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The Growth of Conservatism
While the 1960s were in many ways defined by a push for social and political change, a group called the “New Right” evolved after 1964 due to discontent with liberal politics. A coalition of business leaders, middle-class voters, Christians, and dissatisfied Democrats created a conservative coalition that sought to change American politics back to more traditional values. A major part of this coalition was what became known as the Moral Majority. These were evangelical Christians who believed strongly in the authority of the Bible and felt that the growing societal acceptance of socialist welfare policies, drug use, homosexuality, and the end of traditional gender norms were cause for the rapid moral decay in the country. In the 1980 election, the conservatives found their candidate with former California Governor Ronald Reagan.
Reaganomics
Reagan’s Hollywood charm (he’d been an actor as a young man) helped him win the presidential election of 1980 by a landslide, winning 44 states to defeat the incumbent, Jimmy Carter, and become the 40th President of the United States. Fed up with the weak economy of the 1970s and a general lack of faith in America’s institutions, Americans reelected Reagan again in 1984 with an even bigger mandate—Reagan then won 49 states. In fact, one of the famous political advertisements in that election proclaimed it “Morning in America,” again thanks to Reagan’s successful first term. Reagan’s economic policies were in direct opposition to the philosophy behind the New Deal and Great Society. Nicknamed “Reaganomics,” they sought to cut taxes to encourage business growth, reduce public spending on welfare programs for the poor, and increase spending on defense. Reagan’s ideas were hardly new; similar policies had been implemented by Herbert Hoover in the 1930s. Unlike their failure in the Great Depression, the trickle-down theory of economics—taxing the wealthy less so that they can grow their businesses and thus increase employment—is credited for helping to bring an end to the inflation that had ravaged the economy since the 1970s. Additionally, Reagan fought to deregulate industries—reduce government rules on how businesses operate—in a wide variety of areas, from automakers to banks. The goal was to reduce government interference and allow businesses to grow, even if this would cause greater pollution or riskier lending. The end result, Republicans argued, was a more dynamic economy.
