Name:__Julie Tyler_______________________

The Reagan Era Webquest

Go to: http://www.ushistory.org/us/59a.asp

1) Who dominated the 1980s with his message, personality, and politics?

Ronald Wilson Reagan

2) Name three groups that supported Ronald Reagan and his quest for the Presidency in
1980.

Rural Midwest,Protestant leaders, and wealthier voters

3) What promise did Reagan make to working-class Americans concerned about taxes?

To Reduce their level of misery with sound fiscal policy

4) What caused many Catholics to support Reagan?

He promised to oppose abortion rights and promote family values

5) What are Democrat voters called who supported Reagan?

Reagan Democrats

6) Who did Reagan defeat in the 1980 presidential election?

Jimmy Carter

7) How many electoral votes did Reagan receive in the 1980 presidential election? How
many did Carter receive?

Reagan received 489 votes

Carter received 49 votes

8) What did Iran do just hours after Reagan was inaugurated?

Released the American hostages that had been held for 444 days

9) What happened to Reagan two months after his inauguration?

John Hinckley put a .22 caliber bullet in reagan's chest

10) Who did Ronald Reagan defeat in his 1984 re-election campaign?

Walter Mondale

Reaganomics
Go to: http://www.ushistory.org/us/59b.asp

11) Name three things Reagan claimed hampered growth in the United States.

An undue tax burden, excessive government regulation, and massive social spending
programs

12) What percentage tax cut did Reagan propose during the first three years of his
presidency? Who benefitted the most from this tax cut?

30%, Upper income levels

13) What is the name of Reagan’s economic theory?

Supply-side or Trickle down economics

14) Why did Reagan believe tax relief for the rich would generate more revenue for the
federal government?
It would enable them to spend and invest more.This new spending would stimulate the
economy and create new jobs.

15) What did the Federal Reserve Board believe would be the effect of Reagan’s tax cuts?

The tax-cut would re- ignite inflation and raise interest rates

16) What effect did the high interest rates have on the economy in 1981 and 1982?

A deep recession,The high interest rates caused the value of the dollar to rise on the international
exchange market, making American goods more expensive abroad. As a result, exports decreased
while imports increased.

17) How was the economy after 1983 and the remaining years of Reagan’s presidency?

It showed national growth

18) Why did the defense industry boom during Reagan’s presidency?

19) How did Reagan plan to pay for tax cuts and increased military spending?

20) How much did the national debt triple during the Reagan years?

Foreign and Domestic Entanglements

Go to: http://www.ushistory.org/us/59c.asp

21) What did Ronald Reagan label the USSR before he became President?

22) What did Reagan believe he had to do before negotiating with the Soviet Union?
23) What did Reagan propose to defend the United States mainland from any incoming
ballistic missiles?

24) What treaty did Reagan and Gorbachev negotiate in 1987? What did this treaty
eliminate?

25) How did Reagan plan to stop the spread of Communism around the world?

26) What did Reagan warn nations around the world if the United States could prove there
was a link between an act of terrorism and a foreign government?

27) How did Reagan respond when the CIA linked the bombing in West Berlin to the
government in Libya?

28) What did the press report in 1986 that was Reagan’s worst domestic scandal?

29) How did Reagan respond when asked about the Iran-Contra Affair?

Go to: http://www.ushistory.org/us/59d.asp

Life in the 1980s

30) Describe two fundamental changes in the standard of living for Americans in the
1980s.

31) What exacerbated the nation’s drug problem in the 1980s?

32) What disease spread by the sharing of intravenous needles and sexual contact
increased during the 1980s?

The End of the Cold War

Go to: http://www.ushistory.org/us/59e.asp

33) Why did Gorbachev introduce the policies of glasnost and perestroika? What was an
effect of these policies?

34) What country elected a noncommunist opposition government in 1989, and it began the
unraveling of the Soviet Bloc?

35) What happened when Ukraine, Byelorussia, and Russia their declared independence
from the Soviet Union?

36) How do Republicans and Democrats differ in their opinion of the Soviet Union’s
collapse?

37) How do you think the collapse of the Soviet Union affected the world?