Reagan Revolution
Conservative political shift beginning with Reagan's 1980 election; rejected New Deal liberalism for free markets, lower taxes, deregulation, and traditional values.
Reagan & ConservatismReaganomics
Reagan's supply-side ('trickle-down') economic policy: massive tax cuts, deregulation, reduced domestic spending, increased defense spending.
Reagan & ConservatismRonald Reagan
40th president (1981–89); shifted Republican Party toward ideological conservatism; oversaw Cold War's end and the Iran-Contra scandal.
Reagan & ConservatismMoral Majority
Jerry Falwell's evangelical Christian political organization (1979); mobilized conservatives around abortion, gay rights, and secularism — key to Reagan's 1980 coalition.
Reagan & ConservatismNew Right
Late-1970s/1980s coalition combining evangelical Christians, anti-tax conservatives, anti-communists, and Sun Belt suburbanites — built the modern Republican Party.
Reagan & ConservatismIran-Contra Scandal
Reagan-era scandal: officials sold weapons to Iran despite embargo; profits funded Contra rebels in Nicaragua despite congressional ban; damaged Reagan's second term.
Reagan & ConservatismMikhail Gorbachev
Soviet leader (1985–91); his reforms — glasnost and perestroika — tried to save the USSR but accelerated its collapse; negotiated arms reductions with Reagan.
End of Cold WarGlasnost & Perestroika
Gorbachev's policies of openness (glasnost) and economic restructuring (perestroika); intended to revive the Soviet system but exposed its weaknesses.
End of Cold WarFall of the Berlin Wall (1989)
Collapse of the wall dividing East and West Berlin; symbolized the end of Soviet control over Eastern Europe and the imminent end of the Cold War.
End of Cold WarEnd of the Cold War (1991)
Dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991; ended 45 years of U.S.-Soviet conflict; left the U.S. as the world's sole superpower.
End of Cold WarGlobalization
Increased interconnection of national economies through trade, technology, and migration; accelerated by NAFTA (1994), the WTO (1995), and digital communication.
Changing EconomyNAFTA (1994)
North American Free Trade Agreement eliminating most trade barriers between U.S., Canada, and Mexico; boosted trade but accelerated outsourcing of manufacturing jobs.
Changing EconomyDigital Revolution
1990s–2000s rise of personal computing, the internet, mobile phones, and social media; transformed work, communication, and the economy.
Changing EconomyGreat Recession (2008)
Severe financial crisis triggered by subprime mortgage collapse and bank failures; worst downturn since the Great Depression; led to TARP and Obama's stimulus.
Changing EconomyRising Income Inequality
Post-1980 trend: real wages stagnated for working/middle classes while top incomes soared; union decline and outsourcing accelerated the gap.
Changing EconomyImmigration Act of 1965
Hart-Celler Act ending national-origin quotas favoring Europeans; opened the door for Latino and Asian immigration; transformed U.S. demographics.
MigrationSun Belt Shift
Post-1970 population and economic shift from Northeast/Midwest ('Rust Belt') to South and Southwest ('Sun Belt'); drove conservative political realignment.
MigrationSeptember 11 Attacks
Al-Qaeda hijacked four planes (2001), destroying the World Trade Center, damaging the Pentagon, and crashing in Pennsylvania; killed nearly 3,000; transformed U.S. foreign policy.
21st CenturyWar on Terror
U.S. global military/intelligence campaign after 9/11; invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003); long-term occupations and continued debate over civil liberties.
21st CenturyPATRIOT Act (2001)
Post-9/11 law expanding government surveillance and law-enforcement powers; controversial for civil liberties implications.
21st CenturyBarack Obama
44th president (2009–17); first African American president; passed the Affordable Care Act; oversaw the killing of Osama bin Laden.
21st CenturyAffordable Care Act (2010)
Obama's healthcare reform requiring insurance for most Americans, expanding Medicaid, banning denial for preexisting conditions; most significant healthcare expansion since Medicare.
21st CenturyObergefell v. Hodges (2015)
Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution guarantees same-sex marriage nationwide; capstone of a decade-long LGBT rights movement.
21st CenturyBlack Lives Matter
Civil rights movement formed in 2013 after George Zimmerman's acquittal; grew dramatically after the 2020 killing of George Floyd; demanded police reform and racial justice.
21st CenturyCOVID-19 Pandemic
Global coronavirus pandemic (2020+); over a million U.S. deaths; triggered economic shutdown, accelerated remote work, deepened political divisions over public health measures.
21st Century