Gerald Ford
0 September 8 1974–
President Ford Pardoned
Richard Nixon
0 Popularity rate fell!
0 One week late he offered
clemency, official
forgiveness to Vietnam
draft evaders—
Gerald Ford
0 Whip Inflation Now—
WIN!
0 Cut back on their use
of oil and gas and to
take other energy
saving measures
0 Plan fell flat, interest
rates soared—worse
economic recession in
40 yrs.
Gerald Ford
0 Foreign Policy—
0 Nov. 1974, meeting with
Leonid Brezhnev
0 Helsinki, Finland—35
nations, including USSR,
signed the Helsinki
Accords
0 Series of Agreements
that promised greater
cooperation between
the nations of Eastern
and Western Europe
Jimmy Carter
0 Domestic Policies
0 National Energy Act—
0 The act placed a tax on
gas-guzzling cars,
removed price
controls on oil and
natural gas produced
in the U.S. and
extended tax credits
for the development of
alternative energy
Jimmy Carter
0 Civil Rights
0 Andrew Young
0 U.S. Ambassador to
United Nations
0 Judicial Branch
0 28 African Americans
0 29 Women
0 14 Latinos
0 Turn Against
Affirmative Action!
Jimmy Carter
0 U.S. Foreign Policy—
“Human Rights”
0 Promoting freedoms
and liberties listed in
the Declaration of
Independence and Bill
of Rights
0 Cutting off aid to
Argentina and Brazil
Jimmy Carter
0 Panama Canal
0 1914-US owned Panama
Canal
0 Hated having country
split in half
0 1977-nation agreed to
treaty turning over canal
on Dec. 31, 1999
0 Improved relations
between US and Latin
America
Jimmy Carter
0 CAMP DAVID
ACCORDS-
0 (1977) Egyptian
President Anwar elSadat and Israeli Prime
Minister Begin
0 Peace talks deadlocked
in Jerusalem
0 (1978) invited to Camp
David—a presidential
retreat in Maryland
0 12 days of intense
negotiation
0 Camp David Accords—
0 Israel agreed to
withdraw from the
peninsula which it had
captured from Egypt—
0 Egypt formally
recognized Israel’s
right to exist
Jimmy Carter
0 IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS0 (Jan 1979) Shah of Iran
overthrown by
Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini
0 Established a religious
state based on Quran
0 Allowed the Shah to
enter the US for cancer
treatment—made
revolutionaries angry!
0 Nov. 4, 1979—armed
students seized the US
embassy in Tehran and
took 52 American
hostages
0 RETURN FOR TRIAL!
0 (1980) attempted rescue
mission---killing 8
0 New Election: Reagan
and Bush
0 444 days later, hostages
were released
Ronald Reagan
0 Republican 1981-1989
0 Vice President: George
W. Bush
Assassination Attempt
0 Two months into office (March 31, 1981), Reagan
was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
0 Hinckley shot six rounds:
0 One bullet ricocheted off the limousine and went
into Reagan’s left side, bounced off a rib and stopped
an inch from his heart
0 One bullet hit press secretary James Brady in the
head and left him paralyzed
0 Two others were severely wounded
John Hinckley Jr. Assassination
Attempt on President Ronald Reagan
Problems in Nicaragua
0 Americans in Nicaragua since 1912 to protect our
Latin American Interests
0 Samoza (dictator of the country) ruled for 42 yrs
before facing opposition
0 To keep control, he rigged elections and
assassinated political rivals
0 1977-1979 A Civil War Broke out between
0 The Contras (known as the “rebels”, they were
Samoza’s guardsmen)
0 The Sandinistas (the rebels who overthrew the
regime)
Problems in Nicaragua
0 (1979) The Carter Administration funded the new
Sandinista regime, along with the Soviet Union
and Cuba
0 (1981) The Reagan Administration fully
supported the Contras (“rebel” guardsmen)
0 Government refused any further funding for fear
of another “Vietnam”
0 The Reagan Administration found other ways to
fund the Contras……..BUT HOW?!?
Iran-Contra Scandal
0 At the same time, there is a war going between
Iraq and Iran
0 Reagan denounced Iran and urged U.S. allies not to
sell weapons to Iran
0 In 1983, a terrorist group loyal to Iran took a
number of American hostages in Lebanon
0 Behind the scenes, in exchanges for hostages,
Reagan agreed to sell weapons to Iran….
0 He took the money and sent it to Nicaragua to fund
the Contras!
0 Arms negotiations were published in a Lebanese
newspaper---White House denied the deal
0 Televised congressional hearing, National Security
Adviser (John Poindexter) admitted that he had
approved the scheme BUT he didn’t tell the President
0 Lt. Colonel Oliver North, a White House ambassador,
took the blame and admitted to lying and falsifying
documents
0 Both North and Poindexter were charged with
conspiracy—North’s charges were later dropped when
the Reagan Administration refused to release classified
documents
Ronald Reagan
0 Strategic Defense
Initiative (SDI)
0 Tons of money spent
0 Proposed a
technological system
called “STAR WARS”
0 In theory—it could
detect and intercept
missiles fired at the
U.S.
“Peace Through Strength”
0 Gorbachev’s New
Policies:
0 Glasnost—
0 openness and more
freedom for the Soviet
People
0 Perstroika—
0 His plan to restructure
their economy and
govn’t; began to move
toward some capitalist
ideas
“Peace Through Strength”
0 INF Treaty
(Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces)
0 Limited two classes of
weapons systems in
Europe
0 Formed a friendship
with Grobachev
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!
”
“Reaganomics”—trickle
down theory
0 It gave tax cuts to the consumers, then ideally the
consumers had more money to spend, spurring the
economy
0 By 1983, the inflation rate had dropped to 4%; business
and the stock market soared, and unemployment dropped
as well as interest rates
0 PROBLEMS: did not help the poor, stockbrokers took
advantage of the relaxed government policies and
bought/sold stock on overvalued prices
0 1984 Election—
0 Walter Mondale
chose Geraldine
Ferraro as his
running mate
0 She became the first
female from a major
party to run on a
national ballot
0 ERA (Equal Rights
Amendment)
0 Failure to Ratify
0 Appointment of
Conservative Supreme
Court Justices
0 Sandra Day O’Conner-
0 Women’s movement
remained strong
0 Ratification process
first woman justice
0 Antonin Scalia
0 William Rehnquistchief justice in 1986
bogged down
0 Appointed by Reagan:
0 ERA failed in 1982
(three states short)
ALL 3 WERE
CONSERVATIVE
JUSTICES!
REHNQUIST (TOP)
SCALIA (BOTTOM)
SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER-Explodes after
take-off with the nation’s schools watching live–
the first teacher to go up in space
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
0 Major Problem of the 80s
0 Virus destroying the
immune system
0 Weakens the body
making it susceptible to
infections and cancer
0 Homosexual men or
intravenous drug users
sharing needles
George Bush
0 Foreign Affairs:
0 Students in China
began to demand
freedom of speech and
a voice
0 April 1989—marches
in Tiananmen Square
0 Ordered military to
crush students—
slaughtering unarmed
students
0 Operation Desert Storm:
0 Saddam Hussein (leader of Iraq) in massive war debts
0 Claimed Kuwait was really part of Iraq
0 Aug. 2, 1990: Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait and headed
toward Saudi Arabia
0 Operation Desert Storm: to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi
control
0 Jan. 16, 1991: a massive air assault against Iraq
0 Feb. 23, 1991: a successful ground offensive from Saudi
Arabia
0 Feb. 28, 1991: Bush announces a cease-fire…Kuwait was
liberated!
George Bush
0 Domestic Affairs:
0 Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA)
0 Lowered Legal and
physical obstacles for
the physically
challenged
0 Approved in 1990
(5) NAFTA
0 Clinton promoted another controversial issue during this period
regarding free trade.
0 1993: Clinton supported the North
American Free
Trade Agreement for ratification by the U.S. Senate.
eliminating many of the
tariffs set on products traded among
the United States, Canada and Mexico
NAFTA called for
On February 26, 1993, a
massive bomb exploded in the
(7)
World
Trade
parking garage of the north
Center Bombing
tower of the World Trade
Center building in New York
City, killing six people and
leaving a crater six stories deep
in the building's basement
floors
0 Planned by a group of terrorists
of Middle Eastern descent;
Ramzi Yousef is known as the
“mastermind”
0
(11) Oklahoma City Bombing
0 April 19, 1995: a truck
bomb destroyed a
federal building in OK
City, killing 168 people
0 destroyed about half of the building, damaged/destroyed
300 other buildings, and was felt as far as 30 miles away
0 Timothy McVeigh was charged with the crime (most
likely reason was he was mad at the government for the Waco
incident)and was executed on June 11, 2001
0 Accomplice Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison
0 Largest act of US terrorism until 9-11
Timothy McVeigh, 26
OK City bombing memorial
Bombing Casualties
0 The toll eventually reached 168 confirmed dead, not
including an unmatched leg that might be from a
possible, unidentified 169th victim. Of these, 160 were
killed in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, four
people in the Athenian Building, one woman in a parking
lot across the street, a man and woman in the Oklahoma
Water Resources building, and a rescue worker struck in
the head by debris. The victims ranged in age from
three months to seventy-three, not including unborn
children of three pregnant women. Nineteen of the
victims were children, including fifteen who were in
the America's Kids Day Care Center
(13) Unabomber
Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski
is an American mathematician who
carried out a campaign of bombings
and mail bombings which killed three
people and wounded 23.
His brother recognized his picture and
turned him in
(15) Clinton Impeachment
0 1998: 2nd president to be impeached by
the House of Representatives (the other
being Andrew Johnson).
0 Two charges against him were for perjury
and obstruction of justice. The perjury charge
arose from Clinton's testimony about his relationship to
Monica Lewinsky during a sexual harassment lawsuit
(later dismissed, appealed and settled for $850,000)
brought by former Arkansas-state employee Paula Jones.
The obstruction charge was based on his actions during
the investigation of that testimony. Acquitted by
Senate
Dan Rather repeatedly said the Democratic argument that Kenneth
Starr's investigation of the Monica Lewinsky matter was about Bill
Clinton's personal life and sex. He chooses not to relay the
Republican view that Clinton may have committed perjury or
obstruction of justice.
Paula Jones; Clinton
Monica Lewinsky; Clinton
42. George Walker Bush
2001- Present (R)
Birth/Death:
1946Elected from:
Texas
Vice President:
Dick Cheney
(1) The 2000 Election/ Supreme Court
Intervention
0 FL’s 25 electoral votes were in question.
0 Bush led the popular vote in FL by < 2,000.
0 FL law required a recount.
0 Supreme Court
0 December 12, 2000
0 Bush v. Gore awarded
FL to Bush.
0 1st president
in over 100
years to win electoral
vote, but not the popular.
(2) Sept. 11, 2001
0 8 months into Bush’s
first term
0 19 terrorists (under bin Laden’s orders)
0 2 airline passenger jets into the Twin Towers (NYC)
0 1 into the Pentagon (DC), and one on way to DC that was
taken over by passengers and crashed in PA.
0 3,000 Americans die within an hour and a half. Rudy
Giuliani becomes “America’s Mayor.”
(3) No Child Left Behind
0 Education plan to increase efforts to fully
educate every child.
0 Schools are held more accountable (state
testing)
0 Federal and state governments have
increased education spending.
(4) Invasion of Afghanistan:
0 Beginning of George W’s “War on
Terrorism”
0 Purpose: to capture Osama bin Laden,
destroy al-Qaeda, and remove the
Taliban regime which had provided
support and safe harbor to al-Qaeda.
0 Oct. 7, 2001: US and Great Britain begin
strategic air strikes.
0 The U.S.-led Coalition is credited
with removing the Taliban from
power and seriously crippling alQaeda and associated militants in
both Afghanistan and neighboring
Pakistan.
0 U.S. has maintained its presence in
Afghanistan ever since, fighting
continued opposition by Muslim
extremists.
(5) USA Patriot Act (2001)
0 " Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism Act of 2001"
0 The Act expanded the authority of US law enforcement
agencies for the stated purpose of fighting terrorism in the
United States and abroad.
0 Very Controversial- supposedly “suppresses civil
liberties”
(6) Enron/ World Com/ Big
Business Bankruptcy (2002)
0 Enron- Energy Co. out of Houston, TX
0 Employs/ Investors lost millions because of accounting
fraud
0 Inflated profits and assets
0 World Com- Telecommunication Co. out of Clinton, MS
0 CEOs took money (loan) and inflated assets
0 Bernie Ebbers: CEO now serving a 25 year jail sentence!
(7) Space Shuttle Columbia
Disaster
0 Feb. 1, 2003
0 Caused by damage sustained during launch when a piece of
foam insulation from the external fuel tank peeled off
during the launch 16 days earlier, puncturing the edge of the
wing.
0 Upon re-entry, hot gases entered the wing, destroying
the support structure. The shuttle disintegrated over
Texas.
(8) Invasion of Iraq/ Capture of
Saddam Hussein (2003)
0 March 20, 2003- US and GB forces invade
Iraq after the UN would not invade.
0 The Iraqi military was defeated, and Baghdad
fell on April 9.
0 On May 1, U.S. declared the end of major
combat operations, terminating the
Ba’ath’s party rule and removing Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein from office.
0 Coalition forces ultimately captured
Saddam Hussein on Dec. 13, 2003.
(13) Hurricane Katrina (2005)
0 August 23, 2005- Category 5
0 Costliest and one of deadliest
in history
0 Gulf Coast
0 Over 1800 people killed
0 Haley and Ray
(14) Saddam Hussein is convicted &
hanged (2006)
0 Dec. 13, ’03: Captured by U.S. forces
0 Brought to trial under the Iraqi interim
government set up by U.S.-led forces.
0 Nov. 5,’06: Convicted of executing 148 Iraqi
Shi'ites  sentenced to death by hanging.
0 Dec. 30, ’06: Executed