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| Ronald Reagan continued the deregulation process begun by Jimmy Carter, cutting back on the scope of federal agencies and relying instead on the free market of keep prices on consumer goods and services low and the quality high. |
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| Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) |
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Definition
| Popularly known as "Star Wars," President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) proposed the construction of an elaborate computer-controlled, anti-missile defense sustem capable on destroying enemy missiles in outer space. Critics claimed that the SDI could never be perfected. |
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| Involved officials high in the Reagan administration secretly selling arms to Iran and using the proceeds to finance the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. This illegal transaction usurped the congressional power of the purse. |
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| Advocates of supply-side economics claimed that tax cuts would stimulate the economy by giving individuals a greater incentive to earn more money, which would lead to greater investment and eventually larger tax revenues at a lower rate. Critics replied that supply-side economics would only burden the economy with larger government deficits. |
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| Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) |
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Definition
| Passed by Congress in 1991, this act banned discrimination against the disabled in employment and mandated easy access to all public and commercial buildings. |
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| Intermediate Nuclear Forces agreement |
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Definition
| Signed by President Reagan and Soviet President Gorbachev in Washington in late 1987, this agreement provided for the destruction of all intermediate-range nuclear missiles and permitted on-site inspection for the first time during the Cold War. |
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| The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act of 1985, popularly known as Gramm-Rudman, revised federal budgeting procedures. It authorized the president to impose automatic spending reductions to meet annual deficit limits. |
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| Desert Storm was the code name used by the United States and its coalition partners in waging war against Iraq in early 1991 to liberate Kuwait. |
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| Acquired immune-deficiency syndrome (AIDS), a disease of the immune system transmitted through blood, especially by sexual contact or contaminated needles. AIDS reached epidemic proportions in the United States in the 1980s before it was gradually contained in the 1990s. |
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| Former liberals who advocated a strong stand against communism abroad and free market capitalism at home became known as neoconservatives. These intellectuals stressed the positive values of American society in contrast to liberals who emphasized social ills. |
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| In 1979, the Reverend Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority to combat "amoral liberals," drug abuse, "coddling" of criminals, homosexuality, communism, and abortion. The Moral Majority represented the rise of political activism among organized religion's radical right wing. |
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