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Us History Reagan, H.W Bush, Clinton, Reaganomics

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Post 1980: The New Political Era Mike ****** AP US History 12 April, 2012 Post 1980: The New Political Era (REAGAN, H.W BUSH, CLINTON) The election of 1980 marked a ‘new political era’ that was ushered in by President Reagan and that followed on through the presidencies of George H. W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton. These presidents were inaugurated at different times and succeeded the successes and the failures of their predecessors. Having came from different political backgrounds and having unique political and social beliefs, Bush, Reagan, and Clinton can only be analyzed through their foreign policies, domestic policies, achievements as well as shortcomings, and legacies. Ronald Wilson …show more content…

This, however, created chaos in other public programs for instance, Medicare and Social Security. Reagan was fairly ‘laissez faire’ and delivered on his promise to decrease government-intervention by reducing federal regulations on business and industry, a policy preferably known as deregulation which had begun under Carter’s presidency (Newman and Schmalbach 650). Nevertheless, Reagan opposed labor unions-he once fired thousands of striking air traffics who were against their contracts- and many businesses followed suit by taking strict measures against striking. As a result, labor union membership and striking drastically decreased as the economy grew tough during the Recession of 1982, and foreign competition for American jobs made jobs insecure and negatively affected worker’s wages (Newman and Schmalbach). In 1982, investments and banks failed leading in a recession; the worst recession since the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Unemployment skyrocketed to 11 percent as compared to the usual unemployment rate which is normally 8 percent or under. Fortunately enough, a fall in oil prices prevented the double-digit inflation rate similar to that of the late 1970’s by lowering it to 4 percent. The policies of ‘Reaganomics’, mainly centered around cutting government spending and tax cuts, are what improved and

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