Cold War Presidents part 2 - PowerPoint Presentation

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