America’s History: Printed Page 1000
| MAKING CONNECTIONS | Recognize the larger developments and continuities within and across chapters by answering these questions. |
ACROSS TIME AND PLACE Compare the two major periods of liberal legislative accomplishment — the New Deal in the 1930s (Chapter 23) and the Great Society in the 1960s (Chapter 28) — with the Reagan era in the 1980s. Did Reagan undo the legislative gains of those earlier eras? What conservative objectives was he able to accomplish, and what limits or obstacles did he encounter?
VISUAL EVIDENCE Examine the images of Reagan in this chapter (“1984 Republican National Convention”; “President Reagan at His Ranch in Southern California”; “Presidential Landscaping”; “Reagan and Gorbachev”). What message do these images convey about Reagan as a person? About his policies? Together, what do they tell us about the image and reality of the Reagan presidency? Do you think that cartoons or photographs are a more accurate source of information for understanding the historical meaning of a particular president and his administration? Why or why not?