Name:____________________________________________ Date:________________ Class:_____________
President Ronald Reagan: Trickle Down Economics and Cold War Defense Spending
Part A: Important Terms: Instructions: In at least one sentence, explain the term’s historical significance when
examining the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.
1. Deregulation:
2. Strategic Defense Initiative:
3. USSR:
4. Trickle Down Economics:
5. Inflation:
6. Jerry Falwell:
7. Antonin Scalia:
8. Unemployment:
Part B: Short Answer: Instructions: In at least one paragraph, answer the questions below.
1. Explain how Reagan’s economic plan
was different from the approach of the
Democrats.
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
2. How did the appointments of Sandra Day O’Conner,
Anthony Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia change the trend
that had occurred throughout most of the 20th century in
the Supreme Court? Why would the Moral Majority group
support the appointment of these justices?
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Copyright, USHistoryTeachers.com
All Rights Reserved.
Answers:
President Ronald Reagan: Trickle Down Economics and Cold War Defense Spending
Part A: Important Terms: Instructions: In at least one sentence, explain the term’s historical significance when
examining the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.
1. Deregulation: This was a policy of reducing the “rules” that businesses have to follow while operating.
Reagan felt that, by reducing rules, it would encourage businesses to be able to grow faster.
2. Strategic Defense Initiative: This was a missile defense system that Reagan said could stop USSR
missiles from reaching the USA.
3. USSR: This nation was still Communist when Reagan was President and still a Cold War threat. This
is why Reagan felt the USA needed to spend so much on defense.
4. Trickle Down Economics: This was a theory Reagan practiced in which he asserted that the USA
needed to cut taxes so more would be spend in the economy and the Rich could create jobs.
5. Inflation: This problem of money losing value was a huge problem in the 1970s and stabilized in the
1980s.
6. Jerry Falwell: He was a televangelist pastor who wanted to see the Republican party support the
goals of his Moral Majority group.
7. Antonin Scalia: He was a conservative judge appointed by Reagan.
8. Unemployment: Unemployment reached 10% when Reagan took office, but the economy saw a
turnaround halfway through his first term.
Part B: Short Answer: Instructions: In at least one paragraph, answer the questions below.
1. Explain how Reagan’s economic plan
was different from the approach of the
Democrats.
Democrats wanted to use taxes to give aid to the
poor and middle class through Social Programs.
President Ronald Reagan, a Republican,
supported an economic theory dubbed Trickle
Down Economics. This meant he wanted to lower
taxes and reduce funding for government
programs. His concept was that, when the
government heavily taxed citizens, it meant less
money was being used in the economy to
purchase services and goods. Reagan believed
that, if the government reduced taxes, especially
on the rich, the money people were then allowed
to keep would be spent and create an economic
boom. Reagan cut funding to programs such as
student loans to college students, free school
lunches, welfare, food stamps, job training,
Medicaid, and other social programs.
2. How did the appointments of Sandra Day O’Conner,
Anthony Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia change the trend
that had occurred throughout most of the 20th century in
the Supreme Court? Why would the Moral Majority group
support the appointment of these justices?
Prior to Reagan, and since FDR was Elected in the 1930s, the Supreme
Court was dominated by liberal judges. Sandra Day O’Conner, Antonin
Scalia, and Anthony M. Kennedy were appointed to the court by Reagan.
William Rehnquist, the most conservative judge, was named chief justice.
The Religious Right, like those who supported the televangelist pastor,
Jerry Falwell, and his political group, the Moral Majority, wanted Reagan
to appoint conservative judges that went against the liberal trend that had
limited the prayers of school staff, passed Roe v. Wade, and pursued
other liberal social rulings.
Copyright, USHistoryTeachers.com
All Rights Reserved.