THE AMERICAN JOURNEY A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

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1 THE AMERICAN JOURNEY A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Brief Sixth Edition Chapter 31 Complacency, Crisis, and Global Reengagement

2 Complacency, Crisis, and Global Reengagement Politics of the Center A New Economy? Broadening Democracy Edging into a New Century Paradoxes of Power Conclusion

3 Learning Objectives How did Bill Clinton try to capture the political center? What role did new information technologies play in the economic boom of the 1990s? What gains did women and minorities make in national politics in the 1990s? What were the key elements of George W. Bush s agenda?

4 Learning Objectives (cont'd) What were the causes of the Great Recession? How did the government and the American people respond to the enormous challenges of the first decade of the twenty-first century?

5 Politics of the Center

6 The Election of 1992: A New Generation The mid-1990s witnessed the coming of age of Generation X. The generational change contributed to the volatility of the 1990s. Democrat Bill Clinton faced George Bush and independent Ross Perot in the 1992 election.

7 The Election of 1992: A New Generation (cont d) Bush campaigned as a foreign policy expert while Clinton hammered away at economic issues and Perot s erratic behavior reduced his appeal. Clinton won the 1992 election.

8 MAP 31 1 The Election of 1992

9 Policing the World Clinton reluctantly committed the United States to a multinational effort to end the bloody civil war in Bosnia in In 1999, the U.S. joined a NATO intervention in Kosovo.

10 Policing the World (cont'd) The new Europe changed NATO. A key step was expansion into the former Soviet sphere in eastern Europe. Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic joined NATO in In 1995, Russia was given a formal role in discussion of NATO policy issues.

11 Clinton s Neoliberalism Clinton envisioned a partnership between a leaner government and a dynamic private sector. The 1994 crime bill included money to hire more police, funded anticrime programs, and banned certain kinds of assault rifles. Clinton s major failure was an inability to pass comprehensive healthcare legislation.

12 Clinton s Neoliberalism (cont d) Neoliberal - Advocate of or participant in the effort to reshape the Democratic Party for the 1990s around a policy emphasizing economic growth and competitiveness in the world economy.

13 Contract with America and the Election of 1996 The official Republican campaign platform of the 1994 election was the Contract with America that called for a revolutionary reduction in federal responsibilities.

14 Contract with America and the Election of 1996 (cont'd) A battle over the budget between Clinton and the Republican Congress shut down the government for three weeks. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and his congressional allies were painted by Democrats and in the media as a radical fringe.

15 Contract with America and the Election of 1996 (cont'd) In 1996, Congress passed the Temporary Assistance Needy Families program to end welfare as it had been. Clinton was reelected in 1996.

16 Contract with America and the Election of 1996 (cont'd) Contract with America - Platform on which many Republican candidates ran for Congress in Associated with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, it proposed a sweeping reduction in the role and activities of the federal government.

Contract with America and the Election of 1996 (cont'd) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) - Federal program created in 1996 to replace

17 Contract with America and the Election of 1996 (cont'd) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) - Federal program created in 1996 to replace earlier welfare programs to aid families and children; it involves explicit work requirements for receiving aid and places a time limit on benefits.

18 The Dangers of Everyday Life Random violence, including murders in schools and the capture of the Unabomber, shocked Americans. The FBI raid in Waco, Texas killed over 80 people. The bombing of the federal office building in Oklahoma City killed 169 people and raised the specter of domestic terrorism.

19 The Dangers of Everyday Life (cont'd) The Brady Handgun Violence Prevent Act or Brady Bill set up a waiting period and background checks on gun purchases. Gun control was political dynamite. The prison boom was stimulated by the drug war and caused diversion of state funds from education and healthcare. The crime rate fell steadily after 1991.

20 Morality and Partisanship President Clinton s personal life was the hot news of the late 1990s. Questions about Whitewater and sexual indiscretions plagued Clinton from 1994 until he left office. In 1998, Republican House leaders impeached Clinton but the Senate did not convict him.

21 Morality and Partisanship (cont'd) Whitewater - Arkansas real estate development in which Bill and Hillary Clinton were investors; several fraud convictions resulted from investigations into Whitewater, but evidence was not found that the Clintons were involved in wrongdoing.

22 A New Economy?

23 A New Economy? The Y2K problem illustrated how much the American economy had changed in the preceding decade. The electronic revolution had transformed it into a global economy that depended on computing to manage and transmit vast quantities of data.

24 The Prosperous 1990s From 1992 to 2000, American enjoyed nine years of continuous economic expansion. Unemployment dropped, the stock market soared, and the number of Americans living in poverty dropped. The economic boom turned government deficits into surpluses.

25 The Prosperous 1990s (cont d) Substantial gains in the efficiency of the American economy stood behind the rosy statistics.

26 Politics of the Center (cont'd) Internet - The system of interconnected computers and servers that allows the exchange of , posting of websites, and other means of instant communication.

27 Presidential Impeachment

28 The Service Economy At the beginning of the 21st century, America was a service economy. The information service economy flourished in academies, hospitals, and business. The rise of the service economy had political implications.

29 The High-Tech Sector Invention of the microprocessor in 1971 stimulated the computer industry. Local regions such as Silicon Valley emerged as centers of high technology. Extraordinary capacity in computer capacity drove the electronic boom by vastly increasing the capacities and portability of computers.

30 The High-Tech Sector (cont'd) The computer industry generated an accompanying software industry. Personal computers and consumer electronics became part of everyday life.

31 Politics of the Center (cont'd) Silicon Valley - The region of California between San Jose and San Francisco that holds the nation s greatest concentration of electronics firms.

32 An Instant Society Cable television reflected the fragmentation of American society and the increasing dependence on instant communication. Americans had dozens of cable channels to choose from for entertainment, information, and sports. The electronic society in the 1990s learned to use for communication and access information via the Internet.

33 An Instant Society (cont'd) Dotcom businesses experienced a boom in the late 1990s. Cellphones also transformed communications. World Wide Web - Since 1991, the Web has expanded the use of the Internet by allowing organizations and companies to create websites that place political and commercial information only a few clicks away from wired consumers.

34 In the World Market Instant access to business and financial information accelerated the globalization of the American economy. The North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994 aimed to expand foreign trade by cutting tariffs and creating a free trade zone.

35 In the World Market (cont'd) The World Trade Organization replaced GATT in 1996 and became the target of a global protest movement. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - Agreement reached in 1993 by Canada, Mexico, and the United States to substantially reduce barriers to trade.

36 In the World Market (cont'd) World Trade Organization - International organization that sets standards and practices for global trade, and the focus of international protests over world economic policy in the late 1990s.

37 Broadening Democracy

38 Americans in 2000 The American population increased by 13.2 percent in the 1990s. The West grew the fastest with Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and Idaho recorded the highest percentage rates. Las Vegas was the fastest growing city. Rural counties in the Great Plains and Appalachia continued to empty out.

39 Americans in 2000 (cont'd) Increasing ethnic and racial diversity was another trend. Hispanics were the fastest growing group. A multi-ethnic baby boom began.

40 TABLE 31 1 Immigrants , by Continent and by Twenty

41 TABLE 31 2 States with Highest Proportions of Minority

42 Women from the Grass Roots to Congress The increasing prominence of women and family in national politics bore fruit in the 1990s. Women became much more prominent in federal government positions, reflecting their growing importance in grassroots politics.

43 Women from the Grass Roots to Congress (cont d) Regional difference have affected women s political gains. The West has long been more open to women in state and local government. Minorities at the Ballot Box The growing diversity helped black and Latino candidates for office.

44 MAP 31 2 Women in Professional and Managerial Occupations, 2001

45 Minorities at the Ballot Box The growing diversity helped black and Latino candidates for office. By 1983, three of the nation s four largest cities had an African American mayor and in 1989 Virginia elected the first African American governor. Political rebalancing to voting by districts often helped minority candidates.

46 Minorities at the Ballot Box (cont d) At the national level, minorities gradually increased their representation in Congress.

47 FIGURE 31 1 Minorities and Women in Congress,

48 Rights and Opportunities Illegal immigration has had an economic impact because illegal immigrants fill jobs nobody else wants. High immigration can strain local government budgets and led to Proposition 187 in 1994 that cut off access to programs serving illegal immigrants.

49 Rights and Opportunities (cont'd) A symbolic issue was the degree to which American institutions should accommodate non-english speakers. Twenty-six states declared English their official language. Established in the 1960s, affirmative action came under heavy criticism leading to actions that reduced minority enrollment in higher education institutions.

50 Rights and Opportunities (cont'd) Proposition California legislation adopted by popular vote in California in 1994, which cuts off state-funded health and education benefits to undocumented or illegal immigrants. Affirmative Action - A set of policies to open opportunities in business and education for members of minority groups and women by allowing race and sex to be factors included in decisions to hire, award contracts, or admit students to higher education programs.

51 Rights and Opportunities (cont'd) University of California v. Bakke - U.S. Supreme Court case in 1978 that allowed race to be used as one of several factors in college and university admission decisions but made rigid quotas unacceptable.

52 Edging Into a New Century

53 The 2000 Election The election of 2000 ended with a series of legal actions that affirmed Republican George W. Bush as the victor over Democrat Al Gore. The disputed outcome showed the nation was divided around a strong center.

54 MAP 31 3 The Election of 2000

55 Reaganomics Revisited Bush introduced massive tax cuts and deregulation. Education legislation represented a compromise that called for national testing.

56 TABLE 31 3 Economic Inequality: 2008

57 Downsized Diplomacy The Bush administration discarded negotiation for adoption of unilateral or bilateral policies.

58 Downsized Diplomacy (cont d) Bush opted out of a series of treaties and negotiations on global issues. The administration undercut efforts to implement the Convention on Biological Warfare and refused to sign efforts to reduce the international trade in armaments.

59 Downsized Diplomacy (cont d) Bush also decided not to implement the START II treaty, a major accomplishment of his father s administration.

60 Paradoxes of Power

61 September 11, 2001 The Al-Qaeda network planned and implemented the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The events of September 11 were an enormous shock to Americans. Worries about terrorism were not new. Detailed warnings had been given in the report of the U.S. National Commission on National Security in the 21st Century.

62 Flames shoot from the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York

63 Security and Conflict Bush called the terrorist attacks acts of war and launched the war on terrorism. Congress gave the president sweeping powers and later passed the PATRIOT Act and approved the reorganization of the government.

64 Security and Conflict (cont'd) PATRIOT Act - Federal legislation adopted in 2001, in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, intended to facilitate antiterror actions by federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

65 Iraq and Conflicts in the Middle East Bush named Iraq, North Korea, and Iran an axis of evil. The United States watched as the Israeli- Palestinian agreements for transition to a Palestinian state collapsed. In spring and summer of 2002, the Bush administration began preparations for war against Iraq.

66 MAP 31 4 U.S. Military Involvement in Western Asia

67 Hurricane and Financial Storm After Bush s solid re-election in 2004, American commitment to its presence to Iraq was reaffirmed, eventually leading to the creation of a functioning government. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast at the end of 2005, as the slowness and inadequacy of the emergency response raised serious doubts about the government s effectiveness.

68 Hurricane and Financial Storm (cont'd) Financial disaster struck in 2008 in a cascading effect led by the collapse of the real estate market and the subprime mortgage crisis. A huge influx of government bailout funds was deployed to stabilize critical sectors of the economy. Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) - Federal program in 2008 to purchase or guarantee shaky bank assets to protect the economy from widespread bank failures.

69 The Obama Phenomenon With the election of Barack Obama in 2008, the United States passed an important step in its national maturity by electing an African American as president. The enthusiasm of Obama s campaign quickly gave way to political realities. By 2010, the American people no longer trusted either party to deliver the change they desired.

70 MAP 31 5 The Election of 2008

71 Core Support for Republicans and Democrats in 2008

72 Conclusion

73 Conclusion Interconnection was a major theme of the 1990s and early 2000s. Closely connected to the internationalized economy was the nation s growing diversity. The events of September 11 sparked a renewed sense of national unity.

74 FIGURE 31 2 The United States in the Global Economy

CHAPTER 26 THE UNITED STATES IN TODAY S WORLD

CHAPTER 26 THE UNITED STATES IN TODAY S WORLD SECTION 1 THE 1990s AND THE NEW MILLENNIUM Clinton Becomes President 1992 Ross Perot Reform Party The New Democrat Clinton vowed to move away from traditional