us_ch12_info

=**Retreat and Resurrection Background Information**=

With a decade full of societal decline (1960s), Vietnam, and Watergate, the U.S. was at its lowest point in history. Births out of wedlock increased, the economy was struggling, and there was a need of leadership. In addition, the Communist Bloc sensed weakness as did other minor countries. Ford took office as the only president to never have been elected president or vice president (appointed vice president by Nixon after Sprio Agnew resigned for bribery from before he held the office and when Nixon resigned, Ford became president). Once in office, Ford pardoned Nixon claiming the nation needed to move forward. This upset the media since they couldn't keep going after Nixon. Claims that Ford had a deal with Nixon were unfounded and didn't fit Ford's personality. Legal battles against Nixon would've taken most of Ford's time as president due to all of the documentation. Altogether, public opinion of the presidency was at an all time low. After Vietnam, the Congress placed limits no the presidency with the biggest restraint being the War Powers Act, which said the President has to consult Congress when committing troops into combat and if Congress refuses then the President has to withdrawal troops after 60 days. The does limit the President from getting into an undeclared war, but it also restricts the President from handling incidents before they become major conflicts. When the Congress slashed military aid to South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese Communists sensed an opportunity and re-invaded in January 1975. The Communists surrounded Saigon. News footage showed U.S. citizens evacuating as helpless Vietnamese were kept off the choppers at gunpoint. Congress refused Ford's request to act and aid the South. The brutal Vietnamese Communists killed millions during "re-education programs." The Domino Theory was proving true as a Communist offensive in Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge organization led by Pol Pot and set up a very oppressive Communist regime slaughtering 1/5 of his population.
 * Gerald Ford, Caretaker:**

Conflict in the Middle East stems from the creation of Israel in 1947 after the Holocaust revived efforts for a Jewish nation in Palestine. The Jews were promised a homeland after WWI in traditional lands established by the Bible. Unfortunately, Britain also promised the same land to the Arabs in return for an Arab uprising against the Turks (remember the Ottoman Empire was on the side of the Central Powers in WWI). President Truman had played a role in the formation of Israel, while most other U.S. leaders opposed. The U.S. would be a key ally of Israel's. The U.S. was put in the position of referee between Israel and the rest of the Islamic world. U.S. dependency on Middle East oil was evident after the Suez Canal Crisis of 1956. Fast forward to 1967 when Egypt (under Gamal Abdul Nasser) and its Arab allies looked to destroy Israel and "wipe them off the map." Rather than waiting to get attacked, Israel launched the attack beginning the Six Day War. Israel captured the Golon Heights, the Sinai, the West Bank, and unified Jerusalem, filling out the Biblical boundaries promised to the Jews, but there wouldn't be a lasting peace.Nasser's successor Anwar al-Sadat quickly rebuilt Egypt's military and attacked Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday, with Egyptian success due to aid from the Soviet Union. Israeli Prime Minister (and U.S. citizen) Golda Muir persuaded Nixon to airlift supplies, which saved Israel. The Soviets threatened to get involved as Nixon got tied up with Watergate. A truce was developed, but the U.S. would pay a price for it...in energy costs. OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), which represented virtually all Muslim oil-producing nations - they cut production and boosted prices 70% and another 120% two months later. Gas and heating oil went up. Nixon put on a price ceiling keeping prices artificially low. As a result, demand went up and supply went low resulting in long gas lines. The high cost of energy sent price shocks throughout industry as prices went up on sugar, flour, meat, stereos, clothing, and really everything. Congress pushed conservation of gas and set maximum speed limits of 55 mph on highways and fuel-efficiency standards put on cars. The auto makers used cheaper materials. Gas mileage went up, but so did highway fatalities, even traveling at lower speeds.New rules and regulations showed the incapability of the government to manage the market. For example, a car safety law required seat belts, impact-absorbing steering columns, and padded dashboards, BUT these additions increased weight, which reduced gas mileage, which upset the EPA, which said auto companies had to reduce emissions. The government had created various bureaus that battled for their own budgets and lobbied Congress for more money. Detroit had no choice but to comply. GM introduced the catalytic converter, but it would only work on unleaded gas. The engines lasted longer, but lost power. So, other changes were made to regain the power. This is the equivalent of adding a small anchor to a boat and them making a bigger engine to pull the boat! If the government would've allowed prices to rise on gas, demand for fuel-efficiency would've brought change sooner than government mandates.President Ford was weak in dealing with foreign leaders, while the Soviet Union's Leonid Brezhnev was a hard-line Communist, though a series of strokes left Brezhnev a semi-invalid and therefore vulnerable. The USSR's biggest concern about the U.S. was ABMs (Antiballistic Missiles), which were allowed in SALT I and MIRV (Multiple Reentry Vehicles) that could carry up to 10 missiles and were able to hit different targets. Ford and his advisors failed to distinguish between warheads and launchers and the Soviets eagerly agreed to SALT II that placed limits on launchers putting the U.S. at a disadvantage.One area Ford felt he had a success in foreign affairs was with the Helsinki Accords, which 35 nations signed an agreement of improved relations between the West and Communist Bloc, looking as though detente would continue.
 * Middle East Instability, Economic Crisis:**

Higher oil prices drove up the cost of production forcing layoffs and pushing the U.S. into a recession. Great Society spending also made matters worse. Regulations hurt business. In 1975 alone 10,656 new proposed rules and changes plus environmentalists expected "evil" businesses to just absorb the costs. However, costs are usually passed along to the consumer. Businesses began paying for money to lobby Congress for business-friendly legislation as well as paying for lawyers fighting over layoffs and regulations that businesses were spending less for ads and ways to expand. In addition, Germany and Japan began to pass the U.S. economically. Japan was ready with their fuel-efficient cars: Honda, Nissan, and Toyota.Unions were able to bring in higher wages, but this also would mean an increase in prices. The cost to manufacture textiles, steel, autos, and electronics in the U.S. increased prices while foreign competitors could produce at less of a cost due to much higher wages in the U.S. People were starting to buy lower priced foreign made goods. "Made in Japan" became viewed as something of good quality. Foreign steel was cheaper and increased foreign steel production, while American steel goods had to switch to fiberglass, aluminum, plastics, ceramics, and concrete. There would be one new American steel plant built between 1950 and 1970, while Japan built 53 in those years. Industrial unions in the U.S. decline (since American industry was declining) leaving the two largest unions as the NEA (National Education Association) and AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees), both with workers paid by tax dollars, so it's clear why organized labor committed itself to a permanently large and growing government and public school system --- those employees were operating outside of the free market system and became the unions' only hopes of survival.The 1970s recession shattered Keynesian premises since anytime the government announced new programs, businesses assumed there would be new taxes or existing taxes would go up so the businesses would respond by either not hiring or by raising prices. President Ford was an honest person who could bring credibility back to the presidency, but he lacked the abilities to solve the recession plus he faced a hostile Congress looking to destroy the Republican Party (similar to how the Republican Party looked to destroy the Democrat Party during Reconstruction). Ford had no desire to cut taxes and even if he wanted to, tax cuts would have been blocked by the Congress that liked to spend. Ford made WIN buttons (Whip Inflation Now) to get public support to hold down prices. The economy was damaged due high Johnson-Nixon spending on social issues plus increased environmental and workplace regulations along with prices increasing due to inflation, which led to more of a need for women to work too...more need for two income families.
 * Economy Shrinks:**

The Feminist movement pushed for various new "freedoms" for women. Women already had freedom, could vote, could work, and really could do whatever men did. However, the new Feminist movement was pushed by Secular-Progressives due change society from its Judeo-Christian traditional values. The "Pill" was now on the market (birth control pill) and delayed childbirth allowing women more ability to enter professional schools in rapidly growing numbers leading to more women in the workforce. Newlyweds saw bigger houses with bigger mortgages and more upscale cars with having two incomes. This forced women to stay in the workforce even after having children. The Feminist movement pushed women to work rather than raise their children at home.The Supreme Court ruling allowing abortion in //Roe v. Wade// was promoted by Feminists who saw abortion as a choice rather than murder and rather than calling the unborn baby and unborn baby, Feminists began to a fetus (less public opposition to aborting a fetus vs. aborting an unborn baby). The media labeled the argument pro-choice (not pro-abortion) vs. pro-life (not anti-choice). There was an explosive increase in the number of abortions. Both the Pill and abortion allowed sex without consequence and women only exposed themselves to a greater risk of pregnancy and thus more women becoming eligible for an abortion, which also almost totally exempted men from their role as a father with an easy escape since abortion was now an alternative to having the baby. Having a child became dehumanized and the baby reduced to a mere object that could be ended.Feminists also pushed for no-fault divorce laws. No longer would proof of the cause of divorce be needed. As a result, divorce rates skyrocketed and the number of children in one-parent homes increased in the 1970s. Research statistics have proven (like it or not) that children from one-parent homes saw more criminal behavior, had worse grades, and lower self-esteem. Husbands who wanted to escape marriage or desired a younger woman no longer had to show he couldn't get along with his current wife. There would be an increase in wealthy older men getting a divorce to get with a younger woman. Young men battled older wealthy men for younger women, while older women struggled to raise children from their previous marriage.There was a need for a second income that led women into the workforce and professional jobs. This led also though to an increase in child care pressures - more eating out, sending out laundry, and paying for house work. Family income was $9,867 in 1970 vs. $17,640 in 1978 due to both parents working. Children became viewed as impediments to a more prosperous lifestyle and accordingly the number of births sharply fell. The 1950s prosperity slowed if not stopped and both parents worked 40 hours while there was an increase in youth joining gangs in the inner cities.
 * Collapse of the Traditional Family:**

In the 1976 election, Gerald Ford (R) was running with a struggling economy and a decay in society against Jimmy Carter (D), a Baptist (who was deeply religious) and former peanut farmer who became governor of Georgia. Carter's faith appealed to white conservatives and religious faithful who saw America's morals slipping. He had run Georgia on budget, so appeared to be against debt, and his military service led many to think he'd support a strong national defense, and his commitment to racial justice appealed to blacks. Carter wasn't a sure thing for the Democrat Party nomination in 1976. Edward "Ted" Kennedy would have been the Democrat Party candidate, but in July of 1969, he drove his car off a bridge at Chappaquiddick Island and his passenger, staffer Mary Jo Kopechne drowned. Implications of cavorting with his young campaign worker were damaging so Kennedy left the scene and also didn't report it to police. The Kennedy spin machine contained the press coverage, inquest, and grand jury. Kennedy laid low in 1972 and in 1976 found there was resentment that came with unanswered questions and therefore ceded the field to Carter.Carter brought in Walter Mondale as his running-mate sealing the liberal vote and then trying to appear as more moderate saying to the public "I'll never lie to you." Carter asked the public "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" Most Americans would have had to answer no. In a close election, Carter defeated Ford. In the energy crisis, Carter said it was the "moral equivalent of war" and encouraged Americans to turn down their thermostats and conserve. Carter's energy policy gave multimillion dollar subsidies (gov't money) for solar and win and other alternative fuels, none of which would be available in time to help the crisis. The problem for Carter was the wind farms could only generate a fraction of what coal-fired or hydroelectrical plants could so wind was impractical (plus the environmentalists who were against coal then turned against wind saying the windmills kill birds). Solar worked okay in places like Arizona and Florida, but it was dangerous to install what was necessary plus solar was unreliable and in cold climates impractical. The U.S. desperately needed new energy sources. The cheapest and safest was nuclear energy. However, the anti-nuclear movement already demonized it even though nations with the longest history of using it (France and Japan) never had a major accident. The U.S. had a spotless record in the use of nuclear energy until the meltdown in 1979 at Three Mile Island in Harrisburg, PA. Have you noticed that activists are against coal, oil, wind, and nuclear energy...the like solar but it's impractical...yet these same activists want their electricity to work all of the time!Carter had a difficult time getting leverage over foreign powers. The problem for him was that he imposed a requirement that countries observe basic human rights. Long time allies became objects of criticism. Ironically too, Carter avoided broad condemnation of the USSR and Red China, both of which were very hostile towards human rights. What Carter didn't get was that gathering intelligence on our enemies required working with thugs in other countries that were willing to give us information. The enemy of our enemy had always been our friend. Carter's foreign policy was idealistic, but not practical. His key advisors were Cyrus Vance (Secretary of State who had been a Wall Street lawyer), Zbigniew Brzezinski (National Security Advisor who had been a Columbia University professor), and Andrew Young (Ambassador to the U.N. who had no previous experience in foreign affairs). One success for Carter in foreign affairs was the Camp David Accords. This was a Middle East peace agreement between Egypt (led by Anwar al-Sadat) and Israel (led by Menechem Begin). Sadat had allied himself with the Nazis in WWII and Begin was a member of the Israeli Ingun commando unit so both knew the realities of war and were desperate for a compromise. Carter had to use a bribe, which turned out to become the largest ever American foreign aid package - $5 billion over 3 years. Radical Islamists denounced the agreement and Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by Islamic extremists in his own army (radical Islamic extremists have never been peace loving people). This agreement failed in the area of addressing Israel's problem with Palestine.Another weakness of Carter in foreign policy was in terms of the USSR. He cancelled the B-1 bomber (which was promised to the Air Force for Ford to get an agreement on SALT II) and delayed deployment of the MX missile (which had been guaranteed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and altogether Carter ended all consideration of reviving the ABM (Antiballistic Missile). The Soviets smelled weakness and as a result worldwide terrorist incidents began to rise, most of which were funded from Moscow. The Soviets saw a "window of vulnerability" and developed ICBMs that carried one huge warhead with the purpose of burrowing into U.S. ICBM silos in a surprise attack and destroying the U.S. missiles. It showed the Soviets were developing a strike-first approach. The Soviets were convinced Carter wouldn't respond to an attack on U.S. missiles only (rather than an attack that also hit civilians) believing he would negotiate rather than fight back. This was the closest that the U.S. and USSR got to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis.A revolution in Iran would see the pro-American Shah overthrown and the nation taken over by Islamic fundamentalists led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Carter actually reached out to the Ayatollah, but the Ayatollah called the U.S. the "Great Satan" and cut off oil exports to America. Failing to see the dangers, Carter failed to withdraw the American embassy personnel. Furthermore, the Mullahs were antagonized several months later when Carter allowed the Shah (Mohammad Reza Pehlavi) into the U.S. for medical treatment. The American embassy was stormed and the Americans were taken hostage. The U.S. seemed helpless as days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Sensing a distraction, the USSR invaded Afghanistan to install Communism. Carter approved a risky rescue attempt. It was hazardous since it was at nighttime having to land in the desert with numerous aircraft and no room for error. Mechanical difficulties stopped the mission, but choppers still had to refuel and when one was taking off in a windstorm it clipped a fuel plane resulting in a massive fireball. News reports showed Iranians waving mutilated body parts of the Americans.Carter had been able to negotiate a release of the hostages, but the Ayatollah didn't release them till Reagan's inauguration.Carter gave a speech in July of 1979 in which he said there was a "crisis in confidence." The public took this as Carter blaming the American people, which hurt Carter's public approval (which was already low due to a bad economy and troubles in foreign affairs). Carter also failed to see an anti-communist movement rising in Poland with Lech Walesa who had support from the new Pope John Paul II. A Stalin would have crushed Walesa's revolt while a Truman or TR would've thrown support against the Communists, but Brezhnev and Carter were floundering in the Afghan mountains and Iranian desert.
 * "I'll Never Lie to You":**

Heading into the 1980 election, America was in retreat economically, socially, and internationally. Enter Ronald Reagan, a former New Deal Democrat who later became a Goldwaterite. Reagan began his career as an actor (famous for playing George Gipp in //Knute Rockne// and immortalized the line spoken by the dying Gipp: "Go out there and win one for the Gipper." He became the governor of California and practiced the art of compromise (in California he shed 75,000 from the welfare rolls - a Republican goal - while increasing the benefits for those in need of it - a Democrat goal). Reagan ran for president on the promise of cutting taxes and government spending, that he would wage the Cold War with vigor, and he would address the nation's energy problem. He used Carter's 1976 line against him asking the American people "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" The people would certainly have to answer no. Democratic strategists thought Carter could beat Reagan in the televised debates, but each time Carter distorted Reagan's record or tired to portray him as an extremist, Reagan smiled and said "Well, there you go again." This actually helped Reagan seal the election winning 489-49. In addition, the Republicans gained control of the Senate and Democrat congressmen who did win were ones who supported Reagan's policies and voted with him.Reagan would replace Carter's "malaise" with the old-fashioned can-do optimism. Reagan refused to engage in battles with reporters (remember the media has a left-wing bias) or Democrats on a personal basis. He had a sense of humor and was able to work with both parties in Congress. There would be an assassination attempt on Reagan's life. John Hinckley Jr. was obsessed with Jodie Foster and felt he would get the actress's attention this way. Reagan was hit, but not killed. Interestingly though an agent, James Brady was shot too and paralyzed, which would become the subject of the Brady Bill in the 1990s that put limits on purchasing guns.
 * "Well, There You Go Again!":**

Reagan felt teh U.S. economy had to be revived before he could follow through on his committment to resist the USSR. He believed in supply-side economics, not Keynesian economics, which proved not to revive the economy in the 1930s or 1970s. Supply-side economics emphasized tax cuts to stimulate investment by encouraging the growth of business. This economic plan became known as Reaganomics. It proved successful as it revived the economy and at the same time increased government revenues. The Economic Recovery Act passed in August of 1981, which cut taxes for everyone gradually over 3 years. The top rate (wealthy) was cut from 70% to 50% and the capital gains tax (on investments) was cut from 28% to 20%. Reagan had wanted full cuts immediately, but the Congress insisted on spreading it over 3 years, which minimized the impact Reagan wanted. The economy slowly recovered, then in 3 years when the final installment was put in, the economy rapidly revived. Lower capital gains tax caused investors to pump in more money in investments than ever before and investors earned more in investments and therefore more revenue came into the government in taxes (the rate on capital gains went from 28% to 20%...and 20% of a lot of investments brings in more money than 28% of few investments).The economy had gotten worse before it got better between 1981 and 1982 (remember the tax cuts were spread over 3 years). Reagan got the Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker to restrict the money supply to cut the inflation, which worked, but the media focused on unemployment calling it the "Reagan recession." Many pressured Reagan to raise taxes due to recession and the media criticism reflected the polls, but Reagan stuck to his plan and in the end, it worked and the economy rapidly recovered. In addition, Reagan was determined to slash government regulation and deregulated the airlines, which led to much more air travel at lower prices. In parcel delivery and overnight deliveries, UPS and newcomer Federal Express competed with the postal service, which drove down prices with the use of jet aircraft to deliver parcels long distances.The tax cuts began to have their positive effects as production, employment, job creation, and entrepreneurship all surged and even though the tax rates were cut, the government revenues surged as well. However, the government still continued to run deficits. Reagan critics claimed he boosted military spending, but in reality the defense budget barely grew. Social spending pushed by the Democrats remained higher. After 8 years of Reagan, America's industrial might revived and produced 14 million new net jobs. America's traditional heavy industry had been hurt since 1970 as job losses in steel, textiles, and automobiles led to the Northeast being called the Rust Belt. New high-tech industries were growing though. The loss of blue-collar manufacturing jobs would give way to a whole new computer industry and Silicon Valley in California replaced Detroit as the most important economic hub in the nation. The Reagan tax cuts revived the economy and restored American confidence.Reagan was able to counterattack Liberalism's government dependency mentality with assistance of "blue-dog" Democrats who supported his tax cuts. Foreign policy successes were also part of the Reagan years. He sent troops to Grenada in 1983 since the little Caribbean island was under threat of Cuban takeover. Reagan kept Grenada free. He also ordered the bombing of terror camps after the bombing of a West German disco club was linked to radical Islamists in Libya (under the leadership of dictator Muammar al Qaddafi). Qaddafi's home was bombed too but he wasn't there. However, Qaddafi must've gotten the message because he got away from terror acts for the rest of the decade. Also, world terrorism was declining along with the USSR. In Nicaragua, Reagan was committed to removing the Communist Daniel Ortega who was funded by Cuba and gave the Soviets a foothold in Central America. Reagan supported the Contras - pro-American rebels. Reagan warned Congress that with Ortega Nicaragua would be another Cuba, but the Democrat Congress warned it could be another Vietnam and refused to fund helping the Contras.President Reagan had put peacekeeping troops into Lebanon in 1983 sending Marines to Beirut to separate the warring militias. A suicide bomber drove a truck of explosives into the Marine barracks and killed 241 Marines causing Reagan to rethink the peacekeeping mission and came up with requirements for the future in terms of committing forces: (1) if the cause is "vital to national interest," (2) there is clear intent and support is needed to win, (3) assurance of support from the American people and Congress, and (4) no other choices. These requirements would be met by Bush (the elder) in the Persian Gulf War and George W. Bush in the War on Terror, but not met by Clinton in Kosovo in the 1990s. One more strategic objective was put in (became known as the Reagan Doctrine) that in terms of the USSR rather than containment, the U.S. should try to roll back the USSR.
 * Tax Cuts Revive the Nation:**

Improved technology led to Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or Star Wars, a space-based defense shield. It was not completed or put into use (didn't have to be completed when Communism collapsed). The computer industry was growing in the U.S. As discussed previously, the ENIAC was the first computer and the UNIVAC was the first commercial computer. The major breakthrough had come in 1952 when researchers discovered that silicon, which can sustain temperatures of 1,200 degrees Celsius, was the perfect sealant for a transistor. In 1971, Intel put a computer on a single chip called a microprocessor. Within 5 years, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (two dropouts from California) founded the personal computer industry with Apple Computers Inc. Their business began in the Jobs family garage! Computers became the new major industry and the major social change. Society grew faster with computers than it did with the automobile, radio, or television. In 1970 there were no computers in the homes of America. By 1990, 1 in every 2.6 people had one. Another major breakthrough had come when Harvard dropout Bill Gates and his partner Paul Allen cracked the problem of programming computers. The refined BASIC in 1975 and went out to begin Microsoft, which ended up licensing its own version of DOS used by virtually all computers by the end of the 1990s. Solving the language problem was one of the biggest breakthroughs with computers and is the equivalent of putting all trains on the same guage rails in the 1850s. Gates went on to introduce Windows and the use of a mouse going on to become one of the wealthiest men in the world (more proof that hard work can bring wealth and that a person with an idea - like Gates - can produce products that we all want). Gates, Jobs, and Silicon Valley began the information age, a change that was as big if not bigger than the Industrial Revolution and all that remained was computers to be able to "talk" to each other. In 1969, under a Pentagon contract, four universities linked their computers together and after three years email was developed though the Internet as we know it wasn't inaugurated until the 1990s.Computer technologies played a critical role in ending the Cold War, but only with a leader with insight, such as President Reagan. Reagan signaled to the Soviet leadership that he would never all the USSR to attain military superiority and so he built up the military. The Soviets "window of vulnerability" they enjoyed under Ford and Carter was now closed. In building the defense vs. the USSR, Reagan and the U.S. could spend the USSR into the ground. Reagan said the U.S. could not ignore the "aggressive impulses of an evil empire" as he said on TV in 1983 and called for a massive national commitment to build a defense against ballistic missiles. This is when he began plans for his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which the media called Star Wars, which was a space-based defense shield. The USSR saw that Reagan's SDI had the ability to work, which left the Kremlin with two options: (1) try to counteract SDI through technical modifications to their missiles, which they couldn't due since the cost was too high or (2) get advanced computer applications, but Reagan already banned advanced technology sales to the USSR. Overall, SDI hastened the fall of Communism and hastened the end of the Cold War.
 * Microprocessors and Missiles:**

Brezhnev died in 1982 and was succeeded by Yuri Andropov who died 2 years later, the Konstantin Chernenko died in 1985, bringing in a younger new leader in Mikhail Gorbachev. History sources friendly to Progressivism and/or Socialism laud Gorbachev as a reformer (and he did put in some reforms in the USSR allowing people to own property and allowing freedoms, but not until the fall of Communism was inevitable), but he was a devoted Marxist-Leninist who wanted victory over the West, but he did admit the USSR was in trouble. He believed the Stalin and Brezhnev years were simply a perversion of Communism. He saw that the USSR was hurt by the war in Afghanistan, was outclassed by the U.S. economy, and that SDI was eliminating the USSR's only advantage over the U.S. - ICBMSs. In addition, the USSR was already committed to installing Andropov's policy of mobile, short-range missiles aimed at Western European capitals meant to intimidate and get them to back out of NATO. Reagan got the NATO heads to accept the missiles in Europe and not drop out of NATO. The USSR was spending 20% of its GNP (Gross National Product) on military and research vs. the U.S. which was only spending 3% to 4%.Reagan began to sense that Gorbachev was a Communist leader that could be approached on a personal level and he was able to get Gorbachev to meet alone with him and their interpreters (not any of the Communist hard-liners who were often at meetings with U.S. presidents). Reagan told Gorbachev that the USSR would not be able to win an arms race with the U.S. Gorbachev had planned to escalate the fighting in Afghanistan, but the U.S. CIA in 1985 aided the rebels giving missiles to the anti-communist rebels including a young radical named Osama bin Laden (no one knew the intentions of radical Islam in the 1980s - they were anti-communist then, not necessarily anti-non-Muslims). This enabled Soviet aircraft to be shot down. The Soviets would have to withdraw out of Afghanistan. Reagan and Gorbachev would agree to the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987, which agreed to destroy some weapons. The USSR would end up collapsing before more treaties were needed.
 * Communism's Last Gasp:**

In 1984, at the Republican convention that renominated Reagan (and his Vice President George H.W. Bush), Reagan had the theme "It's morning in America." Reagan's success in tax cuts, the economic boom, the military being resupplied and rearmed meant certain victory. He ran against Walter Mondale (D), a former Minnesota Senator, New Deal liberal, with Geraldine Ferraro as the first female to run for Vice President. She was expected to bring large numbers of women to vote for the Mondale ticket, but she also brought the baggage in the form of corruption charges involved with her husband's business. Mondale tried to attack Reagan on the budget deficits saying he'd raise taxes and was just being honest to the people, but the public was wary of returning to the days of high taxes and high unemployment.Reagan won big and said "It's morning again!" The Democrats kept control of the House and took back the Senate in 1986 (midterm of Reagan's second term) partly due to some Republicans retiring and part because some Republicans wouldn't sign on with Reagan's values. However, the new Congress eliminated some deductions Americans could claim in the tax code (which meant in some situations paying more in taxes), which reduced economic growth. Reagan's critics will say that under Reagan the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. This is a false statement since from 1982 to 1988 per capital income for whites went up 14% and for blacks went up 18% (compared to 2.4% for whites and 1% for blacks under Jimmy Carter). Unemployment for blacks was cut in half under Reagan.Reagan broke ground in other ways by appointing Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court. She was the first female justice on the Supreme Court. Reagan almost had be hurt publically by the Iran-Contra Controversy in which the U.S. sold arms to Iran (who was at war with Iraq) in return for hostages. Without Reagan's approval though the money was being sent to help the anti-Communist Contras in Nicaragua. Congress began to look into the matter. Colonel Oliver North took the blame completely. Toward the end of the 1980s, cracks appeared in the USSR as Gorbachev began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. Reagan kept the pressure on and went to the Berlin Wall in 1987 and gave a famous speech saying "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." The stock market took a hit due to market perceptions that loans to Communist nations might not get repaid and money that was flowing to Eastern Europe began to dry up. In May of 1988, Hungary removed its single-party government. Gorbachev didn't act. Poland followed (remember Lech Walesa was pushing for allowing unions in his Solidarity movement). In 1989 the Berlin Wall was torn down and Communism was collapsing in East Germany. Germany would end up being unified as a democracy. It wouldn't be long until Communism would collapse in the Soviet Union.
 * Morning in America:**

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