HIST 461D1 : TOPICS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY:

RONALD REAGAN AND THE 1980s

Now that we have passed the twentieth anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, we can begin to place his administration in historical perspective. Already it is possible to discern some of the central questions historians will be debating about the Reagan administration: how successful was it? by what standards should it be judged? just how revolutionary what is it, if at all? what impact, if any, did Reagan’s policies have on winning the cold war? what is Ronald Reagan’s legacy?

In assessing Ronald Reagan’s presidency, one also inevitably assesses the 1980s. Then, as now, the conventional wisdom viewed the decade as a paroxysm of selfishness, greed, and materialism. Yet, while Americans were learning how to be material girls and boys, their society was convulsed by a serious debate about individual conscience and social responsibility -- a debate that seems to have been missing from the equally prosperous 1990s.

Amid all the squabbles, one thing is clear: to understand Reagan and his era, to take a stand in this debate, it is also essential to tackle broader questions about progressivism, conservatism, the welfare state, the cold war, the presidency, popular culture, and the media in modern U.S. history. This seminar will address some of these questions, while exploring various methods used to assess one of the most enigmatic, controversial, popular, and important postwar presidents.

Assignments, and Grading

In addition to coming prepared to all sessions and participating fully, you will be required to write four short papers this semester. These papers must be submitted at the beginning of class on the day they are due. Late papers will be penalized. Most of the second semester will be spent preparing a 25-page paper based on original primary source research. You must choose a topic by November 26. The final grade will be based on written work and class participation, which entails active contribution to the discussions as well as consistent attendance. Failure to submit any of the papers will warrant a "J" grade.

Plagiarism

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PROCEDURES (see www.mcgill.ca/integrity for more information).

Office Hours

My office hours will be Wednesdays, 3:30-4:30 and by appointment.

Listserve

This course will have a listserve for announcements, additional readings, and “chats” following up on issues raised in class. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR INFORMATION SENT OUT ON THE LISTSERVE.

The listserv address is h101-461d@lists.mcgill.ca To subscribe yourself 1. send mail to: listserv@lists.mcgill.ca 2. Enter this command in the body of the mail: sub h101-461d AND NOTHING ELSE

SCHEDULE FOR Hist 461D1

All Readings are on Reserve; * = available at McGill Bookstore

Week 1: Wed: Sept. 3: Ronald Reagan and the 1980s:

Ronald Reagan, “Farewell Address to the American People,” January 11, 1989, in *Paul Boyer, ed. Reagan as President, pp. 262-267.

Week 2: Wed., Sept. 10: The Reagan Administration: OVERVIEWS

Michael Schaller, Reckoning with Reagan, ALL.

Gil Troy, “1990's Scorecard: Cynical and Depressing,” from tompaine.com, 16 Sept. 2000.

ASSIGNMENT: BOOK REVIEW of Schaller (500 WORDS ONLY) DUE.

Week 3: Wed., Sept. 17: OVERVIEWS: Reagan, the Man; Reaganism, the Ideas

Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson, and Martin Anderson, eds., Reagan in His Own Hand PLUS INTRO

Week 4: Wed. Sept. 24: OVERVIEWS: The Context

Bruce Schulman, The Seventies

Nicholas Lehmann, “How the Seventies Changed America,” in Oates, Portrait of America, pp. 439-448

*Boyer, Reagan as President, pp. 13-55, 177-188 PLUS CHAP 1.

Week 5: Wed., Oct. 1: OVERVIEWS:

Frances Fitzgerald, Way out There in the Blue, pp. 1-284 PLUS CHAP 2 1981

ASSIGNMENT: FIVE-PAGE ANALYTICAL ESSAY #1 DUE

Week 6: Wed., Oct. 8: 1982: The Other America

Farrell, Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century plus Chapter 3

Budget Math assignment

Week 7: Wed., Oct. 15: 1983:

Yuppies Habits of the Heart, Read intro and preface vii- xli xli- , 3-163 [chap 1 to 6], 250-307 [chap 10, 11, appendix] plus chapter 4

Week 8: Wed., Oct. 22: 1984: Conservatism, Liberalism, Ideology and Pragmatism

Milton Friedman, selections from “Capitalism and Freedom,”

pp. 67-77 in Miroff, Debating Democracy

*Charles W. Dunn and J. David Woodard, The Conservative Tradition in America pp. 1-161

Alan Brinkley, “The Problem of American Conservatism,” Chap. 16, pp. 277-297 in Brinkley, Liberalism and Its Discontents

Boyer, 86-101 Add Jackson, Cuomo, Kennedy speeches Plus chapter 5

Week 9: Wed., Oct. 29: 1985: Cosby and AIDS

Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On, all BUILD-UP: The 60s and The Crisis of Liberalism

Plus chapter 6

ASSIGNMENT: FIVE-PAGE ANALYTICAL ESSAY #2 DUE

Week 10: Wed., Nov. 5: 1986: Wall Street

*Tom Wolfe, Bonfire of the Vanities Bonfire to 373 (through Chapter 15) Plus Chapter 7

Week 11: Wed., Nov. 12: 1987: Iran-Contra: Aberration or Culmination?

Robert Timberg, The Nightingale's Song, Don’t Read on Webb: pp. 68-71, 151-161 175-187 221-229, 255-263 395-410 (-56pps) Plus chapter 8

Week 12: Wed., Nov. 19: Video:

“River’s Edge” and finish reading Tom Wolfe, Bonfire of the Vanities, plus Chapter 9

Week 13: Wed., Nov. 26: 1988: Culture Wars: Allan Bloom, the Closing of the American Mind

*Allan Bloom The Closing of the American Mind

Troy and Greenberg, “An Acid Test for the Sixties: What Was the Most Popular Culture?”
http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/programs/history/faculty/TROYWEB/AnacidtestfortheSixties.htm

Did Ronald Reagan Invent the 1980s... Karl Zinsmeister, Summing up the Reagan Era pp. 452-461 in Oates.

*Boyer, Reagan as President, pp. 165-176 plus Chapter 10.

PAPER TOPIC DUE – YOU MUST SUBMIT A ONE-PARAGRAPH DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM, THE OPERATIVE THESIS, AND YOUR RESEARCH STRATEGY

ASSIGNMENT: FIVE-PAGE ANALYTICAL ESSAY #3 DUE

Week 14: Wed., Dec. 3: 1989: Just Who Won That Cold War?

Fitzgerald, Way Out There in the Blue, pp. 284 to end

John Lewis Gaddis, selection from The United States and the End of the Cold War

Tydings Report on Anti-communism in Opposing Viewpoints, pp. 266-269

Eric Goldman, “The Red Scare,” in Oates, Portrait, 316-329

*Boyer, Reagan as President, pp. 189-220, 247-260 Plus Chapter 11

FOR FIRST MEETING, SECOND SEMESTER READ:

*Lou Cannon, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime

 

Week 1: Wed: Sept. 3: Ronald Reagan and the 1980s:

Week 2: Wed., Sept. 10: The Reagan Administration: OVERVIEWS

Week 3: Wed., Sept. 17: OVERVIEWS: Reagan, the Man; Reaganism, the Ideas

Week 4: Wed. Sept. 24: OVERVIEWS: The Context: the 70s

Week 5: Wed., Oct. 1: OVERVIEWS: Frances Fitzgerald, Way out There in the Blue

Week 6: Wed., Oct. 8: 1982: The Other America

Week 7: Wed., Oct. 15: 1983: Yuppies

Week 8: Wed., Oct. 22: 1984: Conservatism, Liberalism, Ideology and Pragmatism

Week 9: Wed., Oct. 29: 1985: Cosby and AIDS

Week 10: Wed., Nov. 5: 1986: Wall Street

Week 11: Wed., Nov. 12: 1987: Iran-Contra: Aberration or Culmination?

Week 12: Wed., Nov. 19: Video: “River’s Edge”

Week 13: Wed., Nov. 26: 1988: Culture Wars: Allan Bloom, the Closing of the American Mind

Week 14: Wed., Dec. 3: 1989: Just Who Won That Cold War?

HISTORY 461

TOPICS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY UNITED STATES HISTORY

Assignments and Grading

This semester we will continue exploring some of the central historical and historiographical issues surrounding Ronald Reagan, Reaganism, and the 1980s. Most of the semester will be spent preparing a 25-page paper based on original primary source research.  As such, we will meet less frequently than we did last semester.  The final grade will be based on written work and class participa­tion.  Failure to submit any of the assignments will warrant a "J" grade.

(* = available at the McGill Bookstore)

Week 1: Wed., Jan. 7: No class (begin reading Cannon)

Week 2: Mon., Jan. 14: What compelling questions still remain about Reagan’s presidency?

Lou Cannon, President Reagan: the Role of a Lifetime (all)

Week 3: Mon., Jan. 21: No Class – work on bibliography and thesis statement

Week 4: Wed., Jan. 28: No Class 

Week 5: Wed., Feb. 4: Just Who Won That Cold War?

Fitzgerald, Way Out There in the Blue, pp. 284 to end

John Lewis Gaddis, selection from The United States and the End of the Cold War

Tydings Report on Anti-communism in Opposing Viewpoints, p. 266-269

Eric Goldman, “The Red Scare,” in Oates, Portrait, 316-329

*Boyer, pp. 189-220, 247-260 Reagan as President,

Plus Chapter 10 and Conclusion

Week 6: Wed., Feb. 11: Ronald Reagan and the Presidency

*Stephen Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make, ALL

*Boyer, Reagan as President, pp. 55-74

Week 7: Wed., Feb. 18: Video night: THE REAGANS

OUTLINE DUE: SUBMIT BY EMAIL

Week 8: Wed., Feb. 25: NO CLASS: STUDY WEEK

Week 9: Wed., Mar. 4: NO CLASS.

Week 10: Wed., Mar. 10: FIRST DRAFT And 5 MINUTE “POSTER BOARD” DUE AT THE START OF CLASS – PREPARE TO GO LATE… BRING 2 COPIES OF YOUR DRAFT
                     

Week 11: Wed., Mar. 17: Justice in Reagan’s America: Civil Rights and Women’s Rights

*Boyer, Reagan as President, pp. 144-155.

Readings: Abigail Thernstrom and Stephen Thernstrom, “One Nation, Indivisible,” v. David Shipler, “A Country of Strangers,”;

Shelby Steele, “The Price of Preference” v. Stanley Fish, “Reverse Racism” (From George McKenna and Stanley Feingold, Taking Sides: Clashing Views of Controversial Politica Issues, 9^th ed., pp. 204-218.

Susan Faludi, Backlash selection [ON RESERVE]

Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism? Preface, Chapter 1, “Feminism Under Siege,” and Chapter 11, “The Backlash Myth,”  pps. 11-40, 227-254. [ON RESERVE]

Week 12: Wed., Mar. 24: SUMMARY: Reagan, Reaganism and the 1980s in Historical Perspective:

*Michael Sandel, Democracy’s Discontent: America in Search of aPublic Philosophy, all

Kevin P. Phillips, “Reagan’s America: a Capital Offense, Handout”

Gil Troy, “Ronald Reagan,” from the Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency (handout)

LAST FORMAL MEETING OF THE CLASS

FINAL DRAFT DUE ON WEDNESDAY APRIL 14 by 5:00 P.M.

PLEASE NOTE: THESE DEADLINES ARE THE FINAL DAYS FOR SUBMITTING WORK, YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO TURN WORK IN EARLIER.