George W. Bush + Barack Obama-The 2000’s to the Present
I.
Biography-George Walker Bush (R-TX) a.
Governor of Texas b.
Campaign of 2000-Compassionate Conservative + Florida Recount c.
Cabinet-Most Diverse in US History i.
VP-Dick Cheney ii.
Sec. of State-Colin Powell (1 st
term) + Condoleeza Rice (2 nd
Term) iii.
Director of CIA-Gen. Michael Hayden-Pittsburgh
II.
Foreign Policy-“Peace is Earned through Strength”-February 10, 2001 a.
Bush Doctrine-right to pre-emptive strikes b.
China-Hu Jintao-April 1, 2001-Captured spy plane + crew (12) c.
September 11, 2001 i.
8:45-American Flight 11-Boston-North Tower of WTC ii.
9:03-United Flight 175-Boston-South Tower of WTC iii.
9:43-American Flight 77-Dulles-Crashed into the Pentagon iv.
10:10-United Flight 93-Newark-Crashed in Somerset, PA d.
Announcement of a Global War on Terror-September 20, 2001 e.
Operation Enduring Freedom-October 7, 2001-Hunt for Osama Bin Laden i.
President Hamid Karzai ii.
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan-Constitution passed January 5, 2004 iii.
Operation Mountain Thrust f.
Withdrawal from 1972 ABM Treaty-March 13, 2002 g.
Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty (SORT)-May 24, 2002-Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin h.
Axis of Evil Speech-May 6, 2002-Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Libya, Syria i.
Iraq War-September 12, 2002-Bush calls for regime change at UN in Iraq i.
November 8, 2002-UN Resolution 1441-no tolerance of defiance of international law ii.
February 5, 2003-Colin Powell presents evidence of WMD at UN iii.
March 20, 2003-Start of the Iraq War-General Tommy Franks-Coalition of the Willing (17) iv.
March 23, 2003-“Shock & Awe” Air Campaign against Baghdad v.
April 9, 2003-US troops take Baghdad vi.
May 1, 2003-Mission Accomplished in Iraq Speech-aboard USS Abraham Lincoln vii.
July 22, 2003-Uday + Qusay Hussein killed-Apache rocket attack viii.
December 14, 2003-Saddam captured near Tikrit ix.
March 8, 2004-Iraqi Constitution passed-Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki x.
July 9, 2004-Senate oversight committee criticizes pre-war Iraq intelligence xi.
October 7, 2004-Iraq has no WMD’s-Hans Blix-Chief US weapons inspector xii.
June 11, 2007-Surge into Iraq-21,500 more troops
1.
Failures of Iraq a.
Rumsfeld Doctrine-not enough troops (lighter, faster) b.
Debaathification c.
Abu Ghraib prison scandal-April 30, 2004 j.
Tsumani in Indian Ocean-December 26, 2004-200,000 dead, mostly in Indonesia k.
North Korean Nuclear Test-November 9, 2006-Kim Jong-Il

III.
Domestic Policy-“An Ownership Society” a.
$1.35 Trillion tax cut-May 26, 2001-Largest tax cut in US history b.
Executive Order-Military Tribunals for suspected terrorists-Nov. 13, 2001-bypasses judicial review c.
Patriot Act passed-October 26, 2001-Federal officials have the right to investigate terrorists freely d.
No Child Left Behind passed-January 8, 2002-Strengthen public schools by state testing e.
Corporation Reform Act passed-July 30, 2002-in wake of Enron and other bankruptcies f.
Department of Homeland Security created-November 26, 2002-Tom Ridge (PA) g.
Columbia Exploded over Texas + Louisiana-February 1, 2003 h.
2 nd
Major Tax Cut-May 28, 2003-$350 Billion Total i.
Bush asks Congress for $87.5 Billion in reconstruction for Iraq + Afghanistan-November 5, 2003 j.
Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act-November 15, 2003 k.
Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act-December 8, 2003-$534 Billion to subsidize l.
Calls for colony on Moon by 2015 + trip to Mars by 2025-January 14, 2004-$1 Billion over 5 years m.
9/11 commission states a “failure of imagination to see Al-Qaeda as a threat-July 22, 2004 n.
Privatization is pushed as a way to save Social Security-February 2, 2005-ultimately fails o.
Director of National Intelligence created-April 21, 2005-John Negroponte p.
Hurricane Katrina Threatens Gulf Coast-August 23-28, 2005-1836 Dead-$81.2 Billion in damages q.
Chief Justice John Roberts nominated-September 22, 2005 r.
Illegal Immigration Guest Worker Prgm. Fails-November 13, 2005-6000 National Guard + Wall
IV.
Biography-Barack Obama (D-IL) a.
Born-Honolulu, HI-spent time in Jakarta, Indonesia b.
Education-Occidental, Columbia, Harvard Law-Taught Constitutional Law at Univ. of Chicago c.
Political Career-IL State Senator (1997-2005) + US Senator (2005-2008)
V.
Barack Obama Domestic Policy a.
American Recovery + Reinvestment Act-February 2009-$787 Billion in Economic Stimulus b.
Nominated Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court-May 26, 2009 c.
Cash for Clunkers-June 2009-Aimed to reduce car inventories to spur investment in auto industry d.
Wins Nobel Peace Prize-October 8, 2009 e.
Calls for Closure of Guantanamo Bay Military Prison-No later than end of 2010 f.
Patient Protection + Affordable Care Act-March 10, 2010 i.
Incentives for businesses to provide health care ii.
Illegal to drop/deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions iii.
Require every citizen to have health care coverage g.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill-April 20, 2010-over 100 days? h.
Consumer Protection Act-July 2010
VI.
Barack Obama Foreign Policy a.
Iraq-Operations in Iraq should end in 18 months-Feb. 27, 2009 i.
Transitional Force of 35,000 left after August 2010… b.
Afghanistan- Increase troop level to 19,000-February 2009 i.
May 2009-Place Gen. Stanley McChrystal as overall commander ii.
December 1, 2009-30,000 more troops to Afghanistan iii.
June 23, 2010-McChrystal out…Gen. David Petraeus in as overall commander