The Cold war began in 1977 between the United States, the Soviet Union and Chinese Communist that occupied the attention of two generations of America from 1945 to 1991. Many citizens in these nations faced the nightmare of nuclear holocaust caused by small missteps and adversaries. During this time frame, Ronald Regan, a militant anti- communist crusader with his pragmatic and steady secretary of state, George Shultz guided the United States through a policy of heightened military preparedness and peace for the Soviet Union. In this essay, you will explore the 1980s and early 1990s, and how the Republican Party’s pursuit of conservative agenda led to the reversal of the liberal policy that had guided America since the New Deal years; in addition, …show more content…
to understanding the basic elements of the conservative coalition, with the hope of examining the impact of new conservative social policies under Presidents Reagan and George Bush on America’s racial minorities, the working-class, and women. Although many of these policies and changes were implemented it led to the end of Communist rule in Eastern Europe and the breakup of the Soviet Union leaving the Cold War a growth of globalization. The Cold War was dedicated to ending underwent significant changes in the decades following Nixon administration’s due to reduction of tensions with the Soviet Union.
Referencing Document 28.2 “The Nuclear Freeze Movement,” in 1932 30 percent of American voters considered nuclear freeze a referenda in ten states and 37 cities. This had causes a nuclear freeze movement. In the late 1970s, President Jimmy Carter emphasized the moralistic diplomacy of human rights, but by the end of his term he had increased the size of the U.S. military in response to Soviet aggression in Afghanistan. His successor Ronald Regan, employed harsher rhetoric and accelerated the military buildup. Regan views where conservative, although he would have been far less successful had it not been for the willingness of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to join him in ending the Cold …show more content…
War. In 1981 Ronald Regan entered the White House determined to offer a direct challenge to the Soviets. He took strong measures to fight communism around the globe, from Central America to the Middle East. Yet military superiority alone would not defeat the Soviet Union, so instead a shift of leadership within the USSR, as well as a worldwide protest movement for nuclear disarrangement to help end the Cold War. Ragan administration extended its firm Cold war position throughout the world, emphasizing anticommunism often at the expense of human rights.
He saw threats of the Soviet intervention in Central America and the Middle East, and he aimed to contain them. While many American citizens supported his conservative coalitions about anti-Communist stance, others opposed to the president’s policy and mobilized to protest. Referencing Document 28.1, “Iran Hostage Diary,” 1979-1980 Robert Ode, in November 1979, Iran students stormed the U.S Embassy in Tehran and held fifty –two Americans hostage for 44 days. This goes to show the bearing of the Cold War. Their demand included the surrender of the deposed shad, which was the U.S. for medical care. As frightening as the hostage was for the American citizen’s massive buildup was and despite the constitution of peace protests, Ronald Regan won reelection in 1984 by a landslide. Referencing Document 28.8, “Speech on Iran –Contra” Ronald Regan went on television and spoke about the Iran Contra scandal. Although he Regan appeared on television during the commissions hearings, this was the first time he spoke directly to the American people about the scandal. This was how Regan addressed the problems during the server time of
War. Globalization affected many popular cultures. In the 1980 reality shows, many became a staple of American television. One of the popular shows was American Idol from British. Globalization also had some negative consequences. Organized labor in particular suffered a server blow. Fewer labors were being produced by America. Globalization also posed a danger to the world’s environment. As poorer as the nations became to take advantage of the West appetite for low cost consumers goods, they industrialized rapidly, with little concern of excessive pollution that accompanied their efforts. To conclude, the end of the Cold War left the United States as the only remaining superpower. The United States emerged from the Cold War with its economic and military strength intact. The ending of this war allowed President Bush to turn his attention to explosive issues in the Middle East. In this essay, you should have an understanding and have explored the 1980s and early 1990s, and how the Republican Party’s pursuit of conservative agenda led to the reversal of the liberal policy that had guided America since the New Deal years.
As we move into the reelection year, the authors accuse Nancy of ensuring that Reagan hasn’t campaigned for eight months, following a “Rose Garden strategy.” But Reagan has no credible opponent for the 1984 nomination, and Walter Mondale, who will be his Democratic opponent in the general election, has not yet been nominated. So there is no need for a strategy, Rose Garden or otherwise. Of course we get the full chapter and verse on Reagan’s poor performance in his first debate with Mondale; at least we also get the report on the second debate. From there the narrative jumps to the Iran-Contra affair. A few high points — like the Berlin Wall speech in 1987 — are indeed included, but without any perspective on Reagan’s strategy, perseverance with the Soviets on arms control, or success in revitalizing the U.S. economy. Nothing is said about Reagan’s four second-term summits with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Except for a few comments that Reagan deplored Communism, this is a policy-free book, and a book
The United States and The Soviet Union were originally joined together by the want to defeat The Nazi army, in 1941-1945. The alliance remained, and strengthened, among the two until the end of World War II. At the end of World War II, a rupture between the two occurred. The differences began earlier, but there was a straw that broke the camels back. The reason The United States and The Soviet Union’s alliance did not work out is because The Soviet Union and The United States were complete opposites, The Soviet Union proved to be faulty, and they were never truly allies.
A war does not necessarily require physical weapons to fight. From 1947 to 1991, military tension and ideological conflicts held place. Cold War is defined as a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized by threats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The causes of the Cold War between United States and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place in World War II, intense rivalry between the two super powers, and conflicting ideologies. The two superpowers differed in views of political and economic principles and were eager to spread their ideologies to other countries. The United States were in favor of democracy and capitalism while the Soviet Union sought for the chances of influencing communism. Cold War did not involve the use of physical arms but was intensely fought. Propaganda, economic aids, Arms Race, and the creation of alliances were the main methods to fight the war. The use of propaganda played a crucial role in containment by criticizing the other power and raised the morale and spirit of their nation. The economic support for nations helped them recover from the desperate situation after World War II, which prevented the nations from falling under communism. Also, the Arms Race and forming alliances between the two main powers were important weapons for competition and rivalry in Cold War.
One of the biggest fears of the American people is that the concept of communism contrasts drastically from the concept of capitalism, which the United States was essentially founded upon. The United States, as the public believed, was not a land of perfect communal equality, but rather a land of equal opportunity. However, what made communism so dangerous can be succinctly described by Eisenhower who compared the spread of communism as the domino effect. As his secretary of state, Dulles, put it, the propagation of communism “would constitute a threat to the sovereignty and independence” of America (Doc B). In addition, the Cold War also planted the seeds of rational fear of a global nuclear war. As Russia caught up to the United States in terms of technological advancements, they successfully developed the atomic bomb as well as the hydrogen bomb, which caused Americans to believe that the USSR would use these weapons of mass destruction to forcefully extend their ideologies to the USA. In fact, Americans were so frantic about a potential nuclear disaster that it...
The major factor that led to the true end of the Cold War was the ongoing personal and diplomatic relationship between Presidents George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. This resulted in the reduction of the Russian military and favorable arms agreements. Key indicators of the substance behind this relationship were the Soviet troop withdrawals from Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Hungary (lifting the Hungarian/Austrian “Iron Curtain” along the border). Subsequently the opening of the Berl...
Reagan rose into power after years of turmoil and the American pride was dipping. About a decade before he became president, the war in Viet-Nam was winding down and the troops were returning home to negative demonstrations towards their duty. Then, during the Carter years, America transitioned into a détente policy, which meant that the United States would try to ease the tensions with the Soviet Union by not expanding the military, but not doing anything to acting ease the tension. The idea behind this became known as MAD, mutually assured destruction, (Hannaford) which meant that both the United States and Soviet Union would maintain and even number of nuclear weapons so that if one would fire, the other would be able to fire back equally. Reagan completely disagreed with this philosophy and created a whole new policy when he became president. The foreign policy he established was to create the Reagan Doctrine. According to a speech by Peter Hannaford, the Reagan Doctrine was that America would support democratic movements in any Communist country until that country could enjoy the fruits of freedom (Hannaford). This meant that the United States would help any country who wanted to leave the influence of the Soviet Union and create their own democracy. Also, to counter the Soviet Union and end the Cold War, a race between the United State and Soviet Union to create the best technology and become the world powerhouse, Reagan increased military spending. Ronald Reagan knew that the Soviet Union was unable to keep up the United States in military spending and still having enough funds to fund their own economy to keep it stable. Reagan used this knowledge to convince Congress to increase military budget to build up technology, causing the Soviets decide on what to do. The United States had the funds to continue, but the Soviet Union could not keep up. The breaking point
His extreme effectiveness feeds from decision-making ability that turned the country away from the negative and instable foreign policy of Carter and back to support winning the Cold War and promoting the strength of the US. In the 1970s, because Carter allowed Communism to gain military and territorial advantages, and failed to impose American hegemon and his own power as President. Reagan took office in 1981, “he was determined to rebuild that power, regain for the United States the capability to wage war successfully against the Soviets, to act with impunity against Soviet Third World clients, and to regain its status as the world’s dominant military force.” Reagan handled the Iran hostage Crisis within the hour of assuming the Presidency. Simultaneously, doing what was necessary to free Americans, and to use his power as President to go outside the constitution and congress and secure funding for the Contras to overthrown the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and restore the nation to a pro-American government. Unlike Carter Reagan wanted to make it clear he only cared about protecting American security, and that human rights could be an after
8 Levering 173 9 "The End of the Cold War" http://usa.coldwar.server.gov/index/coldwar/ 2 Feb. 1997. 10. http://usa.coldwar.server.gov/index/coldwar/. 11 Young, 28.. 12 Young, 28.. 13 Tom Morganthou, "Reagan's Cold War'sting'? ", Newsweek, 32 August 1993:
Discussions of the causes of the Cold War are often divisive, creating disparate ideological camps that focus the blame in different directions depending on the academic’s political disposition. One popular argument places the blame largely on the American people, whose emphasis on “strength over compromise” and their deployment of the atomic bomb in the Second World War’s Pacific theatre apparently functioned as two key catalysts to the conflict between US and Soviet powers. This revisionist approach minimizes Stalin’s forceful approach and history of violent leadership throughout World War 2, and focuses instead on President Harry Truman’s apparent insensitivity to “reasonable Soviet security anxieties” in his quest to impose “American interests on the world.” Revisionist historians depict President Truman as a “Cold War monger,” whose unjustified political use of the atomic bomb and ornery diplomatic style forced Russia into the Cold War to oppose the spread of a looming capitalist democratic monopoly. In reality, Truman’s responsibility for the Cold War and the atomic bomb drop should be minimized.
During the late 1940's and the 1950's, the Cold War became increasingly tense. Each side accused the other of wanting to rule the world (Walker 388). Each side believed its political and economic systems were better than the other's. Each strengthened its armed forces. Both sides viewed the Cold War as a dispute between right and wron...
Gaddis, John Lewis. “We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History.” Taking Sides: Clashing Views On Controversial Issues in United States History. Ed. Larry Madaras and James M. SoRelle. 14th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 302-308.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Gregory, Ross. A. Cold War America: 1946 to 1990. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2003. McQuaid, Kim.
With this book, a major element of American history was analyzed. The Cold War is rampant with American foreign policy and influential in shaping the modern world. Strategies of Containment outlines American policy from the end of World War II until present day. Gaddis outlines the policies of presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, including policies influenced by others such as George Kennan, John Dulles, and Henry Kissinger. The author, John Lewis Gaddis has written many books on the Cold War and is an avid researcher in the field. Some of his other works include: The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947, The Long Peace: Inquiries into the History of the Cold War, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History, The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past, Surprise, Security, and the American Experience, and The Cold War: A New History. Dr. Gaddis received his PhD from the University of Texas in 1968; he currently is on a leave of absence, but he is a professor at Yale . At the University, his focus is Cold War history. Gaddis is one of the few men who have actually done a complete biography of George Kennan, and Gaddis even won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012.
In 1980, troubled by a unstable economy at home, a hostage crisis overseas, and the end of prior administrations that were not trusted, America elected Ronald Reagan by a landslide margin of victory. At sixty-nine years old, he was the oldest President to be elected. He was born in a small town in Illinois and served two terms as California governor starting in 1966. Reagan's track record proved to be very strong and included welfare cuts, decreasing the number of state employees, and halting radical student protesters. Like other GOP members, Reagan came into office promising to limit the power of government and to strengthen American military power overseas. "In this present crisis," Reagan said in his inaugural address, "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."(Reganfoundation).
American policy was a mess from 1946 through 1950. The Cold War had begun, and there was a lot of conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. American forces were small however, and the defense budget was too small to meet the Soviet threat. American decision makers didn’t think the Soviets were necessarily seeking a war, but almost no one thought the peace would last. There was an overall gloomy outlook, however the Soviets were counting on several years of peace. Even though the Soviets were not actively seeking conflict, they were still using political means to achieve their goals. No one knew how a war might start and there was fear of miscalculation: