Deck 30: Uncertain Times, 1974-1992

Question 1

The Democratic opponent to George Bush in the 1988 presidential election was

A) Jesse Jackson.
B) Michael Dukakis.
C) Edward Kennedy.
D) Walter Mondale.
E) Ted Kennedy.

Answer 1

Michael Dukakis.

Question 2

In December 1989, U.S. forces entered what Latin American nation in order to arrest its president?

A) Honduras
B) Panama
C) Nicaragua
D) Guatemala
E) Mexico

Answer 2

Panama

Question 3

In 1983, the United States overthrew the government of what small Caribbean nation?

A) Cuba
B) Jamaica
C) Bermuda
D) St. Croix
E) Grenada

Answer 3

Grenada

Question 4

In 1983, after a truck bomb killed 241 U.S. soldiers in Lebanon, President Reagan

A) ordered air strikes against suspected terrorist targets.
B) attempted to destabilize the government of Syria.
C) withdrew the remaining American troops from Lebanon.
D) increased arms sales to Israel.
E) threatened to invade Iran.

Question 5

The 1992 Democratic nominee for the presidency was

A) Bill Clinton.
B) Michael Dukakis.
C) Al Gore.
D) Edward Kennedy.
E) Joe Lieberman

Question 6

The winner of the 1976 presidential election was

A) Gerald Ford.
B) Jimmy Carter.
C) Walter Mondale.
D) Robert Dole.
E) Richard Nixon.

Question 7

All the following statements regarding the New Right are true except its

A) interests are almost entirely centered around social and cultural issues.
B) origins can be traced back several decades before Ronald Reagan became president.
C) supporters were outraged over Roe v. Wade court case.
D) supporters include Protestant fundamentalists.
E) a diverse coalition of conservatives.

Question 8

The first person to become both president and vice president, without having been elected to either position, was

A) Jimmy Carter.
B) Nelson Rockefeller.
C) Richard Nixon.
D) Gerald Ford.
E) Ronald Reagan.

Question 9

In 1978, Jimmy Carter brokered a historic peace accord between

A) Iran and Iraq.
B) Lebanon and Syria.
C) Great Britain and Argentina.
D) North Korea and South Korea.
E) Israel and Egypt.

Question 10

During the 1970s, popular support for social welfare measures began to

A) strengthen.
B) fade.
C) remain constant.
D) disappear.
E) be concentrated in the Republican Party

Question 11

In 1980, with slightly more than 50 percent of the popular vote, ____ was elected to the presidency.

A) George Bush
B) Ronald Reagan
C) Jimmy Carter
D) Gerald Ford
E) Richard Nixon

Question 12

Ronald Reagan held all of the following positions in 1980 except

A) reducing defense spending.
B) supporting large tax cuts.
C) opposing abortion.
D) advocating prayer in school.
E) advocating conservative family values.

Question 13

During the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill testified against Thomas, accusing him of

A) racial discrimination.
B) anti-Semitism.
C) income tax evasion.
D) sexual harassment.
E) spousal abuse.

Question 14

The popular image of Gerald Ford was that he was

A) elitist and arrogant.
B) a strong and powerful leader.
C) consumed with gaining political power.
D) genial and bumbling.
E) paranoid and suspicious.

Question 15

One of the most damaging problems of the Carter administration was its failure to win the release of U.S. hostages from

A) Iraq.
B) Iran.
C) Kuwait.
D) Lebanon.
E) Jordan.

Question 16

Throughout the 1980s, the Reagan administration attempted to overthrow the leadership of what Latin American nation?

A) Guatemala
B) El Salvador
C) Nicaragua
D) Honduras
E) Panama

Question 17

In 1984, Ronald Reagan defeated ____, a Minnesota Democrat, for the presidency.

A) Gary Hart
B) Robert Dole
C) Michael Dukakis
D) Walter Mondale
E) Ted Kennedy

Question 18

All of the following occurred during the Reagan administration except the

A) increase in the rate of poverty.
B) reduction in federal spending for social welfare programs.
C) soaring of the federal deficit.
D) appointment of many Catholic social conservatives to courts.
E) reduction in environmental protections.

Question 19

The independent, self-financed candidate in the 1992 presidential election was billionaire

A) Donald Trump.
B) Ross Perot.
C) John Rockefeller.
D) Allan Frost.
E) Al Franken

Question 20

The Soviet Union invaded which one of the following countries in 1979?

A) Turkey
B) Armenia
C) Kazakhstan
D) Afghanistan
E) South Korea

Question 21

The 1984 Democratic vice presidential nominee was

A) Walter Mondale.
B) Geraldine Ferraro.
C) Lloyd Bentsen.
D) Edward Kennedy.
E) Shirley Chisholm.

Question 22

During George Bush's presidency,

A) the federal deficit continued to increase.
B) the Soviet Union was abolished.
C) the United States invaded Panama.
D) the Persian Gulf War was fought.
E) all of these choices

Question 23

President Jimmy Carter supported all of the following domestic policies except

A) government funding for public-works jobs.
B) expansion of domestic energy production.
C) deregulation of some industries.
D) tax cuts.
E) dramatic cuts in welfare spending

Question 24

The end of the Cold War and the fall of Eastern European communism occurred during the presidency of

A) Jimmy Carter.
B) Ronald Reagan.
C) George Bush.
D) Bill Clinton.
E) Gerald Ford

Question 25

When Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992 he

A) emphasized his roots in the 1960s.
B) cast himself as a traditional Democrat.
C) was hurt that neither he nor his running mate had any military service.
D) made the preservation of the welfare system a top priority.
E) admitted to having extramarital affairs.

Question 26

In the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, the mood of the public was

A) optimistic.
B) disillusioned.
C) militant.
D) disinterested.
E) fearful.

Question 27

Ronald Reagan's second major goal was aimed at which segment of society?

A) women
B) unions
C) upper class elites
D) Asian Americans
E) African Americans

Question 28

During the 1980s, conservative Reaganites redefined the word "liberalism" to mean

A) wasteful social programs that robbed working Americans and rewarded lazy undeserving people.
B) limited government spending that controlled inflation.
C) moderate support for traditional family and social values.
D) government programs that helped average families purchase homes and consumer goods.
E) sexual promiscuity.

Question 29

The phrase "supply-side economics" refers to

A) Franklin Roosevelt's economic policy of supplying war materials to the allies in World War II.
B) Jimmy Carter's reduction of capital gains taxes.
C) congressional efforts to control the federal budget.
D) a theory embraced by Ronald Reagan that tax reductions would stimulate the economy.
E) the U.S. policy of supplying aid to third world countries that supported the U.S.

Question 30

In response to the Khmer Rouge seizure of the U.S. ship Mayaguez, Gerald Ford

A) appealed to the United Nations for help in freeing the ship and crew.
B) apologized for the ship's accidental intrusion into Cambodian waters.
C) refused to negotiate with the Cambodians.
D) took no direct action and let events play themselves out.
E) ordered a rescue mission and a bombing attack.

Question 31

In the Persian Gulf War, President George H. W. Bush did not oust Saddam Hussein from power because

A) he considered him a potential ally.
B) he had promised not to do so at the start of the war.
C) the United Nations forbid him to do it.
D) U.S. military planners worried about being able to control a post-Saddam Iraq.
E) the casualty rate among U.S. troops was already very high.

Question 32

Jimmy Carter appealed to voters because he was a

A) "born-again" Christian.
B) Washington outsider who was untainted by the political corruption of the Nixon era.
C) former governor with a southern small-town agricultural background.
D) retired naval officer
E) all of these choices

Question 33

The domestic policies of the Carter administration

A) greatly increased aid to low-income families.
B) lowered the gas tax to increase the competitiveness of U.S. oil companies.
C) increased price inflation and stifled economic growth.
D) eliminated "stagflation" and expanded the economy.
E) ensured his reelection.

Question 34

Ronald Reagan's impact on the federal judicial system can best be described as

A) minimal.
B) significant.
C) supportive of liberals.
D) balanced.
E) uninterested.

Question 35

Which of the following is not an example of Jimmy Carter's foreign policy?

A) establishment of formal diplomatic relations with Communist China
B) negotiations that improved relations between Israel and Egypt
C) expansion of American control in the Panama Canal Zone
D) development of a human-rights policy to determine which countries received U.S. foreign aid
E) failure to deal effectively with the hostage crisis

Question 36

The Berlin Wall came down in which year?

A) 1978
B) 1980
C) 1984
D) 1989
E) 1992

Question 37

Prior to becoming president, Gerald Ford had been all of the following except a

A) republican.
B) secretary of state.
C) football star.
D) congressman.
E) vice-president.

Question 38

Which of the following was not true of the Iran-Contra affair?

A) The United States secretly sold weapons to Iran.
B) Iran promised to help gain the release of Americans held hostage by Middle Eastern terrorists.
C) Profits from arms sales were used to fund revolutionaries in Nicaragua.
D) President George Bush pardoned the officials who participated in the scheme.
E) Oliver North and others destroyed documents and lied to Congress.

Question 39

George Bush's campaign faltered during the election of 1992 because

A) Bush did not have a clear, consistent vision of foreign and domestic policy.
B) the Democrats attacked him as an enemy of "family values."
C) his appearance on MTV shocked conservative voters.
D) white southern Protestants overwhelmingly supported the Democratic ticket.
E) the Democratically controlled Congress took credit for the economic prosperity.

Question 40

Reagan's "Star Wars" program was

A) a cultural exchange with the Soviet Union that included sharing of science-fiction films.
B) so expensive that Congress refused to fund it.
C) a space-based defense against incoming missiles.
D) made into a block-buster movie.
E) a government program to subsidize the movie industry.

Question 41

George Bush failed to keep one of his most important 1988 campaign pledges-the pledge of "no new taxes."

Question 42

"Operation Just Cause" was aimed against

A) Nicaragua.
B) Iraq
C) Cuba.
D) El Salvador.
E) Panama.

Question 43

The price for a barrel of oil quadrupled between 1971 and 1980.

Question 44

During the Carter administration, treaties were signed that would return the Panama Canal to Panama.

Question 45

In 1980, Jimmy Carter's major Democratic opponent to his renomination was

A) Ronald Reagan.
B) George McGovern.
C) John Anderson.
D) Walter Mondale.
E) Edward Kennedy.

Question 46

Cesar Chavez was a key leader in the agricultural Mexican American movement.

Question 47

In 1976, Jimmy Carter won every southern state except

A) Georgia.
B) Alabama.
C) Virginia.
D) Florida.
E) Texas

Question 48

Which of the following did Native Americans gain?

A) an Indian Bill of Rights
B) Supreme Court recognition of tribal self-determination
C) Congressional recognition that artifacts should be returned to tribal nations.
D) legal rights to operate gambling casinos on reservation property.
E) all of these choices

Question 49

George Bush's vice president was Dan Quayle.

Question 50

Many of those initially diagnosed with AIDS were gay men.

Question 51

In the Iran-Contra Affair

A) Ronald Reagan claimed ignorance.
B) Oliver North prosecuted the case.
C) most Americans viewed this as worse than Watergate.
D) it was clear that the plan was clear and successful, although illegal.
E) Ronald Reagan refused to comment or make any statement.

Question 52

The advocacy group ACT-UP is most associated with

A) gays.
B) women.
C) Blacks.
D) Hispanics.
E) Asians.

Question 53

When he ran for president in 1976, Jimmy Carter asked voters, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"

Question 54

The U.S. operation to remove Iraq from Kuwait was known as "Operation Just Cause."

Question 55

Ronald Reagan was the first movie star to be president.

Question 56

James Schlesinger served as Jimmy Carter's head of the Department of

A) the interior.
B) state.
C) agriculture.
D) energy.
E) treasury.

Question 57

The first woman ever to run for president or vice president on a major party ticket was Sandra Day O'Connor.

Question 58

Which of the following was an issue among the Asian American community?

A) government funding for projects for their communities
B) veteran benefits for members of their community
C) wages for new arrivals
D) educational programs in college
E) all of these choices

Question 59

All of the following are true regarding Affirmative Action except

A) it had no real impact in the workplace or in education.
B) some have argued it causes reverse discrimination.
C) some have argued that it violates principals Martin Luther King Jr. espoused.
D) it was endorsed by the Supreme Court.
E) even some who benefitted from the programs have criticized it.

Question 60

President George H. W. Bush's popularity rose as a result of

A) his change of heart in raising taxes.
B) the Persian Gulf War.
C) his actions in the former Yugoslavia.
D) the state of the economy in 1992.
E) his role on the Iran-Contra affair.

Question 61

The Iranian hostage crisis was one of the most embarrassing foreign policy failures of the Carter administration.

Question 62

Gerald Ford's decline in public popularity can be attributed to intense media criticism.

Question 63

Leaders of the Religious Right strongly supported the separation of church and state doctrine of the constitution.

Question 64

President George H. Bush opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Question 65

The Reagan administration supported "freedom fighters" in Ethiopia, Angola, Nicaragua, and elsewhere because these revolutionaries were dedicated to democracy and human rights.

Question 66

The American Indian Movement was an activist organization for multiple Native American tribes.

Question 67

Deregulation during the Reagan administration kept the savings and loan industry from financial collapse.

Question 68

A concern for human rights lay at the center of Jimmy Carter's foreign policy.

Question 69

Ronald Reagan's pro-labor policies helped increase union membership in the 1980s.

Question 70

"Hispanic" is a term that simply means Mexican American.

Question 71

Formal diplomatic ties between the United States and China were made during the Carter administration.

Question 72

In 1992, Bill Clinton's main criticism of George H. W. Bush was that he had left Saddam Hussein in power after the Persian Gulf War.

Question 73

The Religious Right criticized Ronald Reagan when Robert Bork failed to win confirmation to a seat on the Supreme Court.

Question 74

Bill Clinton won election in 1992 with well under half of the popular vote.

Question 75

Ronald Reagan sought to limit some federal spending on social welfare.

Question 76

The Reagan administration believed that democratic forces included almost any movement, no matter how autocratic, that was noncommunist.

Question 77

None of the major participants in the Iran-Contra affair were punished for their crimes.

Question 78

Jimmy Carter won a decisive victory in the election of 1976.

Question 79

The minimum wage when measured in constant dollars rose throughout Ronald Reagan's presidency.

Question 80

Jessie Jackson emerged as a key African American leader.