the 1960s and 70s brought about a radical change from that of previous
decades we saw the emergence of the
counterculture movement which challenged the social norms of the 1950's resulting
in an American society that had become much more socially liberal the landmark
Supreme Court case of roe v wade made abortions legal and some perceived
that the birth control pill allowed for more sexual promiscuity these changes
put concern in the hearts and minds of many Americans people began to feel like
they were losing their nation as it moved farther and farther away from the
teachings of the Bible this led to the establishment of a new group in the
United States called the new right the new right grew more concerned with
social issues like abortion pornography homosexuality and realigning the nation
more with the morals of the Bible than that of economic issues they believe
that affirmative action and busing law should be outlawed because they consider
it a form of reverse discrimination another key aspect of the new rights
platform was that of prayer in schools prayer was outlawed in schools by the
Supreme Court in 1962 they felt that prayer in schools was an important
foundation for raising children based on biblical teachings giving them a moral
background to become more productive and moral members of American society the
new right felt that the new liberal movement of the 60s and 70s was an
attack on traditional values and they needed to put a stop to it they felt
that their message could reduce the nation's high divorce rate lower the
number of out of wedlock births encourage individual responsibility and
bring prosperity back to the nation the new right paired with the old right or
the more fiscally minded wing of the conservative movement the old right was
upset over the expanded spending on so-called entitlement programs which by
1980 had reached nearly 300 billion dollars these two groups together for an
what is known as the conservative coalition together these business
leaders middle class voters disaffected Democrats and fundamentalist Christian
groups championed the goals of the conservative movement these goals were
to shrink the size of the federal government reduce federal spending
promote Family Values and patriotic ideas strengthen national defense and
stimulate business by reducing government regulation and lowering taxes
religion especially evangelical Christianity create a key role in the
growing strength of the conservative movement
the 1970s had brought a huge religious revival in which millions of Americans
could tune in to watch evangelical preachers on TV the most influential
televangelist were Jerry Falwell Pat Robertson and the founder of the
evangelical movement Billy Graham who together formed a group called the moral
majority these Christian fundamentalist interpreted the Bible literally and
believed in absolute standards of right and wrong
this group felt that liberal ideology was wrong an America needed to shift
back towards the teachings of the Bible this quote from Jerry Falwell explains
the goal of the moral majority our nation's internal problems are the
direct result of her spiritual condition right living must be reestablished as an
American Way of life now is the time to begin calling America back to God back
to the Bible back to morality all of these groups needed a single leader and
a man who represented all of these ideas and they found their man in Ronald
Reagan Ronald Reagan is well suited to leave the gathering conservative crusade
due to the fact that he was born and lived his core years before the
upheavals in the 1960s Reagan moved to Hollywood to work in the film industry
as an actor in the 1940s while acting he first dipped his toe into politics by
becoming president of the Screen Actors Guild then in 1964 he began campaigning
for Barry Goldwater at the Republican convention which brought him into
political prominence in 1966 Reagan ran and was elected governor of California
as a reformed New Deal Democrat Reagan denounced the activists government and
the failed social engineering of the 1960s his goal was to win over working
class and lower middle class white Americans by implying that the
Democratic Party had become the party of big government and the exclusive tool of
minority constituents keeping taxes under control encourage creativity and
economic freedom as a neoconservative he championed a free-market capitalism that
eliminated governmental restraints from business the Conservatives had found
their candidate in a well-spoken charming actor named Ronald Reagan the
1980 election pitted Reagan against the incumbent Jimmy Carter but presided over
a notoriously weak economy in addition to a dismal track record as President
Carter lacked the charisma that oozed out of Reagan Reagan's acting career
made him the perfect campaigner allowing him to deliver quips
like this let it show on the record that when the American people cried out for
economic help Jimmy Carter took refuge behind a dictionary well if it's a
definition if it's a definition he wants I'll give him one a recession is when
your neighbor loses his job but depression is when you lose yours and
recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his his skill as an orator led his
supporters to give him the nickname the Great Communicator all of these
advantages led to an electoral landslide in the election of 1980 with Reagan
carrying 44 states making him the 40th President of the United States the
conservative wave of the 1980s had begun