FREE ESSAY ON THE FALL OF THE LIBERAL CONSENSUS

THE FALL OF THE LIBERAL CONSENSUS

The Fall of the Liberal Consensus
Looking at the United States in 1965, it would seem that the future of the liberal
consensus was well entrenched. The anti-war movement was in full swing, civil rights were
moving forward, and Johnson's Great Society was working to alleviate the plight of the
poor in America. Yet, by 1968 the liberal consensus had fallen apart, which led to the
triumph of conservatism with the election of President Reagan in 1980. The question must
be posed, how in the course of 15 years did liberal consensus fall apart and conservatism
rise to the forefront? What were the decisive factors that caused the fracturing of what
seemed to be such a powerful political force? In looking at the period from 1968 to the
triumph of Reagan in 1980, America was shaken to the core by the Watergate scandal, the
stalling of economic growth, gas shortages, and the Vietnam War. In an era that included
the amount of turbulence that the 1970's did, it is not difficult to imagine that
conservatism come to power. In this paper I will analyze how the liberal consensus went
from one of its high points in 1965 to one of its lows in 1968. From there I will show
how conservatism rose to power by the 1980 elections. In doing so, I will look at how
factors within the American economy, civil rights issues, and political workings of the
United States contributed to the fracturing of the liberal consensus and the rise of
conservatism. 
In order to look at how the liberal consensus went from a high point in 1965 to a low in
1968, I think that it is first important to look at the state of the liberal consensus in
1965. Doing so will provide us with a starting point from which to measure the fracturing
and also set up a framework from which we can analyze how and why the fracturing of the
liberal consensus occurred. Looking at the 1960's we can see that by 1965, much progress
had been made toward the agenda of the liberal consensus. During President Johnson's term
in office from 1964 to 1968, Johnson had declared a war on poverty. This is made evident
when Johnson attempts to attack poverty at its roots. He states,
Our chief weapons in a more pinpointed attack will be better schools, and better health,
and better homes, and better training, and better job opportunities to help more
Americans, especially young Americans, escape from squalor and misery and unemployment
rolls where other citizens help to carry them.
The words of Johnson outline the premise of the liberal consensus, that given the
opportunity individuals would work to The Great Society programs that were to enable the
change, were for the most part enacted under Johnson during his term in office. This
stems largely from his experience and power with Congress.
In the context of the liberal consensus the civil rights movement had made some important
strides during the 1960's also. The liberal consensus pushed for the integration of
schools to allow for minorities to give themselves the education that they needed to
participate equally in the job market. Moreover, the liberal consensus pushed for
integration and the ideology that individuals if given equal opportunity would be able to
solve the problems of discrimination through the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The economy of the United States was the most important issue in solidifying the liberal
consensus. From the 1950's through the 1960's the United States economy appeared as if it
were on an endless track of prosperity. In the 1960's the United States Gross National
Product was up 31%. Murray writes that, Economists believed that in Keynesian economics
they had found the key to perpetual prosperity. The belief that the economy would
continue to grow, fed the belief in the liberal consensus' ideology that in allowing for
free competition in the marketplace not only would economic problems be solved but also
the problems of poverty and of civil rights.
With the ideology of the liberal consensus firmly in place in 1965, how could such
profound change occur in just three years that marked the fragmentation of the consensus?
It was the development of four major issues that caused the fragmentation of the
consensus: the Vietnam War, the decline of the economy, and dissatisfaction with the
progress of civil rights. These three issues revealed major problems of the American
populace toward the liberal consensus, weakening it to the point where it collapsed.
The Vietnam War marked the beginning of the decline of the liberal consensus. Rooted in
the ideology of containment, the entrance of the United States in the war in Vietnam was
an example of the liberal consensus' belief that the United States was economically and
militarily powerful enough to confront communism and prevent its spread. Hodgson writes,
Here was a political leader (Johnson) in a position of apparently impregnable strength.
He had to decide how to spend national resources that were growing at the rate of 5 per
cent a year.
With the increase of aggression in Vietnam, the ability to fund the war through the
increase in government revenues due to Keynesian economics, and the belief that the
United States was capable of easily winning the war in Vietnam, the liberal consensus
optimistically increased U.S. participation in the war. The plan for U.S. involvement in
Vietnam that was put forth by General Westmoreland called for victory by 1967. However,
the plan was overly optimistic. This is evidenced by the North Vietnamese's Tet offensive
in 1968. 
From here two major problems arise because of the United States involvement in the
Vietnam War. First the war diverted funds from the social programs that were intended to
stop the problem of poverty in the United States. According to Hodgson,
In the first year (1964), OEO's budget had been $750 million. In the second year,
Congress appropriated $1.5 million. The agency's own five-year plan envisaged a massive,
nationwide community-action strategy with programs in both urban slums and rural
depressed areas and a total budget of $3.5 billion. In the new climate, the
Administration asked for just half of that figure, or $1.75 billion, and Congress finally
appropriated even less: $1.625 billion.
The money that was intended to go to these social programs was diverted to the war in
Vietnam. According to Hodgson, In the whole of the fiscal year that had just ended, the
fighting of the war in Southeast Asia had cost $100 million. In May, (of 1965) the
Administration had asked for $700 million more. The August and January requests between
them came to more than $14 billion.
With the removal of funding for social programs that garnished support for the liberal
consensus, fragmentation began.
The second issue that stems from the Vietnam War is that it diverted attention from the
problems of civil rights in the United States. These are questions that were important in
the minds of Americans. Hodgson writes, 'How is it', John Doar was asked from the floor
of at the orientation session in Ohio, 'that the government can protect the Vietnamese
from the Viet Cong, and the same government will not accept the moral responsibility of
protecting the people in Mississippi? This lack of attention fueled the fragmentation of
the civil rights movement into more radical and aggressive forms. One of its most visible
and important aspects of the fracturing of the civil rights movement took form in the
Lowndes County Freedom Organization, otherwise known as the Black Panther Party. Stokely
Carmichael marks the feelings of part of America in reaction to the rise of fragmented
civil rights groups such as the Black Panthers when he writes, as for white America,
perhaps it can stop crying out against 'black supremacy,' 'black nationalism,' 'racism in
reverse,' and begin facing reality.
While we now have an understanding of how the fragmentation of the liberal consensus
occurred, we still need to look at how this fragmentation gave rise to the conservatism,
culminating in the election of Reagan in 1980. In order to do this we must look at how
the events of the 1970's give shape and understanding to the turn from the liberal
consensus to conservatism. To do this it is important to look at three specific issues
that arose during the 1970's: the downturn of the American economy, the Watergate
scandal, and the rise of materialism.
The downturn of the American economy is probably the most important issue in the rise of
conservatism by the 1980 election. From 1969 to 1980 the United States went through three
major economic recessions. The effect of this on the rise of conservatism stems from two
primary issues: unemployment and the failure of the government to provide economic
growth. Unemployment had a large effect on the psyche of the American populace. Hodgson
writes that in the 1970's,
Inflation had taken hold. Recession threatened. The balance-of-payments deficit was
horrendous. The United States was becoming ominously dependent on foreign oil and raw
materials and on foreign markets. And these objective problems bred new attitudes. For
the first time since the thirties, people were no longer sure that corporate business was
beneficent. For a generation, it had provided jobs. Now unemployment was beginning to
rise Rates of actual unemployment remained fairly low until the energy crisis bit hard in
1973-74. But the unemployment rate, which measures the number of people out of work on a
given day seriously underestimates the number of workers with reason to fear for their
jobs.
The fact that unemployment was up and that individuals were in fear for their jobs
created a backlash against the actions that the liberal consensus took to stem the
problems of civil rights and the reaction that had in part caused the fragmentation of
the liberal consensus. The backlash is explained by the combination of the Civil Rights
Act and the revolutionary views and actions of splinter minority groups. Segments of the
American population looked at the Civil Rights Act as giving minorities preference in the
hiring process. Combine this with the belief that revolutionary minority groups were
viewed as pushing for black supremacy and the field is set up for a conservative victory
in 1980. This stems from the rhetoric of conservatives. Reagan is pushing for the
reduction of the role of government in the public sphere. This includes areas such as
civil rights.
Secondly, stemming from the recessions and inflation of the 1970's there was a distrust
of the government, because of the failure of the economy to grow. Conservatives
capitalize on this in the 1980 elections. Reagan, in a speech as a presidential
candidate, states,
In my administration there should and will be a thorough and systematic review of the
thousands of Federal regulations that affect the economy. Along with spending control,
tax reform and deregulation, a sound stable and predictable monetary policy is essential
to restoring economic health.
Each of these policies is intended to make the economy run smoother and to cause growth
in the economy. 
The Watergate scandal of the Nixon presidency also plays a major role in rise of
conservatism by the 1980 elections. Following the fragmentation of the liberal consensus,
Nixon was faced with many opponents to his proposed policies toward Vietnam, civil
rights, women's rights, and the environment. With the break in of the Democratic National
Headquarters, Nixon was trying to make sure that he was able to breakup any rebuilding of
a consensus by the Democratic party of these currently splintered groups, in order to
ensure his election. The Watergate scandal had a major effect on the American populace.
Namely it created a distrust of big government. This distrust of excessive government
power was capitalized on by conservatives. Reagan states, We must first recognize that
the problem with the U.S. economy is swollen, inefficient government, needless
regulation, too much taxation, too much printing press money. This statement shows an
inherent distrust of the government's misuse of power, power which is being abused
through too much taxation, regulation, irresponsible monetary controls.
Finally, we can see how the rise of materialism fed the rise of conservatism. President
Carter states, In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit
communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and
consumption. The fracturing of the liberal consensus helped to feed the fracturing of
strong families and close-knit communities. The revolution of ideals and values that
caused the fracturing of the liberal consensus necessitated the rejection of traditional
values such as strong families and close-knit communities. Because the Carter
administration was in power when the crisis of the American spirit became apparent and
important in the minds of the American populace, the blame for the situation landed at
their feet. This fed into the hands of the conservatives who traditionally valued the
importance of the family, hard work, and community as answers to problems in American
society. In a writing that extols conservative values, this becomes evident when it
states, The only dependable route from poverty is always work, family, and faith.
When looking at how the fracturing of the liberal consensus allowed for conservative
triumph in 1980, I think that a few major issues can be seen. First, there is little
difference in what both the liberal consensus and conservatives see as key issues. Both
the liberal consensus and conservatives see the economy as the most important issue in
gaining power. However, each side had a different opinion on what was the best way to
cause economic growth. While the liberal consensus focused on government control to make
the economy run smoothly, conservatives saw deregulation and the removal of as much
government control as possible from the economy as key in making it grow. The high costs
of the Vietnam War coupled with the economic crises of the 1970's caused the American
populace to look for a new form of economic policy to create economic growth. The
conservatives provided this in the 1980 election.
Of secondary importance the civil rights issue played an important role in bringing about
the triumph of conservatism. The fractionalization of the Civil Rights Movement, caused a
large portion of the American populace to fear continued expansion of civil rights in the
direction of splinter groups such as the Black Panthers. Furthermore portions of the
American populace saw the development of civil rights as a threat to their jobs, which in
a time of recession created an opening for the conservatives to jump on.
And finally, the issue of distrust of government due to the failures of the liberal
consensus to stimulate economic growth and the Watergate scandal played into the hands of
the conservatives who preached the reduction of government presence in almost all aspects
of Americans' lives. This must have been a strong motivating factor in many Reagan
Democrats who sided with conservatives in the 1980 election.