1. The 2000s

2. President George W. Bush  The shift of southern white conservatives after the 1960s made the Republican Party more conservative; political polarization occurred.  2000 presidential election dispute Bush v. Gore

3.  2001 tax cuts, 2003 tax cuts  War on Terrorism: September 11 led to invasion of Afghanistan with the goal of killing Osama bin laden and defeat Taliban.  Department of Homeland Security  PATRIOT Act  Bush Doctrine: Containment & deterrence did not work; pre-emptive attack

4.  2002 State of the Union: “axis of evil” = North Korea, Iraq  Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003: claimed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.  In four week, US military occupied Baghdad and captured Hussein.  Torture revealed at Abu Ghraib, and Bush was criticized for going into Iraq without a plan to control the country  2007: “surge” of 30,000 troops to restore order

5.  After 2004 re-election, Bush wanted Congress to privatize Social Security to provide amnesty for documented immigrants.  August, 2005: Hurricane Katrina: FEMA failed to anticipate the crisis and did not respond well to it.  Democrats won both houses of Congress in 2006.  Bush appointed John Roberts as Chief Justice and Samuel Alito

6.  Great Recession of 2008: War on Terror, tax cuts, and an unstable housing market  Bush stimulus package and TARP: Troubled Assets Relief Program to give money to US banks and restore credit market; controversial in both parties.  Great Recession and unpopular war in Iraq led to election of Barrack Obama in 2008: Obama took eight states that had been won by Bush in 2008

7. President Obama  Used TARP funds to bail out General Motors and Chrysler  Executive orders to ban torture and expand stem-cell research  First law signed: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act: strengthened protection of equal pay for women.  Failed to keep campaign promise to cold Guantanamo Bay

8.  2010, Obama Care  Tea Party and 2010 mid-term elections: focused on limited government and campaigns on gun rights, school prayer, and anti-immigration: Republicans gained control of House, creating gridlock  2012 Congress least-productive in history, passing only 61 bills  End of Iraq War in 2011: 4,500 Americans, 100,000 Iraqi deaths  2011, Osama bin Laden killed in Pakistan

9.  2012: re-election: Obama had 71% of the Hispanic vote  Budget Brinksmanship: Congress unable to agree on taxes, so the “sequester” went into effect in 2013  Congress shut down government for 16 days in 2013 in a failed effort to defund Obamacare.  Congress’s approval rating dropped to 10%

10.  Obama Doctrine: support negotiation over War (Iran) but in contrast to that, Obama has continued use of drones  Appointment to the Supreme Court: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan  Shelby Country v. Holder: struck down provision that certain states with a history of voter discrimination obtain federal approval for new voter laws  2010: “Don’t ask, don’t tell” repealed  2013: Supreme Court ruled 1996 Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional

11.  2012: US Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, but will issue another ruling in 2015.  Key issues for 2016 presidential election: Middle East foreign policy, Immigration Reform, income equality.