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The Presidents
1974-2011
Mrs. M. Mann
American History
FORD
GERALD
FORD
Aug. 9,
1974-1976
"I assume the Presidency under extraordinary
circumstances.... This is an hour of history that
troubles our minds and hurts our hearts."
• First nonelected President- first VP chosen
under the terms of the Twenty-fifth
Amendment and, in the aftermath of the
Watergate scandal, was succeeding the first
President ever to resign.
• Pardons Pres. Nixon within first month in
office
• Economy enters into a recession; leads to
conflicts with Congress
• Detente with the Soviet Union
continued. President Ford & Soviet
leader Leonid Brezhnev set new
limitations upon nuclear weapons.
• Nation celebrates its bicentennial!
Happy Birthday America!
The Election of 1976
Gerald R. Ford (R)
Jimmy Carter (D)
Jimmy Carter , 1976-1980
• Deregulation- proposed removing
controls on prices of gas/oil, reduce size
of govt. in RR, trucking & airline
industries
• Department of Energy- created to
promote conservation & new energy
sources
“moral equivalent of war”
• Three Mile Island nuclear accident,
March 1979, Harrisburg, Pennsylvaniamany people questioned alternative
energy
• LBJ’s affirmative actions policies
challenged; entrance to medical school
can not be denied because of quotas,
however, race could be a factor in
admission
• grants amnesty- a general pardon- to
those who evaded the draft during
Vietnam War
• Camp David Accords1978, as peacemaker, develops treaty
between Israel & Egypt.
-Israel withdraws from Sinai peninsula
-Egypt in return becomes first Arab nation to
recognize Israel
• Carter weakens Soviet relations by
supporting dissidents & condemning
human rights violations
• SALT II (1979) not ratified after Soviets
invade Afghanistan, Carter halts grain
shipments to Soviet Union
Iran Hostage Crisis
• Pres. Carter allowed deposed Shah of Iran to seek
medical treatment in U.S.
• 52 U.S. Embassy workers are taken hostage in Tehran,
Iran- lasts 444 days
• Ayatollah Khomeini, once exiled- now in power of the
Islamic state, refused to release hostages until Shah sent
back to Iran
• A commando rescue mission failed, killing 8 American
soldiers when their helicopters collided in the desert;
Shah died shortly thereafter; Carter would not be reelected
• Secret negotiations resulted in hostages release the day
Pres. Carter left office, Pres. Carter greeted them in Iran
Election of 1980
Jimmy Carter (D)
Ronald Reagan (R)
Ronald reagan 1980-1988
Conservative Revolution
• New Right- 1980, conservative groups
formed powerful coalition concerned with
size of govt. & its role in the economy;
proposed govt. funded social programs
• Moral Majority- conservatives wanted to
follow dictates of Bible; Rev. Jerry Falwell
& televangelism- contribute $ to campaign
“It is…my intention…to make (government) workwork with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not
ride on our back. Government can and must provide
opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not
stifle it.”
- Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, 1981
•Expanded deregulation of industry begun under Pres. Carter
• Seeks to limit power of labor unions (ex: PATCO)
•Gives states & local govt. more discretion over spending
• Reaganomics- supply side economics
cutting taxes would put more $$ in the hands
of businesses & investors, more people
would then be hired, production would
increase & the economy would grow
• 5%, then 10%, tax cuts passed followed by
most sweeping tax reform in history (1986);
wealthy Americans benefitted the most
(went from 70% before Reagan to 28% in 1986)
Economics- Reagan’s
nd
2
Term
• (S & L) scandal- collapse of many small
banks due to risky investments
• October 1987- Stock market crashes;
the speculative bubble of the 1980s burst
Reagan’s Foreign Policy
• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)-
“STAR WARS” creates massive satellite shield in space
to intercept Soviet Missiles
• U.S. involvement in military actions in Lebanon, Libya,
El Salvador & Grenada
• Iran-Contra Affair (1986)- staff members/CIA
secretly decide to fund counterrevolutionaries in
Nicaragua. Illegal. Reagan claims no knowledge.
Lt. Col. Oliver North takes the fall.
• INF Treaty- provides for destruction of 2,500 Soviet &
U.S. missiles in Europe
Reagan & Gorbachev
• Despite anti-Communist feelings, Reagan
& Gorbachev develop close relationship,
1985
• Gorbachev aims to reform Soviet Union
- glasnost: political openness
- perestroika: restructuring the economy
to allow limited free enterprise
Reagan &
Gorbachev
• Reagan makes Dr. MLK, Jr. a birthday a
National Holiday
• Society begins to turn against women’s
movement
• AIDS appears in the mainstream &
education is needed
• Recession ends by 1984, but tax cuts &
defense spending push the deficit up
• Many manufacturing jobs are shifted
overseas
• GAP widens between the RICH & POOR
(most since WWII)
GEORGE h. w. Bush 1988-1992
Election of 1988
Michael Dukakis (D)
George H. W. Bush (R)
“Read my Lips. No new
taxes….”
Watch the speech
•breaks the “no new taxes” promise
•economic recession
•cost him the 1992 election
Bush’s Foreign Policy
• fall of communism, breakup of Soviet
Union
• Overthrow of communism in Poland
• Demolition of Berlin Wall, 1989
• START 1- signs treaty with M. Gorbachev
of Russia; first treaty to reduce the two
nations’ supplies of long-range nuclear
weapons
• Gorbachev resigns the presidency of the
Soviet Union Dec. 1991
• Boris Yeltsin becomes the president of
Russia the next week
• George Bush calls for a “New World Order”
of peace
June 3, 1989
Students, 1 million strong, protest
communist govt . in Tiananmen Square
in Beijing.
China’s leaders order army to attack
protestors. Thousands killed & many
were later jailed.
Pres. Bush did not take a strong stance
on human rights violations here.
Pres. Bush invades Panama
• Manuel Noriega, Panama’s dictator,
smuggling cocaine into the U.S.
• Noriega declares war on the U.S.
• Bush launches a lightning attack (Dec.
1989)
• Noriega surrenders one month later.
2 yrs. later a Federal judge convicts
Noriega of drug smuggling
Persian Gulf War
• Aug., 1990- Saddam Hussein, dictator of
Iraq, launches attack on neighboring
Kuwait
• Protection of Kuwaiti oil reserves was an
issue of national security
• Oil prices rise, atrocities against civilians
mount
• UN alliance of 28 countries launches the
Persian Gulf War to drive Iraqi forces out
of Kuwait
Operation Desert Storm
• Pres. Bush chose Gen. Colin Powell,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Jan. 1991, Norman Schwarzkopf led UN
forces & defeated Iraqis in 6 weeks with
massive airstrikes
• Pres. Bush felt Saddam Hussein would be
overthrown HOWEVER Hussein
remained in power
• Justice Thurgood Marshall retires; Pres.
Bush nominates Clarence Thomas- a
conservative, black judge (1991)
• Recession continues, people angry about
tax hike, downsizing continued as Cold
War comes to an end
Election of 1992
George H. W. Bush (R)
William J. Clinton (D)
Who is this guy?
• Independent
candidate, Texas oil
billionaireH. Ross Perot
• ran as a political
outsider
• Wins 19% of vote!
Watch the 1992 Pres. Debate with
Tom Brokaw
President bill clinton
1992-2000
• Clinton calls himself a “New Democrat” –
pledging to end the recession, address
federal deficit, reduce govt. size & reform
health care system
• 1994, after midterm elections
Newt Gingrich (R) endorses Contract with
America, rivals Pres. Clinton
• 1995, govt. shut down results– public
blames Congress
• 1996, Clinton easily defeats Bob Dole (R)
Scandals erupt during
nd
2
Term
• Clinton accused of fraudulent loans &
land deals in Arkansas, Whitewater
• Inappropriate relations with White House
intern surface
• Clinton denies these allegations under
oath, but later admits his actions;
-The House of Rep. votes to impeach
Clinton for perjury.
-The Senate votes to acquit.
Around the World
• South Africa- apartheid, separation of blacks &
whites, is overthrown;
Nelson Mandela is released from prison after 30
yrs; Mandela elected President of South Africa
• PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) led by
Yasir Arafat & Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin sign peace agreement 1993, violence
breaks out in Jerusalem
• Peace in Northern Ireland
• Former Yugoslavia- Serbia begins ethnic cleansing of nonSerbs from Bosnia; NATO airstrikes end fighting
• Terrorist attacks- World Trade Center (1993)
- Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma City (1995)
- U.S. Embassies in Africa
- U.S.S. Cole in a port in Yemen (2000)
• Federal officials link attacks abroad to Al
by Osama bin Laden
Qaeda, headed
“Dot Com” boom of 1990s
revolutionizes life
• greatest period of economic expansion in history
•new industries, investors & entrepreneurs
•Computers & the Internet
• leads to cell phone technology & personal music
players
•Bill Gates a BILLIONAIRE by 31
Election of 2000
Al Gore (D)
George W. Bush (R)
President George W. Bush
2000-2008
What happened here???
•Neither candidate captured 270 electoral votes needed
•Florida, an undecided state, could not give electoral votes
because the vote was too close to call
•For 36 days the nation waited as the votes were recounted
Supreme Court- Bush v. Gore issued a 5 to 4 ruling to
discontinue the recount
•Al Gore won the popular vote, but
George Bush won the 271 electoral
votes (with Florida) (***also 1824, 1876 & 1888)
Pres. Bush at home
• Bush TAX CUTS- largest tax
cuts in history!!!!!!
• No Child Left Behindeducation reforms,
supported testing & research
based practices
September 11, 2001
• Terrorists attack the Pentagon & World Trade
Center & kill those aboard plane over
Pennsylvania
• Afghanistan refuses to hand over mastermind,
Osama bin Laden
• U.S. & G.B. launch “Operation
Enduring
Freedom”
• creates the Dept. of Homeland Security
• Pursue & kill Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi War
Hurricane Katrina 2005
• 80% of New Orleans
flooded
• Federal Relief &
Recovery follow
• Pres. Bush criticized not
acting quickly enough
Election of 2008
John McCain (R)
Barack H. Obama (D)
President Barack H. Obama
2008-
President Barack Obama's
Inaugural Address
JANUARY 20, 2009
• Health Care Reform
• Economic Recession, global recession
• Majority shifts at midterm election;
Republicans majority in the House, Speaker
John Boehner
• April 2010- BP Gulf Oil Spill
• May 2, 2011- Osama bin Laden is DEAD!!!
“If a nation expects to be ignorant
and free…it expects what never
was and never will be.”
-Thomas
Jefferson
COMMIT to the preservation of this
nation by working to understand &
participate in the events in & around
this great nation.