Changing Political Environment - Topic 1.1

Question 1

Why did the Democrats fail to win the 1920 Election?

What factors led to their failure?

Answer 1

• Involvement in WWI
• Debts to European nations
• Wilson didn’t want to run for President again
• Wanting to be more involved globally after 1918 (e.g., League of Nations)
• Russian Revolution of the First Red Scare

Question 2

How did the Republican Party rise to power?

What was their campaign?

Answer 2

Republicans wanted to return focus back onto America to solve:

• High unemployment
• Protests, strikes and riots
• Balance the government books and reduce government taxation
• Introduce tariffs to protect US trade and industry

Question 3

How did the Republican party intend to solve America’s economic problems?

What were their promises?

Answer 3

• Policy of Laissez-faire
  (Keep spending under control and manage only social issues, do not get very involved in everything else)
• Promote big business
• Don’t control wages, working conditions, hours or prices
  (Market economy)

Question 4

How did FDR win the 1932 Election?

What qualities and promises led him to win?

Answer 4

• The ‘New Deal’
  A deal for the forgotten man, who aimed to provide help and work for different sections of society, on a state-to-state basis.
• FDR proved himself
  He was an effective governor of New York who was a brilliant communicator and had a snappy campaign
• Failures of the Republican party
  In the lead up to the Great Depression and during, the Republicans under Hoover did very little to actually help the poor and disadvantaged.

Question 5

How did FDR get the public to believe and trust in him?

What did he do to bring his personality out and build trust?

Answer 5

He did a series of radio broadcasts called ‘fireside chats’ where he explained his policies to people as if he was with them in a cafe. He received lots of letters from the ordinary person both asking for help and thanking him. He understood the power of the media and their support.

Question 6

What were the Neutrality Acts?

Answer 6

A series of laws designed to prevent the US from being dragged into a foreign war by clearly stating the terms of U.S. neutrality.
There were 4 Neutrality Acts - 1935, 36, 37 and 39

Question 7

Styles of Presidents:

Harry S. Truman

Personality and Policies

1945-1953

Answer 7

Presidential Change:

• Compared heavily to FDR
• Post-war consensus begins
• Lacked connection with other people, congress or the public

Policies:

• Signatory of the NATO Treaty
• Marshall Aid
• Korean War (1950-53)
• ‘Fair Deal’, similar to Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’
• Federal Aid to Education
• Anti-lynching Law

Question 8

Styles of Presidents:

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Personality and Policies

1953-1961

Answer 8

Presidential Change:

• Liberal stance
• Has a war record - Supreme Leader of the Allied Forces
• Post-war consensus; Middle ground between Democrats and Republicans - “Modern Republicanism”
• A friendly old man

Policies:

• Suez Crisis of 1956
• ‘New Look’ Policy - Shifted military focus to nuclear weaponry focus
• Containment of communism and Arab nationalism in the Middle East
• U2 Incident

Question 9

Styles of Presidents:

John F. Kennedy

Personality and Policies

1961-1963

Answer 9

Presidential Change:

• Persuasive - Both on the TV and in speeches
• Learns more about the idea of persona
• Styles himself in the Modern Era
• Young, attractive, catholic, Irish, wealthy, popular, Northern,

Policies:

• ‘New Frontier’
• Lower taxes, protect the unemployed and increase the minimum wage
• Energise housing and energy sector
• Civil Rights; Enforce current laws but didn’t create new ones
• Bay of Pigs; Failed as he backed out at the end
• Cuban Missile Crisis:
• Space Race - Vital in its success in the decade
• Limited nuclear testing with the UK and USSR in space, underwater and in the atmosphere

Question 10

Styles of Presidents:

Lyndon B. Johnson

Personality and Policies

1963-1969

Answer 10

Presidential Change:

• Democratic Texan - 6’4” - Came from a poor background
• Used his height to control and maintain power in a conversation
• Example of the failure of the ‘Imperial Presidency’

Policies:

• ‘The Great Society’ - Passionate and compassionate, focused more on the poor
• Desegregated accommodations
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Fair Housing Act of 1968
• Higher Education Act and Public Broadcasting Act
• Medicare - Old people and Medicaid - Low income
• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 - Preference system via skills and connections to Americans
• Began the Viet’Nam War (Cold War) - Continued JFK’s Containment policy

Question 11

Styles of Presidents:

Richard M. Nixon

Personality and Policies

1969-1974

Answer 11

Presidential Change:

• New Federalism - Destroys big government; destroys trust
• Paranoid - He recorded talks in the Oval Office
• Watergate Scandal - Second term, DNC, wipe phones and steal documents Impeached, but resigns

Policies:

• “War on drugs” - Harsher drug laws; DEA was created in 1973
• More Rehabilitation
• Larger incarceration rate
• Wage and Price control - Tackled inflation and stabilise the economy
• Environmental protection - EPA and Clean Air Act
• Continued to support oil and coal industries
• Finished the Apollo Space program and worked with others internationally.
• “Vietnamisation” - Reduce troop involvement in 1973
• Normalised relations between China PR and USA; recognised them - Detente
• SALT I - Limited ICBMs and ABMs one could possess. Reassured MAD

Question 12

What factors, people or events?

What led to the decline in confidence?

LBJ and Nixon

1968-80

Answer 12

LBJ - (D)

• Realisation of the Imperial Presidency
• Sacrifices the “Great Society” for the Viet’Nam War

Nixon - (R)

• Destroys big government which leads to the lack of trust in D.C. politicans
• Watergate Scandal - Destroys all trust of Washington Insiders
• Woodstock Generation - Baby Boomers who subscribed to American counterculture (e.g., Hippies and drugs)

Question 13

What factors, people or events?

What led to the decline in confidence?

Events

Answer 13

Martin Luther King Jr’s Assassination - 14/04/1968

• Increase in riots and violence

Robert F. Kennedy’s Assassination - 06/06/1968

• Progressivism in the Supreme Court dwindled

Oil Crisis of 1973

• Oil prices go up = Economic downturn = Stagflation

Question 14

What factors, people or events?

What led to the decline in confidence?

Other factors

1974-1998

Answer 14

Congress wants to limit the powers of the President (Separation of powers):

• War Powers Act of 1973 - Needs congress’ consent for armed conflict
• Ethics in Government Act of 1978 - Prevent and resolve conflict of interst; public service

Conservative Backlash:

• Evangelical Christianity on the rise
• They can show anything on TV without regulations and reprecussions
• Want to return to the ‘American Dream’ and ‘Christian values’

Rise of the ‘New Right’:

• Baptist Falwell aimed to rid the “unchristian” morals
• Return to rugged individualism and laissez-faire
• Ronald Reagan (Governor of California)
• 3 Mile Island accident - Partial meltdown of a reactor - Anti-nuclear demonstrations