The Persian Gulf War, 1990-1991

The Election of 2000

Chapter 31 – America Looks to the Future

Section NotesThe End of the 20th CenturyGeorge W. Bush in OfficeThe Road Ahead

VideoThe Impact of the

Government in Our Daily Lives

ImagesBiography: Bill ClintonTimeline: 9/11 and BeyondBiography: George W. BushThe Freedom TowerImmigration Today

Quick FactsLife in the Twenty-First CenturyChapter 31 Visual Summary

Maps

The End of the 20th Century

The Big Idea

The United States and the world faced many new challenges at the end of the 20th century.

Main Ideas

• Major global changes took place during the presidency of George H. W. Bush.

• During Bill Clinton’s presidency, the nation experienced scandal, economic growth, and the rise of terrorist threats.

Main Idea 1: Major global changes took place during the

presidency of George H. W. Bush.

• Reagan’s vice president, George H. W. Bush, defeated Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis after a hard-fought campaign.

• Mikhail Gorbachev continued reforms in the Soviet Union while pro-democracy movements gained strength in Eastern Europe.

• October 1989, East Germans overthrew Communist government and new government agreed to open borders.

– November 9, East and West Berliners smashed through the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the Cold War.

• Soon, several Soviet republics declared independence and the Soviet Union broke apart, marking the end of the Cold War.

Cold War Ends

1988 Election

The Persian Gulf War

• Iraq’s brutal dictator, Saddam Hussein, invaded neighboring oil-rich Kuwait.

• United Nations called for immediate withdrawal.– President Bush began assembling a coalition of nations to drive Iraq

from Kuwait.

• UN coalition launched Operation Desert Storm when Hussein refused to withdraw.– Air offensive led by U.S. generals Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin

Powell, the highest-ranking African American ever to serve in U.S. military.

• After a six-week bombing campaign, UN forces invaded Kuwait and Iraq soon agreed to a cease-fire.– About 22,300 Iraqi soldiers and civilians were killed

– UN forces lost around 223 soldiers, 148 of which were American

– More than 35,000 American women served in the war in non-combat positions.

Main Idea 2:During Bill Clinton’s presidency, the nation experienced scandal, economic growth, and

the rise of terrorist threats.

1992 Election

• Republican candidate: President George H. W. Bush

– Americans supported his handling of the Gulf War.

• Democratic candidate: Arkansas governor Bill Clinton

– Told voters he would focus on improving the struggling U.S. economy

• Clinton won a three-way race against Bush and Ross Perot, who ran as an independent candidate.

Clinton and Congress

• Under President Clinton’s leadership Congress – Passed a budget to reduce the deficit by cutting spending and raising

taxes; and

– Supported the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which eliminated trade barriers between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

• In 1994 congressional elections, Republicans won a majority in Congress for the first time since 1952.– House minority leader Newt Gingrich spearheaded the victory with

promotion of a set of policies called the Contract with America, promising lower taxes and smaller government.

Clinton’s Second Term

• In 1996 election Clinton won a second term by defeating Senator Bob Dole of Kansas.

• Second Term was dominated by questions about Clinton’s personal and official conduct.– Charged with having an inappropriate relationship with a

White House intern and then lying about it under oath

• In 1998 the House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton, but the Senate acquitted him of charges.– Scandal damaged Clinton’s public image.

A Dangerous World

• Collapse of Soviet Union left the United States as the world’s only superpower.

• Clinton appointed Madeleine Albright as the first woman to be secretary of state.– Helped adapt U.S. foreign policy

• United States worked to protect global peace and democracy– Helped to negotiate an end to war in Balkan region of Europe after

former nation of Yugoslavia broke apart

• Terrorism– the use of violence by individuals or small groups to advance political goals– became a major issue in the 1990s.– April 1995– American terrorists bombed an Oklahoma federal

building, killing 168 people.

– 1998– Hundreds killed in a bomb attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa.

– Increasingly deadly attacks were made by extremist Islamic groups.

George W. Bush in Office

The Big Idea

George W. Bush led the country in response to terrorist attacks and through domestic challenges.

Main Ideas

• George W. Bush won the disputed 2000 presidential election.

• Americans debated the future of the War on Terror that began after terrorists attacked the United States.

• The nation faced difficult challenges during President Bush’s second term.

Main Idea 1: George W. Bush won the disputed 2000

presidential election.

• United States at peace and enjoying economic prosperity at time of 2000 election.

• Democratic candidate: Vice President Al Gore– Said he would use budget surplus for education and health care

• Republican candidate: Texas governor George W. Bush, son of former President George H. W. Bush– Promised to return budget surplus to taxpayers in the form of tax cuts

• Voting was very close– It became clear that Florida’s twenty-five electoral votes would

determine the outcome of the election.

– Popular vote in Florida was so close that state law required the votes to be recounted.

Election DisputesElection Disputes

• Machine recount found Bush received a few hundred more votes than Gore.

• Gore supporters demanded a recount by hand to ensure proper counting.

• Supreme Court ruled that manual recounts could not ensure all votes would be counted in the same way.

• Florida’s votes went to Bush, making him the first president in more than 100 years to win the electoral vote while receiving fewer popular votes.

Election Results

Bush’s Early Days in OfficeBush’s Early Days in Office

• Caused lasting bitterness between Democrats and Republicans.

• Bush appointed Colin Powell to key position of secretary of state, the first African American to hold the office.

• Signed into law $1.35 trillion tax-cut plan

• Signed into law a reform plan called No Child Left Behind, creating a national set of educational standards and increasing school funding

Main Idea 2: Americans debated the future of the War on Terror that began after terrorists attacked

the United States.

• On September 11, 2001, terrorists seized four commercial planes, intending to fly them into major targets.– Two planes crashed into and destroyed the World Trade

Center, an important business center in New York City.

– One plane crashed into the Pentagon– the headquarters of the Department of Defense located just outside Washington, D.C.

– A fourth plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers began fighting back against the terrorists.

• Thousands of Americans were killed in the attacks, including emergency rescue workers.

The Nation Pulls Together

• The tragedy brought Americans together.– There was an outpouring of support from foreign leaders and U.S.

citizens.

• President Bush promised to find and punish those responsible for the attacks.

• U.S. officials determined that the hijackers were members of a fundamentalist Islamic terrorist group called al Qaeda, or “the Base.”– Led by a wealthy Saudi Arabian exile, Osama bin Laden

– Group based in Afghanistan where the Taliban, an extreme Islamic government, ruled the country

• Taliban leaders refused to turn over bin Laden, and the United States prepared for military action.

The Fight Against Terrorism

• In October 2001 the United States began air strikes in Afghanistan.

• By December U.S. forced had driven Taliban from power and captured many al Qaeda members.

– Began helping Afghanistan to rebuild and establish a democratic government

• In 2002 UN inspectors were sent to Iraq to ensure that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein fulfilled his promise to give up weapons of mass destruction– chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons that can kill thousands.

– Saddam interfered with inspectors’ work.

– UN members could not agree on how to handle the crisis.

• On March 23, 2003, the United States and a coalition of allies launched an attack on Iraq.

• By December 2003 Saddam’s government had collapsed and Saddam was captured.

– U.S. officials began working with Iraqis to establish a democratic government.

– Violence continued.

Debates at Home

• War in Iraq caused fierce debate at home.– Supporters of the war argued that removing Hussein from power was

an important part of the war on terror.

– Critics doubted that Saddam had posed a serious threat to the United States as no weapons of mass destruction were found and no concrete ties to al Qaeda could be proved.

• Democratic nominee: Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts– Argued that Bush rushed into war.

• Republican nominee: President George Bush– Insisted that the war had made Americans safer and brought freedom

to millions of Iraqis.

• Bush won the election with 286 electoral votes to Kerry’s 251.

Main Idea 3: The nation faced difficult challenges during

President Bush’s second term.• After the 2004 election, four of the president’s cabinet members

stepped down.– Condoleezza Rice became the first African American woman to be

appointed secretary of state.

– Alberto Gonzales became the first Hispanic attorney general.

• In 2005 two vacancies opened on the Supreme Court, and President Bush nominated replacements.

• Bush’s administration faced major domestic challenges in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region.– New Orleans was hardest hit, where thousands of residents who

weathered the storm in the city were left with few or no resources and no way to evacuate.

– Many criticized the local, state, and federal governments for what they believed was an inadequate response to the crisis.

– The Bush administration worked to step up the response to states hardest hit by the disaster.

The Road Ahead

The Big Idea

The United States continues to grow and change as we move ahead in the 21st century.

Main Ideas

• The American economy and job market are changing.

• Technological advances continue to solve everyday problems.

• The Americans are a diverse people united by shared ideals.

Main Idea 1: The American economy and job market are

changing.• Americans have many concerns for the future.

– Terrorism and continuing violence in Iraq

– Economy and availability of jobs

– Health care costs, education, immigration, and the environment

– Growing national debt

• American economy and job market have experienced important ups and downs.– 1990s– stock market boomed and unemployment fell to its lowest

level in 30 years.

– In the late 1990s when the Internet companies and high-tech firms that helped drive the stock market up failed to turn a profit, the stock market dropped and unemployment rose.

– American manufacturing industry is on decline.

– U.S. is moving toward becoming a service economy in which most people have jobs providing services rather than producing goods.

Globalization

• Globalization– growing connections among economies and cultures all over the world– is an ongoing change in the U.S. economy.– Multinational corporations, companies that do business in more than

one country, play an important role.

– In 1995 more than 120 nations joined to form the World Trade Organization to promote international trade by removing political and economic barriers among nations.

• Americans have different opinions on how globalization will affect the United States.– Supporters believe it will lead to increased U.S. exports, new jobs,

and a stronger economy.

– Opponents worry that Americans will lose jobs as U.S. companies move operations to countries where wages are lower.

Main Idea 2:Technological advances continue to solve

everyday problems.

• Technological innovation continues to have dramatic effects on life in the United States and around the world.

• The Internet has changed everyday life.– It is a global system of computer networks in which people anywhere

in the world can communicate and share information.

– Makes accessing and sharing of information fast and easy.

– The Information Revolution developed as Internet use exploded in the 1990s.

– Excitement helped fuel the economic boom of the 1990s.

– Internet use continues to grow rapidly around the world today.

Medical ResearchMedical Research

• Important advances in understanding genetics and illness

• In 2003, scientists completed the Human Genome Project identifying the genes in human DNA.

• Scientists continue the fight against AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, as they develop new drugs and treatments.

Other Technological Advances

EnvironmentEnvironment

• In the 1980s, the United States and more than 100 other nations banned the use of chemicals that were harming the ozone layer– a thin layer of gas in the atmosphere that blocks harmful solar rays.

• Scientists are working to develop better understanding of global warming, climate change affecting the entire world.

Mechanical Innovation

• Concerns about global warming and high oil prices have encouraged development of new transportation technologies.– Development of hybrid cars that use less gas because they

run partially on batteries.

– Development of vehicles that run entirely on hydrogen, releasing no pollution into the air.

• Looking to space– In 2003 NASA landed robotic vehicles on Mars.

– Human exploration continues on the International Space Station and through manned shuttle flights.

Main Idea 3: The Americans are a diverse people united

by shared ideals.

• American population will continue to grow and change through the 21st century.– U.S. Census Bureau reports that U.S. population is more

ethnically diverse than ever before.

– Immigration patterns influence change.

• Diversity in America grows

• Americans of all backgrounds share belief in many basic ideals.– Commitment to ideals of freedom, equality, and justice

– Dedication to responsibilities of citizenship

– Hopes and dreams of the future

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