In 1962, Garden Grove resident Bee Gathright discovered she was a conservative. Gathright and her husband Neil soon joined the California Republican Assembly and were active in Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign.
In the 1960s and seventies, Orange County had thousands of "kitchen table" activists began transforming American conservatism and American politics leading to the election of Ronald Reagan as president.
Conservative rhetoric shed its extremist message by stressing less government and family issues. Evangelical religion also played a role.
Oil and the Troubled Economy
High prices and a stagnant economy led Americans to question their faith in progress and prosperity.
Dependence on imported oil had steadily grown.
When the U.S. backed Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Arab states that controlled OPEC (Organization of Oil Trading Countries) pushed through an embargo leading to skyrocketing prices and public suspicion that someone was profiting at the public's expense.
Oil and Economic Decline
President Nixon ordered oil conservation measures.
Soaring energy prices led to rapid, sustained inflation.
At the same time, the worst economic decline since the Great Depression began.
Steel and auto making faced stiff competition and declining market shares.
American productivity and quality continued to decline.
Despite increased foreign demand for crops, soaring energy costs hurt farmers now forced to borrow money at high interest rates.
Blue-Collar Blues
Outside of the public sector, the number of unionized workers steadily declined.
“Nation of hamburger stands.”
The number of wage-earning women increased but their income, relative to men, declined.
African American women in the North earned nearly as much as white women, but Hispanic women tended to be confined to the lowest wage sectors. (waitressing, hotel staff, cleaning crew.)
Sunbelt/Snowbelt Communities (Where your grandparents are going to retire: warm, cookie-cutter homes, spread out)
The economic slump of the 1970s was most pronounced in the Midwest and Northeast in contrast to what became known as the Sunbelt.
Large-scale migration fueled Sunbelt population growth.
The burgeoning computer industry and defense contracts helped Sunbelt communities weather the recession.
Sunbelt prosperity was not evenly spread and a two-tier class society developed.
Snowbelt cities like Philadelphia and New York faced urban decay.
Air conditioning, water diversion, and other improvements turned deserts into suburbs.
The Ford Presidency (In office for 1 term, jokes that he and Carter didn’t do anything)
Gerald Ford succeeded to the presidency following Richard Nixon’s resignation.
After pardoning Nixon, Ford lost the nation’s trust. (The United States was upset)
Ford lacked a clear program and vetoed bills to hold down spending, many of which Congress passed over his veto.
Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican presidential nomination. (Ford finished out Nixon’s term…almost a full term)
Democrats turned to one-term GA Governor Jimmy Carter.
Carter narrowly defeated Ford, building on his moderate image, his outsider status, and his pledge to restore trust. (“I can make things change, I’m new blood”)
The Carter Presidency
Carter was unable to get his legislation through Congress.
Carter by and large supported conservative policies like deregulation and increased military spending.
Inflation and interest rates soared leading many to conclude that Carter could not turn the economy around.
“Family Man” (Democrat) – Baptist, very religious.
Focused on Military spending.
The New Urban Politics
Political mobilization during the 1970s frequently focused on community issues that cut across ideological lines.
College students along with African Americans and other minorities mobilized and won power in numerous communities. (Politics, Policies)
Several major cities elected black mayors. (including Atlanta)
The fiscal crisis of the 1970s frequently foiled their plans for reforms.
The City and the Neighborhood
Community groups tried to empower their members to take control over a wide range of issues.
By the end of the 1970s, community-based economic development groups were infusing capital into neighborhoods.
After activists had restored a neighborhood, gentrification soon followed.
The Endangered Environment
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The roots of the environmental movement dated back to the works of Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) in the early 1960s.
Twenty million Americans participated in the first Earth Day.
1970- 3 Mile Island, PA – Nuclear Reactor Meltdown. Pg. 931 (infrared picture, Love Canal)
The Three Mile Island incident and the linking of cancer at Love Canal to toxic waste raised U.S. concern over pollution.
Growing interest in the concept of ecology led Americans to lobby for renewable energy sources, protecting endangered species, and reducing pollution.
Despite public outcries, government officials frequently responded to other pressures.
Small-Town America
A growing number of Americans were leaving metropolitan areas for small towns.
Suburbs and shopping malls sprang up in small towns, frustrating established local merchants who had looked for an economic boom.
Many communities organized to oppose further growth.
Areas outside of the Sunbelt and away from cities suffered as family farms and other businesses failed.
The New Conservatism / The New Right
A variety of forces converged to turn back the Great Society and form the new right:
conservative centers like the Heritage Foundation
paramilitary groups
religious conservatives who supplied the strongest boost
The New Right promoted its agenda through televangelists. (oppose abortion, etc. Tammy Fae & Tim Baker)
New Right politicians like Jesse Helms amassed huge campaign chests.
The New Right successfully blocked ratification of the ERA and rallied support for efforts to make abortions illegal.
The “Me” Decade
Critics characterized the 1970s as a decade when Americans:
abandoned political change
focused on personal well being
Fostered a “culture of narcissism.”
During the 1970s, a wide range of personal growth techniques (yoga, healing tapes, etc.) flourished among the middle class.
Religious cults grew.
Popular music became increasingly despairing and nihilistic, nostalgic, or decadent. (CCR- groups in the 70’s- Pinkk Floyd)
Youtube.com/watch?
A Thaw in the Cold War
Presidents Ford and Carter both believe that American power had been declining and that there should be no more Vietnams.
High levels of military spending had hurt the American ability to compete effectively with economic rivals.
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