Conservative Resurgence in the United States in Reagan Era - Essay Example

Conservative Resurgence As a political belief, conservatism con s the amalgamation of different political, social, religious and cultural ideologies. It is a way of applying social issues in masking economic and social objectives. Across the United States, republicans are mainly associated with conservative tendencies as can be realized throughout history. Prior to the 1970s, conservatism was not really an issue of much concern and republicans could only ascend to power by choosing a moderate president like Nixon or Eisenhower. However, the rise of conservatism in the 1970s through 1980s was basically a response to many different situations both in this period and in the earlier years of the 1960s. It was generally felt that liberals had exceeded limits and taken things a bit too far. As a consequence there was a general call for a resurgence of conservative policies which subsequently followed. As a result various policies came into play on the social, political and economic fronts. It is certainly imperative to realize the manner in which conservatism resurged in the 1970s and 1980s. Several major events in much of this period actually contributed to the highly conservative climate that was thereby realized. In the United States, the Reagan era was characterized by several cuts in the social programs and major anti-regulation policies that were geared towards American companies. In any case, much of the 1970s and 1980s were characterized by a rise in the mass media and the corporate world similarly exploded. On the economic front the 1970s had some of the worst recession since the Great Depression and some of these conditions actually recurred in the 1980s. In this regard, there were various calls and campaigns as people sought for the reemergence of the conservative ways of operations in order to address the situations. In the same way, the hard economic times made people to adapt to the more conservative spending habits which subsequently contributed to the conservative resurgence. In a way, the 1970s and 1980s were characterized by several events in the American situation. The rise of conservatism was basically a reaction to the several events of that period which forced the people to turn away from some of the more liberal policies of the time. The economic stagflation that plagued the United States had many effects on the people. The Vietnam War had many political and economic effects on the people as they felt it was basically a loss. In this regard, most people began turning away from the liberal policies of the Democratic Party and turned into republican policies as was realized in the 1981 presidential elections when Reagan was elected. The Reagan era nevertheless became unpopular on certain grounds due the various policies that put into place address the situation. In foreign policy, the United States sold arms to Iran and used much of the money to support the left wing rebels in Nicaragua. However, this was in violation of the congressional budget authority and the Boland Agreement. This act caused a much drop in the popularity of Reagan despite the many economic reforms the administration had put into place. Earlier on during Carters administration, the Iran hostage crisis was a symbol of the failed presidency of Carter due to the then unpreparedness of the United States in addressing emergency situations. The republican administrations of Nixon and Ford were majorly characterized by conservative policies especially in economic intervention. This was mainly achieved through the use of price and wage controls. However Ford’s decisions of pushing the detente policy with the Soviet Union did not go down well with most conservatives. Following Carter’s election in 1974, different thoughts emerged on the whole subject on conservatism. In a way, the Southern Baptists felt that Carter was too liberal while the mainstream of the Democratic Party felt he was too conservative and was thus incapable of addressing American foreign affairs programs. In any case, inflation skyrocketed while the economy basically stagnated. In the same way, interest rates roared. With Reagan’s victory in 1980, conservative principles were highly applied in order to mitigate and address some of the political and economic challenges that were being realized at the time. In this case, the administration practiced supply side economics as opposed to the Soviet Communism. In any case, Reagan became an icon of the conservative movement and greatly transformed American politics and economics. Reagan brought together an efficient tea of foreign policy and economic conservatives who strongly opposed communism. In the same way, he galvanized support from the social conservatives who supported social and religious ideals. In this regard, the United States supported many insurgency movements across the world which resisted Soviet aligned governments. Many liberals accused Reagan of being a warmonger due to his extreme anti-soviet policies. However, many conservative historians believe that these policies were very instrumental in the United States winning the Cold War. As a result of the conservative economic policies of the 1980s, the national debt nearly tripled from $908 billion realized in 1980 to $2.6 billion in 1988. In the same way, there was an increase in the consumer prices by more than 50%. In spite of the many income tax cuts that were implemented in this period, there was a much increase in the federal income tax revenue from $244 billion realized in 1980 to $466 billion in 1989 (Foner,115). In the previous administrations, the median family income in America had greatly declined. However, under Reagan, this income grew by over 10%. Economic analysts have demonstrated that the period from 1980 to 1989 was one of the most prosperous in American history considering the many economic realizations and the new jobs created. This was basically a result of the conservative policies that were adopted by the administration of Reagan and greatly helped in addressing some of the challenges that were realized in the previous administrations. The rise in conservatism in this period was basically a response to the people’s call for policies and measures as a consequence of the many challenges that bedeviled the nation at the time. More importantly, communism posed a major threat and cause for worry for most people not only in the United States. Regan labeled the Soviet Union as an ‘evil empire’ considering the extremist stance of communist principles. In this regard, there was a general opposition towards communisms across the United States. It is therefore realized that the resurgence of conservatism across the United States was a response to several situations which created the need for such a shift. As a result, many policy changes characterized the American situation. It is also felt that the conservative policies were very beneficial to the United States in many ways. Works Cited Foner, Eric. Give me liberty!: an American history. Seagull ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. Print. Read More