Goal 12

Gerald Ford 1974-1977 Republican

Ford is the un-elected presidentIs Nixon’s Vice President after

Agnew’s resignationAssumes presidency after Nixon’s

resignation

Pardons Nixon

Signed Helsinki Accords with Canada & most European nationsStated all nations would maintain current European

borders (essentially victory for USSR)

Urged Congress to cut billions from national budget & increase taxes on corporationsCalled his initiative W.I.N. (“Whip Inflation Now”)

Bilingual Education Act of 1974: provided for immigrant students to be taught in native language while learning English

Loses re-election campaign in 1976

Jimmy Carter 1977-1981 Democrat

Was a Washington “outsider” – elected b/c not connected to Watergate or anyone involved

March 1979: nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in PA partially melted downAs a result, Americans fear nuclear power even

more; favor oil, despite its expense

Granted amnesty to all draft dodgers of the Vietnam WarIntended as healing gesture & succeeded to some

extentAngered many American veterans & their families

1979: the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) raised oil prices 50%U.S. was heavily dependent on foreign oil b/c highly

industrializedhaving to cut back = energy crisisDepartment of Energy created in 1977 to address

energy conservation & research & develop new energy sources

September 1978: hosted Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat & Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin at the presidential retreat Camp DavidNegotiated a peace treaty between Egypt & Israel, the

Camp David Accords

Iran Hostage Crisis 1979:Military Islamic leader ayatollah Khomeini seized power

in Iran, ousting the Shah & forced him to flee IranU.S. allowed the Shah to enter for medical careKhomeini’s followers thought it an insult & stormed the

U.S. embassy in Tehran in retaliation○ Took 70 Americans hostage

Carter unable to bring the crisis to an end○ Released on Reagan’s inauguration

U.S. boycotted participation in Moscow Olympics in 1980 in protest of the Soviet invasion

of Afghanistan

1977: Gave the Panama Canal back to Panama (effective in 2000), strengthening our relationship with Latin America

Ronald Reagan 1981-1989 Republican

Ends Iran Hostage Crisis

Increased defense spending to scare the USSR caused national debts to soar

Iran-Contra Affair: wanted to interfere in a civil war in Nicaragua supporting the Contras fighting against the Sandinista gov’t & communismSecretly sold missiles to Iran through Israel, then

used the money to support ContrasInvestigations cleared Reagan of direct involvement,

but several aids convicted

Supported trickle-down (supply-side) economicsa.k.a. ReaganomicsEmphasized tax cuts & deregulation of big

business to stimulate savings & investment○ Profits went up, but salaries did not○ Modest success: inflation down & stock trading up○ But did not improve lives of poor & working class

George H.W. Bush 1989-1993 Republican

1989: Chinese troops opened fire on students demonstrating against the communist gov’t at Tiananmen Square U.S. & others immediately placed

economic sanctions against China for approx. 1 year

Persian Gulf War (a.k.a. Desert Storm) 1990: Iraq invaded Kuwait, then ignored UN orders to

withdraw UN forces, led by the US, attacked in Jan 1991 During 2 months of fighting, 100,000 Iraqis were killed Considered a success

Immigration Act of 1990 Limited immigration to 675,000 a year Passed in response to concerns over immigration

○ Some claimed immigrants worked hard energized economy & paid taxes

○ Others worried they were taking jobs from Americans

New Right Coalition: united Christian fundamentalists & other conservativesMoral MajorityNew Federalism (transferring federal power back

to the states) popular under Reagan and George H.W. Bush

Signed the Americans with Disabilities ActCovers range of disabilities including AIDS,

mental, & physical difficultiesRequires equal access to public

transportation & facilities & outlaws job discrimination against disabled people

End of the Cold War Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars): missile

defense system designed to force the USSR to admit defeat in the Cold WarPolicy of spending billions on defense made national &

foreign debts soar under Reagan

Mikhail Gorbachev (new USSR premier) begins in 1985:Glasnost: opennessPerestroika: restructuring of the economy

& societyMet w/ Reagan to sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear

Forces Treaty: eliminated many medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe & USSR

Dec 1988: Gorbachev announced Eastern Europe could no longer count on the USSR ○ Hungary & Poland immediately hold democratic elections○ Czechoslovakia & Romania the next to fall

Berlin Wall falls in 1989

1990: East & West Germany reunited

1991: Soviet Union broke up into 11 separate republics

William Clinton 1993-2001 Democrat

1993: signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)Promotes trade between the U.S., Canada &

Mexico by eliminating tariffs & other barriersHelped improve relations between 3 countriesCritics suggest it has led to loss of 100,000s of American

manufacturing jobs

Clinton & his supporters called New Democrats: embraced traditionally Republican fiscal responsibility w/ traditionally Democratic concerns for education & social programs

Family & Medical Leave Act: requires large companies to give employees 12 weeks of annual unpaid leave

Cut federal spending & increased taxes, reducing deficit by ½ by first term; had become a surplus by end of 2nd term

Passed legislation to protect the environment

Overhauled the welfare system

Unsuccessfully tried to bring universal healthcare coverage

2000 Presidential Election VP Al Gore vs. TX Gov. George W. Bush Gore won popular vote, Bush appeared to have one

narrow electoral victory FL announces a vote recount b/c margin of victory so slim

Ballots not uniform in all FL counties, many had marked ballots improperly or ambiguously

Bush took Gore to court to stop recount○ Bush v. Gore: Supreme Court ruled

5-4 (conservatives to moderates) to stop recount & declare Bush president

Americans began calling for voting and election reform

George W. Bush 2001-2009 Republican

No Child Left Behind: Expands standardized testing, designed to prevent unqualified children from passing to the next grade

September 11, 2001:Islamic fundamentalists hijacked 4 jet liners

○ 2 planes hit the World Trade Center in New York City

○ 1 plane hit the Pentagon in Washington D.C.○ Passengers of the 4th plane crashed it into the

Pennsylvania countryside before it could make it back to D.C.

○ Plan organized & executed by al Qaeda, an international terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden

In response: ○ Patriot Act: allows gov’t more privileges in

searching phone, email, financial, etc. records○ Bush creates Department of Homeland

Security to coordinate domestic national-security efforts

○ Oct. 2001 – U.S. Invades Afghanistan, ruled by the fundamentalist Muslim group the Taliban, who was protecting bin Laden○ Have also tried to bring democracy to Afghanistan

2003: preemptive strike against Iraq, claiming the U.S. was going after nuclear weaponsAgainst instruction from UN Security CouncilOnly support came from BritainNo nuclear weapons ever found – announced after

Bush was re-electedWhite House blamed CIA for misleading information

Dec 2003 – captured & imprisoned Saddam HusseinFree elections in 2005

Resistance & involvement continues today

Barack Obama 2009- Democrat

First African American President

Concerns of his presidency:Global warming & the environmentGreen technologyThe economyWar on Terror

Fast Facts - Legislation 26th Amendment: lowered the voting age from 21

to 18Passed largely b/c of anti-Vietnam War protests

27th Amendment: if Congress voted itself a pay raise, the raise can’t go into effect until after the next congressional election, so no raise would be voted on by the individuals who would benefit from itOriginally proposed in 1789, but ratified until 1992

Title IX: outlawed gender discrimination in school programs & activities, such as athletics

Brady Bill: Requires background checks to purchase guns

Affirmative Action Programs: attempts to compensate for decades of discriminationDesigned to help African Americans specificallySchools & businesses took race & gender into account

when accepting students or hiring employeesSupporters believed it was essential to achievement of

social equalityCritics claimed applicants should be judged solely on

qualifications

Fast Facts – Supreme Court Cases Brown v Board of Education: separate is not equal,

overturned Plessy v Ferguson

Nixon v U.S.: impeachment trial for President Nixon, ordered he turn over the tapes

Roe v Wade: made abortions legal

Texas v Johnson: burning the American flag is protected under the First Amendment

Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education: busing to prevent segregation is legal

Regents of the University of California v Bakke: ended quota systems for affirmative action, described as “reversed discrimination”

Bush v Gore: The court ruled 5-4 to stop the vote recount in Florida during the 2000Decision made George W. Bush

president

Fast Facts – Domestic Issues National Association of Securities Dealers Automated

Quotations (NASDAQ): first stock exchange to use computer technology to monitor trades

Graying of America: average age of the American population is getting older, thanks to better medical care & the 1950s baby boom

Multiculturalism & Diversity: new emphasis for schools and education

Immigration: most new immigrants from Asia & MexicoAdditionally – illegal immigration from Mexico becoming

more common

The 1990s saw a decrease in jobs in manufacturing & an increase in the service and information industries

1986: the Challenger was the first space mission to have a civilian on boardExcitement turned to horror when the Challenger

exploded a minute after takeoff

1998: federal courts ruled Microsoft’s combination of its Internet browser w/ its operating system a monopoly & ordered Microsoft to break upOrder eventually overturned

Stagflation: simultaneous inflation & rising unemployment

American PoliticsAl Gore: ran against George W. Bush in 2000

○ today – campaigns to combat global warming

Geraldine Ferraro: first woman to run for VP○ Ran w/ Walter Mondale○ Lost to Ronald Reagan in 1984

Fast Facts – People

Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall: first African American

Clarence Thomas: second African American

Sandra Day O’Connor: first woman

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: second woman

Clarence Thomas

Thurgood Marshall

Sandra Day O’Connor

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

American EconomyRay Kroc: founder of McDonalds

Bill Gates: co-founder of Microsoft (with Paul Allen)

Samuel Walton: founder of Wal-Mart, the largest chain of

retail stores in the U.S.

World LeadersSaddam Hussein: Deposed military dictator

of Iraq○ Invaded Kuwait in 1991○ Was tried, convicted, and executed

for various war crimes

Osama bin Laden: leader of al Qaeda terrorist network○ Organized & funded the Sept. 11, 2001

attacks on the U.S.

Mikhail Gorbachev: last leader of the Soviet Union○ Introduced reforms of glasnost (openness)

& perestroika (restructuring)

Anwar al-Sadat: Egyptian president participated in & signed the Camp David Accords w/ Israel & the U.S.

Menachem Begin: Israeli prime minister who participated & signed the Camp David Accords w/ Egypt & the U.S.

Ayatollah Khomeini: militant Islamic leader in Iran in the 1970s & 1980s○ His followers conducted the Iran

Hostage Crisis in 1979