CHAPTER 30:
THE REAGAN REVOLUTION AND A CHANGING WORLD, 1981–1992
Multiple Choice
1. Ronald Reagan’s first foray into politics and governing occurred in 1966 when he successfully ran for
__________.
A) governor of California
B) state senator of Illinois
C) governor of Illinois
D) lieutenant governor of California
2. Some of Reagan’s most articulate support for president came from __________, who feared that the
United States was losing influence in the world.
A) anti-communists from both parties
B) conservative Democrats
C) liberal Republicans
D) the Moral Majority
3. Ronald Reagan won the election of 1980 because __________.
A) he was more intelligent than Jimmy Carter
B) he advocated for conservative social values
C) Americans felt threatened by political and economic forces they couldn’t control
D) Americans had become disenchanted by the many political scandals of the Carter years
4. Why was Reagan a popular candidate for small businesses?
A) He was an environmentalist interested in green jobs.
B) He wanted to increase military spending, which included small business products.
C) He was against Nixon-era regulation.
D) He promised a tax break to all small business owners.
5. Neoconservatives such as Edward Banfield believed that __________.
A) the federal government was spending too much money on defense
B) liberal policies failed only because conservatives failed to provide support
C) government regulation was more economically effective than promoting free markets
D) social problems could not be solved through public policies enacted by the government
6. The appointment of __________ as secretary of the interior was controversial, particularly because of
his sympathy to the Sagebrush Rebellion.
A) James Lee Witt
B) James Watt
C) David Stockman
D) George Bush
7. One effect of deregulation was __________.
A) the strengthening of organized labor unions
B) more economic power for the poor
C) the destruction and bailout of the savings and loan industry
D) big business withdrawing its support for President Reagan
8. __________ is considered one of popular culture’s best takes on the problems of blue-collar America.
A) Roseanne
B) Everybody Loves Raymond
C) Seinfeld
D) Yes, Dear
9. In the period 1964–1989, organized labor __________.
A) defeated all attempts at “union busting”
B) won victories in areas such as the Los Angeles garment district
C) benefited from an increase in blue-collar jobs
D) experienced a decline in membership
10. Federal tax and spending policies of the 1980s made life more difficult for __________.
A) wealthy corporations
B) middle-class workers caught in industrial restructuring
C) people seeking employment in Sunbelt cities
D) the wealthiest members of American society
11. “Yuppies” tended __________.
A) not to reap the economic benefits of the 1980s
B) to purchase items from upscale retailers
C) not to emulate the upper class in their lifestyles
D) to come from the lowest economic sectors
12. Which statement about the American poor is true?
A) The percentage of poor people had decreased in the period 1960–1973.
B) In the 1980s, there was an increase in the number of Americans living in poverty.
C) Homelessness was less visible in the 1980s and affected only a handful of Americans.
D) Analysts began to refer to an underclass that was left out of the economic mainstream.
13. Aspects of the national economy in the 1980s included __________.
A) the highest inflation rates ever recorded
B) a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor
C) the development of millions of new jobs
D) increased participation in the stock market
14. By the end of the 1980s, __________.
A) women constituted nearly two-thirds of poor adults
B) the percentage of women attending college decreased
C) the average salary of men and women was virtually equal
D) the Republican Party promoted the Equal Rights Amendment
15. In the election of 1988, George H. W. Bush defeated __________.
A) Walter Mondale
B) Michael Dukakis
C) Jimmy Carter
D) George McGovern
16. In 1982, nearly 1 million people turned out in New York for a rally __________.
A) against the Vietnam War
B) in support of American offensives in the Persian Gulf War
C) against Richard Nixon’s policy of détente
D) in support of a freeze on the development of nuclear weapons
17. President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative __________.
A) was defeated in the House of Representatives
B) created an expensive defense plan based on super-lasers and satellites
C) emphasized the use of traditional weapons rather nuclear arsenals
D) was opposed by heads of the defense industry
18. Evidence of a renewed Cold War in the 1980s included which of the following?
A) the American public’s belief that the government had been infiltrated by communists
B) the United States’ placement of new cruise missiles in Asia
C) the belief, expressed in National Security Directive D-13, that a nuclear war was winnable
D) a significant decrease in the nuclear arms race
19. The Reagan Doctrine called for __________.
A) an overall reduction in nuclear arms
B) America to support anti-Marxist movements throughout the world
C) cooperation with Gorbachev
D) the support of global human rights to be the number one foreign policy priority
20. In the Iran-Contra affair, Oliver North __________.
A) testified that President Reagan was solely to blame
B) was innocent of any unconstitutional actions
C) was completely honest in his testimony
D) funneled illegal arms sales funds to Nicaraguan rebels
21. President Reagan reacted to Mikhail Gorbachev’s offers of Soviet military cutbacks __________.
A) with great suspicion
B) by refusing to meet with the Soviet leader
C) by embracing the Soviet Union’s new positions
D) after Gorbachev was removed from office
22. Which Soviet leader instituted the political openness of glasnost?
A) Mikhail Gorbachev
B) Leonid Brezhnev
C) Constantin Chernenko
D) Yuri Andropov
23. What did the Berlin Wall symbolize?
A) rebuilding after World War II
B) cultural homogeny
C) racial segregation
D) the stand-off of the Cold War in Europe
24. Developments in foreign relations in the late 1980s included __________.
A) relatively peaceful revolutions that toppled Soviet control of eastern Europe
B) a heightening of the Cold War and the arms race
C) the emergence of a strong isolationist foreign policy by the United States
D) President Bush’s aggressive verbal attacks on Mikhail Gorbachev
25. President Bush’s call for U.S. military involvement in the Persian Gulf came when __________.
A) Saddam Hussein’s forces engaged in a bitter war with Iran
B) Iraq invaded Kuwait and gained control of its oil production
C) the Soviet Union sent its forces into southern Iraq
D) the United Nations decided to support Saddam Hussein’s claim in Kuwait
26. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush avoided the “Vietnam Syndrome” in the Persian Gulf War by
__________.
A) avoiding mention of Vietnam in his speeches about the conflict
B) using a large number of troops and weapons to achieve quick victory
C) seeking to gain his military objectives in secrecy
D) refusing to allow any allies to help in the military effort
27. Outcomes of the Persian Gulf War included which of the following?
A) the toppling of Saddam Hussein from power
B) the outburst of civil war in Iran
C) a general belief that American military technology was inferior
D) the achievement of President Bush’s goal to restore the “status quo”
28. Effects of Operation Desert Storm included __________.
A) large destruction of Iraqi military and civilian areas
B) showing the invincibility of Saddam Hussein’s antiaircraft weapons
C) getting the Soviet Union to commit a huge force of troops
D) very high American casualties
29. Which of the following cities is located in the American Sunbelt?
A) San Francisco
B) Charlotte
C) Cleveland
D) Atlanta
30. In his 1969 book, The Emerging Republican Majority, Kevin Phillips predicted __________.
A) a trend toward conservative voting habits
B) the emergence of a three-party system
C) a coalition between the Republican Party and organized labor
D) that the Democratic Party would not exist by 1990
31. How did corporations help to fuel the rise of the Sunbelt?
A) They built new factories after being lured by weak labor laws.
B) They donated millions of dollars to build infrastructure.
C) They refused to move to the Sunbelt, which left the area pristine and attractive.
D) They offered to pay moving expenses for skilled workers.
32. Which of the following regions had the largest number of fast-growing metropolitan areas between
1990 and 2000?
A) Southwest
B) Northeast
C) Midwest
D) Pacific Northwest
33. In recent decades, the largest number of new Americans has come from __________.
A) Canada
B) Mexico
C) Vietnam
D) the Philippines
34. Which of the following ethnic groups makes up the smallest percentage of the American population?
A) African Americans
B) Hispanics
C) Native Americans
D) Asians and Pacific Islanders
35. In the second half of the 1970s, hundreds of thousands of political refugees immigrated to the United
States from __________.
A) Canada
B) western Europe
C) Vietnam and Southeast Asia
D) South Africa
36. The population of Los Angeles in the 1990s __________.
A) decreased faster than that of any city in the United States
B) included a significant sector of Mexican Americans
C) was not as diverse as populations in most American cities
D) contained very few Asian immigrants
37. In the early 1990s, the United States __________.
A) experienced its biggest immigration boom since World War I
B) rejected the philosophy of free trade in the Western Hemisphere
C) enacted legislation that placed harsh restrictions on Asian immigration
D) began to increase trade with Europe while decreasing trade with Pacific nations
38. Which of the following changed the composition of the American people by abolishing the national
quota system, which had been in effect since 1924?
A) the Immigration and Naturalization Service
B) Proposition 187
C) the Moral Majority
D) the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
39. Communities such as El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California are examples of __________.
A) cities that enforce strict nativist policies
B) cities with a policy of resistance against new immigration
C) the existence of a cross-border economy
D) a one-party political system
40. A “rainbow coalition” that encouraged a wider commitment to social justice was led by __________.
A) Jim Jones
B) Pat Robertson
C) Jesse Jackson
D) Jerry Falwell
41. Title IX of the Education Amendments (1972) forbade discrimination by gender in all __________.
A) colleges and universities
B) K-12 schools
C) after-school programs
D) educational programs receiving federal aid
42. The Equal Rights Amendment __________.
A) easily won ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures
B) created little controversy
C) fell three states short of ratification before the 1982 deadline
D) was proposed by a national constitutional convention
43. In the case Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that __________.
A) suburban areas needed wider representation in state governments
B) labor unions could not call strikes during the process of collective bargaining
C) state laws could not forbid abortions in the first three months of pregnancy
D) the federal government could make no laws that encourage integration
44. The Roe v. Wade decision was based on the right to __________.
A) privacy
B) assemble peaceably
C) freedom of expression
D) freedom of religion
45. One of the reasons why more women entered the workforce in the 1970s was __________.
A) men mostly encouraged their wives to work
B) more management jobs were suddenly open to women
C) factories actively recruited women workers
D) a broad shift from manufacturing to service jobs
46. Life in gay communities took an abrupt turn in the 1980s when __________.
A) the Supreme Court ruled that companies could not provide insurance for gay workers
B) the American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as a mental illness
C) Congress supported passage of a national equal rights law for homosexuals
D) a worldwide AIDS epidemic began to impact the population of the United States
47. Which American president helped the Roman Catholic Church move toward the center of American
life?
A) John Kennedy
B) Lyndon Johnson
C) Ronald Reagan
D) George Bush
48. Which statement about fundamentalists is true?
A) They never get involved in politics.
B) They represent a large segment of the Roman Catholic Church.
C) They are never part of a larger evangelical denomination.
D) They believe there is one literal interpretation of the Bible.
49. Liberal or “modern” Protestants __________.
A) attack the immorality and corruption of modern life
B) believe there is one literal interpretation of the Bible
C) emphasize building the Kingdom of God through social justice
D) express that personal sexual indulgence is ruining the nation
50. Cultural conservatives have aggressively backed efforts to __________.
A) protect the environment
B) provide further social relief programs
C) secularize public education
D) prevent states from protecting homosexuals’ rights
Essay Questions
51. Choose three of the following groups and analyze their changing roles in American society after 1965:
older people, organized labor, women, religious conservatives, blue-collar workers, and educated
suburbanites.
52. Analyze three examples of issues in American life that have been a point of contention between
progressives and conservatives: abortion, homosexual rights, and sexuality.
53. What changes have occurred in American family patterns since the 1960s? How have economic
factors and new social values been reflected in these changes?
