they would even copy
Western music onto used X-rays, a cheap source of plastic (top right)

10. The End of the Cold War
• 1980-81 – In Poland, Solidarity (a labor union unsanctioned by the communist
government) strikes first in Gdansk (a major shipping hub), then across Poland.
• Solidarity had the support of the Catholic church.
• Martial Law was declared in Poland for over a year, but the Soviet military intervention many
expected to occur did not happen
• Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the USSR in 1985
• Wants to reform the government to help communism survive
• Perestroika (economic reforms) and Glasnost (social reforms)
• They backfire as people see this relaxation as permission to oppose the government
• In Eastern Europe this relaxation encourages many countries to hold elections,
most of which returned non-communist leadership
• November 1989 – the Berlin Wall begins being torn down
• Only Romania has a violent revolution, executing Ceausescu and his wife
• USSR does not intervene
• A military coup tries to take power from Gorbachev in 1990, but only lasts three
days
• Revolts spread in many of the SSRs, with some declaring independence
• Gorbachev Resigns in 1991, leaving no leader of the USSR
• The Collapse occurs in the first year of George H.W. Bush’s presidency

11. The 1990s – Present
(super fast, and just a few highlights…)

12. The US and Iraq
• From 1980 to 1988, Iraq and Iran fought a war. It began when Saddam Hussein,
concerned about the spread of Shiite fundamentalism, attacked Iran.
• Both the US and the USSR supported Iraq in their efforts against Iran, and
looked the other way as Hussein used chemical weapons and conducted
pogroms against Kurds within Iraq.
• Though Iran is viewed as the winner of the war, it resulted in virtually no
change geopolitically.
• In 1990, suffering from huge debt incurred fighting against Iran, Saddam
Hussein invaded his small, oil-rich neighbor, Kuwait. This ignited the First
Persian Gulf War. A UN coalition, led by the US, expelled Iraqi forced from
Kuwait, but left Hussein in power.
• Later, in 2003, alleging that Hussein had continued using chemical and
biological weapons (outlawed by the UN) the US invaded Iraq (the Second Gulf
War), overthrowing Hussein and fully occupying the country until 2011.
Currently, US soldiers still remain in Iraq to support Iraqi forces fighting ISIS
insurgents.

13. The Clinton Presidency
• William J. Clinton won the presidency in 1992 as a moderate Democrat
• This meant that George H. W. Bush served as a one-term president
• Clinton was successful against Bush for a number of reasons
• The economy had continued to suffer from the fallout of Reaganomics
• Bush had raised taxes, making him unpopular within his own party
• The end of the Cold War favored the Democrats, who supported a shift to domestic policy over
foreign policy
• Highlights of the Clinton Presidency
• A reduction in the budget deficit
• A prosperous economy
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
• The holding of peace talks between Palestinian and Israeli leaders
• The enforcement of UN and NATO airstrikes to end fighting in the Balkans in 1994 (Bosnia), and again
in 1999 (Kosovo)
• And last, but certainly not least, having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and
being impeached for lying to congress about it.

14. The US and Afghanistan
• If you remember, the US had supported insurgent groups fighting
the Soviet supported government from 1979-1989.
• Upon the Soviet withdraw from Afghanistan in 1989 there was a
civil war. The Islamic fundamentalist group, the Taliban gained
control of the country. Over the next few decades Afghanistan
began to harbor radical Islamist groups.
• After one of these groups, al-Qaeda, attacked the US on September
11, 2001, the US invaded Afghanistan and has spent the years since
attempting to help the current government retain control of the
country.
• This all occurred during the first year of the presidency of George
W. Bush and the response against Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, and the
later invasion of Iraq would shape much of his two terms as
president.

15. Final Thoughts
• We’re going to go ahead and stop
there. The housing bubble burst in
2008 (straddling the Bush and
Obama presidencies), pushing the
US into a recession.
• For a recap of the Obama
Presidency and the early stages of
the Trump presidency you can
finish Chapter 32.
• Be sure to post in the discussion
board this week, and post your
Final Review assignment next
week. The final exam will be due
May 10th at 11:59pm.
Barack Obama, the first person of
color elected President of the
United States