Glossary Term – Event
Strategic Defense Initiative
President Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative, a new project for developing the technology to create ballistic missile defenses that could intercept and destroy enemy missiles.
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Showing results 11 – 20 of 46
Glossary Term – Event
Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan
President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Lee Hinckley, who believed the assassination would earn him the affection of actress Jodie Foster. Reagan survived the shooting to make a full recovery.
Glossary Term – Event
Bill Clinton elected president
Democratic nominee and Arkansas governor Bill Clinton won the presidential election over incumbent Republican George H. W. Bush and Independent candidate Ross Perot. Though Bush had used the success of the Persian Gulf War as a campaign point, Clinton’s focus on the economy propelled him to the win.
Glossary Term – Event
Bombing of Libya
President Reagan ordered “pre-emptive action against terrorist installations” in the bombing of Libya in response to a terrorist attack in West Berlin, allegedly perpetrated by Libya and its leader Muammar Qaddafi, that killed an American soldier.
Glossary Term – Event
Economic Recovery Tax Act
Ronald Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act, a major tax-reform bill based on “supply side economics,” cutting taxes and regulations. The act implemented an across-the-board tax cut for individuals, reduced the maximum income tax rate, lowered capital gains and estate taxes, and expanded individual retirement accounts.
Glossary Term – Event
Geneva Summit of 1985
Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met to discuss arms reduction, human rights, and diplomatic relations. No major agreements were reached or treaties signed.
Glossary Term – Event
George H. W. Bush elected president
Promising “no new taxes,” George H. W. Bush was elected president over Democratic Party nominee Michael Dukakis.
Glossary Term – Event
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
At a summit in Washington, DC, President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, agreeing to the destruction of all US and Soviet intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles and providing for on-site weapons inspections.
Glossary Term – Event
Iran-Contra hearings
Members of the CIA and the National Security Council, including several top-level Reagan advisers, were tried and found guilty of violating the Boland Amendment and other federal laws in order to support and arm the anti-Communist rebel Contras in Nicaragua without Congress’s knowledge. Though Reagan claimed no direct involvement in a secret plan to arm the Contras using profits made from arms sold to Iran, the Iran-Contra affair blemished the President’s administration.
Glossary Term – Event
Nuclear disarmament summit
Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met in Reykjavik, Iceland, to discuss nuclear weapons and disarmament, though the talks collapsed when Reagan refused to abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative.