The Conservative movement had peaked and began its decline at the end of World War I. For nearly thirty years, liberals had the weight of political power as conservatism in America was left fragmented. The Old Right, the Neoconservatives, and the Libertarians had similar foundational ideals regarding communism and the economy, but they were not united. When Ronald Reagan became commander in chief of the United States in 1980, a consolidation of the conservatives began and the New Right emerged. Reagan was an essential motivator behind the conservative revolution in the 1980’s.
Equality and privacy were the aims of the American liberal as can be seen through the Civil Rights Movement and the Supreme Court case of Roe V. Wade. The conservative resurgence brought interest in returning to traditional values and upholding traditional gender roles. Yet, the advancements made for equal rights and opportunities in the 1960’s held relatively strong. The focus on the traditional family and abomination of gay rights had limited success as the culture in America expanded regardless of the conservative movement.
Reagan began by bringing a large number of conservatives to his Cabinet in Washington D.C. Reagan took hold of societies unhappiness with taxes and proposed a multibillion dollar budget cut along with significant tax cuts. Reaganomics became the basis for the growth of the economy. Known as supply side economics, this conservative program made large tax cuts that benefit the richest Americans, the deregulation of some of America’s largest industries, including banking, and large budget cuts to federal agencies. Although Reaganomics was had brought the government out of a recession, it was limited and ultimately increased the number of American’s in poverty and increased America’s trade deficit.
Reagan’s appointment of conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court aided the renewal of conservatism in American society. He had the opportunity to appoint three Supreme Court judges during his tenure. Through various rulings in the 1980’s, the Court was notably conservative. However, there were limitations on the advancement of conservatism on the Court as evidenced by O’Connor’s consistent upholding of the abortion ruling in Roe V. Wade, of which Reagan and most conservatives opposed.
Reagan also renewed the American fight in the Cold War by expanding the military. Reagan focused on defense and the fight against communism. In this arena as well, Reagan in his conservative convention seen the Cold War as a moral conflict. Reagan sought to spread democracy and consistently supported anti-communists movements worldwide. It was not long after Reagan’s farewell from office that the Cold War actually ended with an agreement between Gorbachev and Bush.
The Reagan administration was beset by many scandals which also limited the movement of conservatism started by Reagan. The most notable scandal was the Iran Contra Scandal. This scandal involved the sale of weapons to Iran. The scandal dampened American’s confidence and trust in government; the very conservative government that Reagan had promoted.
Reagan played a dominate role in the resurgence of conservatism in America. He sought to bring back traditional moral values, change the economic condition of America and fight the Cold War. Reagan was mostly successful. However, the resurgence had some limitations. America had come far in the seeking of equality. The traditional moral values could not override the successes that had already been gained by the women and civil rights movements. Reagan assisted in bring the economy out of a slump but his mode of economics hindered the less fortunate. And finally, Reagans brought back the Cold War fight but this spark was shortly lived as the Cold War ended not long after his terms of presidency. Ronald Reagan did succeed in bringing back conservatism to American politics. He successfully consolidated the fragmented group and led strong in America in his fight for morality. Yet, this was done achieved without limitations.
Works Cited
Hayward, Steven F. Ronald Reagan: Conservative Statesman. 4 June 2013. <http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/06/ronald-reagan-conservative-statesman>.
Van Til, L. John. "Ronald Reagan and the Changing Face of Conservatism." American History & Presidents (2004).
