APUSH Unit 15
Into the 21st Century
APUSH 9.1 – APUSH 9.3
VUS.13e, VUS.15a – VUS.15f
Clinton Administration
A “New Democrat,” Bill Clinton pursued centrist economic policies, faced foreign policy challenges
of genocide and terrorism, and came under attack for personal scandals.
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The impact of the “Reagan Revolution” extended beyond Reagan’s tenure in office with the election of Bill
Clinton as a centrist Democrat and the Republican sweep of congressional elections and statehouses in the
1990s.
Economic inequality increased after 1980 as U.S. manufacturing jobs were eliminated, union membership
declined, and real wages stagnated for the middle class.
Policy debates intensified over free trade agreements, the size and scope of the government social safety
net, and calls to reform the U.S. financial system.
The end of the Cold War led to new diplomatic relationships but also new U.S. military and peacekeeping
interventions, as well as debates over the nature and extent of American power in the world.
The increasing integration of the U.S. into the world economy was accompanied by economic instability and
major policy, social, and environmental challenges.
The spread of computer technology and the Internet into daily life increased access to information and led
to new social behaviors and networks.
“New Democrat”
Neo-liberalism
“It’s the economy, stupid!”
Ross Perot
Healthcare reform
Hillary Clinton
Newt Gingrich
Contract with America
Federal government shutdown
Welfare reform
Budget surplus
Implementation of North
American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA)
World Trade Organization
(WTO)
Trade with China
Stock market/dot-com bubble
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Defense of Marriage Act
Hate crimes legislation
Boy Scouts v. Dale, 2000
Brady Bill & Assault Weapons
Ban
Columbine (Littleton, CO)
shooting
National Rifle Association (NRA)
Oklahoma City Bombing
Whitewater scandal
Monica Lewinsky scandal
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
“Sexual McCarthyism”
Somalia intervention
Rwandan genocide
Oslo Accords
“Ethnic cleansing”
Slobodan Milosevic
NATO in Bosnia & Kosovo
Embassy bombings in Kenya &
Tanzania
Bombing of Afghanistan &
Sudan
Attack on U.S.S. Cole
Iraq sanctions & UN weapons
inspectors
George W. Bush Administration
Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq dominated much of the Bush administration, though he also pursued
a conservative agenda on social, economic and environmental issues.
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The impact of the “Reagan Revolution” extended beyond Reagan’s tenure in office with the election of
George W. Bush as president in 2000.
In the wake of attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, U.S. decision-makers launched foreign
policy and military efforts against terrorism and lengthy, controversial conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The war on terrorism generated debates about domestic security, civil rights, civil liberties and human rights.
Conflict in the Middle East and concerns about climate change led to debates over U.S. dependence on fossil
fuels and the impact of economic consumption on the environment.
The increasing integration of the U.S. into the world economy was accompanied by economic instability and
major policy, social, and environmental challenges.
The rapid and substantial growth of evangelical and fundamentalist Christian churches and organizations, as
well as increased political participation by some of those groups, encouraged significant opposition to
liberal social and political trends.
Conservatives achieved some of their political and policy goals, but their success was limited by the enduring
popularity and institutional strength of some government programs and public support for cultural trends of
recent decades.
Conservatives enjoyed significant victories related to taxation and deregulation of many industries, but
many conservative efforts to advance moral ideals through politics met inertia and opposition.
Although Republicans continued to denounce “big government,” the size and scope of the federal
government continued to grow after 1980, as many programs remained popular with voters and difficult to
reform or eliminate.
Economic inequality increased after 1980 as U.S. manufacturing jobs were eliminated, union membership
declined, and real wages stagnated for the middle class.
Policy debates intensified over free trade agreements, the size and scope of the government social safety
net, and calls to reform the U.S. financial system.
The spread of computer technology and the Internet into daily life increased access to information and led
to new social behaviors and networks.
“Compassionate conservative”
Neo-conservatism
Presidential election of 2000
Florida recount
Bush v. Gore, 2000
9/11 attacks
Al-Qaeda
Osama bin Laden
Authorization for the Use of
Military Force (AUMF) of 2001
“War on Terror”
Taliban
Invasion of Afghanistan, 2001
Hamid Karzai
PATRIOT Act
Department of Homeland
Security (DHS)
Warrantless wiretapping
Guantanamo Detention Center
Rendition, waterboarding &
“enhanced interrogation”
“Axis of Evil”
Bush Doctrine
Saddam Hussein
Weapons of mass destruction
(WMDs)
UN weapons inspectors
Invasion of Iraq, 2003
“Mission Accomplished”
Failure to find WMDs in Iraq
Abu Ghraib scandal
Iraqi Civil War
McCain-Feingold Act
Campaign finance reform
Kyoto Protocols
Global climate change
Carbon emissions
Bush tax cuts
Budget deficit & national debt
Embryonic stem cell research
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Hurricane Katrina
“Great Recession”
Subprime Mortgage Crisis
Troubled Asset Relief Program
(TARP) bailout
“Too big to fail”/“Too big to
jail”
Obama Administration
Barack Obama, the nation’s first African American president, faced challenges of the continuing
War on Terror, a slumping domestic economy and partisan gridlock.
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The war on terrorism generated debates about domestic security, civil rights, civil liberties and human rights.
The increasing integration of the U.S. into the world economy was accompanied by economic instability and
major policy, social, and environmental challenges.
Policy debates intensified over free trade agreements, the size and scope of the government social safety
net, and calls to reform the U.S. financial system.
Conflict in the Middle East and concerns about climate change led to debates over U.S. dependence on fossil
fuels and the impact of economic consumption on the environment.
The spread of computer technology and the Internet into daily life increased access to information and led
to new social behaviors and networks.
“Hope” and “Change”
Internet & social media
campaigns
“Great Recession”
Budget deficit & national debt
Auto industry bailout
Lilly Ledbetter Act
Affordable Care Act
(“Obamacare”)
National Federation of
Independent Business v. Sebelius,
2012
Tea Party
“Birthers”
National debt & debt ceiling
Federal government shutdown
Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission, 2010
McCutcheon v. Federal Election
Commission, 2014
Political Action Committees
(PACs) & Super PACs
Sonia Sotomayor
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
U.S. v. Windsor, 2013
Marriage equality
DREAM Act
Decriminalization of marijuana
Sandy Hook school shooting
Mitt Romney
Mormonism
Withdrawal from Iraq
War in Afghanistan
Osama bin Laden raid
Anwar Al-Awlaki
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAVs)/Drones
Guantanamo Bay detainees
Malala Yousafzai
Arab Spring
Mohamed Morsi
Muslim Brotherhood
Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi
Libyan Civil War
NATO airstrikes in Libya
Muammar Gaddafi
Benghazi attack
Syrian Civil War
Bashar al-Assad
The Islamic State in Iraq and the
Levant/Syria (ISIL/ISIS)
Russia-Crimea-Ukraine crisis
Vladimir Putin
National Defense Authorization
Act (NDAA) of 2011
WikiLeaks
Edward Snowden
National Security Agency (NSA)
Bulk data collection & data
mining
Contemporary Challenges
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After 1980, the political, economic, and cultural influences of the American South and West continued to
increase as population shifted to those areas, fueled in part by a surge in migration from regions that had
not been heavily represented in earlier migrations, especially Latin America and Asia.
The new migrants affected U.S. culture in many ways and supplied the economy with an important labor
force, but they also became the focus of intense political, economic, and cultural debates.
Demographic changes intensified debates about gender roles, family structures, and racial and national
identity.
The spread of computer technology and the Internet into daily life increased access to information and led
to new social behaviors and networks.
The federal government has the ability to influence the United States economy. It bases its decisions on
economic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), exchange rates, rate of inflation, and
unemployment rate.
Auto industry
General Motors
IBM
Internet
Outsourcing
Hollywood
“Coca-Colonization”
Cultural pluralism
Genetics & bioethics
Monsanto
Climate change
Stem cell research
Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s
Euthanasia & assisted suicide
Income inequality
Global economic cooperation
Decline in unions
Free trade vs. fair trade
Immigration
Blue collar, white collar, pink
collar
“Mister mom”
Divorce rates
Single-parent households
Teen pregnancy
Same-sex marriage & adoption
Life expectancy
Graying of America
Social Security & Medicare
AARP
Entitlement spending
Deficit spending
National debt vs. GDP ratio
Latino immigration
Amnesty
Naturalization
Guest workers
Indian reservations
Urban Indians
Violent crime rate
School shootings
Gun control
Rodney King trial & L.A riots
OJ Simpson trial
George Zimmerman trial
Gated communities
Urban renewal & gentrification
Prison-industrial complex
War on Drugs
Capital punishment
Affirmative action
2010 Census data
Mixed race heritage
“New media”
Social networking
YouTube
Amazon
Google
eBay
Blogs
Online piracy
Net neutrality
Hybrid cars
“Jihad vs. McWorld”
Unit Review: Essential Questions
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How has the United States responded to post-Cold War foreign policy challenges of
religious and ethnic conflicts, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and
terrorism?
To what extent have economic equality and social freedoms improved since 1992?
How have technological developments transformed American life since 1992?
Why was Bill Clinton considered a "centrist" Democrat?
What factors transformed the American economy in the 1990s?
Why did the Iraq War prove controversial?
What were the major domestic challenges the Bush administration faced, and how did it
respond to those challenges?
To what extent did the Obama administration represent a change from the foreign and
domestic policies of the George W. Bush administration?