Chapter 26 THE CONSERVATIVE TURN, 1969–1988
TEST BANK
Learning Objectives
1. Identify the major policies of the Nixon administration on social and economic issues.
2. Explain how Vietnam and the Watergate scandal affected popular trust in the government.
3. Examine the ways in which the opportunities of most Americans diminished in the 1970s.
4. Discuss the roots of the rise of conservatism in the 1970s.
5. Analyze how the Reagan presidency affected Americans both at home and abroad.
Multiple Choice
1. Barry Goldwater
a. was the 1964 Democrat nominee for president.
b. demanded increased taxes and governmental regulation.
c. critiqued the welfare state.
d. helped crystallize and popularize radical ideas.
e. was a communist.
2. What was key to the election of Richard Nixon?
a. his down-to-earth personality
b. a backlash among formerly Democratic voters
c. his commitment to the Democratic agenda
d. his devotion to radical ideas after a period of presidential stagnancy
e. his refusal to listen to any liberal ideas
3. What did Nixon’s New Federalism do?
a. It abolished international trade.
b. It provided itemized budgets to states so that no federal money would be misspent.
c. It offered federal “block grants” to states to spend as they saw fit.
d. It attempted to reorganize the national banking system.
e. It put more checkpoints into place to ensure that the right people were benefiting from welfare.
4. Affirmative action was
a. found unconstitutional during the Nixon administration.
b. mandated by law only for construction workers.
c. implemented only in Philadelphia.
d. never a priority during the Nixon administration.
e. first pursued and then abandoned by the Nixon administration.
5. Why did the fight over busing become so violent in Boston in the mid-1970s?
a. In Boston, the racial divisions were between African-Americans and Puerto Ricans as well as whites.
b. The African-American community in Boston consisted only of very recent migrants from the South.
c. Boston’s politicians called on local residents to fight the busing order by all means necessary.
d. The tight-knit Irish-American community in South Boston fought integration violently.
e. Boston was widely understood to have the best public school system in the country.
6. What did the Supreme Court rulings in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez and Milliken v.
Bradley suggest?
a. The Court found the Constitution requires equality of school funding.
b. The Court recognized a school district’s obligation to move its students great distances to achieve racial
integration.
c. The Court was willing to abandon the idea of overturning local control of schools.
d. The Court would continue to rule in favor of busing.
e. The Court thought education was more important than housing.
7. In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the Supreme Court ruled that
a. affirmative action was unconstitutional.
b. racial quotas for college admissions were constitutional.
c. fixed affirmative action quotas were unconstitutional.
d. race could no longer be used as a factor in college admissions.
e. gender could no longer be used as a factor in college admissions.
8. In Griggs v. Duke Power Company, what did the Supreme Court rule?
a. Race could be used as a factor in admissions decisions.
b. Admissions programs could not set aside spots only for minorities.
c. Quotas for training and hiring of nonwhite workers were acceptable.
d. The Constitution did not require equality with school funding.
e. Racially neutral job requirements could still be discriminatory and illegal.
9. Why did the gay and lesbian movement become a major concern for members of the political right after the
late 1960s?
a. They understood that the movement could convert millions of impressionable youth.
b. Thousands of new civil rights movements encouraged gays and lesbians to “come out.”
c. They feared that gays and lesbians might push for an end to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
d. They suspected that many among their ranks were gay and lesbian themselves.
e. They feared that the gay and lesbian movement might push for higher taxes on the wealthy.
10. “Vietnamization” was
a. the Viet Cong’s policy of immediate execution of defectors recaptured from the South Vietnamese army.
b. Nixon’s term for the transformation of young people into “real” Americans when they refrained from
protesting against the war.
c. Nixon’s Vietnam strategy to have American troops gradually withdraw and South Vietnamese troops
assume the fighting.
d. the State Department program offering fast-tracked political asylum for South Vietnamese military officials
and their families.
e. the spread of American culture in South Vietnam to display the benefits of capitalism.
11. What were the results of the U.S. invasion of neutral Cambodia in 1970?
a. The Viet Cong lost access to its Ho Chi Minh Trail.
b. South Vietnam gained increasing influence over a weak neighbor.
c. The invasion destabilized the nation and ushered in a murderous regime.
d. The impressive military action convinced communist China to approach the United States.
e. The invasion toppled Cambodia’s communist government.
12. Which of the following statements correctly describes the outcome of the My Lai Massacre?
a. The military cover-up of the atrocity prevented the guilty parties from ever facing trial.
b. American public opinion declared the defendants guilty before there even was a trial.
c. The leaders responsible for the massacre were all sentenced to life and remain in jail to this day.
d. One person was found guilty in this killing of 350 civilians, and he was released in 1974.
e. The event prompted Americans to reflect more deeply on the implications of the Nuremberg trials.
13. What resulted from the Pentagon Papers’ release?
a. The Nixon administration reassessed the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War.
b. President Johnson did not run for reelection.
c. President Nixon ordered a break-in at the New York Times offices.
d. The United States lost the Vietnam War.
e. The Supreme Court reached a landmark freedom–of-the-press decision.
14. How did the War Powers Act of 1973 change the powers of the presidency?
a. It granted the president power to enact military law in emergency situations.
b. It provided the push needed for President Nixon to win the Vietnam War.
c. It empowered the president to manage the diplomatic relations of South Vietnam.
d. It required congressional approval for the commitment of troops overseas.
e. It prohibited the president from negotiating trade deals with warring nations.
15. Which of the following U.S. presidents used “freedom” as his watchword and invoked an image of America as
the “beacon of liberty and freedom”?
a. Richard Nixon
b. Ronald Reagan
c. Gerard Ford
d. Earl Warren
e. Nelson Rockefeller
16. Two decades after the Vietnam War ended, which former secretary of defense regretted that the United States
had entered the conflict?
a. Lyndon Johnson
b. Richard Nixon
c. Robert McNamara
d. Dean Rusk
e. Eugene McCarthy
17. The Vietnam Syndrome was
a. the reluctance of Americans to send U.S. troops to an overseas conflict.
b. the idea that the press influences the outcome of a war.
c. the belief that soldiers who suffered post-traumatic stress disorders should be medically treated.
d. the idea that the United States needed to stop all communist nations from expanding.
e. the belief that the United States needed to isolate Vietnam from the rest of the world.
18. What did events surrounding the Watergate break-in and cover-up suggest about Richard Nixon?
a. Despite his involvement after the fact, he believed that even the president was not above the law.
b. He was willing to condone illegal activity if it would silence his political enemies.
c. His refusal to surrender the White House tapes initially showed strength and bolstered his standing with the
American people.
d. His paranoia about the power of the Johnson administration pushed him toward crime and corruption.
e. He thought spying, even on Americans, was excusable during wars.
19. Nixon was the first president from
a. Florida.
b. Alaska.
c. Puerto Rico.
d. Ohio.
e. California.
20. Which of the following formed part of the conservative agenda?
a. a strong critique of the welfare state
b. a willingness to raise taxes
c. increasing government involvement in the people’s lives
d. the determination to stop the international crusade against communism
e. the advancement of limited individual freedom
21. As a result of Watergate, what happened to Richard Nixon?
a. He became president.
b. He resigned as president.
c. He was impeached by the House.
d. He was impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate.
e. He fled the United States.
22. The Church Committee revealed that since the beginning of the Cold War
a. the CIA and FBI had engaged in abusive actions.
b. the Catholic Church had secretly channeled funds to Third World countries fighting communism.
c. every administration had traded arms for hostages behind the back of Congress.
d. the Ku Klux Klan had been receiving funds from the FBI to sabotage the civil rights movement.
e. the draft process had unfairly drafted the poor and minorities, while white, middle-class men were often
exempt.
23. Why had it been premature for liberals to celebrate the downfall of their political adversary Richard Nixon?
a. Nixon would stage a second political comeback in the Reagan administration.
b. As many Democrats as Republicans wound up in jail in the Watergate scandal.
c. Nixon remained popular with the American public, despite the Watergate scandal.
d. Watergate undermined public confidence in the merits of the federal government.
e. Republicans distanced themselves from Nixon and won majorities in 1974.
24. What led to the congressional discovery that the FBI had spied on millions of Americans in the 1960s?
a. the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem
b. the invasion of Cambodia
c. the revelations about the My Lai Massacre
d. the hearings in the wake of the Kent State shootings
e. the Church Committee investigations
25. Richard Nixon’s New Federalism
a. offered state-grants that could be used however each state government chose.
b. created much discomfort in Congress.
c. closed a few state agencies and declared that no new agencies could be created.
d. demanded full national control of all federal money sent to the states.
e. was clearly moved by a liberal agenda.
26. The Nixon administration
a. temporarily stopped the food stamps program.
b. gave much importance to the Office of Economic Opportunity.
c. critically reduced all spending on environmental initiatives.
d. reformed the Environmental Protection Agency.
e. created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
27. The effect of the lowering in value of the U.S. dollar during Richard Nixon’s first term was
a. positive, because U.S. exports increased.
b. negative, because numerous treaties were being used to determine currency values around the world.
c. positive, because China exported cheap products to the United States.
d. negative, because the world economy became unstable.
e. neither positive nor negative; nothing changed with the economy.
28. In 1971, what occurred for the first time in the twentieth century?
a. China held free elections.
b. Vietnam had no outside country ruling it.
c. Personal computers outsold televisions.
d. Cell phones started to replace landline phones.
e. The United States had a merchandise trade deficit.
29. What caused the oil embargo in 1973?
a. President Nixon visited China.
b. Middle Eastern Arab countries were unhappy with U.S. support for Israel.
c. President Nixon took the United States off the gold standard.
d. Europe and Japan stopped importing oil.
e. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries refused to set oil prices.
30. Nixon’s Family Assistance Plan
a. only served black families.
b. did not apply to single women with children.
c. provided assistance to poor families who met the stipulated criteria.
d. was approved by Congress.
e. was supported by conservatives.
31. The economic condition known as stagflation was caused by
a. declining oil prices.
b. low inflation rates.
c. stagnant economic growth and low inflation.
d. stagnant economic growth and high inflation.
e. high income tax rates.
32. What was the purpose of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise?
a. to promote entrepreneurial activities
b. to grant money to immigrants as they settled in
c. to fund black capitalist initiatives
d. to fund initiatives led by women
e. to promote gay rights
33. What did the busing issue illustrate about America in the 1970s?
a. the existence of white hostility toward a strong and powerful government who they believed was taking
away their “rights” and “freedoms”
b. that more highways needed to be built
c. that highways and automobiles were key to promoting rural growth
d. that stopping segregation was in the best interests of blacks and whites alike
e. that the Supreme Court would not express itself in terms of racial discrimination
34. Richard Nixon’s appointment of Warren Burger as chief justice was intended to
a. balance the court.
b. give minorities a voice.
c. continue Warren’s legacy of “judicial activism.”
d. give the Supreme Court an active role in domestic affairs.
e. give the Court a conservative tone.
35. Which of the following comparisons of wage trends for 1953 to 1973 and 1973 to 1993 is accurate?
a. Wages were more equitable for women and minorities in the first period than in the second.
b. Wage gains were typically eaten up by inflation in the first half.
c. Nominal wages gradually sunk in the first half and rose in the second, but real wages behaved in the
opposite way.
d. Wages increased significantly in the first period but stagnated in the second.
e. Wages for women grew significantly while men’s wages declined.
36. In Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, the Supreme Court decided
a. the Constitution did not require equality of school funding.
b. not to interfere with racism within public schools.
c. that white suburbs did not need to apply a desegregation plan.
d. students should not be transported long distances to go to school.
e. that transportation of students was necessary to end segregation.
37. Domestically, President Gerald Ford
a. was successful at reviving the American economy.
b. introduced programs that encouraged growth in the manufacturing sector.
c. reversed the economic policies of his predecessor.
d. restored Americans’ confidence in their nation, as business boomed.
e. failed to revive the economy.
38. When Ford took office in 1974, what occurred for the first time in U.S. history?
a. Ford refused to pardon the former president.
b. The former president had been impeached and thrown out of office.
c. Both the president and vice president took office without being voted in.
d. An American president was censured by Congress.
e. The president held a live press conference.
39. How was Richard Nixon treated by the Ford administration?
a. Ford pushed the Justice Department to prosecute Nixon.
b. President Ford pardoned Nixon.
c. Nixon’s crimes and accomplishments were expunged from the public record.
d. Nixon was largely ignored by the Ford administration.
e. Nixon’s accomplishments were celebrated.
40. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
a. created a special program for the rehabilitation of war veterans in need.
b. was passed by the House of Representatives but not by the Senate.
c. was highly contested in Congress.
d. prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability in any program or agency related to the federal
government.
e. was passed to encourage the “improvement” of Americans.
41. During the 1970s, the Sexual Revolution
a. continued to be discussed only among close circles of friends.
b. formed part of the counterculture of America.
c. only concerned women.
d. started to form part of the social mainstream.
e. sparked a second “baby boom.”
42. Which of the following found inspiration in the movements of the 1960s and support across the political
spectrum?
a. the disability movement
b. gender rights movement
c. gay rights movement
d. equal rights movement
e. the movement for racial equality
43. In response to the sexual revolution
a. women had children at a younger age.
b. there was a decrease in the marriage age.
c. abortion became illegal.
d. divorce rates plummeted.
e. the birth rate declined.
44. The Three Mile Island nuclear plant
a. proved the success of the alternative energy resource.
b. was the first of its kind to be operational.
c. brought a halt to the nuclear energy industry’s expansion.
d. was the first nuclear plant to have an accident.
e. stood as a symbol of American scientific and technological superiority.
45. Which of the following is evidence that freedom for women expanded in the 1970s?
a. Fewer women sought professional careers.
b. Stay-at–home moms received incentives to focus on their domestic duties.
c. Gender discrimination was banned in higher education
d. Women were now required to be married to get credit.
e. Large corporations refused to upgrade employment opportunities available to women.
46. Why did the CIA seek to destabilize the government of Chile after 1970?
a. because it was a strong ally of the Soviet Union
b. because Augusto Pinochet, the leader, was a declared communist
c. because it had not been democratically elected
d. because Chile’s geographical position was key to access the Pacific Ocean and the United States wanted to
build a military base there
e. because Chileans had elected a socialist president, Salvador Allende
47. Under the Nixon administration, the United States
a. denounced Pinochet’s dictatorship.
b. aided dictatorial governments, like Pinochet’s regime.
c. assisted Salvador Allende.
d. supported the government in North Vietnam.
e. refused to support the dictatorial regime in Iran.
48. President Carter’s foreign policy emphasized
a. the need to fight communism around the world.
b. the policy of containment.
c. the right of the United States to intervene in Latin America.
d. an increased military presence in Southeast Asia.
e. human rights as a diplomatic priority.
49. Which of the following best describes Nixon’s foreign policy of “détente”?
a. Nixon focused on domestic affairs, placing less importance on international relations than did his
predecessors.
b. He announced the United States would stop sending aid to nondemocratic countries.
c. He tried to democratize eastern Europe through secret diplomatic talks.
d. He stopped all diplomatic talks with communist countries.
e. He inaugurated an era of peaceful coexistence with communist countries.
50. After Nixon’s 1972 visit to China
a. the United States sent economic and military aid to the exile regime in Taiwan.
b. China’s participation in the UN was suspended.
c. China drew closer to the Soviet Union.
d. the Beijing government took China’s place at the UN.
e. commercial relations between the two countries ceased.
51. The Camp David Accords brokered a peace between what two countries?
a. Colombia and Panama
b. Greece and Italy
c. Poland and Russia
d. Egypt and Israel
e. Namibia and Botswana
52. What triggered the rise of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia?
a. the end of the Vietnam War
b. the commercial activities between Cambodia and Vietnam
c. the acceptance of Cambodia into the United Nations
d. the Soviet invasion of Cambodia
e. the U.S. invasion of Cambodia
53. Which of the following accurately describes the Iran Crisis?
a. The American hostages in Iran were released the day Reagan left office.
b. In 1979, a popular revolution overthrew the Islamic state and established the shah regime.
c. The Iranian Revolution signaled that opposition movements in Middle Eastern countries were shifting to
religious fundamentalist ideologies.
d. After Carter refused the deposed shah entry for medical treatment in the United States, his exiled internal
security force invaded the U.S. Embassy in Teheran and took American hostages.
e. The crisis was the perfect opportunity for Carter to prove his statesmanship.
54. In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Carter pursued which of the following policies?
a. stealing the show at the Moscow Olympics
b. withdrawing the SALT II treaty from consideration by the Senate
c. raising prices on grain exports to the Soviet Union
d. funneling aid to the mujahideen guerilla warriors fighting the Soviets
e. dramatically shifting American military spending to Egypt and Saudi Arabia
55. The handling of the Iranian hostage crisis
a. was a diplomatic achievement for President Carter.
b. restored Americans’ confidence in their nation.
c. made Jimmy Carter appear weak and inept.
d. made Ronald Reagan appear weak and inept.
e. ended with the signing of the Camp David Accords.
56. In order to protect U.S. interests, the Carter Doctrine declared that the United States would
a. never intervene in the affairs of another nation.
b. use military force, particularly in Southeast Asia.
c. use military force, particularly in the Western Hemisphere.
d. use military force, particularly in the Persian Gulf.
e. use nuclear weapons only if attacked first.
57. The Soviet War in Afghanistan came to resemble what other conflict?
a. Korean War
b. Vietnam War
c. Seven Day’s War
d. Falklands War
e. World War I
58. In 1975, the Vietnam War ended
a. when the Soviet Union attacked North Vietnam.
b. with the government of North Vietnam as the sole ruler of the country.
c. with the Paris peace agreement.
d. with the United States as a winner.
e. right after the invasion of Cambodia.
59. During the 1970s, conservatives
a. continued their overt opposition to the black struggle for racial justice.
b. insisted on more local control and resisted the power of the federal government.
c. employed the fiery rhetoric and direct confrontation tactics of Bull Connor and George Wallace.
d. made little progress.
e. appealed primarily to urban Americans.
60. Democrats nominated Senator George McGovern for president in 1972. McGovern only won in Massachusetts.
What did the results of the elections suggest?
a. that he was from Massachusetts
b. that not many voters went to the polls
c. that women preferred him over the other candidate
d. that the electoral system needed an update
e. that certain sectors of society no longer swore loyalty to the Democratic Party
61. How did the experience of the 1960s shape America’s neoconservatives?
a. Neoconservatives believed that even the best-intentioned social programs did more harm than good.
b. The expense of the space race convinced them that they had to give up fighting the Cold War.
c. The U.S. experience in the Vietnam War taught neoconservatives to wage wars with all available resources.
d. The prosperity under the stewardship of liberal Democrats convinced them that New Deal economics were
the path for the future.
e. Their own exposure to drugs, sex, and rock and roll made them more likely to be libertarians at heart.
62. During the 1970s, evangelical Christians
a. significantly declined in number, as they became less vocal.
b. significantly increased in number, as they became more vocal.
c. became more liberal in their beliefs.
d. were banned from holding public office.
e. were banned from making television appearances.
63. When they were arrested, the burglars at the Watergate apartment complex were breaking into
a. Senator George McGovern’s house.
b. the Washington Post’s headquarters.
c. the Republican Party headquarters.
d. the Democratic Party headquarters.
e. the New York Times headquarters.
64. The Equal Rights Amendment
a. stated that equality of rights under the law could not be abridged on account of sex.
b. was revived by second-wave feminists and was expected to arouse controversy, given its lack of support
among a majority of congressional Republicans.
c. had originally been proposed in 1970 by members of NOW.
d. mandated that women had to surrender maternity leave.
e. would have resulted in the abolition of Planned Parenthood.
65. How did Phyllis Schlafly and her supporters invoke the principle of freedom in the battle over the ERA?
a. They argued that freedom for American women was best experienced through their husbands.
b. They argued that “freedom” for American women had already been achieved with the Nineteenth
Amendment.
c. They argued it was the “free enterprise system” that truly liberated American women, because home
appliances freed them from time-consuming labor.
d. Schlafly and her supporters never spoke of American freedom.
e. They said women could already pursue a career outside the home thanks to job training programs and
colleges’ admittance of women.
66. Opponents of the Equal Rights Amendment, such as Phyllis Schlafly, argued that the passage of the ERA