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The Resurgence of Conservatism, The Man from Hope and a Man
of Hope
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture and
should be reviewed.
Ronald
Reagan led Republicans to sweeping victories in 1980 and
1984 over divided and demoralized Democrats. Riding a conservative
national tide, Reagan pushed his "supply side" economic program of
lower taxes and increased military spending through Congress. The
policies eventually brought an economic recovery and lower
inflation, but also caused soaring federal government deficits and
stagnant earnings for average working families. Other significant
events of the Reagan Administrations are captured on History
Channel Video:
Challenger ,
Assassination Attempt,
The Berlin Wall.
Do not forget the beginnings of the Internet. Reagan and his
successor, George W. Bush, also pursued "new right" social policies,
especially attacking affirmative action and abortion. The Supreme
Court grew increasingly conservative but stopped short of
overturning its Roe v. Wade decision upholding abortion as a woman's
constitutional right. This CNN Special Profile discusses the
Who's Who in Roe v. Wade. The History Channel provides
this video clip related to
Roe v. Wade .
Reagan revived the Cold War confrontation
with the Soviet Union and expanded American military engagement
abroad. The United States sent troops to Grenada (1983) and Panama
(1989) and supported conservative forces against Central American
leftists in Nicaragua and El Salvador. In Reagan's second term, the
Cold War thawed into arms control agreements between the United
States and the reform minded Gorbachev regime in the Soviet Union.
After Bush took office, popular revolutions overthrew communist rule
in Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union dissolved into fifteen
sovereign republics. The Middle East became the most dangerous world
trouble spot. In 1991, the United States and its European allies
waged a swift, successful
war in the Persian Gulf to repel Iraq's invasion of
Kuwait, view this History Channel video related to the
Persian Gulf War--Saddham was left in power and
the issue now plagues George W. Bush in the war on terrorism. View
the video clips of many of the significant events of the 1980's and
1990's from the
CNN Video
Almanac.
The Reagan economic boom faltered during
the Bush administration. Taking advantage of perceived Republican
failures,
Bill Clinton, the Democratic candidate from Hope, Arkansas,
became the first "baby boomer" president. Clinton (visit the
Time
Newsfile) entered office with an ambitious domestic
program that included health care reforms and improving economic
growth. Throughout his two terms, he grappled with the domestic
issues previously cited, foreign problems in the Middle East, the
former Yugoslavia, Russia and Asia. "Whitewater" and "Monica"
described possible illegal behavior by the President. In 1998,
special prosecutor Kenneth Starr accused William Jefferson Clinton
of several offenses including lying under oath about his
relationship with a White House intern (I
did not have sex...audio file)
Click on left side Great Speeches, then conduct a seach of Clinton
speeches). On December 19, 1998, the House of Representatives
impeached President Clinton
on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. The Senate
acquitted him two months later. View this History Channel video
clip of this event
Clinton Impeachment.
During this time period, my daughter, Amy,
became the second member of the Walters' family to attend college.
In 1999, she graduated first in her Business Management Major at
Grove City College. She accepted an exciting position with Accenture
Consulting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lives in Coraopolis.
Interestingly, her apartment complex was a few miles from the town
where Elleanora Mullins (her great grandmother) was born and thought
too fragile to survive in 1898.
In the late twentieth century, American
democracy faced new challenges and opportunities. The economy was
transformed from heavy "blue collar" industry to the "white collar"
service sector, and became increasingly tied to a competitive global
economic order. The key words of success became education and
technology.
The National Debt
(visit the up to the minute debt clock) increased dramatically,
yet the phrases like budget surplus and pay off the debt
echoed in Congress at the close of this century. New economic
opportunities and the feminist movement transformed the role of
American women, although full equality continued to be elusive. The
traditional American family began to be redefined and the population
increased in age. New immigrants from Asia and Latin America entered
the United States in significant numbers. Urban life became
increasingly difficult and violent for those trapped by poverty.
Terrorism at home (Oklahoma
City)
and
abroad, the social, economic, political, and
technological gaps between the rich and the poor, AIDS
and other diseases continued to be a domestic and global concern.
Visit
Time Magazine's poll results of the most influential people and
events of the 20th Century
AND
C-SPAN's
Ranking of American Presidents
George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in
Election 2000
(check the popular vote totals) and became the second son of a
previous president to be elected to the office. Who was the first?
The disputed election was the stuff of headlines, conspiracy and
Supreme Court involvement. Here is an audio clip of
the
Gore Concession Speech.
As Bush took office, many people questioned his laid back style,
difficulty with public speaking and the power he delegated to the
vice president. However, on September 11, 2001--view a video clip
from the History Channel
9/11,
George W. Bush
became our man of hope--the commander in chief of the new war
against
terrorism. View this History Channel video clip
related to
Terrorism. Young American troops are killed each day in
Afghanistan and
Iraq
as we attempt to eliminate hot spots of terrorism and
reconstruct governments emulating our democratic ideals. As we noted
after the Civil War, Reconstruction is a difficult process with
limited short term success. The Cold War was over, the Luke Warm War
had begun, and "we the people" demand even more from our federal
government. The great pendulum of history begins to swing and once
again we begin to redefine nationalism and nativism as the United
States reassesses the issue of immigration. Review this NPR synopsis
The Immigration Debate. We should reflect upon our first
assignment regarding our coinage as we focus our efforts and
redefine our way of life--"E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust"!!
At the same time, the phrase from the pledge of allegiance "one
nation under God" is under judicial review and we the people are
under duress assessing danger and response to color coded terrorism
alerts. Numerous Constitutional Amendments are being
proposed--including the definition of marriage. As you read this,
Election 2004 has come and gone and Election 2008 is on
the horizon. Our future lies ahead--still obscured by what might be
and both "the best laid plans of mice and men" and "the rule of
unintended outcomes".
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography of
America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
,
an exceptional video instructional series for high school and
college students produced by WGBH Boston in cooperation with the
Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records
Administration. These thirty minute lectures incorporate first
person narratives, photographs, film footage and documents related
to various historical time periods. Combined with my introductory
comments, the required textbooks and our discussions, I believe you
will acquire a more in-depth and enjoyable encounter with history.
Please note the requirements and possible download limitations—which
is why this is not a requirement. Please follow the directions below
and give it a try!!!!
You can view Annenberg/CPB programs of your
choice online with a broadband connection whenever you see this
icon.  There is no
charge for this service.
Simply select a
program and go
to the individual program description listing and click on the icon.
Free sign up required for first-time users. To hear the sound
and view video, you should have Windows Media Player, DSL, a
cable modem, or a LAN connection to a T1 line or greater, and have
Javascript enabled. For more information, please visit our
broadband FAQ.
For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and
access the
presentation: Contemporary History
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview,
numerous Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents
and my favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites
Related to the Specific Topics --CHOOSE A CHAPTER
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html
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