I. Gerald Ford (38th President) Administration
A. Background

1. As Vice-President
   a. 10 Oct 73 - Spiro Agnew resigned as vice-president (second to do so; John C. Calhoun the first in 1832 - took a senate seat).
   b. 6 Dec 73 - Representative Gerald Ford (MI) was sworn in as veep, first under the 25th amendment.
2. His Ascension to the Presidency
   a. 9 Aug 74 - Nixon resigned as president to avoid possible impeachment.
   b. Ford - first president, not elected either as vice-president or president.
   c. Nelson Rockefeller was nominated as vice-president.
B. Domestic Issues
1. Early Actions
   a. 8 Sept 74 - Ford pardoned Nixon for any involvement in Watergate "to put it behind us."
   (1) Nixon did not admit to guilt, but to having made "mistakes."
   (2) A subsequent agreement recognized NIxon's title to the tape recordings and his right to destroy them, but preserved them for a 3-year period for court use.
   (3) Congress placed the tapes and Nixon administration papers in the custody and control of the federal government.
   b. 16 Sept - limited amnesty was offered for Vietnam draft resisters and military deserters: swear allegiance; give two years public service
   c. WIN (Whip Inflation Now) Program - voluntary emergency conservation + 5% surcharge on corporate profits and incomes over $15,000.
   d. 31 Dec 74 - ban on private possession of gold was lifted.
2. Bi-Elections of 1974
   a. Democrats gained in both Houses of Congress 61-37 Senate (2 independents); 43 seat gain in House 291-144.
   b. Democrats held 36 governorships.
3. Other Actions in 1974
   a. 5 Feb -- Patty Hearst kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army
   b. 8 Apr - Hank Aaron hit his 715th homerun breaking Babe Ruth's record and later retired with 733.
   c. 3 Oct - Frank Robinson became the first black manager in major league baseball (Cleveland Indians).
4. Actions in 1975
   a. 1 Jan - 17 Apr -- Nixon aides H.R. Haldeman , John Ehrlichman , John MItchell , and former Assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian were all convicted of crimes related to the coverup of Watergate, but Kenneth W. Parkinson , former lawyer for CREEP was acquited after a 64-day trial.
   b. 5 Sept - Assassination attempt by Sara Jane Moore in San Francisco.
   c. 28 Sept - Women were admitted to the three military academies.
5. Actions in 1976
   a. Feb - Red Dye # 2 banned as a carcinogen.
   b. Hyde Amendment cut off Medicaid funds for abortions.
   c. Although Ford opposed it, Congress approved loan guarantees to bail-out New York City, on the verge of bankruptcy.
6. Throughout Ford's administration, Congress enjoyed renewed power, partly the result of the imperial presidency of Nixon and his abuses of power.
C. Foreign Policy
1. Against Cambodia
   a. 12 May 75 - Mayaguez was seized by the Cambodians who charged it with spying.
   b. 14 May - military rescue operation undertaken (15 deaths, 50 wounded)
2. Space --17 Jul -- Apollo-Soyuz joint space hookup between US and USSR.
3. Intelligence
   a. 3 Nov 75 - George Bush nominated CIA director after Colby's firing
   b. A major restructuring of the intelligence community began in Feb 76 after the onslaught by the U.S. Senate investigations.
4. OPEC oil prices increase
   a. Ford's response to the energy crisis offered no lasting solutions, but incentives to prevent future shortages were discussed.
   b. The crisis ended when OPEC ended the oil embargo, as did the discussion on incentives for new sources of energy.
   c. The energy crisis intensified public debate over nuclear power.
   In 1975, an accident at Brown's Ferry Alabama, one of the world's largest nuclear reactors, fueled the opponents to nuclear energy.

James Earl Carter (39th President) Administration
A. Presidential Election of 1976

1. Candidates
   a. Democrats nominated Gov Jimmy Carter (GA) for president (after he came out of nowhere and won the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primary) and Sen Walter F. Mondale (MN) for vice-president.
   b. Republicans nominated Ford (narrowly selected over Gov Ronald Reagan of CA) and Sen Robert J. Dole for vicepresident
2. Campaign
   a. 27 Sep - first of three debates between incumbent and challenger.
   b. Two additional debates - Oct 6, Oct 22
   c. 15 Oct - first ever debate between vice-presidential candidates.
3. Results
   a. Carter was elected 297 - 240 electoral votes; 40,828,929 to 39,148,940
   b. Democrats retained control of Congress -- Senate 61-38 (1 ind); House 292-143
4. Carter the Man
   a. James Earl Carter Jr., nuclear physicist and former governor of GA, became the first president elected from the deep South since Zachary Taylor in 1848, and the first president since Wilson without prior experience in Washington.
   b. Elected as an outsider, he remained one, increasingly seeming cold and uncommanding, with no ability to inspire.
   c. His top priority was to cut spending, but inflation continued to rise, making Democrats in the New Deal liberal tradition to claim he was a closet Republican.
B. Domestic Issues
1. Old Business
   a. 21 Jan 77 - granted a presidential pardon to most Vietnam draft resisters
   b. May 77 - Nixon's AG John Mitchell began serving a prison term (2nd cabinet member to be indicted and convicted).
   c. In fairness
   (1) Carter administration was shackled by "a straitjacket of legislation" resulting from watergate -- campaign laws, impoundment act, War Powers Act
   (2) Although power was shifting to Congress, Carter's large Democratic majorities remained fragmented, with many newcomers unaccustomed to reflex obedience to established leadership.
   (3) 1980 -- 2,765 political-action committees (PACs ) existed, more than four times the number in 1974, to further complicate matters
2. Expansion of the Federal Bureaucracy
   a. Aug 77 - 12th Cabinet position created - Dept of Energy with James Schlesinger as the first secretary.
   b. Oct 79 - 13th Cabinet position created - Dept of Education
   (1) Shirley Hofstedler was the first secretary.
   (2) OldDept of HEW renamed Health and Human Services .
   c. A $1.6 billion "superfund" to cleqan up abandoned chemincal-waste sites was established
   d. 100 million + acres of Alaskan land put into the federal government's protection as national parks, national forests and wildlife refuges.
3. He agreed to Congressional loan guarantees of $1.5 billion to "bailout" the Chrysler Corporation, if Chrysler would get wage cuts from employees, concessions from banks and state and local aid.
4. National Women's Conference - Nov 77 -- Houston TX
   a. At the largest feminist gathering since 1848, 1442 delegates met
   b. Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment was called for.
   c. Amendments had been limited to seven years in 1917.
   d. In Oct 78, the ERA deadline was extended to 30 Jun 82.
   e. To date 35 states had ratified it of the 38 needed.
5. Military Actions
   a. Jun 77 - Neutron bomb developed (destroyed people not buildings)
   b. 27 Jun 80 - Reimposed draft registration of all men ages 19-20
6. Other Actions
   a. Windfall-profits tax on excessive profits from decontrol of oil.
   b. The minimum wage increased from $2.30 to $3.35 by 1981.
   c. Jun 78 - The Supreme Court Bakke vs U of CA questioned the use of racial quotas when they resulted in reverse discrimination.
   d. Further deregulation occurred -- airling, trucking and railroad insudtries and federal control of banks was eased (later resulting in an S & L crisis, erroneously blamed on Reagan).
   e. Other actions
   (1) 1979 -- As a sign of a shift to the Right in American culture, the Reverend Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority , combining economic conservatives with evangelical Christians -- pro-life, pro-traditional family.
   (2) Oct 79 - Pope John Paul II became the first pope to meet a U.S. president at the White House.
   (2) 18 May 80 - Mount St. Helen erupted in southwest Washington state.
   (3) 2 Oct 80 - Dem Michael Joseph Myers of PA expelled from H of R for bribery and conspiracy (the first since 1861).
   (5) California voters approved limiting taxes -- Proposition 13 reduced property taxes and limited state spending for social programs
   (6) A murder/suicide massacre of 911 (including 200+ children) occurred at Jonestown Guyana under the leadership of Jim Jones .
   (7) A nuclear accident at Three Mile Island Pennsylvania in 1979 raised fears of meltdowns and radiation poisoning.
C. Foreign Policy
1. Panama Canal Treaty
   a. Panama Canal Zone will be returned to Panama's sovereignty by 2000
   b. 16 Mar 78 - Senate ratified the treaty.
2. Camp David Peace Conference
   a. Carter met with Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin .
   b. Mar 79 - Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty ended 30-year state of war.
3. Republic of China
   a. People's Republic of China established full diplomatic relations with the US beginning in 1 Jan 1979.
   b. Diplomatic relations with Taiwan were severed.
4. Latin America
   a. Carter's insistence on accountability of human rights violations from the right-winged military U.S.-backed governments in Latin America tended to strain relations between many Latin American nations and the U.S.
   b. Feb 79 - Military ties were cut and economic aid was reduced to the regime of Anastasio Somoza de Boyle of Nicaragua
5. Problems in Iran
   a. Nov 79 - Because of U.S. support of the Shah of Iran who left Iran in poor health, Iranian revolutionaires seized the U.S. embassy in Teheran taking 90 as hostages (including 65 Americans).
   b. Iranians held 50 American hostages for 444 days to dampen the presidency of Carter in his last days.
   c. 7 Apr 80 - diplomatic relations with Iran were severed, exports to Iran were banned and Iranian diplomats were expelled from the U.S.
   d. 24 Apr 80 - an attempted military rescue DESERT ONE of the Iranian hostages was aborted because of complications.
   e. U.S. hostages were released on inauguration day 20 Jan 81.
6. Soviet Union
   a. SALT II - A S trategic A rms L imitation T reaty was agreed upon between Carter and Leonid Breshnev (USSR) but not yet ratified
   b. Actions in Afghanistan by the Soviet Union led Carter to curtail some US actions with the USSR.
   (1) 4 Jan 80 - grain shipments an high-tech equipment sales to the USSR were canceled and fishing privileges in US waters were curtailed.
   (2) 20 Jan 80 - Carter announced a U.S. boycott of the Olympics held in Moscow because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
7. Carter Doctrine - Jun 80 -- Persian Gulf oil supply routes to be kept open at all costs.

Ronald Reagan (40th President) Administration -- 1980s
A. Presidential Election of 1980

1. Bi-Elections of 1978
   a. Republicans gained in both houses of Congress
   b. Senate - 3 seats 41-58 (1 independent) House - 12 seats gained - 159-276.
   Candidates
   a. Democrats in August after a serious primary challenge was mounted by Sen. Ted Kennedy (his New Deal liberalism was out of step in a conservative era and memories of Chappaquidick lingered in the voters' minds) renominated Carter and Mondale by a 2 to 1 margin although his approval rating dipped to 21% lower than Nixon's 24% during Watergate crisis.
   b. Republicans in July gave Gov. Ronald Reagan of CA a near unanimous nomination and after offering the #2 spot to former president Gerald Ford, Reagan chose George Bush, a primary opponent, as candidate for veep.
   c. Others -- John Anderson , former Republican, ran as an independent.
2. Campaign
   a. Reagan focused on the falling prestige of the US worldwide and faulted the Democratic leadership of the White House.
   b. The Iranian hostage situation worked against Carter.
   c. Republicans created a discomfort index combining unemployment (7.5% in 1980) with the inflation rate (12%), creating discomfort for Carter.
   d. Reagan promised economy in government and a balanced budget, committing himself to supply-side economics or tax reductions to businesses to encourage capital investment, and pledged to cut income taxes while boosting the defense budget (previously called voodoo economics by Bush during the primaries).
   e. Reagan opposed legalized abortion and the stalled Equal Rights Amendment.
   f. Democrats attempted to make Reagan's age a factor.
3. Results
   a. Reagan won 44 states (489 electoral votes to 49 -- six states and the District of Columbia), 42,797,153 to 34,434,100 (Anderson received 5,533,927), 51% to 41% to 7%.
   b. Republicans gained 12 seats and control of the Senate (53-46) (1 independent) and 33 seats in the House (192-242 - 1 independent) and four governorships, gaining many voters who had previously voted Democrat -- Reagan Democrats.
   c. At age 69, Reagan was the oldest to assume the presidency.
B. Domestic Issues - First Term -- New Federalism
1. Census Results
   a. The elderly population was at 24% with a2-year rise in the median age
   b. By 1980, there were as many Americans over thirty as under
   c. The number of retired people had increased by more than 50% since 1972.
   d. A population shift was evident, from the politically liberal Frostbelt states of the Northeast and Midwest to more conservative Sunbelt states of the South and West.
   (1) The Sunbelt enjoyed abundant energy resources, a wider tax base than the North, and lower taxes.
   (2) The shift of population to the Southwest led to a resurgence of conservatism.
   Reagan Agenda
   1. Reaganomics -- Economic Recovery Tax Act 1981 was designed to boost the economy, but an economic recession raised unemployment to 8 percent and the prime interest rate reached 21.5% before the recovery takes affect
      (1) Congress cut billions from domestic programs including urban aid, Medicare and Medicaid, food stamps, welfare subsidies for the working poor, and school meals.
      (2) A second round of budget cuts trimmed 1 million food-stamp recipients from government rolls.
      b. Tax cuts were the second facet of Reagan's economic plan
      (1) He wanted reductions in income taxes of the affluent and of corporations in order to stimulate savings and investments.
      (2) New capital would allegedly be invested in new plants, jobs and products.
      (3) Profits at the top would trickle down to middle classes and the poor.
      (4) Congress passed the largest tax cut in American history -- $750 billion over 5 years, including 25% reduction in personal income taxes over 3 years.
      (5) Reagan's budget director was David Stockman .
      c. A decrease in federal environmental, health and safety regulations which reduced business profits and discouraged economic growth.
      d. Increased military spending -- $1.7 trillion over five years
2. Economic Successes
   (1) By 1982, the prime rate had dropped to 14% and then 10.5 by 1983.
   (2) By 1983, unemployment had risen to 10%, highest since 1940, but his economic program caused unemployment to drop to 7.1% in 1984 with inflation at 7% in 1982 (down to 4% before the election).
   (3) In 1984 the GNP rose 7%, highest increase since 1951.
3. Old Business-- 24 Apr 81 - the grain embargo to the U.S.S.R. was lifted.
4. Women's Advances/Issues
   a. Jul 81 - Sandra Day O'Conner , nominated to the Supreme Court, was confirmed on 21 Sept, making her the first woman to serve on the court.
   b. 18 Jun 83 - Sally Ride became the first female astronaut in space.
   c. 28 Jun 83 - An abortion Amendment failed its needed 2/3 vote (50-49) which would have permitted the government to ban or curb abortions.
   d. Kristine Holderied graduated first midshipman at the top of her class at Annapolis MD.
5. 1981 -- Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO ) struck illegally and ended with Reagan firing the strikers, but union leaders could not rally their members to vote against Reagan.
6. Other Events
   a. AIDS was first observed in the US in 1981 with 57,000 cases reported between 1981 and 1988
   (1) It is transmittable through the exchange of infected body fluids, often during sexual contact or sharing of intravenous needles by drug users.
   (2) Initially linked to the sexual practices of male homosexuals, the disease spread to heterosexuals.
   (3) Under the leadership of Surgeon General C. Everett Koop , the federal government published a booklet Understanding AIDS which was mailed to 107 million households in 1988.
   b. Assassination Attempt - 30 Mar 81
   (1) John W. Hinckley Jr. shot Reagan, his press secretary, Jim Brady , a Secret Service agent and a police officer.
   (2) On Apr 11, Reagan was released back to the White House.
   c. 30 Aug 83 - First Black astronaut in space Col Guion S. Bluford USAF
   d. 29 Feb 84 - A school prayer amendment failed in the Senate (56-44).
   e. Apr 84 - A new incurable virus is announced; referred to as AIDS.
   f. May 84 - Soviets retaliated for US 1980 boycott by boycotting the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
C. Foreign Policy - First Term
1. Old Business - Reagan had campaigned against the ratification of SALT II, which was then withdrawn from consideration.
2. Middle East
   a. Reagan sent in U.S. forces into Lebanon under U.N. banner.
   b. Apr 83 - Terrorist car bomb in Beirut at the U.S. embassy killed 63.
   c. 29 Feb 84 - the last U.S. troops were withdrawn from Lebanon.
3. Latin America
   a. U.S. relations with Nicaragua deteriorated because of the Communist takeover of the government with the US backing the anti-Sandinistas aka CONTRAS .
   b. Invasion of Grenada
   (1) 25 Oct 83 - At the request of the president of Bermuda, the U.S. sent in troops to Grenada to remove the Cuban-backed forced take- over of the government.
   (2) 2 Nov - US actions ended with 18 dead, 115 fatalities.
4. Other Actions --Sept 83 - South Korean airliner was shot down by the USSR.
D. Presidential Election of 1984
1. Bi-Elections of 1982 -- While Republicans retained control of the Senate (54-46), Democrats gained 26 seats in the House (269-166).
2. Candidates
   a. Democrats in July nominated Sen Walter Mondale (MN), Carter's former vice-president, for president and added Representative Geraldine Ferraro (NY) as vice-president candidate -- for the first time, a woman on a major ticket.
   b. Republicans in August easily renominated Reagan and Bush for a second term, running on the Reagan administration's record.
3. Campaign
   a. Although NOW, AFL-CIO and various civil rights organizations enthusiastically endorsed Mondale, Americans were more concerned about the economy, which was doing well in 1984.
   b. Mondale tried to debate the growing deficit ($175 billion in 1984) and the nuclear arms race, but Reagan invoked the theme of leadership, relying on slogans.
   c. Mondale attacked Reagan's foreign policy as militaristic, but Americans liked Reagan's pledge to restore American global power.
4. Results -- greatest Republican victory in US history.
   a. Reagan carried 49 states (525 to 13 electoral votes) and 54,455,075 to 37,577,185. (Mondale only carried Minnesota and Washington D.C.)
   b. Republicans retained the Senate (53-47) and gained 14 seats in the House (182-253).
   c. Reagan received 44% of the union vote in 1984, as they responded to his anticommunism, espousal of old-fashioned values and genial personality.
5. In Reagan's Second Inaugural Address, he announced a new American Emancipation to eradicate the excesses of 50 years of Democratic liberalism and economic barriers.
E. Domestic Issues -- 2d Term
1. Space
   a. Announcing a program to put the first U.S. civilian (a teacher) in space, Christa McAuliffe of Concorde NH was selected.
   b. Jan 86 - A first-time explosion of a U.S. spacecraft while launching occurred when the Challenger exploded, killing all seven astronauts and the teacher.
2. Supreme Court Nominations
   a. Jun 88 - Chief Justice Warren Burger retired, and Associate Justice William Rehnquist was elevated to chief justice.
   b. Antonin Scalea was approved as a new chief justice.
   c. When Lewis Powell, Jr resigned, Robert Bork was nominated but rejected by the Senate 58-42 and a 2d nomination, Douglas Ginsburg , withdrew under fire.
   d. Feb 88 - Anthony Kennedy was confirmed 97-0.
3. Economic Issues
   a. The deficit exceeded $222 billion in fiscal 1985, and the national debt grew by $954 billion in a five-year period.
   b. Gramm-Rudman bill called for a balanced budget by 1991.
   c. Tax Reform Act 1986 lowered personal income taxes while closing some flagrant loopholes and eliminating six million poor people from the tax rolls, a compromise between supply-side conservatives who argued that lower rates would give an incentive for savings, investment and growth, and liberals who focused on the inequity of the tax codes.
   c. Jun 87 - Alan Greenspan became Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
   d. Oct 87 - Stock Market Crash -- Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 508 points for a 22.6% decline, yet finished the year 2.26% up.
4. Interred Japanese-Americans
   a. Survivors who were interred during World War II received an apology.
   b. 120,000 were also compensated $20,000 each.
5. Expansion of the Federal Government
   a. Oct 88 - l4th Cabinet level post was created -- Dept of Veterans Affairs , effective Mar 89.
   b. The first Hispanic Cabinet member appointed, President of Texas Tech University, Lauro F. Cavazos , Secretary of Education.
6. Reagan Scandals
   a. Rita Lavelle , an official of the EPA, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice
   b. The number two administrators of both the CIA and Department of Defense left office amid charges that they had taken part in illegal stock transactions.
   c. Iran-Contra disclosures damaged his image in his last two years and were reflective of his "hands-off" management style.
   (1) Nov 86 - a scandal surfaced involving the sale of arms to moderates in Iran and the funneling of profits to the Contras in Nicaragua.
   (2) Although the extent of Reagan's knowledge in the illegal activities was not determined at the time, many believed that it was directed by the late William Colby of the CIA.
   (3) Mar 88 - John Poindexter and LTC Oliver North were indicted for their part in the scandal.
F. Foreign Policy - Second Term
1. Libya - In retaliation for terrorist activities in Berlin against U.S. soldiers stationed in Germany, the U.S. conducted an airstrike against Libya, aiming at the headquarters of Kadhafi.
2. Latin America
   a. Feb 88 - Gen Manuel Noriega was indicted by a FLA grand jury for drug trafficking, but Panama's President Eric Arturo Delvalle could not remove him from office.
   b. 16 Mar 88 - 3200 U.S. troops were sent to Honduras and removed on 28 Mar after no fighting.
3. Persian Gulf - 18 Apr 88 - Iranians attacked by the U.S. navy in Southern Persian Gulf killing two U.S. sailors.
4. Reagan traveled to the Soviet Union.
G. Social Changes under Reagan
1. White Backlash
   a. Reverse discrimination was claimed by many whites, after some middle class African-Americans made gains.
   b. When a white man, Alan Bakke , was denied admission to medical school, he sued on the grounds that less qualified black applicants had been admitted.
   c. The Supreme Court in Bakke v. Univ of CA , 5 - 4, in 1978 outlawed quotas and ordered that Bakke be admitted, although the principle of affirmative action was still upheld.
   d. A resurgance of racism occurred, reflecting white anger over affirmative action and busing and the effects of stagflation.
2. Black Anger
   a. Anti-white anger erupted when all-white juries acquitted whites of the murder of blacks, most notably in Miami and Chattanooga.
   b. African-American civil rights leaders denounced the judicial system and the lack of appointments by Reagan's administration -- 12% blacks and women under Carter, but 4% blacks and 8% women under Reagan (but 4 women were in his cabinet and the first female Supreme Court justice).
3. Civils Rights Record
   a. Reagan's administration favored tax exemptions for fundamentalist Christian schools that cited the Bible to justify racial segregation and whites-only admission.
   b. Voting Rights Act 1965 was renewed although opposed by Reagan's civil rights chief in the Justice Department
   c. Reagan's administration also opposed busing and affirmative action and was criticized for lax enforcement of fair-housing laws and laws banning sexual and racial discrimination in federally funded education programs.
4. Native American Militancy
   a. Native Americans suffered the highest incidence of alcoholism tuberculosis and suicide of any ethnic group in the US, four out of ten Native Americans were unemployed and nine out of ten lived in substandard housing.
   b. A small group of Indians seized Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay in late 1969.
   c. Arguing that an 1868 Sioux treaty entitled them to possess unused federal lands they occupied the island until mid-1971.
   d. Two years later members of the militant American Indian Movement (AIM) demanded the rights guaranteed Indians in treaties with the US and seized eleven hostages and a trading post on the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee SD, and the confrontation with federal marshalls ended 71 days later with a government agreement to examine treaty rights of the Oglala Sioux.
   e. In the 1980s, Indians, using the 1946 Indian Claims Commission , sought compensation for lands stolen from them and scored some notable victories.
5. Hispanic Americans
   a. An influx of immigrants unequaled since the turn of the century coupled with a high birthrate made Hispanics America's fastest-growing minority by the 1970s.
   b. Of over 20 million Hispanics in the US in the 1970s, 8 million were Mexican-Americans
   c. During the 1980s, the Hispanic population increased by 34% for a total of 19.4 million or 8.1% of the total U.S. population with 1/2 in Texas and California.
   d. These officially acknowledged Hispanics were joined by millions of undocumented workers or illegal aliens.
   e. Hispanics wanted political power -- brown power .
   (1) Cesar Chavez 's United Farm Workers was the first Hispanic interest group to gain national attention
   (2) The militant Brown Berets tried to provide meals to preschoolers and courses in Chicano studies and consciousness raising to older students.
   (3) A Mexican-American political party, La Raza Unida , was a potent force in the Southwest and East Los Angeles in the 1970s.
   (4) League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC ) denounced the Reagan administration for its dismal record in dealing with their problems as did the National Tribal Chairmen's Association .
6. Immigration Reform
   a. Between 1970 and 1980 the US absorbed over 4 million immigrants and refugees and twice that number of illegal aliens and this doubled again in the 1980s with a record 9 million new arrivals.
   b. Among the newcomers, Asian-Americans seemed to be the most successful.
   c. Simpson-Rodino (Immigration Reform and Control ) Act 1986 provided amnesty to undocumented workers who had arrived before 1982 while imposing sanctions on employers who hired undocumented workers, hoping to discourage illegal immigration (but the tide of Mexican illegals was unstemmed).
7. Women and Children
   a. A backlash against feminism or profamily movement , contended that men should lead and women should follow, esp. within the family and that women should stay home and raise children.
   b. Antifeminists campaigned against the ERA, gay rights, and abortion on demand, blamed the women's movement for the spiraling divorce rate, charged feminists with jettisoning their husbands and children in their quests for job fulfillment and sexual equality.
   c. 30 Jun 82 - ERA was officially withdrawn after only 35 states approved it, having been challenged successfully by Phyllis Schlafly 's Stop ERA campaign which argues that ERA could abolish alimony and legalize homosexual marriages.
   d. The pro-life movement sought an amendment to the constitution which would define human life as beginning at conception.
   e. The Supreme Court upheld the Hyde Amendment , declaring that the federal government had no obligation to make even medically necessary abortions available to the poor (Harris vs McRae ).
   f. Reagan's administration opposed federally subsidized childcare and the feminist goal of "comparable worth."
   g. Persistent occupational segregation left 80% of all working women in 1985 in low paying "female" occupations as clerking, selling, teaching and waitressing.
   h. By the end of the 1970s female workers took home only 60 cents cents to every male worker's dollar but by the end of the 1980s, it had only risen to 70 cents.
   i. Many mothers in the 1980s had to work.
   (1) 1983 - for the first time, over half of adult American women (51%) had jobs
   (2) 1987 - the share of women returning to work or actively seeking jobs within a year after the arrrival of a baby exceeded 50% for the first time (31% in 1976)
H. Presidential Election of 1988
1. Bi-Elections of 1986 -- Democrats gained 8 seats, regaining the Senate (53-47) and. Republicans gained five seats in the House - 187-253.
2. Candidates
   a. Democrats had narrowed to a two-man race between Jesse Jackson (who appealed to the rainbow coalition of the "rejected") and Gov Michael S. Dukakis (MA) whom they nominated in July for president, and, hoping for another "Boston-Austin" connection as in the 1960 Kennedy-Johnson election, they added Sen Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr (TX) for vice-president
   b. Republicans in August -- Vice-President George Herbert Walker Bush (TX) was nominated for president, after challenges from Senate Minority leader, Robert Dole, and televangelist Pat Robertson and Sen James Quayle (IN) was added for Vice-President.
3. Campaign
   a. Both Bush and Dukakis avoided serious debate of the issues -- childcare, environmental collapse, corruption in government, poverty, rising medical and education costs and the fiscal and trade deficits -- preferring to rely on cliches and negative campaigning.
   b. Bush relied on emotional "hot buttons" like "patriotism" and the death penalty, focusing on Dukakis' furloughing of Willie Horton , as proof that he was "soft on crime."
4. Results
   a. Bush carried 40 states with 426 electoral (48,901,046 popular) votes to Dukakis 112 electoral (41,013,030 popular) votes, 53% to 46%.
   Solid South now voted Republican, as Bush carried every former Confederate state.
5. Bush the Man -- served heroically as a navy pilot in WW II, active in oil in Texas, congressman from Texas, ambassador to China and director of the Central Intelligence Agency before being Reagan's vice-president, a team player without firm convictions.

IV. George Bush (41st) Administration -- Status Quo Presidency
A. Domestic Issues

1. No action taken on the health-care crisis
2. Clarence Thomas replaced Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court, although charges of sexual harassment raised by a co-worker, Anita Hill , dampened his confirmation and raised this issue before the American public.
3. Environmental record
   Bush did not enthusiastically support the Rio de Janeiro "Earth Summit" but in 1989, 86 nations including the US agreed to phase out use ofozone-destroying chemicals by the year 2000.
   b. A tougher Clear Air Act 1990 requires a reduction in emission of pollutants
   c. US + 25 nations agreed to protect the fragile environment of Antarctica by banning oil exploration and mining there for 50 years.
4. Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination to impaired persons.
5. Economic Issues
   a. Bush-Congress budget agreement raised taxes and agreed to cut the budget in 2 years (1993), an abandonment of a Bush promise -- No New Taxes .
   b. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ) late 1992 was signed between the US, Canada and Mexico.
   c. The national debt reached $4 trillion.
6. 27th amendment prohibits mid-term congressional pay raises.
   Bush pardoned Casper Weinberger in the Iran-Contra scandal.
B. Foreign Policy
1. Bush preferred foreign policy over domestic affairs, but his foreign policy was reactive rather than initiating for the new world order.
2. Military Interventions
   a. Panama 1989
   b. Middle East -- Gulf War
   (1) Iraq invaded Kuwait .
   (2) Bush ordered US armed forces to the Persian Gulf Region
3. End of the Cold War
   a. German Reunification signaled the end of the Cold War as demonstrated when the Berlin Wall was torn down.
   b. The Soviet Union disentegrated as Mikhail Gorbachev was replaced by Boris Yeltsin .
   c. START I treaty 1991 reduced nuclear warheads in the USSR and US
   d. START II treaty late 1992 called for cuts in warheads and land-based ICBMs.
4. Other Events
   a. Sandinistas are defeated in an election in Nicaragua
   b. Tiananmen Square Massacre strains relations with China and US
   c. A military coup topples the elected government in Haiti, causing many Haitians to flee to the US
5. Intervention in Somalia
6. US-Japanese relations sour because of trade deficits
7. Opposed
   a. UN Fund for Population Activities and International Planned Parenthood
   b. Law of the Sea Treaty
C. Election of 1992
1. Candidates
   a. Republicans renominated Bush and Quayle
   b. Democrats nominated the young voernor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton and added Sen Al Gore (TN) for vice-president.
   c. A serious third party effort was mounted by H. Ross Perot who called for reduced spending and balancing the budget.

V. William Clinton (42d) Administration
A. Domestic Issues

1. Hillary Rodham Clinton headed a task force on health-care reform
2. Proposal to lift ban on homosexuals in the military stirs a controversy.
3. Clinton lifts restrictions on abortions
4. Congress modifies and passes Clinton economic proposals.
5. Ruth Bader Ginsburg appointed to the Supreme Court
6. Motor-voter and family-leave bills
B. Foreign Policy
1. Expansion of the Somalia mission
2. Yeltsin and Clinton meet at Vancouver summit to discuss US foreign aid to Russia