Conservatism In The 20th Century

At least three reasons for the rise of conservatism in the last part of the 20th century. In the 20th century some factor-increased conservatism, one of them was the Vietnam War. The war was costly, and it proved a difficult one for the Americans to handle. Moreover, the war drained the Americans and caused a huge deficit in the economy especially to the federal debt in the 1970s (Barnes & Bowles, 2014). During that period, many people questioned the involvement of the US in that war and possibility of future wars. On the same note, many saw the war as unwinnable one. Similarly, the second reason was the Pentagon Papers, which revealed the American decisions regarding the Vietnam wars. The information released by the papers damaged the trust,
which people had to the government. One the same note the Iranian Hostage Crisis was another reason (Barnes & Bowles, 2014). What happened in 1979 proved the failure of President Jimmy Carter. He was unable to come up with a successful negotiation, Thereby increasing conservatism.
At least one-way in which the rise of conservatism had been positive or negative for a specific group of Americans
Americas Wealthiest was among the groups that experienced a positive effect on conservatism. During the Era of Regan, his Reaganomic offered tax holidays to the wealthy, in theory; they called the Trickle – down theory (Barnes & Bowles, 2014). The assumption was that prosperity would flow the wealth downwards. Moreover, it was believed that the wealthy would provide jobs for the American people, and thus they were being offered an opportunity of investing in the economy.

Reference
Barnes, L. & Bowles, M. (2014).The American story: Perspectives and Encounters from 1877. SanDiego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.