Editing History of the United States (section)

==== Reagan administration ====
{{Main|Presidency of Ronald Reagan}}
[[File:1981–1989 monthly unemployment, inflation, and interest rates.svg|thumb|Monthly unemployment, inflation, and interest rates from January 1981 to January 1989]]
President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s conservative policies produced a major [[political realignment]] with his [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]] and [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]] landslide elections.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last1=Caplow |first1=Theodore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwBvm8aF2bsC&pg=PA337 |title=Recent Social Trends in the United States, 1960–1990 |last2=Bahr |first2=Howard M. |last3=Chadwick |first3=Bruce A. |last4=John Modell |year=1994 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=9780773512122 |page=337 |access-date=October 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102091400/https://books.google.com/books?id=gwBvm8aF2bsC&pg=PA337 |archive-date=January 2, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":18" /> Reagan's [[neoliberal]] economic policies (dubbed "[[Reaganomics]]") included the implementation of the [[Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981]].<ref name=":18">{{Cite web |date=July 10, 2007 |title=Effective Federal Tax Rates: 1979–2001 |url=http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdoc.cfm?index=5324&type=0&sequence=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070509233656/http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdoc.cfm?index=5324&type=0&sequence=0 |archive-date=May 9, 2007 |access-date=April 2, 2012 |publisher=Bureau of Economic Analysis}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gerstle |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Gerstle |year=2022 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-neoliberal-order-9780197519646?cc=us&lang=en& |location= |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=121–128 |isbn=978-0197519646}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bartel |first=Fritz |year=2022 |title=The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism |url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674976788 |location= |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |pages=18–19 |isbn=9780674976788}}</ref> Reagan continued to downsize government taxation and regulation;{{Sfn|Wilentz|pages=140–141}} New Deal and Great Society programs were ended.<ref name=":2" /> The U.S. experienced a [[Early 1980s recession|recession in 1982]], but after inflation decreased, unemployment then decreased, and the economic growth rate increased from 4.5% in 1982 to 7.2% in 1984.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 8, 2008 |title=The United States Unemployment Rate |url=http://www.miseryindex.us/urbymonth.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920034354/http://www.miseryindex.us/urbymonth.asp |archive-date=September 20, 2008 |access-date=January 31, 2010 |website=Miseryindex.us}}</ref>{{Sfn|Wilentz|page=170}} However, homelessness and economic inequality also rose.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=Don |author-link=Don Mitchell (geographer) |year=2020 |title=Mean Streets: Homelessness, Public Space, and the Limits of Capital |url=https://ugapress.org/book/9780820356907/mean-streets/ |location= |publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]] |page=62 |isbn=9-780-8203-5690-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Patterson |first=James T. |author-link=James T. Patterson (historian) |year=2005 |title=Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush V. Gore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03s7DwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=166–167 |isbn=978-0-19-512216-9}}</ref>

The Reagan administration's expansion of the [[War on Drugs]] led to an [[United States incarceration rate|increase in incarceration]], particularly among African Americans, with the number of people imprisoned for drug offences rising from 50,000 to 400,000 between 1980 and 1997.<ref name=":19">{{Cite web |date=2024-05-27 |title=War on Drugs - History & Mass Incarceration |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/war-on-drugs |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=Britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-26 |title=50-year war on drugs imprisoned millions of Black Americans |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/50-year-war-on-drugs-imprisoned-millions-of-black-americans |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref> Manufacturing industries moving out of inner cities increased poverty in those areas; poverty increased drug dealing and contributed to the [[crack epidemic]], which led to increased crime and incarceration.<ref name=":19" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 16, 2024 |title=Crack epidemic - US History, Causes & Effects |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/crack-epidemic |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=Britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The government also [[Ronald Reagan and AIDS|reacted slowly]] to the [[HIV/AIDS in the United States|AIDS crisis]], and banned reliable information on the disease, which led to higher infection rates.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lopez |first=German |date=December 1, 2015 |title=The Reagan administration's unbelievable response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9828348/ronald-reagan-hiv-aids |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lawson |first=Richard |date=December 1, 2015 |title=The Reagan Administration's Unearthed Response to the AIDS Crisis Is Chilling |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/11/reagan-administration-response-to-aids-crisis |access-date=2024-06-01 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}</ref>

Reagan ordered a buildup of the U.S. military, incurring additional budget deficits.<ref name=":20" /> The 1983 [[invasion of Grenada]] and 1986 [[1986 United States bombing of Libya|bombing of Libya]] were popular in the U.S., though Reagan's backing of the [[Contras|Contra]] rebels was mired in the controversy over the [[Iran–Contra affair]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ehrman |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CNtNj1oJnXEC |title=Debating the Reagan Presidency |last2=Flamm |first2=Michael W. |year=2009 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780742570573 |pages=101–182 |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016105918/https://books.google.com/books?id=CNtNj1oJnXEC |archive-date=October 16, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Reagan also introduced a complicated missile defense system known as the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]]. The Soviets reacted harshly because they thought it violated the 1972 [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty]], and would give the U.S. a major military advantage, so they stopped negotiating [[disarmament]] deals until the late 1980s.<ref name=":20">{{Cite book |last=Zelizer |first=Julian E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_gH5s4B2SEC&pg=PA350 |title=Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security—From World War II to the War on Terrorism |year=2010 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=9780465015078 |page=350 |author-link=Julian Zelizer |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016105918/https://books.google.com/books?id=r_gH5s4B2SEC&pg=PA350 |archive-date=October 16, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:USAF F-16A F-15C F-15E Desert Storm edit2.jpg|thumb|[[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] aircraft fly over oil fields destroyed by the retreating [[Iraqi Ground Forces]] during the [[Gulf War]] in 1991]]

Reagan met four times with Gorbachev, and their summit conferences led to the signing of the [[Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty]].