Chapter 17. Reagan through Bush (1981-2001)

Table of Contents

Beginning the Journey
Materials for this unit may be found in a number of modules: "The Cold War," "The Immigrant Experience," "Women in America," "Civil Rights," "The Great Depression and the New Deal," "The Native American Experience," and "The Vietnam Era."

Searching these modules by Key Topic and Year yields insights into what each contains of relevance to the last two decades of the twentieth century. Scanning the "Index" also provides links to sources, but that search tool only works if users have a topic or issue already in mind.

Users will note a mix of domestic and foreign events covered in the modules above. That same mix occurs in the activities that follow, which seek to provide an introduction to what the American Journey Online database contains with regard to events of the last two decades of the twentieth century.

Activity 1
Ronald Reagan, an ardent Cold Warrior, was elected president in 1980 (and reelected overwhelmingly in 1984). A strident opponent of communism and the Soviet Union, Reagan waged a vigorously anti-Communist foreign policy throughout the world.

Under normal circumstances, an anti-Communist foreign policy would not pose problems for a U.S. presidential administration. But in the early 1980s the Reagan administration ran into difficulties as a result of its anti-Communist foreign policy with respect to Nicaragua. In a nutshell, the administration sought to fund anti-Communist "Contras" in Nicaragua with money raised through the sale of arms to Iran in exchange for Iran's help in securing the release of Americans held hostage in the Middle East. The series of incidents that became known as the Iran-Contra affair generated outrage on Capitol Hill and intensive investigation into the administration's conduct.

To explore the Iran-Contra affair in some detail, within "The Cold War" module, go to "Executive Summary to Report of the Special Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair." (One way to locate this document is to go to "Contents," then "Regions," then "Middle East," then click on the title.)

Use the document to answer the following questions.

1. How does the document describe the role of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra affair? What portions of the Nicaragua half of the story detail illegal activity? Questionable activity? Were congressional investigators justified in their outrage over revelations of this story?
2. What role does the document ascribe to Iran in the Iran-Contra affair? How were the Reagan administration's contacts with Iran problematic? Why would congressional investigators have been upset about them?
3. Why did the Reagan administration ignore warnings that its activities with regard to Nicaragua and Iran were illegal? What does the administration's refusal to be bound by U.S. law suggest about the way it viewed the righteousness of its cause? About the way it viewed its accountability under the law? Is the administration's attitude troubling? Explain.
4. What specific abuses does the report detail? Who was ultimately responsible for them? How deep did the cover up of the administration's conduct go? Why did it feel the need to cover up what it had done in the first place?
5. What consequences of the Iran-Contra affair does the report detail? What is distressing about these consequences? About the long-term effects of the affair?

Activity 2
As part of its anti-Communist foreign policy, the Reagan administration was determined to protect the United States from a possible nuclear attack. The most likely source of such an attack at the time was the Soviet Union, but other nations also had atomic capability.

Concern about atomic attacks had been a feature of American foreign policy since the early days of the Cold War. It had spawned such developments as the civil defense culture explored in Activity 6 of the "Cold War Era" unit and had led to numerous--albeit generally ineffectual--efforts to limit the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Rather than work to eliminate nuclear weapons, the Reagan administration instead focused its efforts on what it called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a space-based system of defense against nuclear missiles. Dubbed "Star Wars" by its critics, SDI generated controversy both at home and in other countries, most notably in the Soviet Union.

Exploring some of the contemporary debates about SDI will familiarize users with the pros and cons of the system, as well as reveal the reasons the administration supported the system.

Within "The Cold War," go to "President Ronald Reagan's Address to the Nation on Defense and National Security, March 23, 1983," "Evolution of Space Weapons," and "Five Years of SDI." (One way to locate these documents is to go to "Index," then "S," then "Strategic Defense Initiative," then select each individual title.)

Use the documents to answer the following questions.

1. How does Ronald Reagan in the first document seek to defuse criticisms of his Strategic Defense initiative? Why do you believe that he does this at the very beginning of his speech? What does it say about his fears of public opposition to his proposal? Why does he claim that SDI is necessary?
2. How would you describe the tone of Reagan's speech? Would it have been effective at the time? Why or why not? How does it remind you of speeches by previous presidents, such as the fireside chats of Franklin Roosevelt explored in Activity 4 of the "Great Depression" unit and Activities 1 and 2 of "World War II"? Would the similarities to FDR's speeches be coincidental or deliberate? How does Reagan's speech amount to a call to action by the American people? What does he want them to do? Why?
3. What dangers does the Union of Concerned Scientists raise about SDI in the second document? How would it actually make the world less safe than nuclear weapons? Do the scientists even consider the proposed system realistic? Why or why not? What are the costs of the system beyond the considerable monetary expense of researching and constructing it?
4. How does Dmitri Klimov sum up Soviet objections to SDI in the third document? How do these objections compare to those raised by the Union of Concerned Scientists? To what does Klimov attribute the Reagan administration's determination to develop and implement SDI? What does he see as the likely consequences of the system's implementation?
5. Taking the documents together, what do they illustrate about the guiding philosophy of the Reagan administration, especially its anti-Communist bent? How does SDI signal the administration's get- tough-with-the-Soviets policy? How does it reveal the administration's efforts to co-opt science in the service of anticommunism? How does it reveal the dangerous world situation that prevailed during the waning years of the Cold War?

Activity 3
The 1980s witnessed some progress in the area of women's rights, particularly regarding the issue of sexual harassment. In 1980, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission designated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as setting the guidelines for such cases. But even then, prosecuting sexual harassment cases was difficult and time-consuming and often yielded little in the way of compensation.

Users can explore the beefing up of sexual harassment protection during the 1980s in two modules within the American Journey Online.

Within "Women in America," go to "Meritor Savings Bank v. Mechelle Vinson." (One way to locate this document is to go to "Contents," then "Years," then "1986," then click on the title.)

Within "Civil Rights," go to "Facts About Sexual Harassment." (You may locate this document by going to "Contents," then "Regions," then "Virginia and Washington, DC," the scroll down to the title.)

Use the documents to answer the following questions.

1. What are the major components of the Meritor Savings Bank v. Mechelle Vinson decision? What is the court decision based on?
2. How does the court's decision define sexual harassment? What does this definition entail? How does this definition amount to a strengthening of the issue?
3. How does the court's decision apply to the business community as a whole? What implications does it have for employers in general? What justification does the decision offer for placing new responsibilities on employers?
4. How does the second document spell out what constitutes sexual harassment? Why does it do so in some detail?
5. How do these documents amount to victories for the women's movement? What protections do they provide for women in the workplace? How significant were these protections?

Activity 4
An ongoing point of contention in American political debate in the last decades of the twentieth century was the question of illegal immigration to the United States. Although the nation did have laws on the books laying out the specifics of its immigration policy, millions of people continued to live and work in the United States illegally.

The presence of these illegal aliens in the United States drew widespread criticism. Workers and labor unions protested their presence in the workplace. Politicians decried the drain they placed on municipal and state resources. And a large portion of the American public denounced them as lawbreakers who should be returned to their home countries.

"The Immigrant Experience" contains a selection of sources on the question of immigration during this period. To explore them go to:

• "An Act to Revise and Reform Immigration Laws, 1986"
• "An Act to Deter Immigration-Related Marriage Fraud"
• "Excerpts of Report on U.S. Immigration Policy"
• "Proposition 187"
• "Piety, But No Help, on Illegal Aliens."

To locate these sources, go to "Contents," then "Documents," then the first letter of each title, then select the titles themselves.

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. What specific problems are these documents dealing with? How serious are these problems? Which one would you consider the most serious? Why?
2. What measures do these documents relate for deterring illegal immigration? How do they propose to punish those who try to come to the United States without the proper documentation? Why these particular measures?
3. How effective do you believe the measures proposed in these documents would be in solving the problems to which they are directed? Are there better ways to deal with the problem of illegal immigration? If so, what might they be?
4. Measures like those detailed in these documents generated widespread criticism throughout American society. What groups might be opposed to these kinds of measures? On what grounds might they object? How might they see these measures as contradicting the ideals and principles of American society?
5. How might the measures outlined in these documents have resulted from fears that American society was fragmenting, that the nation was becoming disunited? How would these fears have resulted from the problems considered in question 1 above? What did these fears reveal about prevailing conceptions regarding American society?

Activity 5
One of the most hotly debated domestic issues of the late twentieth century concerned the welfare system. Growing out of the social welfare legislation of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the U.S. welfare system by the 1980s encompassed a myriad of programs and provided benefits to millions of people.

The extent of the welfare system fueled complaints that it encouraged laziness and corruption, perpetuated feelings of entitlement in recipients, and cost far too much money. Cultural commentators and numerous politicians offered their own takes on the welfare system throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and numerous calls for welfare reform echoed through the halls of Congress.

The debate over welfare reform during the 1980s and 1990s may be followed in two modules within the American Journey Online.

Within "The Great Depression and the New Deal," go to:

• "Reagan's Second Inaugural Address"
• "Work Ethic State"
• "Quayle on Family Values"
• "Clinton's State of the Union Address, 1994."

The first document may be located by going to "Contents," then "Authors," then "R," then "Reagan, Ronald," then click on the title. The other three sources may be selected from the list of related items that appears at the top of the first.

Within "Civil Rights" go also to:

• "Statement on Welfare Reform."

One way to locate this document is to go to "Contents," then "Documents," then "S," then click on the title.

Use the documents to answer the following questions.

1. Consider the first two documents. In what terms does Ronald Reagan frame the problem of welfare reform? How does he intend to revise the welfare system? What are his motivations? How do his comments compare with those of Mickey Kaus? What problems does Kaus note? What solutions does he offer? With whom does he place ultimate responsibility for reform?
2. How does Dan Quayle frame the problem of welfare reform in the third document (a speech that contains his famous denunciation of Murphy Brown for being an unwed mother)? How does he propose to fix the welfare system? Are his proposals realistic? Why or why not?
3. What does Bill Clinton's 1994 State of the Union Address propose in the area of welfare reform? What do you see as Clinton's motives? How would his proposals fulfill his 1992 campaign promise of "ending welfare as we know it"? What would be replace welfare with? Could it work? Why or why not?
4. What arguments does the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) marshal in defense of welfare in the last document? What precedents does it cite? How does the Conference's letter amount to a warning to President Clinton to maintain the status quo? Why does it feel so strongly on the matter? Which group(s) in society is it most concerned about?
5. Taking all of these sources together, assess what they say about the U.S. welfare system. What assumptions are the documents based on? What precedents do they rely on? Which is the most realistic? Why? Why has the welfare problem proved so difficult to handle?

Activity 6
The last decades of the twentieth century witnessed a flurry of activity regarding Native American rights in general society. Since the founding of the American Indian Movement in 1968, progress had been made on numerous fronts. But much still remained to do before Native Americans enjoyed full participation in mainstream society and respect and decent treatment from the public and the U.S. government.

All branches of the federal government played a role in redefining Native American rights during the 1980s and 1990s in the form of executive branch policy, congressional action, and Supreme Court decisions. Some of these initiatives were victories for Native Americans; others were setbacks. But they all demonstrated the ongoing effort to deal effectively with the special place of Native Americans in the larger society.

Within "Civil Rights," go to:

• "Policy on Indian Sovereignty" (be sure to play the audio clip)
• "Executive Order on Indian Sacred Sites."

The first document may be located by going to "Contents," then "Documents," then P," then click on the title. The second may be selected from the list of related items that appears at the top of the first.

Within "The Native American Experience," go to:

• "Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990"
• "Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association"
• "Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith."

You may locate the first source by going to "Contents," then "Years," then "1990," then click on the title. The remaining sources may be located by going to "Index," then "S," then "Supreme Court," then click on the individual titles.

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. With what issues/questions do the first two documents deal? Why are these issues important? How have they been dealt with in the past? Why has this past approach not worked?
2. How do the first two documents collectively reveal a new direction in the federal government's (or at least the executive branch's) approach to Native Americans? How "enlightened" does this new approach really seem? How realistic? What problems might develop in implementing this new policy direction? What are the limits to this new approach?
3. How does the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 appear to benefit Native American artists? How does it contain provisions favoring some artists over others, though? How might the act end up hurting Native American artists, and perhaps Native American art in general?
4. How do the two Supreme Court decisions amount to a setback for Native American rights? What effect did they have for Native Americans? How did they have an impact on other Americans as well? What do you think was the reasoning behind these decisions? How do the cases relate to the issues raised in the audio commentary to the "Policy on Indian Sovereignty" above?
5. How do these sources together reveal the difficulties facing Native Americans, as individuals and collectively, at the end of the twentieth century? How do they make clear the difficulty of formulating a coherent national policy toward Native Americans and their rights--or toward any issue, for that matter? Are the contradictions and inconsistencies revealed in these documents inevitable in the kind of governmental system that exists in the United States? Explain.

Activity 7
The Cold War order that had dominated world politics since the end of World War II came to an end in the late 1980s.

The first cracks in the Communist dike came in the Soviet Union, where Mikhail Gorbachev instituted unprecedented economic and political reforms that revealed an increasing state tendency to bow to the popular will. Encouraged by these reforms, citizens in Germany and elsewhere in Eastern Europe demanded liberalization of their own societies. Surprisingly, the Communist regimes in almost every case seemed to see the handwriting on the wall and gave way willingly and with little or no bloodshed. (The key exception to this rule, as we will see below, was Romania.) In 1992, the Soviet Union itself dissolved, and the Cold War officially came to an end.

Within "The Cold War," go to:

• "Tumbling Down"
• "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall"
• "German Hammers at Berlin Wall"
• "Record of Conversation with U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, J. Matlock, 24 December 1989"
• "The Flight of the Macbeths"
• "Lenin Falls."

All of these sources may be located by going to "Contents," then "Regions." For the first three sources, search under "Germany." For the next two, search under "Eastern Europe." For the last source, use "Soviet Union."

Use these sources to answer the following questions.

1. Assess the first three sources, which deal with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, symbol of the Cold War division of Europe since 1961. How does John Simpson's first-hand account of the wall's collapse portray the event? Does the opening of the wall seem a desperate act by a beleaguered government? Did jubilation over the wall's opening lead to greater changes and reforms than had been expected? How do the two images add to Simpson's account--the one describing Ronald Reagan's call for the wall's destruction, the other showing a German citizen hammering at it? What does the story of the Berlin Wall's destruction reveal about the power of public sentiment and the strength that can come from the popular will?
2. What is significant about the conversation recounted in the fourth document? What does it reveal about American foreign policy concerns at the time? About Soviet policy intentions? How can this conversation be considered history making for what it says about Soviet thinking about the Eastern European satellites?
3. How does the story of the collapse of communism in Romania differ from the collapse of the Berlin Wall? Why did the anti-Communist revolt in Romania result in bloodshed while the events in Germany came off peacefully? How might the way Romanian leaders, especially Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, thought of their positions in society have affected the way they were ultimately treated?
4. How is the last source symbolic of the end of the Cold War? What impressions does it suggest? What other such symbolic photos can you recall--pictures that sum up an event or series of events in just one image? Why are photos like this one so powerful?
5. How do the sources discussed here present the excitement of the end of the Cold War? What do they suggest about the hope and sense of promise it generated? Where did that optimism originate? What role did the United States and the other nations of the West play in creating and sustaining it?

Activity 8
Although the focus of American foreign policy throughout much of the Cold War was on the Soviet Union, China every now and again figured prominently in Washington's policy formulations.

China played a crucial role, for example, in the Korean War, when UN operations north of the 38th parallel resulted in Chinese intervention and a vast expansion of the war's scope. China was also important during the Vietnam War, when it served as an ally of North Vietnam. It was China's role in Vietnam, and the possibility that it might bring about Northern concessions, that led President Richard Nixon to initiate his famous opening to China during the 1970s.

In the late 1980s China again entered the America consciousness, but this time it was domestic events in China that brought the nation to notoriety. As Communist regimes in Eastern Europe collapsed and the death knell of the Cold War began to sound, the government in China initiated a crackdown on dissent that stunned the world. Nevertheless, the administration of George Bush refused to allow the suppression of the pro-democracy movement to damage U.S. relations with China. As a result, the U.S. protest was muted.

Within "The Cold War," go to "Death in the Square" and "Man Versus the State." (One way to locate both sources is to go to "Contents," then "Years," then "1989," then click on each title.)

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. What do you find enlightening about John Simpson's account in the first source of the public effort to resist deployment of military troops in Beijing? About the continuing efforts to stand up to military domination? What does it suggest about the power of the people in a totalitarian state? About the long-standing Chinese opposition to Communist rule?
2. The student push for greater openness in China was based in some part on the model of the collapse of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. What does this fact suggest about the power of one group of people to inspire action in another? About the lure of democracy? About the apparent righteousness of the U.S. side in the Cold War?
3. How does the first source recount human resiliency in the face of oppression? What methods did the students and their supporters undertake to fight for greater openness in Chinese society? How much support did the pro-democracy element seem to have from the general population? Which elements of Chinese society opposed their efforts? Why?
4. Study the second source, the image "Man Versus the State." What emotions and sentiments does this image inspire? What messages does the image deliver? How can it serve as a symbol for China's pro-democracy movement?
5. How did the U.S. non-response to the events in Tiananmen Square demonstrate the Bush administration's larger geopolitical vision? How did it reveal that the administration's first priority was something other than human rights, which as Activity 8 of the previous unit demonstrated was the priority of the Carter administration?

Activity 9
The collapse of communism throughout Eastern Europe provided the administration of George Bush with an opportunity to redefine American foreign policy. Since the end of the Second World War, opposition to communism had been the defining characteristic of U.S. foreign policy, as virtually every decision the United States had made in respect to the wider world had been colored by Cold War considerations. With the demise of communism came the need to refocus and rethink U.S. foreign relations.

President Bush leapt at the chance to place his stamp on foreign relations, calling for what he called a "New World Order" free from the taint of Communist totalitarianism and the almost-constant tensions of the Cold War. Bush also adopted a triumphal attitude as the Communist world fell apart, proclaiming American victory in the Cold War and declaring that result as proof of the superiority of American economic and political systems.

To explore Bush's thinking on these issues, within "The Cold War," go to "Address by President George Bush at the United Nations, September 25, 1989." (One way to locate this document is to go to "Contents," then "Authors," then "B," then "Bush, George," then select the title.)

Use the document to answer the following questions.

1. How does Bush sum up the concept of "freedom," which he sees as making its way around the world? Use specifics from the document here and include as many kinds of "freedom" as you can.
2. What challenges for the world does Bush identity for the twenty-first century? How accurate do you think he is here? How does Bush believe that each of these challenges can be met? Can you think of other concerns that he omits?
3. What role does Bush claim for the United States in meeting the challenges of the coming century? Is this role realistic? Why or why not?
4. How does Bush's speech envision the United Nations' role in the world? What could it do or accomplish that no single nation could do on its own? Was Bush's vision accurate?
5. What kind of world order does Bush call for here? What are its major components? How does it differ from the Cold War order? How does the creation of this world amount to a celebration of American values?

Activity 0
Although U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended with the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, the costs of the war for veterans, their families, and American society in general are ongoing. The Vietnam War sharply divided the American people, and those who fought in it were for a long time swept under the rug and forgotten--or worse, maligned, abused, and derided.

Vietnam veterans did not generally receive the kind of welcome home that had greeted soldiers returning from other wars, such as World War II. Making matters worse, many found the transition back to civilian life difficult, and all too few resources were available to help them.

One of the biggest problems facing Vietnam veterans as a group was post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a relatively little understood malady that originates with traumatic experiences that people have had insufficient time to process and adjust to. Veterans in other U.S. wars experienced conditions similar to PTSD (often referred to as shell shock), but its occurrence in Vietnam veterans has been higher and more severe than in veterans of other conflicts.

To explore PTSD in greater detail, within "The Vietnam Era" go to:

• "The History of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)"
• "The Unique Aspects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Vietnam Veterans"
• "Self-Portrait in Medicine Chest Mirror"
• "Rehabilitation and Fitting In"
• "Excerpt on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

All of these sources may be located by going to "Contents," then "Multimedia," then select each title individually. (Follow the above order when accessing the sources, and be sure to play the audio portions of the documents.)

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. How do these audio clips portray PTSD generally? What are its symptoms? How did it affect veterans of previous wars? What services were available to treat its earlier victims?
2. What is different about PTSD in Vietnam veterans? What makes their war experience unique? Be sure that you utilize references from the audio clips when answering these questions.
3. What difficulties did Vietnam veterans suffering from PTSD experience once they returned home? What services were available to help them readjust to civilian life? How were they often forced to make it on their own?
4. Why did Vietnam veterans receive the sort of welcome home that they did? How did their treatment reflect domestic dissatisfaction with the government's conduct of the war? Were individual soldiers blamed for things they could not control? Was their treatment shameful, as some have maintained? How can the nation's experience with PTSD be considered an ongoing cost of the war? What has it cost? Has it involved more than simply money? Explain.