With the tumultuous events of 1968 coming to an end, the Republican nominee, Richard Nixon, successfully capitalized on the anger and resentment of whites who opposed the liberal reforms of the Great Society and War on Poverty. Nixon's ascent to the presidency ended Democratic contenders' nearly thirty year domination of the Oval Office. The presidential election of 1968 marked the beginning of a new era of conservatism which rejected government interference in the private sphere, increased taxation, and what conservatives believed were the increasing rights of criminals and left-wing dissidents in American society. Richard Nixon, promised to restore law and order and morality to the nation. Nixon also promised to end the war in Vietnam and end what he argued was the liberal reign of the Earl Warren Court.

By the summer of 1972, following charges against five men implicated in the Watergate break-in, President Nixon embarked on a two year effort to conceal his involvement in the effort to spy on the Democratic party. Ensuing trials and investigations of Nixon and his officials would reveal the president's efforts to conceal his involvement in Watergate in addition to a host of other abuses of power.

Nixon's resignation in August of 1974; however, would not end Republicans' control of presidential politics. While the election of Republican, Gerald R. Ford, in 1976, marked continued Republican control of the executive branch, Ronald Reagan's election to the White House four years later symbolized a massive change in the political landscape of the nation and greater shift to the right. Like Nixon, Reagan continued to draw support from working class whites of the Northeast and from white Americans of the Sunbelt who opposed government interference such as laws regulating the environment and government imposed efforts to achieve a racial balance in American institutions. Reagan would also appeal to a new, conservative religious wing of the Republican party which sought to reintroduce morality and evangelical values into American society. The influence of religious conservatives, or the Christian Right, combined with traditional conservatives who opposed big government, welfare, and increased taxes, to forge a strong political alliance making up the New Right.

In foreign policy, Reagan took a tough stance against the Soviet Union while embracing an agreement with the Soviets to reduce nuclear arms.

In this unit, we will examine the major characteristics and reforms of the New Right and the challenges this new conservatism posed to liberalism. Students will also examine Ronald Reagan's approach to Soviet communism in the last years of the Cold War.

Learning Objectives:

1. Examine the voting populace which characterized the New Right.

2. Describe domestic and economic policies under Republican presidents Nixon and Ford.

3. Describe and assess the foreign policies of Republican presidents from 1981 to 1992 and the ideas which shaped them.

4. Explain economic policies under Ronald Reagan and their impact on the American nation.

5. Assess whether domestic policies under President George H.W. Bush differed from Reagan's and why.

Reading Assignment:

U.S. History Open Stax Chapter 30 (sections 30.4. and 30.5) and chapters 31& 32

Major Problems, chapter 14

You may now move on to the documentary film and chapter readings. Then complete the discussion assignment on the New Right. Click on Next.