The Election of 2000 The election of 2000 was one of the closest & most controversial elections in U.S. history Republicans nominated conservative Texas governor George W Bush Democrats nominated Clinton’s Vice President Al Gore

The Election of 2000 The election was so close that the candidate to win Florida would gain enough electoral votes to win the presidency Essential Understanding: What is the difference between the popular vote and the Electoral College vote?

The Election of 2000 During the election and manual recounts (36 days), many voting irregularities and voter suppression stories surfaced (watch first 13 min of Unprecedented found online) The Florida state supreme court ordered a recount of ballots in some districts

In December 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a controversial 5-4 decision in Bush vs. Gore, to stop the recount. With Bush leading by 537 votes. Bush was declared the winner of the election

The Presidency of George Bush In his first year, Bush worked with Congress to: Reform education through the No Child Left Behind Act Create a 1.35 trillion dollar tax cut

September 11, 2001 Everything changed on September 11, 2001 when an al-Qaeda terrorist group, led the hijacking and crashing of 4 airplanes, with 4 different locations as targets The mastermind of the attacks, Osama Bin Laden argued US had dishonored the Islamic world by causing wars between Muslims and the rest of the world, and angered at Americans constant and ongoing presence in the Middle East

September 11, 2001 *watch video clips found online attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a flight, United 93, (crashed in a field in Penn. when passengers overtook the hijackers) Over 3000 died in all locations WTC buildings collapsed from fuel fires *watch video clips found online

Department of Homeland Security created to combat terrorism The War on Terrorism Department of Homeland Security created to combat terrorism controversial Patriot Act passed by Congress, rolling back many 4th and 14th amendment legal protections

The Hunt for Osama bin Laden War on Afghanistan (began in October 2001-today) brought down the Taliban government, which was long suspected of harboring the Al Qaeda leader

War on Iraq In March, 2003, the Bush Administration chose to invade Iraq, trying the 9-11 attacks to a fight to remove Saddam Hussein from power. The pretext used was “WMDs” or “weapons of mass destruction”. None were ever found. Troops are still in Iraq today. This decision was controversial, as Iraq had no known connection to Al Qaeda. The Bush Doctrine of “pre-emptive” strikes remains controversial today. Should we attack a country based on what they might do to us?

Terrorist Strikes, 1998-2007 Terrorism Today?