Ronald Reagan 1980 Election Analysis

The full text of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) reads as follows, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (qtd. in Stewart 33). These twenty-four words would become some of the most controversial of the twentieth century. Under the nineteenth amendment, American women obtained the right to vote in 1920. This amendment inspired Alice Paul to draft the first ERA which she then introduced to the United States Congress in 1923. After this first proposal, the ERA would eventually be proposed in each succeeding session of Congress (Stewart 33). Despite its introduction every year for fifty years, the ERA did not accumulate a strong opposing force until after it

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was defeated because of its popularity throughout its ratification and women opposing the Amendment itself. The ERA was an Amendment introduced to the United States that gave equal rights to every gender. This meant that there would be no differences between a male and a female in terms of divorce, work, etc. This Amendment was seen as the only way to eliminate gender discrimination. In 1923 the idea was first brought to Congress by a group called the National Women’s Party. However, amending the Constitution is a very difficult process. First, Congress present the Amendment and get a majority vote of two-thirds from the House and the Senate. After the Amendment is passed by Congress then it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. Even though Congress passed the ERA and the future seemed bright. The states did not ratify the Amendment. Therefore, the Amendment died off by 1982.

I think that for most Conservatives and generally all Republicans revere Ronald Wilson Reagan as one of, if not the best President the United States has ever had. Reagan was born in February of 1911. He was originally an Actor starring in several films in the 1930s. One of these films being “Knute Rockne, All American” where Reagan played a character called “The Gipper” which would remain as his nickname during his political career and his life. After being a film star he became the Governor of California, which would lead to him running and winning the 1980 Presidential

One major reason Ronald Reagan was able to defeat Carter in the election of 1980 was because Carter failed to rescue the hostages from the American embassy, prior to the election. He had already run for president in 1968 and in 1976, but didn’t win until 1980 as a Republican nominee because he established himself as the conservative candidate with the support of like-minded organizations such as the American Conservative Union. Reagan had several policies to try to recover the economy, one of them being deregulation, in which he advocated limiting government involvement in business. Following this policy, he deregulated several industries from government control. Another policy was to reduce inflation by controlling the growth of the money

Although he was a generally controversial president, Ronald Reagan’s policy decisions to stimulate economic prosperity, known as Reaganomics, were legitimately beneficial to the United States of America. First, in order to substantiate the success of Reagan’s economic policy decisions one must first grasp the varying levels of importance for each aspect of his plan. As Reagan’s policies were substantial decisions that defined his presidency and alienated an entire population of more economically liberal people, it makes sense that an understanding of his emphasis on certain decisions would lead to a more persuasive argument. Next, the negation of well formed and logical criticisms of Reagan’s economic policies also lend to the support of their benefits and success. Acknowledging a sensible counterargument and addressing specific points of critical analysis serves to further enhance the argument for the success of Reagan’s decisions. Furthermore, strong economic growth and the curbing of federal domestic power reinforce the accomplishments of Reaganomics. Though the U.S. did see economic growth, Reaganomics was not purely an economic plan, as cuts in government power, not including the military, benefitted the average American citizen. Moreover, Ronald Reagan’s economic decisions regarding Soviet foreign policy were also extremely beneficial to the United States. The tough decisions to further the national deficit proved a worthy sacrifice in pressuring the collapse

The society in the United States and Western culture tends to be more conservative during the peace time and long time prosperity. The American faced problems with spread of communism in South-east Asia, which resulted in the Vietnam War. The war brought many government experiments with the economy, such as overheating the economy and high inflation due to the Golden Standard. Economics as a fiend of study introduced the new way of policy-making - the free market with minimal government interventions. This trend was followed especially by president Reagan, when his administration reduced taxation, government spending, and regulations.

Consequently, the failures of the policies of liberal presidents like Carter and the success of conservatives like Reagan lead to the resurgence of conservatism.

The ERA was introduced in every Congress since 1923, and yet it still failed to gain ratification. The ERA was the Equal Rights Amendment, which means that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. I believe it was never passed because of many reasons. One reason was because some ERA supports got offended by other supports who were very obnoxious, which was a backlash on feminist tactics. (Doc. E & F) Another is that men and women might switch places, and it would be a threat to traditional roles.(Doc. J &M) My last reason for why the ERA was defeated is because since men and women would have equal rights, the women could also be drafted and serve the country.

These were conservative people who were disgusted with more liberal policies in favour of abortion, sexual freedom, welfare and equal rights for women, black people and homosexuals. They were desperate for a return to traditional family values, which Reagan promised to bring back. With an estimated 5 million evangelical Christians who had never voted before now voting for Reagan, he was gaining vast numbers of new votes while Carter was losing ones he should have been able to rely upon.

America faced its greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Greatly influenced by his devout Christian mother, she taught him that the most important knowledge concerned right and wrong. Reagan believed there was a Devine plan and purpose for everyone. His mother taught him to see the best in people, to help those less fortunate, and to keep an optimistic attitude even in tough situations. Reagan had a deep faith in God and belief in the fundamentals of Christianity (D’Souza 26, 38-39, 214). The way he related to people made them feel like he was their friend (Noonan 171). He stood firm on the moral issue of abortion and voiced his beliefs when he stated that it was a “…wound in our national conscience” (D’Souza 212). Reagan believed in Americans working in unity. Citizens should be a part of communities that work together to improve their lives. In fact, he praised people that voluntary supported “…church, charity, culture, art and education” with gifts (D’Souza 117). At the beginning of his presidency, Reagan challenged Americans to "begin an era of national renewal” (The Reagan Presidency).

Reagan won 51 percent of the vote and carried all but five states and the District of Columbia. Once a Hollywood actor, his sense of reassurance and optimistic style appealed to many Americans. Reagan’s campaign appealed to conservatives with promises of big tax cuts and a smaller government. When he took office, he promised to get the federal government out of Americans’ lives. He advocated for industrial deregulation, reductions in government spending, and tax cuts for both individuals and corporations. This economic plan was called supply-side economics. Supply-side economists believed that high taxes took too much away from investors. If taxes were cut, businesses and investors could use their extra capital to make new investments, and businesses could expand and create new jobs. The result would be a larger supply of goods for consumers, who would now have more money to spend because of the tax

Prior to 1980, the Democrats had dominated the Republicans for several decades. (Meyer, 2005). However, on December 1, 1980, Reagan garnered 91 percent of the electoral votes becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to defeat a Democrat since 1888 when Benjamin Harrison won the presidential elections. Prior to this period, the democrats had controlled both the House of Representative and the Senate. According to Troy (2012), Ronald Reagan has remained the most influential U.S. president since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Even after Reagan’s retirement from the presidency of the US, his revolution, restoration, and rediscovery continued to shape the US. Under Reagan’s presidency and his revolution, US has emerged as the world’s only superpower and started enjoying a capitalist resurgence at home and abroad. The Reagan revolution has had long-term outcomes on social, political, and economic landscape.

1) focus on physical restraint: reigning in spending of the economy, the great society programs

Many Americans were beginning to embrace conservatism in social, economic and political life during the 1980s. Even now, during this political primary season, candidates are constantly referring back to the pivotal effectiveness that President Reagan in the 1980s brought to every day life.

After women got the right to vote in 1920, the most devoted members of the women's movement focused on gaining other rights for women. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, who had created the National Women's Party in 1916 to work for women's suffrage, turned their efforts toward passing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This amendment, which would make all forms of discrimination based on sex illegal, did not receive significant support and never passed. Arguments against the ERA, advocated by social reformers, such as Florence Kelley and Jane Addams, along with administrators in the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor, were that the ERA would, in reality, eliminate protective legislation for women, harming working-class women instead of helping them.