1. CHAPTER 26: THE
TRIUMPH OF
CONSERVATISM,
1969–1988

2. Title 1X
• A ban on gender discrimination in higher education
• is a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any
federally funded education program or activity

3. Nixon and China
• Full diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China
were not established until 1979, but Nixon’s visit sparked a dramatic increase in trade
between the two countries.

4. Nixon and the Great Society
• More efficient administration
• Shift responsibility to the states
• Shift school desegregation to the court

5. Nixon Pardon
• Among his first acts as president, Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon, shielding him from
prosecution for obstruction of justice.

6. Iranian Hostage Crisis
• When Carter in November 1979 allowed the deposed shah of Iran to seek medical
treatment in the United States, Khomeini’s followers invaded the American embassy in
Tehran and seized fifty-three hostages. They did not regain their freedom until January
1981, on the day Carter’s term as president ended. Events in Iran made Carter seem
helpless and inept and led to a rapid fall in his popularity

7. Iran-Contra Affair
• Scandal of the second Reagan administration involving sales of arms to Iran in partial
exchange for release of hostages in Lebanon and use of the arms money to aid the
Contras in Nicaragua, which had been expressly forbidden by Congress.

8. Family Assistance Plan
• A ''negative income tax'' that would replace Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC) by having the federal government guarantee a minimum income for all
Americans.

9. Block Grants
• Grants given to states to spend as they see fit, rather than for specific purposes.

10. San Antonio Independent School
District V. Rodriguesz
• A 5-4 Court majority ruling that the Constitution did not require equality of school
funding

11. Reverse Discrimination
• Claims that, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause,
minorities were granted special advantages over whites.

12. Regents of the University of California
V. Bakke
• Case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the California university system�s
use of racial quotas in admissions but allowed the use of race as one factor in
admissions decisions.
• was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. It upheld
affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission
policy.

13. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
• Agreements which froze each country’s arsenal of intercontinental missiles capable of
carrying nuclear warheads.

14. My Lai Massacre
• An incident in which a company of American troops killed some 350 South Vietnamese
civilians.
• A mass killing of helpless inhabitants of a village in South Vietnam during the Vietnam
War, carried out in 1968 by United States troops under the command of Lieutenant
William Calley.

15. War Powers Act
• Law passed in 1973, reflecting growing opposition to American involvement in Vietnam
War; required congressional approval before president sent troops abroad
• Congress passed this to limit the power of the president in military affairs
• Congress also passed the congressional budget and impoundment act which forced
the president to spend any money he attempted to hold onto

16. Stagflation
• A combination of stagnant economic growth and high inflation present during the
1970s.

17. Misery Index
• The sum of the unemployment and inflation rates

18. Helsinki Accords
• Agreements made in 1975 between the United States and Soviet Union that, over time,
inspired movements for greater freedom within the communist countries of eastern
Europe.

19. Camp David Peace Treaty
• A peace agreement between Egypt and Israel facilitated by Jimmy Carter.

20. Neoconservatives
• A group of intellectuals who charged that the 1960s had produced a decline in moral
standards and respect for authority

21. Regan Revolution
• A reference to how Reagan reshaped the nation’s agenda and political language
more effectively than any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt

22. Reaganomics
• Popular name for President Ronald Reagan’s philosophy of supply side economics,
which combined tax cuts with an unregulated marketplace.
• The ascendancy of conservation in the 1980’s can be partially attributed to the
economic “stagflation” of the Carter years
• Regan espoused supply-side economic theory
• Supply-sides favored simultaneous tax cuts and reduction in spending to encourage
investors and entrepreneurs
• Conservative author George Glides wrote “a successful economy depends on the
proliferation of the rich”

23. Watergate
• Watergate Scandal
• Summer 1973-Senate investigation
• Damaging Senate hearings on cover-up
• White House tapes discovered
• Summer 1974
• Nixon must relinquish tapes
• House Judiciary committee recommends impeachment
• August 9,1974
• Nixon resigns
• Watergate Scandal Consequences
• Demonstrates growing power of the executive branch
• Illustrates vitality of institutions
• Press
• Federal judiciary
• Congress

24. • Watergate
• Nixon had attorney general appoint a special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, to help in the
investigation
• After, Cox asked Nixon to give him the tapes, Nixon ordered the attorney general to fire cox
• Response to that, the attorney general resigned as well as top aides to him

25. Gerald Ford
• Vice president
• Nixon appoint Gerald Ford as his new VP
• Nixon did release written transcripts of the tapes although they were heavily edited
• Supreme court ordered Nixon to hand over the tapes and he did
• Tapes revealed direct evidence of a cover up of the break-in

26. Jimmy Carter
• James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician and member of the Democratic
Party who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was
awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace

27. Regan Revolution
• following his overwhelming victory Reagan and his political allies began an effort to
reverse the political legacy of the New Deal and Great society
• His 1st Inaugural Address: “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our
problem government is the problem”
• Regan was able to capitalize on the new conservative national sentiment with a simple
message: low taxes. Smaller government and strong national defense
• Addition to delivering a clear, concise agenda, Reagan conveyed a sense of optimism
and accessibility that earned him the title “the Great Communisator”

28. • Turoil of the 1960s and economic problems of 1970s made a conservative turn
inevitable
• Watergate bought democrats more time
• Reagan was the attractive candidate republicans needed to assure decisive victory

29. Ronald Reagan
• The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan
administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from
January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989
• Reagan Administration:1980-1988
• Ascendancy of conservatism
• Promoted the concept that social programs had not solved poverty
• Did not favor social programs to aid the poor
• Social spending was incompatible with economic growth
• Did not support federal civil rights

30. Detente
• Nixon more interested in foreign policy
• Henry Kissinger was his primary advisor
• Nixon and Kissinger had practical approach to diplomacy
• Cold war traditional Great Power struggle. Not ideological war with Communism
• Detente-Relaxation of tension with soviets

31. Détente: Tactics and Actions
• Nixon’s 1972 visit to china and the “China Card”
• Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM)
• Limited each side to 200 ABMs
• Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)
• Froze number of offensive ballistic missiles for 5 years