Conservatives in Power: The Reagan Years, 1981–1989: A Brief History with Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)

Ronald Reagan's election to the presidency in 1980 marked a victory for conservatism. But, as Meg Jacobs and Julian Zelizer point out in their introduction, once in power, conservatives discovered that implementing their agenda and reversing the liberalism entrenched in American government would not be as easy as they had hoped. In this collection, Jacobs and Zelizer explore the successes and limitations of the so-called Reagan Revolution and chronicle its legacy through subsequent presidencies up to Barack Obama's election in 2008. More than 60 thematically organized documents -- some recently released -- illuminate conservatives' efforts to shift American politics to the right. These materials -- including speeches, memos, and articles from the popular press -- explore Reagan's personal evolution as a conservative leader, as well as Reaganomics, tax cuts, anticommunism, the arms race, the culture wars, and scandals such as Iran Contra. Photographs, document headnotes, a chronology, selected bibliography, and questions for consideration provide pedagogical support.

• Freedom Summer (Bedford Series in History and Culture)
• The Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945: A Brief History with Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)
• Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism: A Brief Biography with Documents (The Bedford Series in History And Culture)
• The Movements of the New Left, 1950-1975: A Brief History with Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)
• Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)
• The American Promise, Value Edition, Volume 2
• Exploring American Histories, Volume 2
• The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath
• DDT, Silent Spring, and the Rise of Environmentalism: Classic Texts (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Classics)
• The American Women’s Movement, 1945–2000: A Brief History with Documents