Contemporary US History 1st Semester Exam Review Sheet
Political Experience
Major Differences between Liberals & Conservatives (Issues of abortion, same-sex marriage, economic beliefs,
affirmative action, civil rights, death penalty, model presidents, government involvement in social/moral issues)
Key Terms from Vocabulary Quiz: Flat Tax, NAFTA, Progressive Tax, Moderate, Libertarian, Radical, Anarchist
What is Politics? (Politics powerpoint)
What do political parties do? (Politics powerpoint)
What are the main issues supported by the Democratic and Republican Party? (Political Parties)
Core Supporters of the Democratic and Republican Parties (Political Parties)
What are the key indicators of party identification? (Party ID)
Who has the highest/lowest voter turnout (which groups)? (Party ID)
Third Parties and their impact on elections (Third Parties Important Roles and Facts)
“Divide and Conquer” theory (Third Parties Important Roles and Facts)
Key third party movements: especially Ralph Nader and Ross Perot (Third Parties Important Roles and Facts)
Arguments against voting third party (Third Parties Important Roles and Facts)
Electoral College: 1. Minimum number of votes to win office, 2. Total number of votes available in an election, 3.
Minimum number of votes each state receives, 4. Who breaks the tie if there is no majority (Electoral College)
Terrorism (How does the US define it?)
Political/Social Goals of Terrorism (History of Terrorism)
Bill Clinton (Israeli-Palestinian Conflict)
Reasons for Domestic terrorism (History of Terrorism)
Colin Powell (War on Terror)
Motives for modern terrorism (History of Terrorism)
Oslo Peace Accords (Israeli-Palestinian)
Reign of Terror (History of Terrorism)
Camp David Accords (Israeli-Palestinian)
Olympic Games in Munich, Germany (1972) (History of Terrorism)
Saddam Hussein (War on Terror)
Black September (History of Terrorism)
Arab-Israeli Conflict,1948 (Isr.-Pal.)
Hamas (History of Terrorism)
War on Terror-countries invaded?
Irish Republican Army (IRA) (History of Terrorism)
Beltway snipers (History of Terrorism)
Osama bin Laden/al-Qaeda (War on Terror)
Terrorist attacks al-Qaeda has been responsible for (History of Terrorism)
Alfred Nobel’s contribution to terrorist organizations (History of Terrorism)
Oklahoma City Bombing/Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols (History of Terrorism)
Ted Kaczynski/The “Unabomber” (History of Terrorism)
Stated reasons Osama bin Laden hates America (History of Terrorism)
Six Day War, 1967 (Isr.-Pal.)
Current US policy regarding terrorism (History of Terrorism)
1st & 2nd Intifada (Isr.-Pal.)
Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Goals (Israeli-Palestinian Conflict) USA PATRIOT ACT (War Terror)
Yasser Arafat
(Israeli-Palestinian Conflict)
Stated reasons for Iraq War (2003)
Zionism (Israeli-Palestinian Conflict)
War Afghanistan-Why?War Terror
Balfour Declaration (Israeli-Palestinian Conflict)
Taliban (War on Terror)
Ariel Sharon (Israeli-Palestinian Conflict)
9/11 Effects on US (9/11)
Foreign Policy
Saddam Hussein (Bush Sr.)
Pentagon Papers (Nixon)
Kurds (Bush Sr.)
26th Amendment (Nixon)
Iran/Iraq War – US supported who? How did it start? (Bush Sr.)
Gerald Ford (Nixon)
Major differences between Sunnis & Shiites (Bush Sr.)
Silent Majority (Nixon)
Why the US decreased its support for Saddam after Iran/Iraq War? (Bush Sr.)
Deep Throat (Nixon)
Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm (Bush Sr.)
Vietnamization (Nixon)
Commander of the US forces in Persian Gulf War (Bush Sr.)
CREEP (Nixon)
US President during Persian Gulf War (Bush Sr.)
Hubert Humphrey (Nixon)
Highway of Death (Bush Sr.)
Iran Hostage Crisis: 1. US President during the crisis & who won election afterward, 2. Who led the revolution, 3.
How many American hostages and how many days were they held, 4. How did it start (triggering point)? (Carter)
Ayatollah Khomeini (Carter)
Reza Shah (supported by US) (Carter)
Operation Eagle Claw (Carter)
What caused the Iranian Revolution? (Carter)
United States’ initial response when American hostages were taken (Carter)
Watergate Scandal - major events surrounding it & results (Nixon)
The Washington Post (Nixon)
Impeachment – House of Reps & Senate’s role (Nixon)
Détente (Nixon)
Nixon & his foreign policy with China (Nixon)
War Powers Act (Nixon)
George McGovern (Nixon)