Ch 40 –America Confronts the PostCold War Era 1992-2000
Ch 40 – The 1990’s Essential
Questions:
• What the issues of the 1992
presidential campaign?
• What was Clinton’s domestic and
foreign policy agenda?
• What were the political events
surrounding Clinton’s impeachment?
The Election of 1992
• Issues:
–Recession
–Lack of Job Creation
–Increased Unemployment
Candidates:
George HW Bush ( R)
William J. Clinton ( D)
H. Ross Perot ( Reform Party)
Clinton-The New Democrat
• Democratic Leadership Council was formed
by Clinton and other moderate Democrats
• Pro-Economic Growth
• Strong Defense
• Anti-Crime
• Focus on the Economy- “It’s the Economy
Stupid.” …James Carville
A False Start on Reform
• Clinton wanted to end the ban on gays and
lesbians in the armed forces
• Clinton faced fierce opposition
• Settled for Don’t Ask Don’t tell policy
• Repealed in 2010
Health Care Reform
• Clinton appointed Hillary Clinton to head
a health-care reform plan
• Clinton had promised affordable health
care
• The bill never made it
through Congress
Families & Education
• Family Medical Leave Act – 12 weeks unpaid
leave for birth or adoption of a child
• Ameri-Corps Program – Students work in low
income areas as Doctors, teachers, and
cleaning up the environment.
Crime and Gun Control
• The Brady Bill was passed:
• 30 day waiting period
• Back ground checks for individuals who wished
to purchase guns.
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The Crime Bill of 1994
Funded new prisons
100,000 new police officers
Banned 19 kinds of assault weapons
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Crime and Terrorism 1990’s
Waco TX, -1993, Oklahoma City Bombing -1995
Columbine HS – 1999
World Trade Center- 1993
OKC Bombing
World Trade Center Bombing 1993
• Truck bomb in the lower garage
• Killed 6 injured 1,000
• The attack was planned by a group of
terrorists including Ramzi Yousef, Mahmud
Abouhalima, Mohammad Salameh, Nidal A.
Ayyad, Abdul Rahman Yasin and Ahmed Ajaj.
They received financing from Khaled Sheikh
Mohammed, Yousef's uncle.
Waco , TX -1993
• The Waco siege was a siege of a compound belonging to
the religious group Branch Davidians
• American federal and Texas state law enforcement and US
military between February 28 and April 19, 1993.[4]
• The Branch Davidians, a sect was led by David Koresh
1995- Timothy McVeigh uses a truck
bomb to destroy the Federal Building in
Oklahoma City
Columbine HS - 1999
• The perpetrators, senior students Eric Harris and
Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one
teacher. They injured 21 additional people, and
three more were injured while attempting to
escape the school.
Republicans Take Control of Congress 1994
• Contract with
America –Promised
term limits, a
balanced budget
amendment, tax
cuts, tough crime
laws, welfare
reform, and
Immigration
Newt Gingrinch
The Budget Battle
• In 1995 -Democrats and Republicans fought
over the upcoming budget
• Republicans ( Gingrich) wanted program cuts
• Democrats ( Clinton) wanted to keep the
programs.
• The Federal Government shut down in the
standoff for a almost a month.
Election of 1996
• Clinton (D) vs Dole ( R)
• Strong Economy and
Welfare Reform helped
Clinton
Welform Reform Act of 1996
• 1996 – Limits were put on how long
people could collect benefits
• “Block Grants” given out to states
• People moved from Welfare to
Workfare
• Strong Economy helped
Economic Boom -1990’s
• Spending was cut, taxes cut,
more spending for programs to
help children and health care
st
• Budget surplus-1 time in 30
years
• Unemployment fell, stock
market took off
Tax Credits for Children & College
Grants and Head Start
• $ 500 a year tax credit for having a child
• Health Insurance for children whose parents
could not afford it. ( CHIP in PA)
• Student grants for College
• Expansion of the Head Start Program
Clinton Racial Progress & Perils
• Affirmative Action – “Mend it , not end it.”
• Proposition 209 – CA prohibited Affirmative
action preferences in Gov. & higher ED.
• LA Riots 1992- OJ Simpson 1994 Case
• In 2000 16.6% of blacks over 25 had a BS, BA
– 26.1 % of whites
* African Americans supported Clinton by giving him
83% of the vote in 1992 & 84% in 1996.
Trade and The Global Economy (Globalization)
• 1994 -NAFTA- North American Free Trade
Agreement – Canada, US, Mexico
World Trade Organization -1994
• (WTO) Successor to GATT ( Post WWII)
• Free Trade, low or no tariffs
• Opposition fought for human and
Environmental costs ( Seattle Protests)
• Clinton hosted the WTO Conference in 1999
in Seattle
• Clinton pushed for a China trade bill
• China full US trading partner, May 2000
• Problem of Free Trade , Outsourcing of
American jobs?? ( India & Ireland)
The Feminist Revolution
• By the 1990’s nearly half of all workers were women
• Women with children as young as one year old were wage
earners ( Working Moms)
• Although women earned lower wages than men for the same job.
• Some women concentrated in lower paying occupations. “ PinkCollar Ghetto”
• “Traditional American Family” was changing
US Troops Abroad -1990’s
• 1992- US peace keepers come under fire
in the African Nation of Somalia ( Black
Hawk Down)
• 1994- Clinton dispatches troops to Haiti,
to force the military leaders to step
down’
• 1999 – NATO with US participation
launched air strikes against Serbia
Clinton’s Foreign Policy- US Troops Abroad -1990’s
• 1992- US peace keepers come under fire
in the African Nation of Somalia ( Black
Hawk Down)
• 1994- Clinton dispatches troops to Haiti,
to force the military leaders to step
down’ ( Haitian Immigration)
• 1999 – NATO with US participation
launched air strikes against Serbia
Black Hawk Down
US led NATO Actions in Serbia
• During the Cold War Yugoslavia had been a nation
of many ethnic groups
• Civil War erupted between Orthodox Christian
Serbs, Catholic Croatians, and Bosnian Muslims
• Serbs began ethnic cleansing – brutal killing of
non-Serbs.
• In 1996 & 1998 US led NATO bombed Serbia to
stop the ethnic cleansing and force them to accept
the independence of Kosovo. (US Coalition)
• Serbian leader Slobodon Milosevic was arrested for
war crimes.
NATO Actions in Serbia
Clinton’s Peacemaking in the Middle
East
• Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin & PLO
leader Yassar Arafat signed a Declaration of
Principles
• PLO recognizes Israel’s right to exist
• Israel recognized the PLO as the reps of the
Palestinian people.
• 256 bombed in Israel by radicals
• Rabin assassinated by a right wing Israeli
• In July 2000, PLO rejected that all of Gaza,
and 90% of the West Bank – New Palestine
Clinton, Arafat, and Rabin, 1993
Arab /Israeli Conflict
Palestinian Uprising
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Searching for a Post-Cold War Peace
Somalia –US Withdraw March 1994
No US involvement in Rwanda
NATO expansion to Eastern Europe
NATO Air Strikes against Serbia 1999
Clinton, Arafat, Rabin agreed to Palestinian
self rule in West Bank & Gaza. (Rabin
Assassinated)
• Al Qaeda- Attacks in Kenya, Tanzania & USS
Cole in Yemen
1998 – Two US Embassies bombed in
Africa by Al-Qaeda
2000- The bombing of the USS Cole in
Yemen , 17 sailors killed
The President Investigated
• The Clinton’s were
investigated for the
White Water land deal
in Arkansas in 1979
• Did Illegal $ go towards
Clinton’s run for
Governor?
• Independent
Investigator Kenneth
Starr led the
investigation
Clinton’s Impeachment
• Starr discovered Clinton
had an improper
relationship with a
White House Intern
• Clinton's Statement Jan
1998
• Clinton was charged
with lying under oath
and obstruction of
justice
• Senate could not
convict him
The Election of 2000
• Al Gore (D)- VP Clinton, former Senator from TN
– Middle Class tax cuts, strengthen Social Security
• George W. Bush – Son of George HW Bush,
Governor of Texas
– Massive Tax Cuts , School Vouchers, small gov.
*Controversy in Florida – Recounts were not conducted
by uniform standards and were halted by the Supreme
Court – Bush won by less than 2,000 votes
The Longest Election
Votes by County