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. 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. 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. 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 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 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?