1980
1980's Government and Politics
The Reagan Decade.
In American politics the 1980s were the decade of Ronald Reagan, who was elected president in 1980 and succeeded by his vice president, George Bush, in 1989. Reagan's vision of the nation—and to a somewhat lesser extent his conservative agenda—shaped the economic and political fortunes of the United States for most of the 1980s.
Malaise.
As the decade began, Americans were struggling with an image of a country that was no longer the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world. Trust in politicians had been eroded by a series of political scandals that began in 1974 with the spectacle of an administration disgraced, as Richard Nixon resigned the presidency in the wake of Watergate, and continued into the 1980s with revelations about bribery of elected officials in the FBI Abscam sting. Social problems such as drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and violent crime were on the rise. The American economy exhibited a conjunction of high inflation, rising unemployment, and little growth. Americans were losing well-paying manufacturing jobs and taking low-paying service jobs in their place. Japan and Germany were challenging American dominance in world trade, and the United States was incurring larger and larger trade imbalances. As the major oil-producing countries raised the price of oil higher and higher, Americans were spending more and more of their incomes for gasoline and heating fuels.
Insecurity.
The cost of human lives and international prestige incurred by a losing military effort in Vietnam had Congress shying away from Third World conflicts. Yet the Soviet Union seemed more aggressive than ever in expanding its sphere of influence. When student radicals seized the American embassy in Tehran, Iran, in late 1979 and held its staff hostage over the next fourteen months, Americans learned a frustrating lesson that was repeated again and again during the 1980s: even the finest, best-equipped military force in
The Reagan Decade.
In American politics the 1980s were the decade of Ronald Reagan, who was elected president in 1980 and succeeded by his vice president, George Bush, in 1989. Reagan's vision of the nation—and to a somewhat lesser extent his conservative agenda—shaped the economic and political fortunes of the United States for most of the 1980s.
Malaise.
As the decade began, Americans were struggling with an image of a country that was no longer the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world. Trust in politicians had been eroded by a series of political scandals that began in 1974 with the spectacle of an administration disgraced, as Richard Nixon resigned the presidency in the wake of Watergate, and continued into the 1980s with revelations about bribery of elected officials in the FBI Abscam sting. Social problems such as drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and violent crime were on the rise. The American economy exhibited a conjunction of high inflation, rising unemployment, and little growth. Americans were losing well-paying manufacturing jobs and taking low-paying service jobs in their place. Japan and Germany were challenging American dominance in world trade, and the United States was incurring larger and larger trade imbalances. As the major oil-producing countries raised the price of oil higher and higher, Americans were spending more and more of their incomes for gasoline and heating fuels.
Insecurity.
The cost of human lives and international prestige incurred by a losing military effort in Vietnam had Congress shying away from Third World conflicts. Yet the Soviet Union seemed more aggressive than ever in expanding its sphere of influence. When student radicals seized the American embassy in Tehran, Iran, in late 1979 and held its staff hostage over the next fourteen months, Americans learned a frustrating lesson that was repeated again and again during the 1980s: even the finest, best-equipped military force in