Deck 30: Running on Empty: 1975-1991

Question 1

The members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries united to boycott oil shipments to the West in response to U.S.

A) aid to Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
B) policy prohibiting immigration from Arab countries in the 1970s.
C) weaknesses revealed by the withdrawal from Vietnam.
D) efforts to suppress the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Answer 1

aid to Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Question 2

When President Nixon was forced to resign because of the Watergate scandal, he was succeeded by

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

Answer 2

Gerald Ford.

Question 3

When the South Vietnamese army and government collapsed in 1975, Congress

A) decided to send U.S. marines to Cambodia to break the North Vietnamese supply lines.
B) poured more arms into the South to stop North Vietnam's advance.
C) refused to send more arms to South Vietnam.
D) called upon the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force to stabilize Vietnam.

Answer 3

refused to send more arms to South Vietnam.

Question 4

When Gerald Ford decided to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 1976, he faced stiff opposition from

A) Howard H. Baker, Jr.
B) Edward W. Brooke.
C) Ronald Reagan.
D) Robert Dole.

Question 5

A major factor in Carter's election as president in 1976 was

A) his outstanding performance in the televised debates.
B) the strong support of labor union members.
C) the refusal of Reagan supporters to aid Ford.
D) his extensive congressional experience.

Question 6

As president, Jimmy Carter was noted for

A) surrounding himself with Washington insiders.
B) working patiently and persistently with Congress to enact his programs.
C) trying to set a tone of democratic simplicity and moral fervor in his administration.
D) avoiding contact with average people and their concerns.

Question 7

Many of Carter's political problems were caused by his

A) unwillingness to reach out to average citizens.
B) poor grasp of economics.
C) willingness to rely upon the Washington "establishment" for advisors.
D) lack of follow-through with Congress.

Question 8

President ________ complained that Americans were suffering from a sense of national malaise because they were so focused on materialism that they were experiencing "a moral and spiritual crisis."

A) Carter
B) Reagan
C) Bush
D) Ford

Question 9

The most disturbing economic problem to vex the nation during the Carter years was

A) inner-city decay and white flight to the suburbs.
B) a combination of stagnation and inflation.
C) the collapse of the savings and loan system.
D) the increasing inequality of income and wealth distribution.

Question 10

President Carter claimed that his most important concern in foreign affairs was to

A) contain the international communist conspiracy.
B) eradicate world poverty.
C) eliminate state-sponsored terrorism.
D) defend basic human rights.

Question 11

President Carter withdrew the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II) from the Senate and boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded

A) Poland.
B) Afghanistan.
C) Lithuania.
D) Iran.

Question 12

President Carter's most striking diplomatic achievement was helping to negotiate the ________ between Israel and Egypt.

A) Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
B) Golan Heights Pact
C) Camp David Accords
D) West Bank Security Agreement

Question 13

Under the terms of the Camp David Accords,

A) the United States, Israel, and Egypt signed a mutual defense treaty.
B) Egypt promised to withdraw from the territory it captured from Israel in the 1967 Israeli-Egypt war in exchange for Israel's commitment to solving the problems of the Palestinian refugees.
C) Israel promised to withdraw from the territory it captured from Egypt in the 1967 Israeli-Egypt war in exchange for Egypt's recognition of Israel as a nation.
D) Egypt promised to withdraw its forces from Israel's West Bank settlements.

Question 14

From November 1979 to January 1981, American embassy personnel were held hostage as a result of the dramatic revolution in

A) Libya.
B) Iraq.
C) Lebanon.
D) Iran.

Question 15

The 1979 Iranian Revolution was led by

A) Muhammad Reza Pahlavi.
B) Ali Khamenei.
C) General Fazollah Zahedi.
D) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Question 16

During the early stages of the Iranian hostage crisis,

A) there was a remarkable emotional response and sense of unity in America.
B) Carter refused to employ economic pressure on the Iranian government.
C) the American public and most foreign observers disapproved of Carter's restraint.
D) the American public was bitterly divided over America's role in Iran and how to respond to the hostage crisis.

Question 17

The 1980 Republican nominee, Ronald Reagan was

A) seriously limited by his age during the 1980 campaign.
B) never a serious contender for the presidential nomination before 1980.
C) a New Deal Democrat before World War II.
D) a political newcomer without much charisma.

Question 18

As a result of the election of 1980, the Republicans

A) gained control of both houses of Congress.
B) won control of the Senate and cut deeply into the Democratic majority in the House.
C) gained seats in both the House and the Senate, although the Democrats still controlled both.
D) won control of the House and cut deeply into the Democratic majority in the Senate.

Question 19

During his last weeks in office, Carter devoted himself to

A) ratifying the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.
B) ending the Iranian hostage crisis.
C) negotiating the Camp David Accords.
D) appointing Democrats as federal judges.

Question 20

Among Reagan's highest priorities as president was

A) promoting basic human rights in other countries.
B) decreasing defense spending.
C) balancing the budget.
D) cutting federal taxes.

Question 21

Reagan's tax policy ("Reaganomics") argued that

A) the federal government should create jobs to decrease unemployment and increase wages.
B) tax rates for the wealthy should be significantly increased since they had the largest discretionary income.
C) reduced taxes would increase investments and in turn stimulate production, jobs, and prosperity.
D) increased taxes would reduce the federal deficit, lowering interest rates and cutting inflation.

Question 22

Reagan actively sought to overthrow the left-wing governments in

A) Nicaragua and Grenada.
B) Indonesia and Thailand.
C) Iraq and Iran.
D) Venezuela and El Salvador.

Question 23

American marines became part of an international peacekeeping force in 1982 as a result of the Palestine Liberation Organization attacks on Israel from

A) Jordan.
B) Egypt.
C) Syria.
D) Lebanon.

Question 24

In 1984, Democrat presidential nominee Walter Mondale chose ________ as his running nominee mate because she was expected to appeal to conservative Democrats and Republican women.

A) Gloria Steinem
B) Diane Feinstein
C) Patricia Schroeder
D) Geraldine Ferraro

Question 25

The organizer of the Moral Majority to combat homosexuality, communism, and abortion was

A) Jerry Falwell.
B) Billy Graham.
C) Oral Roberts.
D) Robert H. Schuller.

Question 26

President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, was a plan for

A) a computer-controlled system to destroy enemy missiles in outer space.
B) mutual reductions of Soviet and American stockpiles of nuclear warheads.
C) an elaborate series of spy satellites to monitor Soviet military activity.
D) mutual reductions of Soviet and U.S. delivery systems for nuclear warheads.

Question 27

In 1986, NASA programs suffered a setback as a result of the

A) decision by Reagan to appoint a political crony to head NASA.
B) explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.
C) Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.
D) Glenn Committee investigations of corruption in the space agency.

Question 28

The Income Tax Act of 1986, supported by the Reagan administration,

A) raised tax rates significantly for corporations and for capital gains.
B) lowered the lowest taxable income rate from 30 percent to 10 percent.
C) was a significant attempt to solve the problem of a huge federal deficit by increasing the taxes of those most able to afford them.
D) lowered tax rates significantly for corporations and the wealthy.

Question 29

In 1981, President Reagan appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court,

A) Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
B) Elizabeth Dole.
C) Phyllis Schlafly.
D) Sandra Day O'Connor.

Question 30

One major trend during the Reagan years which produced massive social and economic changes was the

A) frenzied merger movement fueled by "junk bonds."
B) significant increase in labor union membership among white collar workers.
C) establishment of minority quotas to attack racial and sexual discrimination in employment.
D) increased federal funding for social programs such as welfare.

Question 31

A major consequence of Reagan's presidency was a

A) more realistic view of the threat posed by the Soviet Union.
B) dramatic growth in the strength of blue-collar unions.
C) startling escalation of annual federal deficits and of the national debt.
D) major decrease in military spending.

Question 32

The economic trends of the 1980s and the policies of the Reagan administration

A) disproportionately benefited wealthy Americans.
B) revitalized sagging "rust belt" industries in the Northeast.
C) dramatically increased the share of the national wealth for the poorest Americans.
D) brought new wealth to low-skilled or semi-skilled workers.

Question 33

Bill Gates and Paul Allen

A) dropped out of high school to focus on computer programming.
B) failed miserably in their attempt to create and market a program for the Altair computer.
C) made their breakthrough when IBM asked them to write the operating system for its new state-of-the-art personal computer.
D) came from blue-collar backgrounds.

Question 34

The National Security Council aide who arranged the secret sale of weapons to Iran and the transfer of the profits from that sale to the Nicaraguan Contras was

A) Lawrence Walsh.
B) Michael Milken.
C) Oliver North.
D) Paul Volcker.

Question 35

The U.S. public did not hold President Reagan personally responsible for the financial scandals of his administration or the Iran-Contra Arms deal because he was

A) determined to punish those responsible for these scandals.
B) unable to communicate his basic values effectively.
C) primarily a celebrity rather than a politician.
D) not an able or involved administrator.

Question 36

In evaluating the achievements of Reagan's presidency, he

A) communicated so poorly that he had little impact on the political climate.
B) encouraged a Darwinian chaos through deregulation which strengthened those corporations that survived.
C) was directly responsible for the restructuring of American corporations.
D) led the nation with first-rate organizational and administrative skills honed in previous roles in business and government.

Question 37

In 1988, Massachusetts Governor ________ was nominated by the Democrats for president based on his record as an efficient manager.

A) Gary Hart
B) Michael Dukakis
C) Edward Kennedy
D) Albert Gore

Question 38

In the 1988 presidential campaign, George H. W. Bush exploited

A) his record as a World War II hero.
B) concerns about government inattention to the emerging energy crisis.
C) fears of renewed inflation.
D) white Americans' racial fears of violent crime.

Question 39

As president, George H. W. Bush focused his crime-fighting initiative on the issue of

A) hospital fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.
B) violence against women and children.
C) the flow of illegal drugs across American borders.
D) stock market manipulation by insiders.

Question 40

After his election in 1988, President Bush

A) displayed the same lack of interest in the details of government as President Reagan.
B) saw his standing in public opinion polls drop dramatically because of his inept handling of foreign affairs.
C) angered Reagan loyalists by supporting abortion rights and gun control.
D) tried to shed the tough image he created during the campaign.

Question 41

The main reason for the collapse of Soviet-style communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 and 1990 was

A) Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's refusal to use force to keep old-line communist governments in power in Eastern Europe.
B) the aggressive stance taken toward Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev by presidents Reagan and Bush.
C) pressure from a United Nations' boycott of Soviet trade in order to pressure Soviet withdrawal from Eastern Europe.
D) the rebellions in Eastern Europe against Gorbachev's heavy-handed attempts to crush any attempts to reform pro-Soviet governments.

Question 42

The dismantling of communist governments in the Soviet Union's European satellites was generally peaceful, except in ______________, where the dictator was executed.

A) Romania
B) Hungary
C) Czechoslovakia
D) Bulgaria

Question 43

To which Central American nation did President Bush dispatch American troops after General Manuel Noriega refused to relinquish power after his figurehead candidate lost a national election?

A) Granada
B) Nicaragua
C) Cuba
D) Panama

Question 44

In August 1991, hard-line communists launched an unsuccessful coup against Soviet President

A) Boris Yeltsin.
B) Eduard Shevardnadze.
C) Mikhail Gorbachev.
D) Vladimir Putin.

Question 45

In August 1990, Iraq's President ________ launched a massive attack on Kuwait, precipitating a major war in the Persian Gulf.

A) Fahd Bin Abdel Aziz
B) Saddam Hussein
C) Hosni Mubarek
D) Muammar al-Qaddafi

Question 46

At the end of the Persian Gulf War,

A) President Bush was highly criticized by the American public for embroiling U.S. troops in the Middle East.
B) there was general ambivalence by the American public regarding U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf and of President Bush's performance in general.
C) people generally approved of the war, but not President Bush's performance as chief executive.
D) an overwhelming majority of the American public approved of President Bush's handling of the war and his performance as president.

Question 47

After the war in the Persian Gulf, President George H. W. Bush was criticized because he

A) inflicted enormous civilian casualties through extensive bombing.
B) did not capture Baghdad and crush the Iraqi army.
C) supported economic sanctions against Iraq that had disastrous effects on the health of children and the elderly.
D) discouraged Kurds and pro-Iranian Muslims from trying to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Question 48

Whose pledge to not raise taxes came back to haunt him after he was elected?

A) Newt Gingrich
B) William Clinton
C) George H. W. Bush
D) George W. Bush

Question 49

During the presidency of George H. W. Bush, which of the following events did NOT play a role in the ballooning federal deficit?

A) President Bush's refusal to raise any taxes
B) the cost of the Persian Gulf War
C) the savings and loan bailout
D) the refusal to reduce spending on popular entitlement programs

Question 50

President George H. W. Bush was faced with the need for enormous sums of money to bail out the ailing ________ industry.

A) savings and loan
B) computer
C) pharmaceutical
D) automobile

Question 51

According to the text, Ford managed the economy more successfully than any other recent president.

Question 52

"Stagflation" is a term used to describe an economy in which, among other things, prices remain stagnant.

Question 53

The Central Intelligence Agency backed the 1953 coup that overthrew the Iranian government and placed the shah in control.

Question 54

In the 1984 election, the only element of the Democrats' New Deal coalition that voted solidly for Mondale was blue-collar workers.

Question 55

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost was designed to stimulate the economy by decentralizing the Soviet administration.

Question 56

The person most responsible for the frenzy of corporate mergers in the 1980s was Michael Milken, who specialized in selling "junk bonds."

Question 57

By the end of Reagan's second term, the standard of living for the poorest fifth of Americans had fallen almost 10 percent, while that of the wealthiest had risen by almost 20 percent.

Question 58

During the Persian Gulf War, at the behest of Islamic fundamentalists, Saudi Arabia refused American troops access to their soil.

Question 59

By the late 1980s, U.S. aspirations had become smaller and more sensible.

Question 60

Compare and contrast the foreign policies of Carter and Reagan. Explain their assumptions. Summarize their successes and failures.

Question 61

Describe the Iranian crisis, examining both its postwar origins and the dilemmas it presented for President Carter.

Question 62

Explain why Ronald Reagan was so popular. Evaluate to what extent he will be viewed as a success or a failure as president by future historians. Support your argument with specific examples from his presidency.

Question 63

Discuss the foreign policy of George H. W. Bush. Evaluate his successes and failures.

Question 64

Discuss and compare the U.S. economy during the presidencies of Carter, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. Make sure to include in a discussion of the policies of each in relation to taxes and the federal deficit.

Question 65

What is the definition of the following key term:
-Camp David Accords :