HistorySage - MS. G'S SOCIAL STUDIES WEBPAGE



|AP U.S. History: Unit 9.2 Teacher’s Edition | |

America in the Post-1991 World

| |Concept |Learning |

|I. The First Gulf War (“First Iraqi War” or “Persian Gulf War”) |Outline |Objectives |

|    A. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the tiny |9.2.IB |WOR-8 |

|oil-rich country of Kuwait, claiming it had historically | | |

|belonged to Iraq. | | |

|Other Arab states feared Saudi Arabia would be invaded next. | | |

|President George H. W. Bush immediately ordered troops into the region. | | |

| | | |

|B. Desert Shield: the U.S. eventually sent about 500,000 troops to | | |

|protect the Saudi Arabian border from Iraqi forces. | | |

|1. General Colin Powell, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, | | |

|organized the mission. | | |

|2. UN Security Council Resolution 661 condemned the invasion and | | |

|ordered economic sanctions against Iraq. | | |

|3. 28 nations participated, several from the Middle East. | | |

| | | |

|C. Operation Desert Storm | | |

|1. UN Security Council Resolution 678 called for the restoration of | | |

|the Kuwaiti gov’t and the military checking of Saddam Hussein. | | |

|2. The operation was led by General Norman Schwarzkopf | | |

|a. January 17, 1991: U.S. and other forces began a massive | | |

|bombing of Iraq and Kuwait. | | |

|b. February 23, the ground war began with 1 million Iraqis facing | | |

|750,000 allied troops (about 500,000 of which were U.S.) | | |

|c. Iraq’s forces were devastated in a matter of a few days. | | |

|3.. Kuwait was liberated in 5 days and a cease-fire occurred. | | |

|a. Iraqi casualties amounted to hundreds of thousands and its | | |

|infrastructure was devastated. | | |

|b. The U.S. deployed Patriot missiles to down Iraq’s SCUD | | |

|missiles. | | |

|Iraq sent several missiles into Israel and one missile hit a U.S. army barracks in Saudi Arabia killing over | | |

|200 American soldiers. | | |

|c. Saddam pumped millions of barrels of oil into the Persian Gulf | | |

|to prevent U.S. marine landings; it was ecologically disastrous. | | |

|4. “No-fly” zones were established in northern and southern Iraq in | | |

|an attempt to prevent Saddam from attacking Kurdish and | | |

|Shi’ite populations inside Iraq. | | |

| | | |

|D. The United Nations continued to monitor Iraq for over a decade | | |

|hoping to prevent Saddam from producing weapons of mass | | |

|destruction (WMDs). | | |

| | | |

|E. Political aspect of the Gulf War | | |

|1. The UN-sponsored alliance paved the way for Middle East | | |

|peace talks that significantly reduced tensions in the region in the | | |

|short-term. | | |

|2. President Bush’s approval rating shot above 90%; this was | | |

|nearly unprecedented. | | |

|3. U.S. prestige in world affairs improved dramatically. | | |

|4. As the months progressed, many began to question why | | |

|President Bush did not order U.S. troops to continue into | | |

|Baghdad and kill or capture Saddam Hussein. | | |

|Bush later cited major reasons for not going after Saddam: | | |

|Arab nations would not have sanctioned a U.S. occupation of Iraq and the UN coalition would have crumbled. | | |

|U.S. casualties would surely have mounted if Iraqis were forced to protect their homeland from occupation (this| | |

|proved true in the next decade as over 4,000 U.S. troops were killed in the invasion and occupation of Iraq). | | |

|The capture of Saddam was sure to be elusive. | | |

|The Soviet Union would not have approved of a U.S. occupation; Bush did not want to reignite cold war tensions.| | |

|Legally, the UN mission to free Kuwait had been fulfilled while Iraq was devastated and unable to pose a threat| | |

|to the region. | | |

|Any hopes at peace talks in the Middle East would have ended. | | |

| | | |

|II. Election of 1992 | | |

|A. Democrats nominated Bill Clinton, the governor of Arkansas. | | |

|1. Clinton cast himself as a “new Democrat” and called for a | | |

|middle-class tax cut, healthcare reform, welfare reform, and | | |

|deficit reduction. | | |

|2. Al Gore, senator from Tennessee and the nation’s most visible | | |

|environmentalist, was selected as Clinton’s running mate. | | |

|B. Republicans renominated George H. W. Bush. | | |

|1. The Bush presidency was weakened by the | | |

|Recession of 1990-91. | | |

|2. His platform seemed defensive and it contained no new | | |

|substantial initiatives. | | |

|C. Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot formed a 3rd party, United We | | |

|Stand. | | |

|It effectively split the Republican party (similar to how Theodore Roosevelt split the Republican vote in the | | |

|1912 election with his Bull Moose party). | | |

|He advocated deficit reduction but did not disclose a concrete plan for reaching his goals. | | |

|D. Results: | | |

|1. Clinton defeated Bush and Perot with only 43% of vote | | |

|compared to 39% and 19%, respectively. | | |

|2. Democrats retained majorities in both houses. | | |

| | | |

|III. The Clinton Presidency: Domestic and economic policy | | |

|A. Gays in the military | | |

|1. It was the first major initiative of the Clinton administration. | | |

|2. Clinton lifted the ban on gays in the military, resulting in a | | |

|political firestorm | | |

|3. Compromise: “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy adopted by the | | |

|military. (see Unit 9.1) | | |

|4. DADT would later be repealed in 2010 thus allowing gays to | | |

|serve openly in the military by September 2011 | | |

| | | |

|B. Social Programs | | |

|1. Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 | | |

|a. It allowed family members up to 12 weeks away from work in | | |

|any 12-month period (without pay) for giving birth, adopting | | |

|a child, caring for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent, or | | |

|worker’s illness. | | |

|b. Only companies employing 50 or more were affected. | | |

|2. Health care reform: failed attempt at universal medical care | | |

|a. Clinton appointed first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton as the | | |

|head of a task force to design a new health care system. | | |

|b. The attempt was successfully blocked by conservatives and | | |

|some Democrats as it was deemed “socialized medicine.” | | |

|c. Clinton received intense political backlash; it contributed to the | | |

|public perception that he was an ineffective leader and | | |

|traditional “tax and spend” Democrat. | | |

|3. A health care reform bill was passed by Congress in August, 1996 | | |

|a. It made healthcare for employees more portable based on a | | |

|minimum time of employment. | | |

|b. It provided tax breaks for small businesses who provided health | | |

|care for their employees. | | |

|c. Yet, it did nothing for the estimated 40 million Americans still | | |

|with no health insurance. | | |

| | | |

|C. NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement | | |

|1. Negotiated by the Bush administration; ratified by Congress at | | |

|Clinton’s urging in 1994. | | |

|2. It reduced or eliminated trade barriers between the U.S., Mexico, | | |

|and Canada beginning in 1994. | | |

|a. It was hailed as a boon to the North American economy by free- | | |

|traders. | | |

|b. Protectionists argued American jobs would be sent overseas. | | |

|3. As of 2013, many economists who favor NAFTA argue that it has | | |

|substantially increased trade between the three countries, a boon to | | |

|business. | | |

|4. Labor unions and consumer advocacy groups argue that NAFTA | | |

|has resulted in the outsourcing of U.S. manufacturing and shipping | | |

|jobs. | | |

|5. NAFTA represents a dramatic example of increased globalization | | |

|in the post-1991 era. | | |

| | | |

|D. GATT (General Agreements on Tariff and Trade) -- “Uruguay | | |

|Round” | | |

|Organized in the 1980s, GATT’s “Uruguay Round” called for a reduction of tariffs and trade regulations in | | |

|international trade. | | |

|2. In the late-1990s, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was | | |

|formed to implement GATT. | | |

|3. In 1999, a huge protest in Seattle interrupted the WTO’s annual | | |

|meeting as protesters claimed the WTO was causing the | | |

|exploitation of workers worldwide. | | |

|Anti-WTO protests can be seen as an example of those who are opposed to the accelerating trend of globalization| | |

|in trade. | | |

| |9.3.IB |WXT-3/7 |

|E. The “Contract with America” | |WOR-3 |

|1. The 1994 mid-term elections served as a repudiation of Clinton’s | | |

|agenda. | | |

|a. Republicans swept both houses for the first time in 40 years. | | |

|b. Newt Gingrich became the new speaker of the house, having | | |

|campaigned vigorously on his “Contract with America” platform, | | |

|a conservative manifesto to counteract Clinton’s perceived liberal | | |

|agenda. | | |

|2. Goals included a reduction of taxes, welfare reform, and | | |

|a balanced budget amendment. | | |

|3. Clinton worked cordially with Gingrich and common ground was | | |

|reached on several major issues resulting in increased popularity | | |

|for the president. | | |

|4. Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, 1996 (see | | |

|Unit 9.1) | | |

|a. Provisions | | |

|It placed a five-year lifetime cap on welfare benefits; 2-years maximum at any one time | | |

|It provided block grants to states to devise and administer their own welfare system. | | |

|It ended welfare benefits for legal immigrants. | | |

|It banned federal, state and local public assistance to illegal immigrants except emergency medical care, | | |

|school lunches, and treatment for communicable diseases. | | |

|Much of this assistance was reinstituted the following year. | | |

| | | |

|F. Defense of Marriage Act (1996) gave states the right not to | | |

|recognize same-sex marriages from other states. (see Unit 9.1 | | |

| | | |

|G. Clinton easily won reelection in the election of 1996. | | |

|1. His victory over Republican challenger Bob Dole marked the | | |

|first time a Democrat had been reelected since Franklin | | |

|Roosevelt. | | |

|2. His domestic agenda remained modest as Republicans still | | |

|controlled both houses of Congress | | |

|He was able to get some tax cuts and tax credits passed that were targeted at the middle-class Americans to | | |

|help them pay for their children’s education. | | |

| | | |

|H. Monica Lewinsky Affair | | |

|1. Some argue the scandal represented one of the climaxes of the | | |

|culture war. | | |

|2. Several women had claimed publicly that they had had affairs | | |

|with the president while he was the governor of Arkansas. | | |

|One of these women, Paula Jones, alleged that Clinton had sexually harassed her while she was a state employee | | |

|in Arkansas, and launched a civil suit against the president. | | |

|2. In early 1998, Clinton denied having had an affair with a young | | |

|White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, during his depositions | | |

|in the Paula Jones case. | | |

|3. An independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, was appointed to | | |

|investigate the allegations of Clinton lying under oath to Jones’s | | |

|attorneys. | | |

|Clinton continued to deny the allegations of any relationship with Lewinsky and his popularity among the | | |

|American people grew as they increasingly saw the investigation as a ploy by the Republican Party to discredit | | |

|the president. | | |

|After Lewinsky struck a deal with Starr, he subpoenaed the president with new evidence of the affair. | | |

|Clinton admitted publicly to an “improper relationship” with Lewinsky. | | |

|Starr recommended impeachment of the president. | | |

|4. On December 19, the House of Representatives voted along | | |

|partisan lines to impeach Clinton on two counts: | | |

|Obstruction of justice (the same charge leveled at Nixon in Watergate) | | |

|Lying to the grand jury in the Paula Jones case | | |

|5. Clinton was acquitted by the Senate in the subsequent trial yet | | |

|suffered the indignity of being the only president, besides | | |

|Andrew Johnson, to be formally impeached. | | |

|6. Ironically, the Republican Party suffered damage politically as a | | |

|majority of the public did not see the president’s denial of his | | |

|affair with Lewinsky as constituting “high crimes and | | |

|misdemeanors” necessary for impeachment. | | |

| | | |

|I. Government Surpluses | | |

|1. Clinton and Congress agreed to a balanced budget in 1997. | | |

|2. Government surpluses began to appear in late 1998, the first time | | |

|this had occurred in 30 years. | | |

| | | |

|IV. Peace-keeping missions in the 1990s | | |

|A. Iraq | | |

|1. Clinton ordered the bombing of Iraqi military targets after | | |

|Saddam Hussein violated the UN-imposed “No Fly “ zones | | |

|over northern and southern Iraq. | | |

|2. Clinton ordered further bombing upon confirmation that | | |

|Saddam had planned an assassination of then-president George | | |

|H. W. Bush during his late-1992 visit to Kuwait. | | |

| | | |

|B. Somalia | | |

|1. Under president Bush, U.S. forces were sent to Mogadishu for | | |

|humanitarian purposes in order to stem mass-starvation | | |

|resulting from vicious fighting between rival clans. | | |

|a. The mission was successful in stemming the famine but | | |

|several U.S. service men were killed. | | |

|b. Bush and Clinton unsuccessfully tried to arrest the most | | |

|prominent of the clan leaders, frustrating the U.S. public | | |

|2. Many Americans began to question U.S. military involvement | | |

|in peace-keeping missions. | | |

| | | |

|C. Haiti (September 1994) | | |

|1. After a Haitian military general enforced a coup d’etat, and | | |

|later refused to allow the popularly-elected president to return | | |

|to power, President Clinton planned an invasion. |9.1.IIA |WXT-8 |

|2. Former president Jimmy Carter mediated a resolution at the | |POL-4 |

|11th-hour and the U.S. invasion was averted. | | |

|3. U.S. forces were sent to police Haiti during the transition of | | |

|power. | | |

| | | |

|D. Bosnia-Herzegovina | | |

|1. 1992, war broke out in Bosnia between Bosnian Serbs | | |

|(supported by Serbia) and Bosnian Muslims who sought | | |

|independence from Yugoslavia. | | |

|2. Ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims ensued and most of | | |

|Bosnia was overrun by the Bosnian Serbs by 1995. | | |

|Atrocities numbered in the hundreds of thousands resembling WWII’s Holocaust. | | |

|3. In 1995, Clinton supported the UN peace-keeping mission in | | |

|Bosnia and the Dayton Agreements calling for splitting Bosnia | | |

|into Serbian and Muslim areas and making Bosnia’s capital, | | |

|Sarajevo, a multinational city. | | |

| | | |

|E. Kosovo | | |

|1. Perhaps the most serious foreign policy crisis of Clinton’s | | |

|presidency. | | |

|2. In 1998, a civil war broke out between separatists in the | | |

|Yugoslavian region of Kosovo and Serbian (Yugoslavian) | | |

|forces intent on preventing Kosovo’s secession. | | |

|3. When it appeared that the Serbs were launching another ethnic | | |

|cleansing campaign (like the one in Bosnia earlier in the | | |

|decade), hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo | | |

|fled the region in desperation. | | |

|4. In response, Clinton spearheaded NATO’s bombing of Serbia in | | |

|1999 and a potential genocide was averted when Serbian forces | | |

|withdrew from Kosovo and were replaced with NATO peace- | | |

|keeping forces. | | |

| | | |

|V. The Election of 2000 | | |

|Nominations | | |

|1. The Democrats nominated Vice President Al Gore. | | |

|2. The Republicans nominated Texas Governor George W. Bush, | | |

|the son of former-president George H. W. Bush | | |

|Bush advocated major tax cuts across the board and was enthusiastically supported by evangelical Christians. | | |

|3. The Green Party nominated consumer advocate Ralph Nader. | | |

| | | |

|B. Result: one of the closest elections in the history of the electoral | | |

|vote – Bush defeated Gore 271 to 266 (Gore won the popular | | |

|vote by 500,000 votes) | | |

|1. The media projected Gore as the winner on election night | | |

|only to reverse its projection early in the morning due to a | | |

|razor thin margin favoring Bush in Florida. | | |

|The nation waited anxiously as Florida would become the decisive state in the election. | | |

|2. Several counties in southern Florida began recounts in the | | |

|following days and disputes emerged as to how the ballots | | |

|were being recounted. | | |

|3. Nader’s Green Party took just enough votes away from Gore | | |

|in Florida to give the election to Bush. | | |

|The election was the second in eight years where a third party influenced the defeat of the incumbent party. | | |

| | | |

|C. Bush v. Gore, 2000 | | |

|1. In a controversial move, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to end | | |

|the recount in Florida, thus giving the election to Bush based | | |

|on the election night count. | | |

|2. Democrats decried the Court’s decision as a partisan action by a |9.1.IB |POL-3 |

|bare majority of justices who were Republicans. | | |

| | | |

|VI. The War on Terror | | |

|September 11, 2001 (9/11) | | |

|1. In retaliation for increased U.S. military force in the Middle | | |

|East (beginning with the First Gulf War in 1991), al Qaeda | | |

|leader Osama bin Laden oversaw a plan to destroy U.S. | | |

|targets with hijacked passenger airliners. | | |

|2. On September 11, 2001, two 747 airliners smashed into the | | |

|World Trade Center (Twin Towers) in New York City, killing | | |

|about 2,800 people and destroying the towers and several other | | |

|buildings. | | |

|3. That same morning, another plane flew into the Pentagon, | | |

|killing 125 people. | | |

|4. A fourth plane, Flight 93, most likely headed for the U.S. | | |

|Capitol Building, was downed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, | | |

|when passengers overcame the hijackers; 44 people died in the | | |

|crash. | | |

|5. A total of 2,996 people died as a result of all the attacks | | |

|6. The attacks led to the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the | | |

|2003 invasion of Iraq | | |

| | | |

|B. Afghanistan War (2001-2013) | | |

|1. The Bush administration’s reaction to the 9/11 attacks was heavy | | |

|and swift. | | |

|a. Bush addressed Congress with a strongly worded message that | | |

|promised the U.S. would bring to justice any terrorist | | |

|organization who attacked the U.S. and any countries that | | |

|harbored such organizations. | | |

|b. Bush initially targeted Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, and the | | |

|extremist Taliban government of Afghanistan that had | | |

|harbored bin Laden’s terrorist facility | | |

|2. War in Afghanistan | | |

|a. Bush received congressional authority to invade Afghanistan | | |

|and oust the Taliban government. | | |

|b. The initial success of the U.S. invasion was dampened with the | | |

|realization that Osama bin Laden had eluded capture and had | | |

|most likely fled into neighboring Pakistan. | | |

|c. Creating a stable government in Afghanistan with the ability to | | |

|protect itself from the Taliban and other radical elements | | |

|proved painful and elusive. | | |

|d. The U.S. attack on Iraq in 2003 diverted resources from the | | |

|war in Afghanistan | | |

|e. By 2011, the war had become the longest in U.S. history while | | |

|the U.S.-backed government of Hamid Karzai seemed unable | | |

|to sustain itself without U.S. support. | | |

|f. President Obama announced in early 2013 that half of U.S. | | |

|troops would be removed from Afghanistan by 2014 with more | | |

|troop withdrawals to follow. | | |

| | | |

|C. The Patriot Act, 2001 | | |

|1. It represented part of the government’s effort to root out terrorist | | |

|cells in America in the wake of 9/11. | | |

|2. It significantly reduced restrictions on law enforcement agencies | | |

|to gather intelligence on suspected terrorists. | | |

|3. It authorized the indefinite detention of immigrants, searching | | |

|homes of suspected terrorists without their knowledge or | | |

|approval, FBI powers to search telephone, email, and financial | | |

|records without a court order, and increased access to business | | |

|records. | | |

|4. Many alleged terrorists captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other | | |

|countries were taken and held indefinitely at a prison in |9.2.IB |WOR-8 |

|Guantanamo Bay inside the U.S. military base in Cuba. | | |

|In some cases, torture was used to gather information, a practice supported by the Bush administration, most | | |

|vocally by Vice President Dick Cheney. | | |

|The Bush administration claimed these detainees were outside the jurisdiction of American law (a view the | | |

|Supreme Court later overruled). | | |

|5. Critics of the Patriot Act and of the torture of alleged terrorists | | |

|claimed such violations of civil liberties was a danger to | | |

|ordinary citizens. | | |

|6. Although presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 sharply | | |

|criticized certain aspects of the Patriot Act and the indefinite | | |

|detention of terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, he continued | | |

|both throughout his presidency. | | |

| | | |

|D. Iraq War (Second Gulf War) | | |

|1. In 2003, the Bush administration set its sights on Iraqi leader | | |

|Saddam Hussein. | | |

|In his 2002 State of the Union Address to Congress, Bush identified three countries as comprising an “axis of | | |

|evil”: Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. | | |

|Initially, U.S. officials claimed there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. | | |

|Although no concrete evidence was ever produced, many Americans were convinced by the government that such a | | |

|connection existed. | | |

|More urgently, Bush claimed unequivocally that Saddam was hiding stores of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), | | |

|even though UN weapons inspectors could find no such weapons. | | |

|2. Preemption | | |

|High-ranking Bush administration officials, particularly Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, advocated | | |

|attacking dangerous countries first, before those countries’ leaders could later threaten U.S. security. | | |

|This doctrine became crucial in justifying the toppling of Saddam’s government in Iraq. | | |

|This marked a pronounced shift away from the U.S. traditional policy of containment. | | |

|3. In March, 2003, U.S. and British troops invaded Iraq, quickly | | |

|toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein. | | |

|A divided Congress had voted largely along partisan lines to give Bush authority to wage war in Iraq. | | |

|The invasion also received partial support from the United Nations although few other countries supported it. | | |

|In May, President Bush declared victory in Iraq while standing in front of a banner that read “Mission | | |

|Accomplished.” | | |

|Saddam was captured in December 2003 and executed by leaders of the new Iraqi government in 2006. | | |

|4. Iraqi insurgents continued to bedevil U.S. and Iraqi government | | |

|forces and the war lasted until 2009 | | |

|4,200 U.S. soldiers died in the conflict | | |

|Hundreds of billions of dollars were spent on the war, adding to the country’s spiraling national debt. | | |

|5. Support for the war continued to erode after the initial successes | | |

|in 2003 as WMDs were never found and American casualties | | |

|mounted. | | |

|The torture of Iraqi soldiers by U.S. soldiers also turned many Americans against the war. | | |

| | | |

|VII. Bush’s Domestic Policy | | |

|A. Bush sought to continue conservative policies, some of which had | | |

|been popularized by Reagan in the early 1980s. | | |

|He advocated significant tax cuts, privatizing Social Security to reduce government costs, and the further | | |

|deregulation of the energy industry. | | |

|He ended U.S. support for international health programs that advocated abortion. | | |

|He strongly supported faith-based social welfare organizations that were funded by the federal government. | | |

|Stem-cell research that could potentially help reduce the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s | | |

|Disease were significantly curtailed if they depended on federal funding. | | |

|Evangelical conservatives argued that stem cells constituted life, and that any destruction or scientific | | |

|manipulation of these cells was immoral, perhaps even tantamount to murder. | | |

| | | |

|B. 2001 Tax Cut | | |

|1. Across the board tax cuts for most Americans | | |

|disproportionately favored the wealthiest Americans. | | |

|Echoing Reagan’s tax cuts in the early 1980s, Bush economists claimed that the wealthy would invest their tax | | |

|savings back into the economy leading to economic growth | | |

|2. Reduced gov’t revenues contributed to a $10 trillion increase | | |

|in the national debt during the Bush presidency. | | |

| | | |

|C. Attempts at Social Security reform | | |

|1. Bush sought to allow Americans to take their Social Security | | |

|contributions and invest them in private accounts. | | |

|2. He argued that private accounts would earn much more than the | | |

|Social Security fund thus reducing retired Americans’ reliance | | |

|on the government and decreasing gov’t costs. | | |

|3. The Democrats blocked any attempts to tamper with the current | | |

|Social Security system and no significant changes were made. | | |

| | | |

|D. Financial Crisis of 2008 | | |

|1. A financial melt-down in the mortgage industry in 2007 nearly | | |

|led to the collapse of the nation’s financial sector by September | | |

|2008 | | |

|U.S. home equity dropped from $13 trillion at its peak in 2008 to 8.8 trillion in mid-2008. | | |

|Total retirement assets dropped 22% at the same time. | | |

|2. The collapse triggered the beginning of the “Great Recession” | | |

|in the U.S. and the “Global Financial Crisis” that ensued and | | |

|that continued to haunt the country until 2014. | | |

|3. The Bush administration responded with massive $700 billion | | |

|bailout of major finance firms that were deemed “too big to | | |

|fail.” | | |

|4. It would be up to the incoming Obama administration to deal | | |

|head on with the worst recession since the Great Depression of |9.1.IIA |POL-4 |

|the 1930s. | |WXT-8 |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|VIII. The Election of 2008 | | |

|A. Nominees | | |

|1. The Republicans nominated 71-year-old John McCain, a long- | | |

|time senator from Arizona who had appeal to some as a | | |

|moderate and as brave survivor of a brutal North Vietnamese | | |

|prison camp in the Vietnam War. | | |

|2. Two front-runners emerged in the Democratic primaries. | | |

|a. Senator and former first-lady Hillary Clinton and Illinois | | |

|Senator Barack Obama (the son of an African father and a | | |

|white mother). | | |

|b. The fact that either a woman or an African American would | | |

|emerge as the nominee of a major party was unprecedented. | | |

| | | |

|B. The campaign was fought with the worsening financial crisis as a | | |

|backdrop | | |

|The decline in popularity of President Bush resulted in a drag on the McCain campaign. | | |

|Obama pledged to reduce troops in Iraq gradually, national health insurance, and tax increases on the | | |

|wealthiest Americans. | | |

|McCain supported the war in Iraq, tax cuts, and opposed national health care. | | |

|McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin electrified the conservative base of the Republican Party but | | |

|gaffes by the inexperienced nominee eventually undermined the campaign. | | |

| | | |

|C. Results: | | |

|1. Obama defeated McCain 365 to 173 in the electoral college and | | |

|became the first African American president in the history of the | | |

|country. | | |

|2. The Democrats held majorities in both houses of Congress, | | |

|opening the door for the passage of Obama’s agenda. | | |

| | | |

|IX. The presidency of Barack Obama | | |

|The “Great Recession” (2008-201?) | | |

|1. It represented the worst U.S. economic downturn since the Great | | |

|Depression of the 1930s. | | |

|The U.S. recession triggered a global recession. | | |

|2. By late 2009, unemployment had soared to 10%, up from 5% in | | |

|pre-crisis 2008. | | |

|Not until early 2015 did the unemployment rate decline to 5.5%. | | |

|3. Housing prices dropped 30% and remained at that level as of | | |

|mid-2013. | | |

|4. U.S. total national debt rose from 66% pre-crisis in 2008 to | | |

|103% by late 2012. | | |

|5. By 2011, the middle class in America had dropped to 51% of | | |

|the population, compared to 61% in 1971. | | |

| |9.2.IIA |POL-7 |

|American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2009 | |WOR-7/8 |

|1. Obama persuaded Congress to pass a trillion dollar stimulus bill | | |

|to address the worst economic recession since the 1930s. | | |

|2. Supporters claim it helped bolster the economy by providing | | |

|much-needed funds to states, creating jobs, and improving | | |

|infrastructure, schools and scientific research. | | |

|This reflected a resurgence in Keynesian thinking. | | |

|Some economists claim the stimulus, while resulting in slow growth, ultimately saved the country from spiraling| | |

|into another depression. | | |

|3. Opponents claim the stimulus was largely wasteful and added | | |

|to the nation’s burgeoning national debt. | | |

| | | |

|Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), 2010 | | |

|Obama’s most important (and most controversial) achievement | | |

|The health care program sought to eventually cover every | | |

|American while lowering medical costs. | | |

|In 2009, there were 50.7 million people without health insurance (16.7% of the population). | | |

|By May 2014, 20 million people were covered by the ACA (13.4% of the population). | | |

|3. Republicans made repeal of the law one of the centerpieces of | | |

|the 2012 presidential campaign but Obamacare received a | | |

|boost when the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality. | | |

| | | |

|Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 2010 | | |

|1. It is considered by some as the most significant reform of | | |

|financial regulation since the Great Depression | | |

|2. The law sought to regulate the financial industry to prevent | | |

|practices that had led to the financial crisis of 2008. | | |

|3. The financial industry and Republicans strongly opposed the | | |

|legislation. | | |

| | | |

|Bailout of the Auto Industry | | |

|1. Large government loans helped prop up General Motors and | | |

|Chrysler at a time when they seemed likely to collapse. | | |

|2. Critics of the bailout saw it as the government takeover of the | | |

|auto industry and major financial firms. | | |

|3. Within a year, most of the money that had been loaned by the | | |

|government had been paid back. | | |

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| | | |

|F. Death of Osama bin Laden, May 2, 2011 | | |

|1. After a decade of frustration with finding the leader of the 9/11 | | |

|attacks, intelligence reports pointed to the al Qaeda leader’s | | |

|location in Pakistan | | |

|2. In a situation fraught with risk, Obama ordered the raid without | | |

|informing the Pakistanis of the mission. | | |

|3. A naval SEAL team successfully carried out the CIA-led | | |

|operation. | | |

| | | |

|G. Election of 2012 | | |

|1. President Obama successfully fended off Republican challenger | | |

|Mitt Romney, 332-206 in the electoral college. | | |

|2. The Democrats picked up a few seats in both houses although the | | |

|Republicans remained in control of the House, ensuring at least | | |

|two more years of divided government. | | |

| | | |

|X. Energy and Environmental Issues after 1980 | | |

|A. Ozone depletion | | |

|1. In the 1970s, two UC Irvine chemists, Frank Sherwood Rowland | | |

|and Mario Molina, hypothesized based on existing data that the | | |

|ozone layer was being depleted by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). | | |

|This would allow increased UV radiation from the sun to reach the earth, resulting in increased incidences of | | |

|skin cancer and damage to crops. | | |

|Subsequent studies, including satellite imagery by NASA, confirmed the existence of ozone depletion. | | |

|2. In 1987, most of the world’s major CFC producers, including the | | |

|U.S., signed the United Nation’s Montreal Protocol to reduce | | |

|CFC emissions. | | |

|3. The result is that CFC emissions decreased and the amount of | | |

|ozone in the earth’s atmosphere is expected to return to 1980 | | |

|levels by 2050 to 2070. | | |

| | | |

|Climate change | | |

|In the 1980s, compelling evidence of global warming emerged from the scientific community. |9.2.IIB |POL-7 |

|A major cause of global warming was attributed to the burning of fossil fuels—the “greenhouse effect”—with | | |

|carbon emissions being the biggest source of greenhouse gases. | | |

|By the 1990s, the United Nations was spearheading the movement to gain international cooperation to reduce | | |

|greenhouse gases. | | |

|In 1997, the vast majority of the world’s nations signed the Kyoto Protocol, committing to reduce the emission | | |

|of greenhouse gases; a few major countries have since dropped out. | | |

|The U.S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty in the late 1990s and the U.S. has not officially committed to | | |

|reducing fossil fuel emissions although some gains have been made in automobile fuel efficiency and cleaner | | |

|energy technologies. | | |

|Parties in the U.S. who oppose increased gov’t efforts to reduce the emission of CO2 or deny global warming | | |

|entirely include oil companies, those who defend free-market capitalism, and many conservatives. | | |

|Cap and trade legislation intended to reduce industrial pollution, has not passed Congress due to conservative | | |

|concerns about over-regulation of the economy. | | |

|In 2015, President Obama vetoed a measure to extend the XL Pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast, citing | | |

|concerns about increased carbon emissions and global warming. | | |

|Alternative forms of renewable energy, including solar power, hydropower, wind power, biofuels, and geothermal | | |

|energy show promise for the future but have yet to make a significant dent in U.S. reduction of CO2 emissions. | | |

| | | |

|Energy | | |

|The threat to oil supplies as a result of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the subsequent Gulf War led to | | |

|a renewed focus on U.S. energy supplies by the George H.W. Bush administration. | | |

|The Energy Policy Act (Epact), 1992 | | |

|It represented the first significant piece of environmental legislation since the National Energy Act of 1978. | | |

|It largely deregulated the electricity industry while calling for increased energy efficiency and increased use| | |

|of clean energy. | | |

|The Energy Policy Act of 2005 | | |

|It provided tax incentives and loan guarantees for a wide variety of energy types including biofuels and wind | | |

|and tidal power. | | |

|It exempted companies involved with drilling natural gas and oil from source rock (hydraulic fracturing, or | | |

|fracking) from previous laws that protected groundwater from contamination. | | |

|A potential energy revolution occurred in the 2010s with the rise of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). | | |

|The U.S. began exporting shale oil and natural gas for the first time in decades. | | |

|The long-term impact of fracking on the U.S. economy and its desire to become self-sufficient in energy remains| | |

|unclear. | | |

|Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) | | |

|The George W. Bush administration sought to new oil exploration in ANWR to address the nation’s need for more | | |

|oil. | | |

|Environmentalists and the Democratic party have blocked any drilling of the region citing environmental | | |

|concerns to the natural habitat of the region. | | |

|This issue exemplifies the ongoing debate between liberals, who favor environmental protection and the decrease| | |

|of greenhouse gas emissions, and conservatives, who regard the nation’s economic health and self-sufficiency in| | |

|energy as paramount. | | |

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| |9.1.IIA |WXT-8 |

| | |POL4 |

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| |9.3.IB |WXT-7 |

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| |9.3.IC |ENV-5 |

| | |WXT-3 |

| | |WOR-3 |

Terms to Know

|First Gulf War |Election of 2000 |

|Saddam Hussein |Bush v. Gore, 2000 |

|Kuwait |War on Terror |

|President George H. W. Bush |9/11 attacks |

|General Colin Powell |Osama bin Laden |

|Operation Desert Storm |al Qaeda |

|General Norman Schwartzkopf |Afghanistan War |

|Election of 1992 |Taliban |

|Bill Clinton |Patriot Act |

|Recession of 1990-91 |Guantanamo Bay |

|H. Ross Perot |Dick Cheney |

|Hillary Rodham Clinton |Iraq War (Second Gulf War) |

|NAFTA |Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) |

|GATT |Preemption |

|World Trade Organization |2001 tax cut |

|“Contract with America” |Financial Crisis of 2008 |

|Newt Gingrich |“Great Recession” |

|Monica Lewinsky Affair |Election of 2008 |

|peace-keeping missions |American Recovery and Reinvestment Act |

|Bosnia-Herzegovina |Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) |

|ethnic cleansing |Montreal Protocol |

|Dayton Agreements |Kyoto Protocol |

|Kosovo | |

|George H. W. Bush | |

Essay Questions

Note: No question will come exclusively from this unit.

1. Analyze how American foreign policy has changed between 1991 and the present.

2. To what extent has the U.S. succeeded in its “War on Terror” since 2001?

3. To what extent did the George W. Bush presidency continue the policies of the Reagan Revolution of the early 1980s?

Overarching Questions and Themes from the AP® Curriculum Framework for Unit 9.2

➢ How have changes in markets, transportation, and technology affected American society from colonial times to the present day?

WXT-3: Explain how changes in transportation, technology, and the integration of the U.S. economy into world markets have influenced U.S. society since the Gilded Age. (9.3.I)

➢ How have debates over economic values and the role of government in the U.S. economy affected politics, society, the economy, and the environment?

WXT-7: Compare the beliefs and strategies of movements advocating changes to the U.S. economic system since industrialization, particularly the organized labor, Populist, and Progressive movements. (9.3.I)

WXT-8: Explain how and why the role of the federal government in regulating economic life and the environment has changed since the end of the 19th century. (9.1.II)

➢ How and why have different political and social groups competed for influence over society and government in what would become the United States?

POL-3: Explain how activist groups and reform movements, such as antebellum reformers, civil rights activists, and social conservatives, have caused changes to state institutions and U.S. society. (9.1.I)

POL-4: Analyze how and why the New Deal, the Great Society, and the modern conservative movement all sought to change the federal government’s role in U.S. political, social, economic life. (9.1.II)

➢ How have Americans agreed on or argued over the values that guide the political system as well as who is a part of the political process?

POL-7: Analyze how debates over civil rights and civil liberties have influenced political life from the early 20th century through the early 21st century. (9.2.II)

➢ How have events in North America and the United States related to contemporary developments in the rest of the world?

WOR-3: Explain how the growing interconnection of the United States with worldwide economic, labor, and migration systems affected U.S. society since the late 19th century. (9.3.I)

➢ How have different factors influenced U.S. military, diplomatic, and economic involvement in international affairs and foreign conflicts, both in North America and overseas?

WOR-7: Analyze the goals of U.S. policy makers in major international conflicts, such as the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Cold War, and explain how U.S. involvement in these conflicts has altered the U.S. role in world affairs. (9.2.I)

WOR-8: Explain how U.S. military and economic involvement in the developing world and issues such as terrorism and economic globalization have changed U.S. foreign policy goals since the middle of the 20th century. (9.2.I)

➢ How did economic and demographic changes affect the environment and lead to debates over use and control of the environment and natural resources?

ENV-5: Explain how and why debates about and policies concerning the use of natural resources and the environment more general have changed since the late-19th century. (9.3.I)

Bibliography:

College Board, AP United States History Course and Exam Description (Including the Curriculum Framework), 2014: History, New York: College Board, 2014

Brinkley, Alan, American History, 14th edition, New York: McGraw Hill, 2012

Foner, Eric & Garraty, John A. editors: The Reader’s Companion to

American History, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991

Henretta, James, et al, America’s History, 8th edition, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014

Kennedy, David M., Cohen, Lizabeth, The American Pageant (AP Edition), 15th edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin 2013

U.S. Census, 2010,

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