"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?" — Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981
Reagan's inaugural rhetoric most directly responded to which late-1970s context?
- A
A balanced federal budget produced by Carter-era austerity programs
- Bcheck_circle
Stagflation, energy crises, and declining trust in federal institutions after Vietnam and Watergate
- C
The collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War
- D
A Supreme Court ruling striking down the New Deal regulatory state
Explanation
Reagan's 1981 inaugural reflected the late-1970s combination of stagflation, oil shocks, and post-Watergate distrust of Washington that fueled the conservative movement.