Jimmy Carter A Washington outsider Carter had no clue how to play politics Instead of packing his Cabinet with politically savvy operatives he chose experts in their respective fields The economy having slid into a recession under Ford tumbles even further ID: 690400
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Slide1
Cold War
Presidents part 2Slide2
Jimmy Carter
A Washington outsider, Carter had no clue how to play politics
Instead of packing his Cabinet with politically savvy operatives, he chose experts in their respective fields
The economy, having slid into a recession under Ford, tumbles even further
after a spike in oil
pricesSlide3
Jimmy Carter
Carter’s response
was to
cut federal spending
and
ask Americans
to
conserve energy
as a means of improving the economy
Carter’s
policies didn’t stimulate the economy
Instead,
interest rates soared
and
price indexes
jumpedSlide4
Jimmy Carter
Carter’s push for diplomatic world change is highlighted by the
1978 Camp David Accords
At Camp David,
Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem
Begin work out a peace agreement
The
Camp David Accords
formalize relations between the two countries, set the stage for negotiations with the Palestinians, and call for a withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula
Sadat is assassinated
by grenades and machine gun fire by fundamentalist Muslims
3 years laterSlide5
The Assassination of Anwar
Sadat at a parade, October 6, 1981Slide6
Jimmy Carter
Any hope for the U.S. and U.S.S.R. signing the
SALT II agreement is dashed
when the
U.S.S.R. invades Afghanistan
In response to the invasion, the
U.S. begins arming
the
Afghan mullahs
(religiously educated Muslim leaders)
These
groups are known as
mujahideen
(Arabic for strugglers; people doing jihad)
CIA and military advisors funnel weapons and training
to these Islamic fundamentalists with the mindset of
“the enemy of my enemy is my friend”
A portion of these
mujahideen
eventually form into the
Taliban
which seize power in Afghanistan after the Soviets leaveSlide7
Osama
Bin Laden in a cave while fighting
the invading
Soviet
forces. Jalalabad region, Afghanistan, 1988Slide8
Jimmy Carter
During the Soviet/Afghan war, the friendly government in Iran is toppled by hardline Islamic clerics led by
Ayatollah
Ruhollah
Khomeini
The U.S. embassy in Tehran is overrun and
66 Americans are captured and held hostage
After releasing some, 52 hostages were held for 444 days until their release on January 20, 1981Slide9
Iranian protesters climb over the gates of the U.S. embassy before storming in to take hostages - Tehran, Nov 4, 1977Slide10
Jimmy Carter
The
Iran Hostage Crisis
killed any chance Carter had against Reagan in the 1980 election
The hostages were released at the completion of Reagan’s inaugural address under the agreement known as the
Algiers Accords
which
stated
in part:
The U.S. would unfreeze Iranian assets and settle debts between the two countries
The U.S. would not interfere in Iranian internal affairs either politically or militarilySlide11
Ronald Reagan
Reagan’s
time
in office is
marked
by
major
political, cultural
,
military and economic shifts
Politically
, the country swung drastically to the right (conservative), so much so that a “liberal” President like Clinton sounded eerily similar to (for his time) a “conservative” Eisenhower
Re-marking the political center
of the country
allows more religious and neoconservative
groups
to influence policy decisions
from Congress all the way through the court systemSlide12
Ronald Reagan
The result of this access to policy decision making begins a
“culture war”
wherein conservative ideologues clashed with what
they felt to be a society slipping from its previously moral standing
Gay rights, feminism, an increase in evangelical Christianity, “family values” coalitions
, and a host of other interest groups fought
media and legal battles
in hopes of
redefining
what
“America”
should beSlide13
Ronald Reagan
Militarily
, Reagan’s term led to
increased military spending
and
re-engagement with the U.S.S.R.
following a period of détente started by Nixon’s trip to China and the signing of SALT
Reagan and NATO allies begin installing more
missile defenses in countries surrounding the Warsaw Pact states
Leveraging the Soviets’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, Reagan postures the U.S. as ready for a hot war at any minuteSlide14
Ronald Reagan
Reagan refuses to accept the U.S.S.R. as an equal player in the world and terms them an
“evil empire”
Instead of directly engaging
with the U.S.S.R.,
Reagan chooses to rely
on the ideas of the
Truman Doctrine
; specifically that the
U.S. should stop the spread of communism anywhere and everywhere
He chooses easy targets like
Grenada
and
Nicaragua
, both of whom had left leaning governments, to invade (Grenada) and support a rebellion (Nicaragua)Slide15
Ronald Reagan
Nicaragua turns out to be a nightmare for the CIA and Washington
The
Iran-Contra Affair
causes an uproar
In a nutshell, in 1985 the CIA sold anti-tank missiles to Iran in exchange for releasing hostages and used the funds to finance the Contras (rebels in Nicaragua) which was banned by Congress
In 1994, the final report on the scandal indicated that both Reagan and George H. W. Bush withheld information and mislead CongressSlide16
Ronald Reagan
Mikhail
Gorbashev
, the Secretary of the Communist Party, instituted
glasnost
(political openness and free discussion) and
perestroika
(restructuring of the Soviet economy)
This change allowed the U.S. and U.S.S.R. to begin changing how they spent on defense
Gorbashev
thought the crushing debt of the arms race was preventing the U.S.S.R. from modernizing like the U.S.Slide17
Ronald Reagan
Reagan met with
Gorbashev
in Iceland and agreed to deep cuts in strategic forces
In 1987, Reagan,
over the strong objections of many advisors, the CIA and the Defense Department,
negotiates the
Intermediate Nuclear Force (INF)
The INF calls for the
destruction of intermediate range nuclear and conventional missiles
Many of the
objections
were that the elimination of these weapons will
create a strategic vulnerability for the U.S.Slide18
Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate delivering his
famous
'Tear Down This Wall' speech - June 12, 1987Slide19
George H. W. Bush
Initially, Bush was hesitant to engage with
Gorbashev
, but ultimately agreed to work with him
Several satellite states
within the U.S.S.R.
embraced the idea of perestroika
and eventually agreed to
abandon communism
in favor of democracy
Effectively, the U.S.S.R. has fallen
On
November 9, 1989
, the Berlin Wall comes
crumbling downSlide20
A West German man sits atop the
Berlin
Wall - November 10, 1989Slide21
A West Berliner soaked by a water cannon takes a
sledgehammer
to the wall on November 11, 1989Slide22
George H. W. Bush
August, 1991 – An attempted coup against Gorbachev by old-line Communists, is put down
Within the month, the
Communist party is banned by the Soviet parliament
By
December, 1991
, Gorbachev resigned and the remaining
15 component countries of the U.S.S.R. declare their independenceSlide23
George H. W. Bush
Analysts agrees that relentless, open-ended defense and military spending in the arms race helped bankrupt and undermine the U.S.S.R.
Whether or not U.S. spending also weakened the U.S.’s economy and its ability to compete in the world
marketplace is a point of debate
Some believe that the demise of the U.S.S.R. is the ultimate justification for 40 years of Cold War spending
Others argue that the collapse showed American politicians greatly exaggerated the threat the Soviets posed
The truth of the matter will probably never been known because Russia will likely never allow their records to be examined by Western analysts