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 3 rd 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 1 st 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 1 st 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- 14 th Amendment equal protec9on Bush wins presidency 271-266 Gore won popular vote (1 st 9me since 1888)
The Buderfly Ballot
Bush s 1 st 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
Invasion of Iraq began on March 19, 2003, less than 1 month Baghdad had fallen, Saddam driven from power 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
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 1 st 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