Chapters 23 & 24 p. 1
A Time of Change & A New Century Begins 1980s to Present
I. The Clinton Years (1992-2000)
· William Jefferson Clinton became the first member of the baby-boom generation to win the presidency
A. The Election of 1992
o George Bush (41) saw a surge in his popularity after the successful
Persian Gulf War – 89% approval, but it dropped to 40% because
of the economy.
§ What did Bush do that hurt his re-election?
o Democrats ran Bill Clinton (governor of Arkansas) for President and Al Gore was his Vice-President.
§ What was the key issue that the Clinton-Gore team focused on?
o Ross Perot ran under the American Independent Party and received support from voters fed up with the two major political parties.
o What were the election results?
B. A “New” Democrat
ü Bill Clinton won the presidency in part by promising to move away from traditional Democratic policies – move people off welfare and growth in private business as a means to economic progress
Moderate Reform and Economic Boom
1. Health Care Reform
ü Clinton had pledged to create a plan to guarantee affordable health care for all Americans – he appointed his wife Hillary to head a team for the plan
ü What happened to the plan?
2. Republicans Take Control of Congress
ü The midterm elections of 1994 became known as the “Republican Revolution” when they won over 50 seats in the House and gained control of the House of Representatives for the 1st time in 40 years.
ü Newt Gingrich became Speaker and drafted the Contract with America
3. Balanced Budget and an Economic Boom
ü Clinton raised taxes and cut military spending because the Cold War was over.
ü Clinton with the Republican controlled Congress worked to reduce spending and balance the federal budget
ü Unemployment fell, the stock market soared – overall the economy was great
ü What was NAFTA?
4. Reforming Welfare
ü In 1996 a bill was proposed to place limits on how long people could receive benefits – it also put an end to 61-year federal guarantee of welfare.
C. The Election of 1996
o Republicans ran Bob Dole - Senate Majority Leader from Kansas
o President Clinton had a large lead in the polls – WHY?
o Results = Clinton (42nd President) wins easily (379 -159) and gets 49% of the popular vote and becomes the first Democrat president to win a second term since FDR.
D. The Impeachment of Bill Clinton
Ø On December 19, 1998 Bill Clinton became the 2nd president in American history to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
ü Kenneth Starr, independent counsel, was appointed to investigate a scandal (Whitewater) Clinton was involved in before he was president.
ü Although Clinton was cleared in the Whitewater scandal, Starr’s investigation uncovered that Clinton had an affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.
ü What was Clinton charged with?
ü The Senate trial began in January of 1999 and after five weeks Clinton was acquitted (found not-guilty) of all charges.
ü The result was that all of the achievements of the Clinton presidency were now were marred by the reckless behavior of the president.
II. The Clinton Years at Home and Abroad
Ø As the 20th century came to a close, the United States benefited from a prolonged period of peace and prosperity; however there were important issues to deal with.
A. The “New Economy”
§ One major reason for the economic boom of the 1990s was the growth of the personal computer and the Internet.
ü Identify Bill Gates
· These new technologies dramatically increased the productivity of workers.
ü Unemployment in 1998 was only 4.3% (the lowest since 1970)
§ This new economy was centered on high flying computer, software and internet
firms that became known as “dot coms”.
Ø What does Globalization mean?
B. Social Problems in America
· Race in America continued to be an issue and often divided the American People
o Identify Rodney King and OJ Simpson
· School Violence
o Columbine High School 1999 (12 students + 1 teacher died) incident led to copycat crimes around US – many felt TV violence and imagery may be to blame.
· Immigration
o Most of the immigrants in the early 1900’s came from Europe.
o Where did the majority of immigrants come from in the 1990s?
C. Terrorism at Home and Abroad
· February 1993 Islamic terrorists attempted to blow up the World Trade Center towers in New York – unsuccessful - but 4 killed and over 1000 injured
· April 1995 in Oklahoma a federal building was blown up and 168 people were killed in the blast – Who was responsible?
· Terror Abroad
o 2 US embassies in Africa were simultaneously hit with truck bombs killing hundreds of people. Who was responsible?
o the USS Cole was attacked by a suicide bomber while refueling in Yemen in December 2000 (17 sailors killed)
D. Clinton’s Foreign Policy
Ø Clinton wanted to stay focused on domestic issues; however issues around the globe forced the president to get involved.
1. Haiti
Ø The most successful foreign policy initiative during Clinton’s 1st term was in the Caribbean island of Haiti.
Ø What happened and what did the US do here?
2. The Middle East
Ø In 1993, secret talks between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Oslo, Norway led to peace agreement.
Ø Israel agreed to PLO self rule in return for the PLO stopping terror attacks on Israel.
Ø Iraq and Saddam Hussein - Clinton ordered Operation Desert Fox in December of 1998; a mission to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors. Why was this ordered?
3. The Balkans
Ø In 1995 60,000 NATO peacekeeping troops were sent to Bosnia to stop ethnic cleansing in Croatia and Bosnia.
Ø What did Clinton do in 1999 when the fighting flared up again?
III. The Bush Years (2000-2008)
Ø As America was entering the new millennium, its population was approaching 300 million and the country was leaving the 20th century in peace and relative prosperity and was the world’s only superpower.
A. The Election of 2000
Ø Democrats
o Al Gore (Clinton’s VP and senator from Tennessee) wins the party nomination and chooses Joe Lieberman (Senator from Connecticut and 1st Jewish-American on major party ticket) as running mate
Ø Republicans
o George W. Bush (Governor of Texas) wins party nomination and chooses Dick Cheney from Wyoming as his running mate
Ø Identify the two minor party candidates:
1.
2.
v Election Night Chaos and a Bush Victory?
o Most experts predicted a close election, but no one could have foreseen what was going to happen on November 7, 2000.
o The election became disputed over the results from the state of Florida.
§ Bush won the state by 1,210 votes, but Gore demanded a recount.
o Eventually, after a month of legal disputes over a recount and absentee ballots, the Supreme Court ruled in Bush v. Gore that the original vote count would stand. WHY?
B. President Bush’s (43) Domestic Agenda
Ø Bush entered the White House with controversy and a divided country – the Senate was split 50/50 and the Republicans had a slim majority in the House.
Ø What is compassionate conservatism?
Ø Bush worked on the sagging economy by cutting income taxes for all Americans.
Ø What was the No Child Left Behind Act?
C. September 11, 2001: A Day of Infamy
Ø At 8:45 AM on September 11, 2001 a commercial airliner high jacked by Islamic terrorists slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York
o 18 minutes later another plane hit the south tower.
o Two other planes were high jacked; what happened to them?
1.
2.
Ø Within hours of the attacks, officials had indentified the 19 dead terrorists as members of al Qaeda who were led by Osama bin Laden.
Ø These attacks represented the deadliest terror attack in US history – 266 passengers/crew on planes; 100 dead at Pentagon; 2,600 at World Trade Center.
Ø That evening, President Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office, promising a swift and strong response to these cowardly attacks.
D. War on Terrorism
Ø On September 20, 2001 Bush gave a televised address where he explained to the American people that the war on terror would be a lengthy campaign using both conventional military forces and covert operations.
- Operation Enduring Freedom – October 2001
- The United States and its allies launched an attack on Afghanistan – WHY?
- By December 9, the Taliban Regime had collapsed and a new government was established but Osama bin Laden was not found.
- Fighting Terror at Home
- To address the threat of terror at home, President Bush and Congress worked to protect Americans at home. IDENITFY the following:
i. Office of Homeland Security
ii. USA Patriot Act
- Operation Iraqi Freedom
- President Bush announced a new national security doctrine that became known as the “Bush Doctrine” – EXPLAIN
- The UN passed a resolution (1441) demanding that Saddam Hussein “disarm immediately or face serious consequences” – Hussein remained defiant
- On March 17, 2003 Bush gave Hussein an ultimatum - ‘You and your sons must leave Iraq in 48 hours or face a US led invasion”
- Hussein refused and on March 19, 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom began led by General Tommy Franks.
- What were the results?
ü 250,000 American troops launched a lightening attack on Iraq and by April 9 Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, was captured.
ü What happened to Saddam Hussein?
IV. The Election of 2004 and Bush’s 2nd Term
Ø Although the initial invasion of Iraq was a success, the growing instability in Iraq was becoming a problem and would be a key issue in the upcoming presidential election in November 2004.
A. The Election of 2004
§ Although his approval ratings were plummeting in 2004, President Bush was the obvious choice for the Republican Party.
§ The Democrats choose Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts and Senator John Edwards from North Carolina
ü The 2004 presidential campaign was punctuated by negative attacks on each candidate; however what was the key issue of the entire campaign?
ü Election Results: another very close election with the key state this time being Ohio. The results were not known until the next day when Ohio went into the Bush column. Electoral College = Bush 286 and Kerry 251
B. Second Term Blues for President Bush
Ø Like many modern presidents (Nixon, Reagan, Clinton) President Bush had a very difficult and challenging second term in the White House.
- Changes in the Supreme Court
- Due to the retirement of Sandra Day O’Connor and the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist; Bush was able to appoint two conservative justices – John Roberts (Chief Justice) Samuel Alito (Assoc Justice)
- Hurricane Katrina
- In August 2005, a killer hurricane named Katrina slammed into the Gulf coast killing over 1,000 and causing billions of $ in damages.
b. What was the impact of Katrina on the Bush Presidency?
- Voter Rebellion in 2006
- In the November 2006 mid-term elections, the Democrats capitalized on the American people’s unhappiness with the Bush Administration.
b. The Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate for the first time since 1994 – Who was Nancy Pelosi?
- The Surge in Iraq
- The 2006 election was basically a referendum on the situation (lack of progress) in Iraq War.
b. What was the situation in Iraq?
- Bush remained ‘committed to victory’ in Iraq despite Republican loses in Congress and constant criticism from the American press.
- On January 10, 2007 Bush announced a ‘surge’ of 30,000 more soldiers to Iraq (total 170,000) – most Democrats were opposed to this
e. What were the results of this “surge” or increase of US troops?
- The Economy Tanks
- After the severe recession of the post 9-11 era, the US economy had a prolonged period of economic expansion.
b. What was a key factor that was fueling the economy?
- However, by 2007 the housing bubble had burst; home values and sales began to drop.
d. What was the impact of the end of the housing boom?
- The bottom fell out of the stock market in October 2008 and the economic crisis began to spread around the world.
- President Bush signed into law a far-reaching financial and bank bailout called TARP – Troubled Asset Relief Program
Ø This helped briefly, but the economic crisis continued.
V. Barack Obama and a Historic Election
Ø The economic crisis in America and the public’s disgust with President Bush and the Republican Party gave the Democrats hope to win back the White House in 2008.
The Presidential Election of 2008
§ Republican Primary
o John McCain (72 year old Senator from Arizona) beat out Rudy Giuliani (former mayor of NYC) and Mitt Romney (former governor) of Massachusetts.
o Who was Sarah Palin?
§ Democratic Primary
o The early front runner was New York Senator Hillary Clinton (wife of former President Clinton and 1st serious women candidate for the office).
o In the end, a little known first term senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, won the party nomination.
§ Who was his running mate?
§ Obama was a 47 year old son of a bi-racial couple (1st African-American to win major party nomination), a Harvard Law grad who promised change, and a gifted speaker.
§ The Campaign for the White House
o The campaign for president began in 2008 after the party conventions with suggesting a very close race.
o What did John McCain use as a campaign issue against Obama?
o However, the tremendous downturn in the US economy in September and October gave Obama and the Democrats a campaign issue.
o What else did Obama use as a campaign issue against McCain?
§ Historic Election Results
o On November 4, 2008 Barack Obama (44) made history by becoming the first person of color to win the presidency.