Deck 27: The Swing Toward Conservatism

Question 1

One consequence of the U.S. invasion of Cambodia was the

A) elimination of most draft deferments.
B) publication of the Pentagon Papers.
C) repeal of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
D) "Vietnamization" of the fighting.

Answer 1

repeal of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

Question 2

Increased inflation during the early 1970s was caused by

A) federal spending on Great Society programs.
B) increased military spending for the Vietnam War.
C) a lower than average unemployment rate.
D) rising oil prices due to the OPEC embargo.

Answer 2

increased military spending for the Vietnam War.

Question 3

Which of the following describes members of the "silent majority" of 1968?

A) Archconservative and segregationist
B) Liberals opposed to the Vietnam War
C) Supporters of Hubert Humphrey
D) Middle-aged, middle-class whites

Answer 3

Middle-aged, middle-class whites

Question 4

President Nixon's final undoing can be attributed to

A) Woodward and Bernstein's reporting.
B) John Dean's testimony before the Senate.
C) his taping of Oval Office conversations.
D) Attorney General John Mitchell's resignation.

Question 5

How did the Nixon administration's approach to fighting the Vietnam War differ from that of the Johnson administration?

A) By participating in peace talks
B) By withdrawing ground troops
C) By ending bombing campaigns
D) By increasing troop deployments

Question 6

America's support for Israel in 1973 led to

A) the imposition of an oil embargo by OPEC members.
B) the SALT I treaty with the Soviet Union.
C) Egypt and Syria recapturing lands lost in 1967.
D) Soviet refusal to help broker a peace plan.

Question 7

Vice President Spiro Agnew's chief responsibility during the 1972 reelection campaign was to

A) woo southern Democrats.
B) appeal to liberal voters.
C) explain Vietnam policy.
D) attack Nixon's opponents.

Question 8

Although it seemed to contradict his other positions on issues relating to racial discrimination, President Nixon was a supporter of

A) forced busing to desegregate schools.
B) affirmative action in the construction trades.
C) the federal Office of Economic Opportunity.
D) Great Society social programs.

Question 9

Although it was at odds with his larger conservative agenda, President Nixon

A) transferred federal tax revenues to state governments.
B) opposed the use of busing to desegregate public schools.
C) increased federal involvement in the area of public health.
D) eliminated the federal Office of Economic Opportunity.

Question 10

The term benign neglect can be used to describe the Nixon administration's policies in which area?

A) The environment
B) Public health
C) Foreign policy
D) Civil rights

Question 11

Protests in cities around the world-including New York, Paris, and Mexico City-were all organized by

A) labor union members.
B) university students.
C) anti-Communist mobs.
D) writers and artists.

Question 12

President Nixon delivered on his 1968 campaign promises when he

A) cut funds for the War on Poverty.
B) persuaded Congress to pass the Environmental Protection Act.
C) became the first president to visit the People's Republic of China.
D) urged Congress to pass the War Powers Act.

Question 13

What was the goal of the 1973 War Powers Act?

A) American troops would immediately be removed from Vietnam.
B) It would increase the president's control of foreign policy decisions.
C) Congress would no longer retain the authority to declare war.
D) The president's ability to deploy troops abroad would be limited.

Question 14

President Nixon's decision to declare a ninety-day freeze on wages and prices in 1971 was a response to rising

A) unemployment.
B) foreign imports.
C) inflation.
D) taxation.

Question 15

Gerald Ford's pardon prevented Nixon from

A) being impeached by Congress.
B) tendering his resignation.
C) releasing his secret tapes.
D) facing criminal prosecution.

Question 16

What did the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution do?

A) Lowered the voting age to 18
B) Guaranteed equal rights for women
C) Guaranteed voting rights for blacks
D) Made abortion legal

Question 17

The purpose of the "Vietnamization" strategy was to

A) decrease the number of American troops (and deaths) in Vietnam.
B) end the U.S. bombing campaign of Vietnam and Cambodia.
C) contain the fighting within the borders of North and South Vietnam.
D) deter Daniel Ellsberg from releasing the Pentagon Papers to the press.

Question 18

The popular vote in the 1968 presidential election suggested that the majority of Americans

A) supported the politics of the New Left.
B) were tired of social and cultural unrest.
C) shared Johnson's vision of the Great Society.
D) supported civil rights and forced busing.

Question 19

Henry Kissinger was President Richard M. Nixon's chief advisor on

A) the economy.
B) race relations.
C) foreign policy.
D) the environment.

Question 20

Alabama Governor George Wallace's presidential campaign ended when he

A) lost all the southern primaries.
B) failed to win any northern primaries.
C) was shot by a would-be assassin.
D) decided to run as a Republican.

Question 21

Barbara Smith and Gloria Anzaldúa were notable for

A) challenging white feminists to recognize the particular struggles of women of color.
B) organizing campaigns for the ERA in African American and Latino communities.
C) writing the manifesto for the black feminist Combahee River Collective.
D) defending their racial and cultural communities against critiques by white feminists.

Question 22

Although he had signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) II treaty with the Soviet Union, President Carter asked the Senate to withhold its approval of the agreement in response to the

A) Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
B) boycott of the 1980 Olympics.
C) Church Committee report.
D) Camp David accords.

Question 23

Why did President Nixon authorize the illegal wiretapping of his own officials and members of the press?

A) He wanted to gather information with which he could blackmail them.
B) He wanted to discover who was leaking classified information to North Vietnam.
C) He had received a tip that a Soviet spy was in his inner circle.
D) He sought to contain leaks about the secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969.

Question 24

The popularity of the television program All in the Family can be attributed to its

A) depiction of racial and ethnic minorities.
B) main character's racial insensitivity.
C) attention to culture war conflicts.
D) inclusion of a hippie-looking character.

Question 25

In his presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter emphasized his moral character and that he was an "outsider" because he

A) had no plan for addressing economic problems.
B) wanted to distinguish himself from Nixon.
C) thought he was too liberal for most Americans.
D) did not want to divide the South over racial issues.

Question 26

Evidence of the continuing influence of the counterculture throughout the 1970s could be seen in the

A) declining popularity of rock music.
B) decline in recreational drug use.
C) dramatic increase in the divorce rate.
D) opposition to the Roe v. Wade decision.

Question 27

The Carter administration's diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic of China was perceived as an affront to

A) the Soviet Union.
B) Taiwan.
C) Afghanistan.
D) Israel.

Question 28

Despite his stated commitment to developing a foreign policy guided by diplomacy and morality, President Carter

A) relied on questionable covert actions in dealing with the Afghans.
B) funded repressive regimes in Argentina, Uruguay, and Ethiopia.
C) refused to participate in arms control talks with the Soviet Union.
D) authorized a military invasion of Iran to resolve the hostage crisis.

Question 29

The top achievement of President Carter's foreign policy was

A) the signing of the SALT II treaty.
B) facilitating the Camp David accords.
C) resolving the Iranian hostage crisis.
D) inviting the shah of Iran to America.

Question 30

The illegal activities of Richard Nixon's reelection campaign are particularly puzzling given

A) the assassination attempt on George Wallace.
B) Nixon's share of the popular vote in 1972.
C) the crushing defeat Democrats suffered in Congress.
D) Vice-President Agnew's insistence on a new era of "ethical politics."

Question 31

Which region of the country was a beneficiary of deindustrialization during the 1970s?

A) Northeast
B) Northwest
C) Midwest
D) Southwest

Question 32

What did Shirley Chisholm and Patricia Schroeder have in common?

A) They were founders of the National Women's Political Caucus.
B) Both were feminists who got elected to Congress in the 1970s.
C) Both ran for office as opponents of the ERA and Roe v. Wade.
D) Because of Title IX, they both won college athletic scholarships.

Question 33

Opposition to strong environmental protection regulations was motivated by

A) concern that regulation would hurt the economy and kill jobs.
B) conservative resistance to expanding federal authority.
C) refusal to believe that pollution was a serious problem.
D) complacency about the practice of "environmental racism."

Question 34

The federal Superfund program was established in response to the problems of

A) Three Mile Island.
B) Love Canal.
C) the Northwest.
D) the Rust Belt.

Question 35

Why were the tapes from the Oval Office so vital to the impeachment trial against the president?

A) They could prove that Nixon had participated in the break-in.
B) They demonstrated that Nixon had a vengeful and bitter personality.
C) They could verify the testimony of Richard Nixon's counsel John Dean.
D) They contained information about the identity of "Deep Throat."

Question 36

Phyllis Schlafly and other women who opposed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) were motivated by their

A) desire to uphold traditional gender roles.
B) resentment of younger women's sexual freedom.
C) opposition to birth control and abortion.
D) resistance to having to work outside the home.

Question 37

The seizure of the American embassy in Tehran and holding of fifty-two Americans hostage was a response to President Carter

A) allowing the deposed shah of Iran to come to the United States for medical treatment.
B) facilitating the Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel.
C) supporting the Mujahideen in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
D) breaking off diplomatic relations and imposing a trade embargo on the regime of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Question 38

The U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games was a response to the

A) Soviets' refusal to sign the SALT II treaty.
B) Islamic fundamentalist revolution in Iran.
C) Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
D) American hostage crisis in Iran.

Question 39

The decline in labor union membership during the 1970s can be attributed to

A) American manufacturers relocating their factories outside the United States.
B) rising unemployment within the United States.
C) President Carter's energy conservation policies.
D) post-Great Society economic conservatism.

Question 40

The most dangerous environmental threat of the 1970s was the

A) Gulf coast oil spill.
B) sinking of the Exxon Valdez.
C) Los Angeles smog crisis.
D) Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident.

Question 41

California's Proposition 13 would achieve one of the New Right's main goals by

A) bringing Christian values into public schools.
B) ending affirmative action programs.
C) decreasing the size of government.
D) supporting the traditional nuclear family.

Question 42

Supply-side economists argued that lowering taxes had the counterintuitive impact of increasing government income because it led to greater

A) consumer spending.
B) capital gains.
C) property purchases.
D) job creation.

Question 43

The photo "Three Mile Island Nuclear Plan, 1979" shows part of the nuclear power plant outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, behind an empty swing-set. What conclusions can you draw from this image?

A) Local residents and governments had previously felt safe around nuclear power.
B) City planners had not considered how unattractive a nuclear reactor would be.
C) The neighborhood around the nuclear reactor had already been suffering from blight.
D) The neighborhood around the nuclear reactor had been predominantly black.

Question 44

President Reagan's basic philosophy of governance could be summarized as

A) "Least government is best government."
B) "Government must regulate the economy."
C) "Government should provide a social safety net."
D) "Government should protect the weak."

Question 45

Cases like Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education served as evidence that

A) whites continued to oppose public school integration.
B) there was opposition to integration in the North as well as the South.
C) African Americans no longer viewed desegregation as a goal.
D) affirmative action had become more controversial than busing.

Question 46

Map 27.2, The Sun and Rust Belts, shows two starkly differing economic and demographic regions. How many states were part of the Sun Belt?

A) Four
B) Seven
C) Fourteen
D) Twenty-Five

Question 47

Map 27.1, The Election of 1968, shows the results of the presidential contest in 1968. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from this illustration?

A) With the states of the old Confederacy, Humphrey could have won.
B) Nixon defeated Humphrey with a vast majority of popular votes.
C) George Wallace "stole" Humphrey's election.
D) Voter turnout in the 1968 contest had been abysmal.

Question 48

Which demographic group decreased in size during the Reagan years?

A) Millionaires
B) The middle class
C) The working poor
D) The homeless

Question 49

The long-term impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 could be seen in

A) conflicts over school desegregation and busing during the 1970s.
B) the election of thousands of African American officials by 1992.
C) opposition to affirmative action programs during the 1970s and 1980s.
D) the growing influence of evangelical Christians in electoral politics.

Question 50

One consequence of the declining marriage rate and rising divorce rate during the 1970s was the

A) rise of the neoconservative movement.
B) political mobilization of Christian conservatives.
C) election of Jimmy Carter as president.
D) growing influence of supply-side economics.

Question 51

The Moral Majority endorsed political candidates committed to advancing

A) supply-side economics.
B) neoconservative policies.
C) social welfare programs.
D) a "family values" agenda.

Question 52

President Ronald Reagan's economic policies resulted in

A) increased stratification of wealth.
B) a weaker American military.
C) greater security for the poor.
D) a rise in union membership.

Question 53

Whites who opposed affirmative action to redress racial discrimination believed that

A) African Americans were not entitled to equal opportunity.
B) African Americans were economically better off than whites.
C) it violated the principle of equal treatment before the law.
D) it represented a return to the liberalism of the Great Society.

Question 54

Although President Reagan was committed to cutting government spending, he made an exception when it came to

A) Medicaid.
B) the military.
C) food stamps.
D) family planning.