Was America between 1980 and 2000 Moving in The Right Direction - Essay Example

Was America between 1980 and 2000 Moving in The Right Direction? Was America between 1980 and 2000 Moving in The Right Direction? Introduction The period between 1980 and 2000 was a time that saw America being led by three presidents, who served at different times. The presidents faced a myriad of challenges during their time where one of them was almost assassinated for the firm stands he had. President Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States, while George Bush took after him in 1989 and Bill Clinton became the 42nd president in 1993 to 2001. Each of these presidents brought a varying contribution to American history as they all known for various reasons. At the time of Reagan, his administration commonly known as the ‘Reagan Revolution ‘was characterized by the development of foreign policies and an anti-communist view. Reagan was successful in having served two presidential terms that lasted between 1981 and 1989. In Bush’s time, the country experienced an economic recession as much as the president had developed strong foreign policies. The period between 1993 and 2001 under the leadership of President Bill Clinton is a significant time in the history of America, but tremendous reforms happened during that time. Based on this overview, this essay will seek to establish whether America was moving in the right direction between 1980 and the year 2000 by looking at main events that occurred during that time and the various leaderships. The contribution by the presidents in terms they served and events experienced played a crucial role in shaping America’s history within the two decades. Was America between 1980 And 2000 Moving in The Right Direction? During the 80s, America was still engaged in the cold war with the Soviet Union that began after the conclusion of the Second World War. Reagan contributed to continuing the war making him be the toughest Cold War president since the war began as during his time the blockage of the Soviet Union economically began. From the contributions made by this president, it is evident that this time in American history contributed immensely in influencing Mikhail Gorbachev to start the restructuring process in Russia. Through his leadership, America became a political tower, but within the social front, the president failed to tackle some issues such as drug abuse and abortion was also legal. The drugs menace in the USA was quite significant as it was a principle election issue during the 1988 presidential election. Other than these social issues, tax reforms were introduced and also heightened military spending that led the country to plunge into a recession that began in 1981 and ended in 1982. The nation was not moving in the right direction as employment rates were high-reaching 10% and also the income inequality shot up significantly during Reagan’s early tenure. However, America was able to make an economic turnaround that led the nation to expand economically and the country experienced the longest time for growth in its history. The unemployment percentage stood at 5.7% with the implication being that the country was operating at full employment capacity. One significant activity that made this time in American history to go down as unpleasant was the fact that President Reagan cut Social Security benefits that belonged to the disabled and survivors. The response to the HIV pandemic that was a relatively new scourge was relatively slow, but the war on drugs heightened towards the end of the 80s. In relation to military activity, President Reagan had no reservations for executing military action, which led to America attacking Grenada, Lebanon and Libya that could have been avoided. The attack on Grenada drew influence from the fact that this island nation supported communist nations such as the Soviet Union making the country be an automatic enemy of the United States. Therefore, through its administration at the time relied heavily on military action when fighting against pro-communist states, meaning that the foreign policies applied at this time were anti-communist. The contribution by this president in the term he served and events experienced played a crucial role in shaping America’s history within the two decades. The George Bush administration that came into force after Reagan’s administration heavily succeeded in applying its foreign affairs principles, but performed dismally in domestic affairs. The Disabilities Act came into force during Bush’s tenure, which the previous administration had minimal regard for making it be one of the areas that made this time in history to be significant. Taxes were raised during Bush’s time in office, which was against the promise he had made to the Republicans of reducing military spending and not raising taxes. The economy was performing poorly as it had not fully recovered from the leftover deficits that had spilled from Reagan’s tenure. The Civil Rights of 1990 was an indication that America was moving in the right direction because it brought protection against job discrimination that was followed by a similar legislation in 1991. Federal spending in the education, technology research and child care increased during Bush’s administration while also the protection of the environment and nuclear practices became in force. Other legislations enacted during this time in American history include the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act for victims of nuclear testing, the Clean Air Act that enforced cleaner burning fuels, and the Immigration Act of 1990 that allowed for legal immigration into the US. Latin Americans were the significant beneficiaries of the immigration Act as they flocked the US in search of greener opportunities that was now legal for them to achieve. The USA also became involved with the affairs of foreign countries such as Iraq and Somalia and engaged in different ways in an attempt to help the nations that were in crisis at the time. America took upon itself to mediate peace in war torn areas by making humanitarian efforts towards creating a secure environment, meaning that the focus of the nation was in achieving foreign success than domestic. From this, the contribution of this president in the term he served and events experienced played a crucial role in shaping America’s history within the two decades. On the other hand, the major social milestones achieved during the 1990s characterized the American history as most of them were steered by President Bill Clinton. In this time of history, military personnel that were gay or lesbian could serve without being judged for their sexual orientation or preference, which was a step towards equality. The Clinton administration prohibited the discrimination of individuals based on their sexual orientation, especially in the public sector employment, which was a major achievement in this community. Improvements to the social security net began after 1990 that sought to protect the poor and vulnerable from falling below the standard poverty level through initiates such as child tax credit and an increase in the child care places. The social efforts made during this time influenced the enactment of legislations such as the Defense of Marriage Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act that sought to address disparities in health and the family set up. In essence, the period after 1990 was a time for welfare reforms that sought to address the welfare and social issues that previous administrations had never attempted to solve. In terms of health, milestones in the area of HIV prevention had begun to take form as this period acknowledged that this condition was slowly growing into a pandemic. At one point discrimination against individuals with HIV was quite high to the extent that a ban existed against individuals with the virus entering the USA. In 1994, the condom initiative began as an attempt to the spread of the virus, which served as an indicator that American had taken the war against the disease with the seriousness that it deserved. The American Society began to freely talk about sex and this made way for a rise in activism on HIV/AIDS from many of those infected or affected by the virus. Therefore, AIDS activism was at its peak after 1995 and research on the disease increased as a result of the vocal contributions of many people including President Clinton. Federal funding for health and education also increased during this time as funding for research on scientific research also went up. The view shared here is that the contribution by this president in the term he served and events experienced played a crucial role in shaping America’s history within the two decades. Conclusion From the information above, it is quite clear that the contribution by the presidents in terms they served and events experienced played a crucial role in shaping America’s history within the two decades. From the activities mentioned above that occurred under the leadership of three presidents, it would be accurate to say that different reforms and agendas characterized American between 1980 and the year 2000. The reforms varied from the fields of health, education, and politics through the enactment of various legislations that are significant to date. During the time of Regan there was no diplomacy and military action was the most applicable to America to solve its foreign challenges. As time progressed, America excelled in its implementation of foreign policies, but was ineffective in its domestic affairs under the leadership of George H. Bush. The Reagan and Bush administration focused more on increasing funding for military related activities. The period after 1993 dwelt on increasing funding for the education, health and research sectors, which indicated that American was on the right track. The protection of individual rights increased and discrimination of any kind was also addressed by the government that existed after 1993. The style of leadership between 1990 and 2000 kept undergoing gradual changes as the men in charge came in with their style of doing things, where each sought to leave a legacy. Tax reforms were also challenged in this period as each president handled the concept in his way. As much as this period in American history was challenging the contributions made were quite immense as this influenced America into being what it is today. Read More