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LBJ’s Great Society – Welfare Reform
Medicare– Care for the
Elderly
Medicaid– Aid to the Poor
Food Stamps Program
Most of the programs failed because of money being spent on defense (WAR!)
Affirmative Action Confirmed
• University of California v. Bakke
• Bakke sued university that his rights were being violated by the mandatory admission program that required a quota of minority students be admitted
• After being beaten by the Police at the Stonewall Inn, Homosexual people began to riot and for a movement to gain equality.
Watergate Scandal
• G. Gordon Liddy headed the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP)• Authorized to fund a “black-ops” info finding mission against the Democratic
Party• In attempt to wire-tap the DNC office at the Watergate Hotel burglars were
arrested• Through investigative journalism led by Woodward & Bernstein of the
Washington Post Nixon and his administration were implicated• House moved to impeach, but recently reelected President Nixon resigned
before the vote
* Interesting note – Fred Thompson served on the investigative Watergate Committee
OPEC Oil Embargo
• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
• Reaction to U.S. support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War
Jimmy Carter Wins Election
• Inherits Inflation Problems
• Stagflation – combination of decrease in value of money and low corporate output
• Banned the use of DDT
• Response to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring– A “strange stillness” had replaced the sound
of birds
Luke Saved the Galaxy
Elvis Overdosed
Travolta Lit Up the Disco Stage
Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official in San
Francisco – he was later assassinated
Jonestown Massacre
• Over 900 followers of the People’s Temple Cult and the Reverend James Jones committed mass murder/suicide
Carter’s “Finest Hour”
Camp David Accords summit with Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin - 2 Frameworks: Sinai returned to Egypt, West Bank and Gaza, "autonomy" to PLO
Iran-Hostage Crisis
• U.S. sponsored government in Iran is overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeni
• Student Protestors take hostages at US Embassy
Ronald Reagan Wins
the 1980 Election
• “Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?”
• Electoral Votes 486-49
• Former Actor and governor of California
• “Win one for the Gipper!”
Cold War Heats Up
• Support Mujahedeen in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union
• Send Stinger missiles
"Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act."
• U.S. becomes the global arms merchant selling fighters and weapons to the world
• (Remember the “military-industrial complex” Eisenhower warned against?)
G.I. Joe Rereleased
“…we have moved to reconstruct our national defenses. We intend to keep the peace--we will also keep our freedom."
1982 – Relinquish Iraq from sanctions and begin selling arms to them to support their war against
Iran
Urged Americans not to ignore "the aggressive
impulses of an evil empire."
• SDI – Strategic Defense Initiative– Missile/Laser Defense
system to destroy nuclear attack in the atmosphere
– “Star Wars”
Israel attacked Lebanon and Reagan sent troops to keep the
Peace. October 1983 a terrorist drove a van full of explosives into
the Marine barracks.
1984 Election
Gary Hart loses lead after Scandal The Boss yells at
Reagan for using his anti-Vietnam song as a political campaign song.
Geraldine Ferraro runs for VP
The Era of Big Government is Over!• Supply-Side Economics (Trickle Down Theory/Voodoo
Economics)• Tax cuts provide more money for use in saving and
investing• Mostly benefited the wealthy who were supposed to
invest their increased profits in more jobs and production
Deregulation
Cut back on government regulations in airlines, technology, phone services, etc. would hopefully stimulate the economy after the 1982 recession. (Also, increase federal insurance for Savings & Loans.)
Iran-Contra Affair Broadcast on TV• NSC applied money gained from selling weapons to Iran
in order to fund the Contra opposition forces in Nicaragua
• “I do not recall.” Did the president know?
Black Monday October 19th 1987
• Stock Market Crashed by more than 25%, larger than in 1929.– Thank goodness for consumer spending!
In November 1989, the Berlin Wall Opened for Good!
• Triumph of Solidarity in Poland marked the beginning of the fall
• Boris Yeltsin wins first free elections in Russia in 1991
When hundreds of Savings and Loans banks went bankrupt in the 1980s, the U.S. government bailed them out by transferring about $500 billion from U.S. taxpayers to a select group of extremely rich, powerful people.
The industry was deregulated under the Reagan/Bush administration and restrictions were eased on the industry so much that abuse and misuse of funds became easy, rampant, and went unchecked. Each of the Bush family benefited from this payout.
Bush announced at 9 pm Feb. 28 "Kuwait is liberated. Iraq's army is
defeated. I am pleased to announce that at midnight tonight,
exactly 100 hours since ground operations began and six weeks
since the start of Operation Desert Storm, all United States and coalition forces will suspend
offensive operations."
The beating of Rodney King by four LA police Mar. 3 was captured on videotape, riots would break out May 1-2, 1992, after an all-white jury acquitted the four policemen, and Bush mobilized 5000 Marines and troops to help the National Guard restore order. Like rap music, the Rodney King videotape expressed in the mass media the frustration and anger of the urban poor.
Ice T advocated murdering police in his "Cop Killer" of 1992
Clarence Thomas Approved for Supreme Court
David Koresh and 95 followers of his Branch Davidian cult in Waco, TX
committed suicide or burned to death in the fire caused by an attack by FBI
armored vehicles April 19, 1993
Hillary Clinton pushed for Universal Health Care
• Could not overcome the established power of the health lobbies or the fears of socialized anything in the post-Cold War era.
Clinton announced July 19 the "Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy to allow gays to serve in the
military
George Bush sent some marines in Op. Restore Hope to protect relief
missions, but warlord Mohamed Aidid would not concede control of Mogadishu. After 17
Rangers were killed in Mogadishu Oct. 3,
portrayed in the Black Hawk Down book and film, Clinton within 6
months withdrew American forces from
Somalia.
N.A.F.T.A.• North American Free Trade Agreement
– Ended tariffs with Canada and Mexico to increase production
– Factories moved to Maquiladoras across Mexican-American border
Midterm Elections of 1994 a Setback
• Republicans used their Contract with America to win the midterm election Nov. 9 to gain control of the Senate 53-47 and the House 230-204 for the first time since 1954, and Newt Gingrich would become the Speaker of the House
Oklahoma City Bombing
• April 19, 1995
• Timothy McVeigh
• Domestic Terrorism
• Many Children Killed
Too Many ScandalsKenneth Starr was appointed to Independent Counsel to investigate the death of the deputy White House counsel Vince Foster and the Whitewater land transactions by President Bill Clinton.
IMPEACHMENT!!!• The House voted to impeach Clinton Dec. 19,
1998• The trial, which ran from Jan. 7 to Feb. 12, 1999,
ended in the president's acquittal on the two charges against him, perjury and obstruction of justice
Response to Embassy Bombings
in Africa• America fired a
volley of more than 70 cruise missiles in August at guerrilla training camps in Afghanistan
• Bombed chemical plant in the Sudan reportedly operated by the Saudi multimillionaire Osama bin Laden
George W. Bush (47.8%) defeated Al Gore (48.3%) and Ralph Nader (2.7%) in the presidential election
Nov. 6
• Election undecided for 5 weeks due to conflicting counts of the Florida ballots
• U.S. v. Florida - Supreme Court Dec. 12 overruled the Florida state court decision to recount, giving Florida's 25 electoral votes
• Gore won 500,000 more popular votes than Bush nationwide
•Regents Hint: Sometimes the popular winner does not win the Electoral College [Inherit problem with the Electoral College]
Bush v. Gore
War on Terrorism
• Commission finds Osama Bin Laden and Al Queda responsible for WTC Bombing
• Attack Afghanistan to destroy the Taliban who support Al Queda
Extend War on terrorism into Iraq
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Supporter of Terrorists
• UN Weapons Inspectors Report finds no evidence: Bush loses Coalition/UN support
May 17th, 2004
• Massachusetts Supreme Court decided it was a violation of the state constitution to deny same-sex couples access to marriage
• Election Day 2008 – California voters revoked this same right
Federal Reserve Gains Control over Economy
• Controls Interest Rates & Production of Currency in order to make monetary policy
Alan Greenspan
Housing Boom!
• Banks offer low interest rates on mortgages and “subprime” rates for those with lower income.
• Suburbs expand into the “BIG” houses of new construction
• Interest Rates rise suddenly and many people cannot afford the raise in the cost of their monthly mortgage
“Too Big To Fail”
• Investment banks like AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bank of America begin to fail as their investments in unsafe mortgage protections bottom out.
Government Rescues Economy?
• End of Bush presidency the government passed a multi-trillion dollar bill to assist our economy from falling into too deep of an recession.
• Unemployment Rate currently 9.4%