Chapter 33:

From “The Age of Limits” to the Age of Reagan

The AP instructional strategies discussed below for Chapter 33 of American

History: A Survey focus especially, but not exclusively, on the following themes
developed by the AP U.S. History Development Committee: American Diversity,
American Identity, Economic Transformations, Globalization, Politics and Citizenship,
Reform, Religion, and War and Diplomacy. This chapter, as well as the primary
documents selected below, follow the content guidelines suggested for the thirty-third
unit in the AP Topic Outline  The United States Since 1974.

Top-Ten Analytical Journal.

Defining the chapter terms in their journals will help students better understand:

 President Gerald Ford’s efforts to overcome the effects of Richard Nixon's

resignation.
 The rapid emergence of Jimmy Carter as a national figure and the reasons for his
victory in 1976.
 Carter's emphasis on human rights and its effects on international relations.
 Carter's role in bringing about the Camp David agreement and the impact of this
agreement on the Middle East.
 The effect that the Iranian hostage situation had on the Carter presidency.
 The nature of the "Reagan revolution" and the meaning of "supply-side"
economics.
 The staunchly anticommunist Reagan foreign policy.
 The changing demography of America from 1970 to 1990.
 The increasingly conservative mood of the American electorate.
 The emergence of a new era in foreign policy with the collapse of the Soviet
Union.

Each of the terms below contributes to a comprehensive understanding of how the U.S.
moved from “The Age of Limits” to the Age of Reagan. As your students define these
terms, encourage them to demonstrate why each person, event, concept, or issue is
important to a thorough understanding of this chapter.

Gerald Ford Recession of 1982

Election of 1976 National debt
Jimmy Carter “Star Wars” Strategic Defense
Camp David Accords Initiative
Iranian Revolution Reagan Doctrine
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan Grenada
Sunbelt politics El Salvador
Sagebrush Rebellion Sandinistas
Evangelical Christianity Beirut Bombing, 1983
Moral Majority Terrorism
Christian Coalition Election of 1984
New Right Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika
Ronald Reagan Tiananmen Square
Tax revolt USSR dissolution
Election of 1980 Savings and Loan Crisis
Reagan Revolution Iran-Contra Scandal
Neo-conservatives Election of 1988
Reagonomics George Bush

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 Recession of 1990 Election of 1992
Gulf War, 199091 Ross Perot

Getting students started on their journals. Remind students that they must analyze
and synthesize their understanding of these terms in two ways:

 by creating “Top-Ten” lists of their own within their journals at the end of
each chapter; and
 by justifying in their journal why their terms are essential to an understanding
of “From ‘The Age of Limits’ to the Age of Reagan.”

Journal entry example. Following is an example of how students might describe

“neo-conservatives” and its importance to an overall understanding of “From ‘The
Age of Limits’ to the Age of Reagan.”

Neo-conservatives. An emerging new group of intellectuals brought the New

Right into the forefront of public opinion and backed Reagan’s presidency.
These neo-conservatives were former liberals who became disillusioned with
what they believed was the dangerous and destructive radicalism of the 1960s
that threatened to destabilize American society. Their primary goals were to
shape the Age of Reagan into one that reaffirmed Western democratic
anticommunist values, controlled the marketplace of ideas by destroying the
radical ideas of the 1960s, and fought the multicultural and “politically correct”
attitudes in academia.

Free-Response Questions.

1. Assess the accomplishments and failures of Jimmy Carter’s presidency.

Some things to look for in the student response.

 Possible thesis statement: Jimmy Carter entered the presidency with a narrow
victory that rested largely on the nation’s disenchantment with the past two
Republican presidents and desire to bring honesty and a Washington
“outsider” into power. After four years in office, his standing in the popularity
polls was the lowest of any president in history. Indeed, throughout his
presidency, he was plagued by domestic and international turmoil that, despite
his best intentions, he was never able to quell.

 Domestic problems. Carter faced inflation problems throughout his

presidency, inflation that was due more to increased energy prices than his
fiscal policies. Consequently, both energy prices and interest rates soared
during his presidency. Instead of responding energetically and positively to
the challenges he faced during the fuel shortage in the summer of 1979, he
told the nation that he was concerned about the “crisis of confidence” in the
American people. Many Americans felt that he was blaming his problems on
them, rather than taking personal responsibility to solve them. It was under
Carter’s watch that the first huge 20th century tax revolt occurred. The fallout
from California’s Proposition 13 brought a call to lower taxes from many
Americans who felt they were overtaxed  something Carter was unwilling to
do because it would hurt or dismantle many important federal programs.

 Foreign problems. Carter came to office promising to defend human rights

and to make this effort the centerpiece of a new American foreign policy. His

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 greatest accomplishment in the foreign policy arena, however, was the peace
treaty he arranged between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and the Israeli
Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The 1978 Camp David Accords resulted in
the historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. In December 1978, Carter
announced the resumption of formal diplomatic relationships between China
and the U.S. Despite these accomplishments, Carter adopted some
controversial policies as well as failed ones. The new treaty promising to turn
the Panama Canal over to the Panamanians was unpopular with the American
public and the Senate ratified the resulting treaty with only one vote more than
the necessary two-thirds majority. He worked with Soviet Premier Brezhnev
to draft a new SALT II arms control agreement, only to face severe opposition
to and the final failure of the treaty in the U.S. His biggest failure was the
administration’s inability to establish normal relations with Iran’s new
religious leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini. When the U.S. allowed the deposed
Iranian Shah to be treated for cancer in a New York hospital, an armed mob
invaded the American Embassy in Teheran, seized its military and diplomatic
personnel, and demanded the return of the Shah to Iran in exchange for the
hostages. Despite a disastrous attempt to rescue them, the hostages remained
in Iran for over a year.

 Possible conclusion: Carter entered the presidency largely due to a

disenchanted electorate, and was defeated in his second run for office largely
due to a disenchanted electorate. At the end of Carter’s first term in office,
Americans had experienced more than a decade of disillusionment with its
past three presidents. They were frustrated, fed up, and ready for change.
Most focused on Carter’s failures as president and sought a fresh new voice in
their national leader  a voice that sang the praises of America and promised
substantial changes. Thus it was in the Election of 1980 that Carter carried
only 41 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes to 489 electoral
votes for Reagan.

2. Assess the various economic, social, and political factors that led to the so-called
“Reagan Revolution.”

Some things to look for in the student response.

 Possible thesis statement: Reagan came to office after over a decade of

American disillusionment with their past three presidents. Consequently, the
economic, social, and political policies of his presidency contributed to what
is commonly known as the “Reagan Revolution”  eight years that were a
great contrast to the troubled presidencies that preceded his and were marked
by a new conservative agenda.

 Social factors: At least three major social factors supported the Reagan
Revolution: the Sagebrush Rebellion, increasing suburbanization, and the
growth of evangelical Christianity. The Sagebrush Rebellion throughout parts
of the West mobilized conservative opposition to environmental laws and
restrictions on development. The rise of suburbs, which attracted people who
preferred stable, homogenous communities, and shopping at retail and service
malls, led many suburbanities to believe that other regions of the nation as
well as its cities had abandoned the morals and societal norms they  and
Ronald Reagan  valued. The growth of evangelical Christianity and their
support of the New Right agenda feared the growth of feminism and gay
rights movements and the threat they posed to their concept of the traditional

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 family, rallied against the elimination of religious observance in the schools
and supported the return of teaching creationism in science classes, and
adamantly opposed the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. As they
formed the Christian right, some also became involved in the fight against
“secular humanism” by joining groups like the Christian Coalition and the
Moral Majority to usher in a new era dominated by Christian values.

 Economic factors. Reagan took advantage of the tax revolt begun with
California’s Proposition 13. His presidential campaign criticized the excesses
of the federal government and the taxes Americans paid to keep unnecessary
programs alive. He promised substantial tax cuts if elected. During his first
term, his supply-side economics, or Reagonomics, were based on the belief
that the problems with the economy were due to excessive taxation that left
inadequate capital available to investors to simulate economic growth. Thus,
Reagan cut taxes as well as federal programs  especially those for the poor
and needy. He coupled this with deregulation via reducing the federal
government’s role in the American economy in order to ensure economic
revival. After the short recession of 1982, inflation and unemployment
remained low throughout the remainder of the decade. However, Reagan
presided over record budget deficits and his administration plunged the nation
into more debt than had been accumulated in its entire history.

 Political factors. Reagan took advantage of America’s fears that the

international failures of Carter’s administration had hurt its image abroad. His
campaign was positive, focusing upon how his presidency would restore
American “strength” and “pride” both at home and abroad. His presidency
greatly benefited from a powerful coalition of conservative groups comprising
the New Right that strongly supported the “Reagan Revolution: a small but
powerful group of corporate elites, the intellectual neo-conservatives, and an
influential group of populist conservatives. The free-market corporate elites
backed Reagan’s commitment to unfettered economic growth, to the belief
that the market offered the best solutions to most societal problems, to the idea
that government should not interfere with or regulate markets, and to the
conviction that the strength of American life depended on the strength and the
health of the corporate world. The neo-conservatives backed Reagan because
they expected him to reaffirm Western democratic anticommunist values, take
back control over the marketplace of ideas by attacking the radical ideas of the
1960s, and challenge the multicultural and “politically correct” attitudes
prevalent in academia. The first two groups entered an uneasy coalition with
the last group  the populist conservatives who were opposed to centralized
power and influence, and fearful of a world in which distant and hostile forces
threatened individual freedom and community autonomy.

 Possible conclusion: The Reagan Revolution was marked by a significant

shift in public policy  a shift that solidified a conservative social, economic,
and political grip on the federal government and gained strength from an
uneasy coalition of groups known as the New Right. During his first term, he
cut taxes, decreased spending for domestic programs, and increased the
military. During his second term, he faced a series of scandals and declining
health that limited his administration’s effectiveness. Nonetheless, he left the
presidency with a personal popularity as strong as it was when he entered.
Perhaps the greatest success of the Reagan Revolution was making his own
engaging personality the central political force of his eight-year presidency.

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Historians, Historical Detection, and Primary Documents

The following primary documents and suggested assignments will give your students a
more thorough, first-hand knowledge of the political, economic, and social environment
of the late 1970s and how these environments had changed as the U.S. ushered in the
1980s.

1. Require your students to read excerpts from two contrasting speeches  one delivered
by Jimmy Carter in July 1979 and the other by Ronald Reagan in February 1986.
(Online Learning Center, Chapter 33, Primary Sources and click on “Presidents
Carter and Reagan.”) Then, bring the class together for a discussion on the following:
How do the two documents illustrate the differences between the leadership styles of
Reagan and Carter? How would you compare and contrast each president’s opinions
of supposedly typical Americans? Do you think the America described by Reagan in
1986 was so very different from that described by Carter in 1979? Do you think
Reagan restored national confidence through rhetoric or through long-term solutions
to difficult problems? In light of the state of the nation and the world in the early
1990s, which speech was more realistic? Which was more prophetic?

2. Have students read the excerpts from Secretary of State Warren Christopher’s
October 1993 speech about the challenges of restructuring foreign policy in a post-
Cold War world. (Online Learning Center, Chapter 33, Primary Sources and click on
“Warren Christopher.”) Then have them answer the following: What events during
the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations led to the "historic moment [that]
requires a new diplomacy"? What are the "new priorities" that Christopher outlines?
Using your 21st century knowledge, how do you think the U.S. has met this challenge
since the end of the Clinton presidency?

3. Have students listen to President Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” speech “of July 15,
1979 in which he provides a bleak assessment of the national condition and
complains that a “crisis of confidence” had struck America. (Students can listen to
the speech on the Primary Source Investigator CD-ROM. They can read the words of
the speech available online at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps_crisis.html). Then ask
students the following: How does Carter describe this “crisis of confidence?” Is this
problem much different than the “crisis of authority” experienced earlier in the
decade? Do you agree with his critics that he was trying to blame his own problems
in the presidency on the American people? Why or why not? Then, if time permits,
show the American Experience documentary, Jimmy Carter. (See
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/index.html for information on the
film, ordering assistance, and a teacher’s guide.) After viewing the film, ask students
if their opinion of Carter has changed from that they had after reading their textbook.
Then, discuss the ways that reading about a president differ from learning about a
president through audio-visual resources.

4. Read excerpts from Chapter One in Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. Then ask
your students to answer the following questions either in verbal or written format:
What are both the nature and the origins of the "problem that has no name?” Do you
think all women living in the early 1960s shared the problems Friedan describes?
Who might most relate to these problems? Who might be offended by Friedan’s
book? What changes in women's marriages, motherhood, education, and career plans
did Friedan argue contributed to the “Feminine Mystique?” How could the ideal of
the affluent suburban mother have become, for many women, such a trap? Do you

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 think the “Feminine Mystique” labeled women as inferior or just different? How and
why?

5. Require your students to read Ronald Reagan’s Inaugural Address of January 20,
1981. (Primary Source Investigator Document.) Then, engage the class in the
following discussion questions: What hints can you find in this speech that the U.S.
was entering a period that Dr. Brinkley describes as the “Reagan Revolution?” What
does the new president believe are the most difficult problems facing the nation?
How does he propose to solve these problems? What does he ask Americans to do?
Do you think this speech was an effective way to bring Americans together under a
new political leadership? With whom do you think Reagan’s words most resonated?
least resonated? Then, if time permits, have students read Reagan’s second Inaugural
address of January 21, 1985. (Available at
http://www.nationalcenter.org/ReaganSecondInaugural.html.) Have them
compare and contrast the two speeches. What does he feel his first administration
accomplished and what does he feel remains to be done? At the end of eight years, do
you think he accomplished most of his goals as set out in his two inaugural speeches?

Creative Extensions.

1. Before reading Chapter 33, have the class read aloud Ronald Reagan’s address to the
National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983. (Online at
http://www.ronaldreagan.com/sp_6.html ) What does this speech tell you about
Ronald Reagan, the man? about Ronald Reagan, the president? How does this speech
prepare you to better understand one the major topics of the chapter you are about to
read  the Age of Reagan? How does Reagan use religion in this speech to describe
what he sees as the nation’s most pressing domestic and foreign policy problems? If a
president gave this speech to an early 21st century audience, who might support it and
why? Who might not support it and why?

2. After reading Chapter 33, discuss whether or not the title for this chapter adequately
represents the important points it covers. Then, have your students create at least 5
new titles for this chapter. Have the class vote on the best one  and then ask them
why they think this is a more appropriate title than “From ‘The Age of Limits’ to the
Age of Reagan.”

3. Stage a classroom debate on any one of the following:

Resolved: Jimmy Carter was the worst president of the 20th century.
Resolved: Gerald Ford is underrated as a president.
Resolved: Ronald Reagan was one of the best presidents of the 20th century.
Resolved: Reaganomics was a failure.
Resolved The Moral Majority is neither a majority nor moral.
Resolved: President Reagan created a positive precedent when dealing with
terrorism and terrorists during his administration.

4. Give students a homework assignment in which they examine the history of two
pandemics  the 1919 flu pandemic and the AIDS pandemic of the late 20th and 21st
centuries. How did each begin? Was the U.S. government prepared for either
pandemic? Why or why not? How did the government react to the disastrous effects
of both pandemics within the borders of the U.S? What was the public reaction to
both pandemics? How do the origins, governmental and public responses, and
reactions of both pandemics compare and contrast? How would you advise the

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 president to deal with the AIDS pandemic both in the U.S. and in the rest of the
world? Do you think the U.S. is prepared for another pandemic? Why or why not?

5. Stage a trial in which the court will decide if Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Johnson,
Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan acted ethically while in office. Assign seven
students to be advocates for each of the presidents and seven to testify against each of
the presidents. Each president will be tried in turn while the jury  12 assigned
students  decide via majority vote whether each president should receive a badge of
honor or a badge of shame. In either case, the jury should be able to justify their
decisions based upon the testimonies provided.

6. Ask students to work on a more in-depth research assignment about the conflict
between the Israelis and Palestinians and the role the U.S. has played in brokering the
conflict. Create five groups that will research the history of the dispute in the
following places: Sinai Peninsula, West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and
Jerusalem. Each group should prepare a five-minute oral report for the class that
visually explains the geographic location of the place; describes the ethnic population
and socio-economic status of the people in the area; explains the history of the dispute
over the land; describes the efforts of the Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton,
and George W. Bush administrations to resolve the disputes; and discusses the current
status of the dispute and plans for resolution. After all groups present, open a class
discussion in which students evaluate the performances of each president, as well as
provide a series of future predictions for each of the areas under dispute.

7. Ask students to write a persuasive speech in which they support or refute one of
the following statements about American foreign policy during the presidencies of
Carter, Reagan, and Bush:

 President Carter should not have turned over the Panama Canal to the
Panamanians.
 President Carter lost the election of 1980 because of his failed effort to
free the American hostages in Iran.
 Jimmy Carter was right when he called the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
the “gravest threat to world peace since World War II.”
 The Reagan administration was right in its decision to support the Contras
in Nicaragua.
 President Reagan made a good choice when he withdrew American forces
from Lebanon in 1983.
 The U.S. was wrong to support apartheid in South Africa for so long.
 The foreign policy of the Reagan administration was largely responsible
for the eventual dissolution of the USSR.
 The U.S. should not have invaded Kuwait in 1990.

Select the eight best speeches (one for each topic) and have the speechwriters
dramatically present them to the class. Then, engage the class in the following
discussion: What do all these speeches have in common? Do they agree with the
speeches? Why or why not? Taken as a whole, what do they tell you about America’s
foreign policy under Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Bush? How might the messages
in these speeches have changed in the 21st century?

8. Give the students the following scenario and assignment: During President Carter's
administration, he had to deal with energy conservation and begin developing a
national energy plan. Since then, tensions in the Middle East have made issues related
to energy conservation more important than ever. In pairs, have students create two

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 ways to conserve energy: one must be a personal conservation effort that they and
their families can do to reduce their own energy consumption, and the other must be a
political action designed to change government policy to help reduce national energy
consumption. List the class's ideas on the board and then evaluate each in terms of
their strengths and weaknesses. How much energy might each save? How much
might each cost? Should such policies be voluntary or mandatory? In the case of
voluntary changes, would enough Americans go along with them? Which are most
likely to be adopted  the personal conservation or the policy conservation measures?

9. Stage a news broadcast to which you have invited five of your favorite Founding
Fathers as well as Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush. The twentieth-
century presidents are eager to ask the founders for some advice about how they
might renew the confidence of the American people in their leadership. Assign ten
students to assume the roles of each leader and prepare for this news broadcast. Have
the remainder of the class be representatives of the news media who come to the
broadcast prepared with questions for the leaders. Begin the broadcast by having the
contemporary leaders pose their questions

10. Invite students to watch any of the following movies related to American foreign
policy during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George Bush: Salvador;
Romero; Moving the Mountain; Courage Under Fire. The following are movies
dealing specifically with domestic policy issues under both presidents: After
Stonewall; And the Band Played On; Indictment: the McMartin Trial; The Celluloid
Closet.

 What does this production tell you about the period of American history during
which Ronald Reagan and George Bush was president?
 Do you think this film was a realistic portrayal of the historical event? Why or
why not? Be specific.
 In your opinion, is this movie of any real use to understanding this period in
American history? Be specific about how and why  or why not.