During the 1970s, the majority of Americans turned away from the reform movements associated with the 1960s. By the 1980s, in reaction to what some perceived as the excesses of these decades, new currents of social perfectionism emerged from evangelical religious movements, conservative groups, and self-help therapy programs. Most people remained content to vent frustrations through more traditional channels or to turn their backs on the larger public arena or, as one popular t-shirt of the era stated, "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping." In San Diego, shoppers headed for Horton Plaza, the subject of the chapter introduction, which in many ways epitomized the temper of the 1980s.

The Conservative Rebellion
A revival of evangelical religion inspired the conservative call for a return to fundamentals. Despite significant divisions within evangelical ranks, most leaders of the movement opposed the Supreme Court's liberal rulings on pornography, criminal rights, and abortion. To get their message across, traditional-minded religious leaders adopted sophisticated media technologies. Catholics and Jews also experienced movements for conservative renewal. Religious traditionalists generally found the mass media, especially network television, preoccupied with sex and violence. Many found in M*A*S*H and other sitcoms a liberal bias and an attack on traditional values. Parent groups objected to TV's impact on children; feminists and minorities argued that shows depicted them unfairly. Yet Ronald Reagan's skill in mastering TV gave him a decisive edge in his debates with Jimmy Carter during the 1980 presidential campaign.

Prime Time with Ronald Reagan
As president, Reagan used his formidable media skills to communicate his message to the nation. He declared his intention to get government off peoples' backs by reducing federal spending, federal regulation, and inflation. At the same time, he was determined that the United States would shake off the unhappy heritage of the Vietnam war and stand tall again. He sought to accomplish that goal through an aggressive anti-Soviet foreign policy and a sharp increase in defense spending.

Reagan quickly set the public agenda. He dramatized his opposition to labor by breaking a strike of the nation's air traffic controllers. His Secretary of Interior James Watt and EPA Director Anne Gorsuch set out to dismantle or undermine environmental regulations. And the cornerstone of the Reagan revolution was a significant tax cut under the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. But for several years, tight money policies designed to reduce inflation put the economy into recession. The combination of tax cuts, high unemployment, and cuts in government social programs led to a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. At the same time, the Defense Department conducted a substantial build-up in all categories of weapons, most notably the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Neither Reagan nor Congress could agree on a plan to ease growing budget deficits. That did not dampen Reagan's reelection prospects in 1984, as he overwhelmed Democratic candidate Walter Mondale--and Geraldine Ferraro, the first female vice-presidential candidate.

Standing Tall in a Chaotic World
Increasingly, however, Reagan encountered problems without easy solutions. In foreign policy, a terrorist attack on a Marine barracks and the withdrawal of American forces jolted his efforts to stabilize Lebanon. A rescue operation on the island of Grenada and the bombing of Libya were public relations successes, though hardly a solution to unrest in the Caribbean and terrorism in the Middle East. In Central America, Reagan's support for right-wing terrorists in El Salvador proved unpopular and his efforts to topple the Sandinista government in Nicaragua met repeated resistance from Congress.

By 1985 the Reaganites had grown frustrated on two fronts: terrorists still held American hostages in Lebanon, and the Sandinistas had survived the attacks of American-supported Contra rebels. Officials of the National Security Council began to implement a scheme: first to secretly trade arms to Iranian moderates for release of hostages, then to use the secret profits from those arms sales to raise money for the Contras. Selling arms to Iran contradicted Reagan's firm public pledges never to deal with terrorists. Aid to the Contras violated the explicit prohibitions of the Boland Amendment, passed by Congress in 1984. But the actions, carried out in great secrecy from Congress, responsible executive agencies, and possibly, even the president himself, went undetected. When the activities of Robert McFarlane, John Poindexter, and Oliver North became known, Congress investigated the plan the media dubbed "Irangate." While the public seemed relatively uninterested in the scandal, the concept of secret government pursuing illegal policies raised profound Constitutional questions.

Reagan retrieved much of his popularity through a series of dramatic meetings in Iceland and Moscow with the new and charismatic Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. The two eventually agreed to a treaty that reduced intermediate-range missiles in Europe.

Beyond his public personality, the key to Reagan's electoral success lay in his promise to advance the conservative social agenda aimed at restoring traditional family values. His appointments to the Supreme Court shifted it in a more conservative direction. But on issues such as abortion, school prayer, and drugs, Reagan delivered little more than rhetorical support. For much of his second term, his administration bogged down in scandals, and Congress proved unwilling to take leadership on issues such as the huge federal deficit. Most of the high-paying jobs created during the economic expansion of the 1980s went to young professionals, leaving the poor dead-end jobs in fast-food chains or other unskilled areas. Nonetheless, the economy remained robust enough and Republican policies popular enough to assure victory in 1988 for Reagan's vice-president, George Bush.

An End to the Cold War
George Bush much preferred to lead in foreign rather than in domestic affairs. At first that strengthened his presidency as world events dominated the headlines. Most startling was the rapid break-up of the Soviet bloc. In Eastern Europe, nation after nation threw off Communist rule. In 1989 the ultimate Cold War symbol, the Berlin Wall, came tumbling down. Events seemed to race out of control. By 1991 the Soviet Union disbanded, and Gorbachev had to yieldpower in Russia to Boris Yeltsin.

President Bush's responded cautiously to these events. He supported the changes, but made no major commitments. When China's hard-line leaders crushed a popular rebellion, he protested only mildly. Against weaker regional leaders he proved more forceful. When Panama's Manuel Noriega became an embarrassment, Bush sent U.S. forces to topple his government and arrest him. A more threatening crisis arose when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein sent his troops to conquer oil-rich Kuwait. Bush responded forcefully. He organized America's allies into a coalition that saddled Iraq with a tight economic boycott. When Saddam still refused to leave Kuwait, Bush finally used a UN resolution as authority to launch operation Desert Storm in January 1991. Massive air raids devastated Saddam's forces and prepared the way for a smashing invasion. The war ended with Saddam Hussein still in power, though much weakened.

Popular acclaim from Desert Storm seemed to assure Bush reelection in 1992. But his popularity quickly eroded as the economy soured and the president failed to respond effectively to domestic issues. He outraged environmentalists by weakening the Clean Air Act of 1991 and opposing the agenda of the "Earth Summit" that met in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. Scandals shook the Housing and Education Departments. The appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court raised troublesome issues about the administration's sensitivity to women.

More difficulties came from an economy in recession. Growing budget deficits raised questions about the Republican Party's financial strategies. In an effort to ease a budget crisis in 1990, Bush agreed to tax increases. Conservative Republicans felt betrayed by a president who in 1988 had loudly promised, "No new taxes." And in 1991 a violent riot ripped Los Angeles, calling attention to the problems of decayed urban areas that had gone largely unaddressed during the Reagan-Bush years. Even worse for Bush, the recession refused to abate, inflicting continuing hardships on middle-class voters. By 1992, voters had turned angry. Some of the anger buoyed the campaign of a Texas maverick, Ross Perot. But many more "Reagan Democrats" returned to the fold to vote for candidate Bill Clinton as a moderate who nonetheless promised activism and change.