RETREAT FROM LIBERALISM Dee ae 1968-2000 |RANKLN DELANO Reagan headlined the New, York Times editorial on Ronald Wilson Reagan's aecebtance speech at the1980 Republiean convention. The sidential nomine’ had repeatedly quoted Roosevelt, all the whiletmamnis cnliegilaacanie - eens! in the White House, Reagan promptly tehwing a portrait of President Calvin Coolidge—that stauineh Rey ‘big business—but he continued to grasp the mantle-of oases evetd/his Policies formed the antithesis of New Deal liberalism: = |) 3 mie ‘Redgan genuinely admired Roosevelt's dynamism and his optimism about the nation’s future; but his invocation of Braklin Roosevelt also aimed at his political goal—to, appeal to traditional Democrats, md 268.ichand,Nixendnedeemitaliand dé soot thratignéneonvoleiirertneneORESEPISOE PIN re joxyeindGZ2. Bist just two years later he resigned fe in diSgrace, His successo7-Gerakd-Rordyoeenpiad.the,@ual.tiicaiazdit- F ‘aie einrgeo- Demsaratjimeni-Carterinthedo7oclection. After a single term, Carter, tod, was voted ‘out of office. ‘This rapid turnover in the pres~ dency reflected 'in’part a widéspread loss of trust and confidence in government, expressed cynically by some Americans whose’ bumper stickers exhorted, “Don’t vote. Tt only encourages them.” Voter turnout declined to just 52.3 percent in, 1980,,as polls revealed a drop’from\’S6 to 29 percent in citizens’ belief that govern- shent would’“do whats right mostof the time.” ‘Nixon’s moral failings aitd Ford's and Cartet’s weak leadership contributed to the demise of all:three, but changes in the institutions of politics and government along with new domestic arid foreign challenges ¢reated obstacles that might well have defeated more talented politicians. Sinmenanioosronsitt UE TeTRINETECsn- glues bysohmsomendNi a oe Political parties further lost influence-as primary elections replaced conventions in the nomination. of candidates‘and as elected officials dependeid less on party support and more on campaign funds from: interest. groups.- Fens S SPCR PePveNe Craiaininmaacon- henersnaaoritinrg SER STO Y eran anne seRA SAA ~ ipa ct i TU chatesetbzeeses0s. Two s6cial movemerits—feminismand environmentalism—gained key policy objectives during the 1970s, but public opinion along with a growing conservative movernent reflected a more-genéral: loss of faith’in government to solve social problems. ‘While restoring national optithisin’'and: presiding over an economic upturn, Reagan also'sought a revolution in domestic policy as striking as Roosevelt's in extent—though opposite in-kind—and a-'new ‘national political alignment asTIA Cuarrex 30 + Rasazar exon Lisenatism dominant and lasting as Roosevelt's New Deal coalition. Meneubiiuaiesdoeronasmanscteasisimeetals han gaccevishent=s treet EAMG TSMC URSA CRs cino~tonbimiteggouormentioeroittrereguinelrs=te esonomyandysowidingrfomthenlisonlantSZEN, His vice president George H. Bush maintained the Re- publican hold on the White House for four more Yeats but lost to Democrat William Jefferson Clin- ton in 1992, tamachionts fomtheRepublicamilanistheciominancerenjoxedby theBemecrsts-fortineenleeadorompolicreramges ‘worcramaticnasdneserostherennadecl Pp Thelt ‘successor, Bill Clinton, presented himself a3 2 "Wey ‘Dermowwatiéxin contrast to the-liberalism of the party in the 1960s. The Republicans’ control of Congress and Clinton's own political and personal flaws lim- ited his administration's accomplishments. Above all, his record reflected the Democratic Party's re- ‘reat from the liberalism of the 1960s, a development ‘that began with Jimmy Carter and that Clinton cap- tured in 1996, when, echoing Ronald Reagan, he as- serted, “Phereraseiabigegesantmantsisenzen” And ‘when the 2000 elections delivered the White House to George W. Bush, son of the former president, and produced a closely divided Congress, national pol- ities seemed likely to remain on center ground. Conservative Politics and Liberal Programs in the Nixon Administration Richard Nixon took his victory in 1968 as evidence that most Americans were fed up with social protest and govemment efforts to expand individual rights and to provide for the disadvantaged. He contin- ued to appeal to those frustrations, and the pace of reform slackened during his administration. @gh ut SSAOMSEINERIAMER-oneried an could not ignore. In contrast to his public zhetoric, his administration's legislative record incorporated the very government activism that the president's speeches decried. Nixon's political expediency, a Democratic Congress representing a broad spec- trum of political positions, the president's eye on his place in history, and serious economic problems all helped to sustain many of the reforms of the 1960s and even expancbthe governments role. 968-2000 Nixon's “Southern Strategy” and Race Relations Nixons 1968 campaign had exploited antipathy to black protest and new civil rights policies in order to woo white southerners away from the Democra~ tic Party. PREM EeHOR TRACE IAT AALS HATERS OLE OPET TS useoilnlasenalicainssneseer OSE TTASTT DA CRT RE PLCS Yet the Nixon administration had to answer to the courts and Congres. Tqgiietmie ‘CREATE ERe ‘SARTO ke Hisen- hower, Nixon did not | want to use federal power to compel in- tegration, but when the Supreme Court over- ruled efforts by the Justice Department to | delay court-ordered de- Poreert of black stucens statouce tending acheals J} orethan 80 percent wnt, anae segregation, the admin- | (iB s°-#0 208 ae istration was compelled || BR) - cerdleabentionlas. Displaying similar extbility in ‘his 1980 presidential campaign, he softened earlier ‘The poor state of the economy and the coun- _ try’s declining international stataze—symbolized by the dozens of Americans held hostage in Iran (eve Chapter 31)—provided ample weapons for Reagan's campaign. Repeatedly Reagan reminded voters of the¥erinempindesd —stherccoROeaTaes changarplopmentandsndaiiconcandesa dati? younbetiensotiommcatinenmiseecssensiounseon ony” Reagan promised to “take government off the backs of the people” and to restore Americans’ morale and cother nations’ respect: A narrow majority of voters, 51 percent, responded to Reagan's upbeat message. Carter won just 41 percent of the vote, and 7 per- cent went to independent candidate, moderate John R Anderson. The Republicans also picked up thirty- uree new seats in the House and won control of the Senate. ith the election of 1980, conservatism gained greater ascendancy in American political culture than atany time since the 1920s, Reagan dearly ben- cfited from a Lingering backlash against the up- heavals associated with the 19603-—the civil rights revolution, the reforms of the Johnson era, the an- ‘tivar movement, feminism, the new sexual per- missiveness, and a liberal Supreme Court. Much RONALD REAGAN NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT Nancy and Ronald Reagan respond to cheers at the Republican National Convention where he was nom inated for president in the summer of 1980. Reagan became one of the most popular presidents of the twentieth century, though his wife did not akways share his high ratings from the American people. “Laser Sloan/ Woodfin Camp & Ameen CHERUNEeATMEtaWNRIgkts During the 1970s, evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity dlaimed thousands of new adherents and made adept use of sophisticated mass-mailing techniques and the "electronic ministry.” Evangelical ministers such as Jim Bakker and Pat Robertson preached to hnuge television audiences, attacking feminism, abortion, homosexuality, and pornography and call- ing for restoration of old-fashioned "family values.” jeatiomont TOMESEROOES