Chapter 16 America in the New Millennium

The 2000 Election During the 2000 presidential campaign George W. Bush stated his opposition to “nation building” This election was the closest in 125 years It came down to Florida Bush v. Gore (36days)

Bush’s Major Legislation Bush’s legislative victory in 2001 was the passage of a tax cut The No Child Left Behind legislation passed by Congress required schools and districts to meet certain learning standards

September 11, 2001 By the 1990s the most dangerous enemies of the US became shadowy terrorist organizations The terrorist attacks of 9/11 turned the lower end of Manhattan into a hellish scene by destroying the World Trade Center and they also hit the Pentagon On 9/11 the terrorist kill about 3,000 people

Osama bin Laden Was a wealthy Saudi He was leader of the Muslim extremist terrorist group called al Qaeda (the base) He was allowed to live in Afghanistan by the Taliban His group hated the United States

The War on Terror: 2001 - Present Within a few weeks of the 9/11 attacks, US forces led an attack on Afghanistan The Bush Doctrine emphasized preemptive military action against terrorist and their regimes Bush’s states rational for attacking Iraq in 2003 was that Iraq threatened the US

War in Iraq The fight with Saddam Hussein’s army lasted just a few weeks In the aftermath of Iraq’s defeat and occupation no weapons of mass destruction were found And in the end the US was nation building

Bush’s Second Term Bush won his 2nd term by defeating John Kerry Bush was able to keep the Supreme Court conservative by installing John Roberts and Samuel Alito on the court In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans and the government took much of the blame

The Economic Crisis of 2007 & 2008 The housing bubble of the early 2000s was inspired by rising home prices, & subprime loans It was also brought on by speculative behavior and the recovery from the 2001 recession

George W. Bush’s Legacy As the Bush presidency drew to a close a growing number of Americas viewed it as one of the worst Two tax cuts No Child Left Behind An unnecessary war in Iraq (w/ nation building) Outstanding Federal Debt (The Tea Party) A major financial Crisis Bank bail-out-700 bil.

A Historic Election woman & biracial candidates Obama was a former community organizer then Went to Harvard Law School All three were US senators He ran against Hillary Clinton in the primary and John McCain in the presidential race McCain was Vietnam Vet & oldest candidate in history

Obama’s Record American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – almost 800 billion stimulus bill Pushed through Obama Care Supreme Court: Sonia Sotomayor &Elena Kagan Dodd-Frank Legislation – to end “To Big to Fail”? Unemployment over 8% most of his 1st term Ended the War in Iraq at the end of 2011 Death of Osama Bin Laden – May 1, 2011 Environment: Alaska, Keystone Pipeline? Fighting with House since 2011 Growing Federal Debt War in Afghanistan 2001-2014?

Election of 2012 & Warring Parties Obama supports Gay Rights The Dream Act and self-deportation The Tea Party Supreme Court rules in favor of the PPACA Romney’s comment about the 47% High unemployment Romney v. Obama