Deck 30: A Conservative Revival and the End of the Cold War, 1980-2000

Question 1

What do David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Clarence Thomas, and Stephen Breyer have in common?

A) They all joined the Supreme Court during the 1990s.
B) They all dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination for president in 1992, clearing the way for Bill Clinton to run.
C) They all were members of George Bush's cabinet from 1989 to 1992.
D) They all testified that Bill Clinton had sexually harassed his secretary when he was governor of Arkansas.
E) They were all prominent Americans who acknowledged during the 1990s that they had AIDS.

Answer 1

They all joined the Supreme Court during the 1990s.

Question 2

Ronald Reagan's nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court was important because

A) she turned the court in a more liberal direction.
B) her appointment gave women a majority on the Supreme Court for the first time.
C) she insured that Roe v. Wade would not be overturned.
D) she was the first woman ever confirmed to the Supreme Court.
E) her failure to win confirmation showed how the Senate was still dominated by white men.

Answer 2

she was the first woman ever confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Question 3

What happened in the 1980 presidential election?

A) Reagan won by a razor-thin margin, but the Republicans lost seats in both the House and the Senate.
B) Carter lost, but he held such traditional New Deal Democratic voters as blue-collar workers and white southerners.
C) Reagan won in a landslide by capturing all western and northeastern states, although the solid South remained firmly Democratic.
D) Reagan won about 51 percent of the popular vote, and Republicans gained control of the Senate for the first time since 1955.
E) Carter won by a slim margin over Gerald Ford, but the Democrats regained control of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Answer 3

Reagan won about 51 percent of the popular vote, and Republicans gained control of the Senate for the first time since 1955.

Question 4

Which statement concerning the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 is true?

A) It was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress over President Clinton's veto.
B) It generally followed principles favored by liberals since the days of the New Deal.
C) It ended all welfare payments to adults within one year after its passage.
D) It limited welfare payments for most recipients to two years.
E) It provided the largest increase in welfare benefits since the New Deal.

Question 5

Monica Lewinsky

A) Claimed that Paula Jones had an affair with the president.
B) Had an affair with President Clinton that led to his impeachment.
C) Was the first woman astronaut.
D) Was a blind Miss America winner who led a campaign for the better treatment of the handicapped
E) Authored the Harry Potter series, one of the highest grossing book series in history.

Question 6

What agreement attempted to bring peace to Bosnia?

A) Camp David Accords
B) Dayton Accords
C) Oslo Accords
D) Geneva Accords
E) Frankfurt Accords

Question 7

To what was Ronald Reagan referring when he spoke of the "evil empire"?

A) The Soviet Union
B) The growing federal bureaucracy
C) The New Deal electoral coalition
D) The People's Republic of China
E) The alliance between Iraq, North Korea, and Libya

Question 8

Who were the "contras"?

A) They were a group formed by members of the Palestine Liberation Organization to overthrow the Israeli government.
B) They were a group financed by the CIA to undermine the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
C) According to President Reagan, they were all American hostages around the world.
D) They were bands of evangelical Christians who traveled the country inveighing against sexual permissiveness and secular humanism.
E) They were the members of the underground movement in the Soviet Union that was working to bring democracy, capitalism, and Christianity to that communist land.

Question 9

Which of the following was not an accomplishment of President Reagan's first term?

A) Reducing the federal deficit
B) Reducing inflation
C) Revitalizing the American free-enterprise system
D) Rebuilding the military
E) Maintaining personal popularity

Question 10

What happened to the Equal Rights Amendment?

A) It became the 27th Amendment to the Constitution.
B) It was proposed in Congress, but never gained enough support to be presented to the states for ratification.
C) It was passed by Congress but died three states short of ratification.
D) It remains before the states to ratify.
E) It was approved by 2/3 of the states but not by 3/4 of the Congress.

Question 11

How did Jerry Falwell influence American politics in the 1980s?

A) He created NOW and campaigned for women's rights.
B) He served as the official chaplain for President Ronald Reagan.
C) He used his ministry to expose the sins of Democratic Party members.
D) He established Moral Majority to fight the growing secularization of society.
E) He campaigned for Democratic candidates who claimed to be evangelical Christians.

Question 12

Which of the following economic developments occurred during Ronald Reagan's first term?

A) A budget surplus
B) A drop in the balance of trade deficit
C) The lowering of tax receipts
D) increased consumer spending and a surging stock market
E) All of these choices

Question 13

In the "Iran-contra" scandal,

A) Contrary to Congressional restrictions, the White House secretly continued to funnel money to the forces fighting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua
B) The CIA had secretly funded the government of Ayatollah Khomeini for five years.
C) The CIA had been providing money and arms to the Sandinistas.
D) Iran was shipping missiles to Nicaragua to support the Contras.
E) None of these choices.

Question 14

Which of the following statements would most likely have been supported by Phyllis Schlafly?

A) The government must help women get out of the house and go back to work.
B) The equal rights amendment must be defeated.
C) The expansion of gay rights would benefit all Americans.
D) Reducing military spending would allow for the expansion of domestic programs.
E) Women should enjoy the benefits of the sexual revolution.

Question 15

Which of the following statements about Ronald Reagan is not true?

A) He had been a paid spokesman for a major American corporation.
B) He had been a sports announcer in Des Moines.
C) He had been an enthusiastic conservative Republican since the 1930s.
D) As governor of California, he popularized conservative ideas.
E) He gained political experience as president of the Screen Writers' Guild.

Question 16

Which of the following statements about the Strategic Defense Initiative is true?

A) It was proposed by the growing peace and antinuclear movement as an alternative to tactical nuclear weapons.
B) It seemed to be the best solution to the nuclear-arms race, because of its modest cost and technological simplicity.
C) It was the first program eliminated in the great wave of Reagan defense cuts.
D) It substituted cheap chemical and biological weapons for expensive nuclear devices.
E) It proposed a system of space-based lasers and other high-tech defenses against nuclear missiles.

Question 17

By 2000, about how many Americans had died of AIDS?

A) over 458,000
B) nearly 1,200,000
C) slightly more than 3,000
D) no more than 175
E) There are no accurate estimates, because the Surgeon General refused to release the figures.

Question 18

According to the theories of "Reaganomics,"

A) by increasing revenue from taxes, the country could spend more for defense programs.
B) by cutting taxes, the country's economy would expand and produce more revenue for the federal government.
C) by reducing defense programs, the country could spend more money on domestic programs.
D) by eliminating the income tax and adopted a national sale's tax, the country could afford to spend more money on both domestic and defense programs.
E) by raising the income tax and increased corporate taxes, the country could expand its domestic and defense programs.

Question 19

Where did the United States send a humanitarian force from 1992 to 1994?

A) Darfur
B) Ethiopia
C) Kosovo
D) Somalia
E) Rwanda

Question 20

What was the role of religion in post-1970 America?

A) It became increasingly irrelevant as the "Me Generation" turned inward and concentrated on personal goals and materialistic pursuits.
B) It gained new visibility as a champion of liberal reform.
C) It gained increased visibility and played a more decisive cultural and political role than it had for years.
D) It became discredited because of a series of scandals involving Billy Graham.
E) It witnessed the resurgence of Catholicism at the expense of Protestant denominations.

Question 21

What seems to account for the vast popularity that Ronald Reagan maintained during his eight years as president?

A) He was a skilled administrator and manager.
B) He possessed an exhaustive familiarity with the issues.
C) He had an ability to articulate the beliefs, aspirations, and fears of millions of Americans.
D) He capitalized on the popularity of his vice president.
E) He consistently fought corruption.

Question 22

Although Ronald Reagan had been a vigorous Cold Warrior throughout his political career, why was he able to bring about a remarkable easing of Cold War tensions?

A) He developed a personal rapport with Leonid Brezhnev.
B) He offered SDI to the Soviet Union.
C) He allowed Casper Weinberger to lead negotiations.
D) He channeled money through the CIA to more moderate members of the Soviet Politburo.
E) He was willing to negotiate with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Question 23

Which of the following statements about the election of 1992 is correct?

A) The right wing of the Republican party scared many moderate conservatives.
B) An independent candidate for the presidency won a larger portion of the vote than any other third-party candidate had won since the election of 1912.
C) Bill Clinton's victory owed much to his success in gaining the vote of so-called "Reagan Democrats".
D) It marked a shift of voter attention to domestic issues as the Cold War faded.
E) All of these choices

Question 24

Which of the following was not part of the Reagan administration's Middle East policy?

A) Stationing two thousand American marines in Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping force.
B) Providing extensive aid to Egypt.
C) Supporting Iran in its bloody war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
D) Proposing negotiations that would lead to an independent Palestinian state.
E) Providing military and economic aid to Israel.

Question 25

Which of the following events did not mark the end of the Cold War?

A) The reunification of Germany
B) The fall of the Berlin Wall
C) Declarations of independence by the Baltic republics
D) Collapse of the hard-line leadership of China
E) Collapse of communism in the Soviet Union

Question 26

The Clarence Thomas hearings were controversial because

A) Many Southern representatives could not stomach another black Supreme Court justice.
B) Thomas's openness about being gay belied the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy."
C) Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment.
D) Republican senators refused to support any judicial nominee who supported abortion.
E) Thomas had admitted to being part of the Ku Klux Klan when he was younger.

Question 27

Which of the following is not accurate regarding American participation in the Persian Gulf War?

A) It began after Saddam Hussein's Iraq occupied Kuwait.
B) U.S. military forces joined with a multinational coalition.
C) U.S. and its allies' forces overwhelmed the Iraqi military.
D) The war ended in 30 days with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
E) Both houses of congress endorsed military action although most Democrats voted against war.

Question 28

Which of the following developments occurred after the end of the Cold War?

A) A totalitarian ideology collapsed in a major region of the world.
B) Disputes in places like Nicaragua were settled.
C) The stature of the United States was enhanced.
D) There was a heightened concern about the control of nuclear weapons.
E) All of these choices

Question 29

What happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989?

A) Citizens in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania demanded their independence from the Soviet Union.
B) George Bush announced to the world that he would not raise taxes.
C) Chinese communist forces killed hundreds of unarmed demonstrators.
D) American demonstrators protested the Supreme Court's stance on abortion.
E) Cuban exiles attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro but were slaughtered outside his office.

Question 30

Which statement concerning the 1990 recession is true?

A) Retail sales slumped.
B) Housing starts fell.
C) Unemployment rose.
D) Sales of American cars fell.
E) All of these choices

Question 31

Which of the following events did not occur internationally in the late 1980s and early 1990s?

A) The Philippines legislature voted to close two U.S. naval bases.
B) The Kurds of Iraq successfully defied Saddam Hussein and established an independent state.
C) Mikhail Gorbachev resigned from office, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
D) Many former Soviet republics declared their independence.
E) South Africa abandoned most of its apartheid policies.

Question 32

Who won the electoral vote in the 2000 presidential election?

A) Al Gore
B) John McCain
C) George W. Bush
D) Ralph Nader
E) Pat Buchanan

Question 33

The Exxon Valdez incident revealed

A) How exorbitant corporate profits had reached.
B) The need for campaign finance reform.
C) The weaknesses of America's industrial secrets.
D) The environmental dangers of transporting oil.
E) That Bill Clinton was controlled by oil executives.

Question 34

Which of the following events related to the Cold War did not happen during the administration of George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993?

A) The USSR and the United States signed an alliance against China.
B) The United States and Soviet Union signed a treaty reducing their nuclear arsenals by 25 percent.
C) Mikhail Gorbachev resigned from office.
D) The Berlin Wall was torn down.
E) Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania declared their independence.

Question 35

Why was the 1987 INF Treaty a major milestone in nuclear-arms control?

A) It eliminated 2,500 U.S. and Soviet missiles from Europe.
B) It eliminated an entire class of existing nuclear weapons.
C) It provided for on-site inspection to verify compliance.
D) All of these choices
E) None of these choices

Question 36

What did the Iran-contra scandal highlight to many Americans?

A) It indicated a pattern of corruption in Pentagon procurement.
B) It revealed President Reagan's lax managerial style.
C) It showed that many of the president's closest associates and advisers had caused the president's problems.
D) It proved that Vice President Bush had strongly supported selling arms to Egypt and using the profits to support the opponents of Ferdinand Marcos.
E) It established the fact that the American government would remain corrupt until the country implemented term limits.

Question 37

Which Supreme Court ruling upheld restrictions on abortion providers?

A) Planned Parenthood v. Casey
B) Roe v. Wade
C) Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
D) California v. Bakke
E) None of these choices

Question 38

Which of the following statements concerning Bill Clinton is true?

A) He was the governor of Texas before becoming president.
B) His sexual indiscretions never interfered with his abilities to govern.
C) He divorced Hillary Clinton after she had an affair with Bob Dole.
D) He was elected president in 1992 and 1996.
E) His vice president was Dan Quayle.

Question 39

What was one of the factors that caused the saving-and-loan crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s?

A) There was excessive government regulation.
B) Saving-and-loan institutions gave risky loans made on speculative real-estate ventures.
C) Saving-and-loan institutions could not attract deposits.
D) Saving-and-loan institutions were unable to compete with Internet banking.
E) All of these choices

Question 40

Which of the following individuals became a Supreme Court justice during the presidency of George H. W. Bush?

A) Robert Bork
B) Antonin Scalia
C) Sandra Day O'Connor
D) David Souter
E) William Rehnquist

Question 41

Who was the first woman secretary of state?

A) Hillary Clinton
B) Geraldine Ferraro
C) Madeleine Albright
D) Condoleezza Rice
E) Anne Richardson

Question 42

How high did the Dow Jones Industrial Average reach by 2001?

A) Almost 2,500
B) Almost 6,000
C) Almost 8,500
D) Almost 10,000
E) Almost 12,000

Question 43

Which statement concerning the economic boom of the 1990s is not accurate?

A) Federal deficits were temporarily ended.
B) Interest rates dropped to all time lows.
C) Inflation remained low.
D) Crime rates dropped.
E) Unemployment rates fell.

Question 44

The North American Free Trade Agreement

A) Encouraged the Big Three automakers to move their production facilities to Mexico.
B) Admitted Mexico to a free-trade zone that had been formed by the United States and Canada.
C) Was opposed by most Mexicans out of fear that high wage jobs would flee to Canada.
D) United Mexico and Canada in economic opposition to the United States.
E) All of these choices.

Question 45

Which of the following provisions was not part of the Contract with America?

A) a balanced-budget amendment.
B) strict gun control legislation.
C) tougher crime laws.
D) tax cuts.
E) anti-pornography measures.

Question 46

Who ran as a major third party candidate in the 1992 election?

A) Ralph Nader
B) Robert Dole
C) Bill Clinton
D) Ross Perot
E) George Bush

Question 47

Which statement concerning Hillary Rodham Clinton's healthcare task force is true?

A) It kept the public well informed of its activities.
B) It proposed higher tobacco taxes to cover the start-up expenses of the new plan.
C) It proposed new taxes on gasoline and alcohol.
D) It included a board of doctors to monitor costs.
E) All of these choices

Question 48

The "Don't ask, don't tell" policy was

A) The Supreme Court's 1994 ruling on pornography.
B) It was the health care plan developed by Hillary Rodham Clinton's task force.
C) The Clinton administration's compromise on the issue of homosexuals in the military.
D) Rush Limbaugh's attitude toward the Whitewater Development Company controversy.
E) The American military's plans for the Gulf War.

Question 49

What happened in the 1994 midterm elections?

A) The Republicans won majorities in both houses of Congress.
B) There was an unusually high voter turnout.
C) The Democrats held on to the House, but lost the Senate.
D) The voters indicated that they wanted more government programs to help the poor and crack down on monopolistic corporations.
E) Voters demonstrated their lack of interest in any issues by voting for minor-party candidates.

Question 50

In 1995, Timothy McVeigh bombed a federal office building in Oklahoma City in order to demonstrate his displeasure over

A) America's support of Israel.
B) George H. W. Bush's involvement in the Persian Gulf war.
C) the decline of American culture.
D) the Clinton administration's support of homosexuals in the military.
E) the federal government's handling of the Branch Davidian crisis.

Question 51

Who organized the Christian Coalition?

A) Billy Graham
B) Jerry Falwell
C) James Bakker
D) Pat Robertson
E) Tim LaHaye