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Chapter 41
America Confronts the Post-‐Cold War Era
Presiden9al Elec9on of 1992
Major issues-‐ Slumbering economy
Widening gender gap Rising An9-‐Bush spirit
Last Democra9c president-‐ Jimmy Carter (1976)
Presiden9al Elec9on of 1992
Republicans-‐ George H.W. Bush/Dan Quayle Family Values Credit for ending Cold War Leadership during Persian Gulf War PROBLEM-‐ economy dipped into recession during Bush’ admin.
Democrats-‐ Bill Clinton/Al Gore S9mulate the economy Reform the welfare system Health care Campaign slogan-‐ “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Presiden9al Elec9on of 1992
Ross Perot 3rd Party candidate (independent) Problems with the federal deficit Never held any public office Won nearly 20% of the pop vote
Record voter turnout-‐ 100 million
Elec9on results
Clinton 370/Bush 168/Perot 0 Clinton-‐ first baby boomer president Democrats win majority in House and Senate
39 African Americans 19 Hispanic Americans 7 Asian Americans 1 Na9ve American 48 Women Ruth Bader Ginsburg-‐ Supreme Ct in 1993
American An9govt feelings
Waco, Texas Religious group-‐ Branch Davidians ATF adempted to raid the compound (weapons viola9on)
Feb 28-‐April 19, 1993 Fire broke out killing 76 including leader Becomes primary mo9va9on for Timothy McVeigh
Oklahoma City Bombing April 19, 1995 Destroyed federal office building Killed 168
Why?
Many Americans had some degree of an9government aitude
Why? Disillusionment from the Vietnam War Lack of trust since Nixon and Watergate
Clinton’s First Term (1993-‐1997)
Start of America's first Democra9c Presidency in a dozen years. (Carter)
Clinton’s economic plan deficit reduc9on rather than a middle class tax cut (promised in campaign)
Adorney General problems First choice-‐ Zoe Baird-‐ “Nannygate” Kimba Wood-‐ also forced to withdraw name Janet Reno
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell homosexual men and women may serve in the military as long as their sexuality is kept secret.
Some gay rights advocates cri9cized Clinton for not going far enough and accused him of making his campaign promise simply to get votes and contribu9ons.
advocates felt Clinton should have integrated the military by execu9ve order, no9ng that President Truman ended segrega9on of the armed forces
NAFTA (1993) Free trade zone between Mexico, Canada, and US
strongly supported free trade measures. Opposi9on came from both an9-‐trade Republicans, protec9onist Democrats Fearful of losing jobs to low-‐wage Mexican workers
Health care reform plan Known as the Health Security Act goal was to come up with a comprehensive plan to provide universal health care for all Americans
core element of the proposed plan was an enforced mandate for employers to provide health insurance coverage to all of their employees
Hillary Clinton was draned by the Clinton Administra9on to head a new Task Force and sell the plan to the American people-‐considerably diminished her own popularity
1st legisla9ve defeat for Clinton Admin.
Mid-‐term elec9ons (1994) disastrous for the Democrats
first 9me the democra9c party had lost control of both houses of Congress in 40 years.
Welfare Reform Bill New Congress’ major conserva9ve victory
Deep cuts in the welfare program Tight restric9ons on welfare benefits for legal/illegal immigrants (new 9de of an9-‐immigrant)
Presiden9al Elec9on of 1996
Clinton was re-‐elected, receiving 49.2% pop vote
Republican Bob Dole-‐ 40.7% pop vote Reform candidate Ross Perot-‐ 8.4%
Clinton-‐ first Democrat to win reelec9on to the presidency since Franklin Roosevelt.
Republicans lost a few seats in the House and gained a few in the Senate, but overall retained control of the Congress.
Clinton’s Second Term (1997-‐2001)
Clinton finally had a chance to sign a major health care bill into law.
State Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage to approximately six-‐million children childhood immuniza9ons reached over 90% and funding for research on Gulf War Syndrome, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and asthma
Clinton’s major poli9cal advantage-‐ roaring economy Longest period of growth in American history Driven by
Federal Reserve Board’s low-‐interest, easy money policies
Explosive growth of new internet businesses
Unemployment down to 4%
Infla9on low
Problems Abroad
Somalia Sent American troops as peace-‐keeping mission
Somali rebels killed more than a dozen Americans Clinton withdrew soldiers, no goals achieved
Rwanda Ethnic violence in central Africa-‐ half a million dead, Washington watched (burned from Somalia)
Balkans Bosnia
Declared their independence from Yugoslavia in 1992 War between Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Muslims & Croats
Middle East Major focus of American diplomacy Clinton involved in peace agreement between Yitzhak Rabin (Israeli PM) and Yasser Arafat (Pales9ne Libera9on Organiza9on Chairman)
Allowed limited Pales9nian self-‐rule in Israeli-‐occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip
Scandal
Controversy over Clinton’s rela9onship w/White House intern Monica Lewinsky
Clinton ini9ally denied the affair while tes9fying in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit Clinton finally admided to the affair, admided to “tes9fying falsely”
Republican-‐controlled House voted to impeach Clinton-‐ perjury before a grand jury and obstruc9on of jus9ce
Democrats-‐ Clinton’s personal misconduct is not “high crime”
Senate found Clinton not-‐guilty on both charges
Presiden9al Elec9on of 2000
Democrats Al Gore
Link with Clinton’s peace and prosperity, but not his personal troubles
Proposed smaller tax cuts, targeted at middle, lower classes
Strengthen Social Security Joseph Lieberman
CT Senator Outspoken Clinton cri9c 1st Jew nominated as VP
Republicans George W. Bush
George HW Bush and current Gov. of Texas Massive tax cuts (wanted budget surplus)
Promoted private-‐sector programs (school vouchers for the poor)
Promised to “restore dignity to the White House”
Chose Dick Cheney as VP
Foreign Policy was not an issue of 2000 elec9on
Results
Nearly even split between candidates Florida’s electoral votes would decide the winner 5 week poli9cal standoff while votes were counted
Supreme Ct. intervenes-‐ since Florida’s legislature and courts-‐ could not establish standard for evalua9ng disputed ballots Hand counts are uncons9tu9onal-‐ 14th Amendment equal protec9on
Bush wins presidency 271-‐266 Gore won popular vote (1st 9me since 1888)
The Buderfly Ballot
Bush’s 1st Term (2000-‐2004)
Social Agenda block federal aid to foreign groups that offered counseling or any other assistance to women in obtaining abor9ons
Limited govt-‐sponsored research on stem cells The Bush administra9on implemented a major change in United States foreign policy by withdrawing its par9cipa9on in the 1998 Kyoto Protocol on world climate change
Economic Policies Bush’s plan for a $1.3 trillion tax cut.
He and his economic advisors argued that unspent government funds should be returned to the taxpayers who had provided these funds
Reports of the threat of recession from Greenspan Major poli9cal victory for Bush
Iraq War will turn surplus into deficit, reaching $400 billion in 2004
September 11, 2001
4 hijacked planes killed nearly 3,000 Bush’s address to Congress 9 days later helped his presidency since the disputed elec9on of 2000
Iden9fied Osama bin Laden as principal enemy, head of terrorist network Al Qaeda
Bin Laden resented US-‐ American military presence in Middle East, support of Israel
Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden, US military overthrew Taliban within 3 months
Effects of 9/11
USA Patriot Act Permided extensive telephone an email surveillance Deten9on and deporta9on of immigrants suspected of terrorism
Dept of Homeland Security New cabinet, to protect the na9on’s borders, poten9al adackers
Guantanamo Deten9on Camp Hundreds of immigrants held w/o habeas corpus
Public-‐opinion polls show division-‐ to what extent do we protect civil liber9es?
“Axis of Evil”
Iraq, N. Korea, and Iran were a problem for American security Iran and N. Korea were pursuing nuclear weapons Iraq had Saddam Hussein
Bush’s accusa9ons on Iraq Oppressed its people Frustra9ng weapons inspectors Developed nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons
Supported Al Qaeda
Reac9ons
Bush suggested that a liberated Iraq would be the “beacon of hope” to the Islamic world
European allies were not “sold” on his reasons for invading Iraq Create a democracy in a country burdened w/conflict
Consequences for invading/occupying an unstable, religiously and culturally divided na9on of 25 million people
Invasion of Iraq began on March 19, 2003, less than 1 month Baghdad had fallen, Saddam driven from power
Owning Iraq
Neoconserva9ves predicted that American soldiers would be greeted as liberators!
Three kinds of badles 1. Shia-‐Sunni ethnic violence
Badle for poli9cal power aner removal of Saddam
Shia was majority, Sunni was minority
2. Insurgency Hatred for Americans worsened Abu Ghraib prison
3. Jihadist terrorism Jihad terrorists from around the region flooded into Iraq
By the end of 2006, more Americans had died in Iraq than in 9/11
Presiden9al Elec9on of 2004
George Bush v. John Kerry
Major issues Civil liber9es and terrorism
Corporate fraud Same sex marriage Affirma9ve ac9on
Bush’s campaign • Tax cuts had spurred economic growth • No Child Len Behind Act • Opposed stem cell research • Called for cons9tu9onal amendment to ban gay marriage • “don’t change horses midstream”
• 286-‐252 (Ohio)
Bush’s Second Term (2004-‐2008)
New conserva9ve Supreme Ct. Jus9ces-‐ John Roberts, Samuel Alito
Much of Bush’s promises/proposals were dead Priva9ze Social Security Cons9tu9onal amendment on gay marriage
Immigra9on reform-‐ “Path to ci9zenship” dead in 2007
Scandal-‐ VP Cheney’s chief of staff guilty of perjury, leak of CIA iden9ty
Hurricane Katrina
Midterm Elec9ons of 2006
Democrats regained Congress, Nancy Pelosi became 1st female Speaker of the House
Biggest factor-‐ Republican mishandling of war in Iraq WMD and Iraq’s connec9ons to Al Qaeda and 9/11 were false
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigned aner midterm elec9ons
Bush’s approval ra9ng dropped to 30%
Presiden9al Elec9on of 2008
First “open” elec9on in 80 years Democrats-‐ IL Senator Obama v. NY Senator H. Clinton
Republicans-‐ AZ Senator John McCain/Sarah Palin
Obama’s advantages-‐ $700 million in campaign finance
2008 “Great Recession”-‐ blamed on Bush and Republicans
“Great Recession”
6 weeks before elec9on Collapse in real estate values led to mortgage defaults
Cheap and abundant credit stopped Fed govt na9onalized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage companies and took over AIG (insurance)
Also dumped $700 billion into na9on’s biggest banks and corpora9ons
Obama-‐ presented economic crisis-‐ elec9on of McCain = “third Bush term”
Obama in the White House
Recession was in full gear Foreclosures 700,000 jobs lost/month = 10% unemployment
Obama’s Response American Relief and Recovery Act-‐ “S9mulus Bill” General Motors and Chrysler bailouts
Pa9ent Protec9on and Affordable Care Act Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protec9on Act
A Sea of Troubles
“Tea Party” Summer 2009 Accused Obama of promo9ng socialism and uncons9tu9onal controls over individual lives
Adacked Obamacare and Obama’s big government spendthrin
Other major issues-‐ Afghanistan, Iraq, bin Laden, BP oil spill, na9on’s credit ra9ng, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
