1. THE BUSH PRESIDENCY

2. THE 2000 ELECTION: BUSH V. GORE  Extremely close election comes down to a few hundred votes in Florida  Hanging chads, voter intent, butterfly ballot  Ralph Nader: He just keeps trying…

3. BUSH V. GORE  Supreme Court had to step in to resolve  Bush declared the win in Florida by 327 votes  Subsequent recount by the media found Bush official won (conspiracy?)

4. GORE WINS POPULAR VOTE COUNT BUT LOSES IN THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE TO BUSH

5. THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION  Many Americans tired of scandal in the White House  Want moral, down to earth person  Like his homey charm and optimism

6. PROBLEMS UNDER BUSH  Dot com bubble from late 90s burst  Tax cuts “for the wealthy” enacted to help  No Child Left Behind  Voucher idea (angers the Left)  Requires: testing, accountability, and school improvement for funding  Seniors Prescription Drug coverage angers the Right  Hurricane Katrina

7. SEPTEMBER 11TH  4 planes crash  Close to 3,000 dead

8. BUSH’S FOREIGN POLICY  Blame for 9/11 is laid on Bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan  Leads to Patriot Act  Department of Homeland Security  Strengthening of the NSA  Legally bugging phones  Iraq, Saddam Hussein, WMDs

9. US AND AFGHANISTAN  Invasion triggered by the 9/11 attacks  The Taliban are harboring Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden in Afghanistan  Do succeed in removing the Taliban from power  Eventually catch Bin Laden

10. IRAQ  Overthrow Saddam Hussein and find WMDs  The Surge (of forces and ideas)  General David Petraeus  Ideas: change in the overall strategy of the war  Biggest – switching from handing over security tasks to the Iraqis to focusing on the protection of the Iraqi people

11. KATRINA  29 August 2005  Stuck the Gulf Coast of the US (Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama) – worst damage: New Orleans  Mayor Ray Nagin issued a mandatory evacuation order in New Orleans  Tens of thousands of people ignored it and chose to wait out the storm  Storm surge – in some places 9 meters high (12 feet)  Nearly 80% of New Orleans ended up under water

12. FALLOUT OF KATRINA  Major Problems  Levee breaches that led to flooding  Fed gov’t was slow to meet the needs of the people affected  President accused of being racist  Cost $100,000,000,000 worth of damage