Running head: REAGAN REVOLUTION THROUGH PRESIDENT OBAMA 1

Reagan Revolution through President Obama
William B. Smith
Dr. Alan Rodgers
HIST 105
June 3rd 2013
Lithonia Campus
Strayer University

Running head: REAGAN REVOLUTION THROUGH PRESIDENT OBAMA 2
Identify at least two (2) historical points in the period under discussion. During Ronald Reagan’s administration the first historical event would be the Iran Contra-Crisis in which the United States sold weapons to Iran to use in their war with Iraq. Reagan did this despite an embargo against Iran that was imposed after the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979 and the fact that they were an avowed enemy. Another reason behind this was the fact that a top ranking official in Reagan’s camp hoped that by selling arms to Iran would ease the relationship between them and the United States. Even more damning evidence surfaced when other members of Reagan’s administration took profits from the sales of the weapons and sent that money to a right wing guerilla group in Nicaragua aptly called the Contras who were battling a left wing government. Although it was never proven that Reagan was fully aware of the funds from the sales to Iran were diverted to the Contras, I personally find it hard to believe that to be a truthful finding. Never the less, on a nationally televised testimony Lieutenant Oliver North stated that President Reagan was probably not aware of the Contra Affair and he had not sufficiently controlled his administration. Congress investigated the affair, chastised the President, and indicted several of his men. The aftermath resulted in resignations, fines, and imprisonment for a handful of Reagan’s constituants not to say public embarrassment for the President. In November of 2008, President Elect Barack Obama was elected into office as the first African American President in United States history. Although, it was a landmark achievement, it was also a multi-trillon dollar deficit passing of the buck to President Obama at the time.

Running head: REAGAN REVOLUTION THROUGH PRESIDENT OBAMA 3
Former President George W. Bush handed over a mess beyond compare that left this nation on the verge of collapse as well as a nation divided culturally Not to mention, Americans were preoccupied with terrorism due to the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001 another “Day of Infamy”. This ideally influence the division of American social and political perceptions which in turn infect nearly all of the debates. The Democrats felt as though they could win the White House back and perhaps stop the conservative ascendancy that had been mounting since the 1970’s. Democrats vowed to expand America’s social programs, including nationalizing the healthcare system. They also promised to take a less militant stance in world affairs hoping to reach out diplomatically to potential hostile countries (Schultz, 2012).
Analyze the impact of two (2) or more historical turning points selected on America’s general confidence current society, economy, politics, and culture. America lost interest in supporting the broad social welfare programs of the New Deal and the Great Society, favoring a smaller government instead. The end of the Cold War, which terminated a fifty year struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the end of the Cold War, the world opened itself to various ideas, became a more accessible place, which would became known as globalization. This would be a key component in developing the economy in the 1990’s (Schultz, 2012)
Explain ways in which the AIDS epidemic shook Americans general confidence beginning in the 1980’s.
The disease AIDS was first detected in m homosexual men in the middle of the 1980’s and was considered an illness that was primarily transmitted between them. At that time nothing
Running head: REAGAN REVOLUTION THROUGH