CHAPTER 32 MISDEMEANORS AND HIGH CRIMES The American

CHAPTER 32 MISDEMEANORS AND HIGH CRIMES The American Nation: A History of the United States, 13 th edition Carnes/Garraty PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE ELECTION OF 1988 Issues that had dominated American politics for a decade were gone and election initially lacked focus Republicans nominated Vice President George H. W. Bush Democrats nominated Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis Tarnished by furlough program and Willie Horton Bush won 54 percent of the vote 426 to 112 electoral votes PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Responding to widespread calls for a crackdown on crime, elected officials hired more police, passed tougher laws and built additional prisons Shift toward capital punishment During 1960 s only a handful of criminals were executed 1972: Supreme Court ruled in Furman decision that jury-imposed capital punishment was racially biased and thus unconstitutional Many states favored capital punishment statutes which then took decision out of hands of juries Supreme Court upheld these laws and capital punishment, on hold since 1967, resumed in 1976 Since then nearly 1, 000 convicts have been executed PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT State legislatures imposed tougher sentences and made it more difficult for prisoners to obtain parole 1973: New York passed laws that mandated harsh sentences for repeat drug offenders 1977: California replaced its parole system with mandatory sentencing, which denied convicts the prospect of early release Ten other states adopted similar systems Nationwide, the proportion of convicts serving long, mandatory sentences increased sharply PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Nation’s prison population increased 1973: federal and state prisons held about 10, 000 convicts 1990: number of prisoners exceeded 750, 000, 2004: 2 million Required construction of a 1, 000 -bed prison every week 1995: states spent more on prisons than on higher education Human Rights Watch reported the United States incarcerated more people than any country in the world except, perhaps, Communist China, which does not disclose that information PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

“CRACK” AND URBAN GANGS Several factors intensified the problem of violent crime, especially in the inner cities Shift in drug use from marijuana in the 1960 s to cocaine Cocaine was more powerful and addictive but more expensive so few people could afford it During the 1980 s growers of coca leaves in Peru and Bolivia greatly expanded production Drug traffickers in Colombia devised sophisticated systems to transport cocaine to U. S. Price of cocaine dropped from $120 an ounce in 1981 to $50 in 1988 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

“CRACK” AND URBAN GANGS Even more important was proliferation of a cocaine-based compound called “crack” because it crackled when smoked Sold in $10 vials Gave an intense spasm of pleasure Lucrative crack trade led to bitter turf wars in the inner cities “drive-by shooting” entered the language Survey of Los Angeles County in the 1990 s found that more than 150, 000 young people belonged to 1000 gangs In 1985, before crack, there were 147 murders in Washington, D. C. but in 1991 there were 482 Black on black murder became an important cause of death for young men in their 20 s By 2006, 30 percent of African American men in their 20 s were in prison, or on probation, or on parole PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

GEORGE H. W. BUSH AS PRESIDENT In 1989, Bush named a “drug czar” to coordinate various bureaucracies, increased federal funding of local police, and spent $2. 5 billion to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the nation Had little overall effect Opposed gun control and abortion and called for a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Reforms instituted by Gorbachev in Soviet Union led to demands from Eastern European satellites for similar liberalization Gorbachev announced Soviet Union would not use force to keep communist governments in power in these nations Swiftly the people of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, East Germany and the Baltics did away with the repressive regimes Changes were peaceful except in Romania where the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was executed Soviet-style communism had been discredited, Warsaw Pact no longer existed and Cold War was over PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

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THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Bush expressed moral support for new governments and provided modest financial support in some instances June 1990: Bush and Gorbachev signed agreements reducing American and Russian stockpiles of long-range nuclear missiles by 30 percent and eliminating chemical weapons 1989: Bush sent troops to Panama to overthrow General Manuel Noriega who refused to yield power when his figurehead presidential candidate lost the election Noriega was under indictment in U. S. for drug trafficking After temporarily taking refuge in the Vatican embassy, he surrendered and was taken to the U. S. where he was tried, convicted and imprisoned PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM IN EASTERN EUROPE Summer 1991: civil war broke out in Yugoslavia as Croatia and Slovenia sought independence from the Serbiandominated central government Soon became religious war pitting Serb and Croatian Christians against Bosnian Muslims In Soviet Union, Gorbachev responded to demands for more local control of affairs by backing a draft treaty that would increase local autonomy and further privatize the Soviet economy In August, before treaty ratification, hard line communists attempted a coup Boris Yeltsin, the anticommunist president of the Russian Republic, defied the rebels and roused the people of Moscow The coup collapsed, the Communist party was disbanded and the Soviet Union was replaced by a federation of states, led by Yeltsin PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF Despite earlier aid to him, few in administration were fond of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein For years had been crushing the Kurds, an ethnic minority in northern Iraq that sought independence 1989: after Kurds assisted an Iranian advance, Saddam used chemical weapons on them, killing over 5, 000 civilians 1988: after Iran-Iraq War ended in stalemate, Saddam intensified war on Kurds PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF August 1990: Iraq invaded Kuwait hoping to add its oil reserves to those of Iraq thereby controlling about 25 percent of world total Soldiers overran Kuwait swiftly and carried off everything not nailed down Saddam annexed Kuwait and troops massed on the border with Saudi Arabia Saudis and Kuwaitis turned to U. S. and the UN for help UN applied trade sanctions The U. S. , along with Great Britain, France, Italy, Egypt and Syria, at the invitation of Saudi Arabia, moved troops to Saudi bases PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

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THE WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF By November, Bush had increased the American troops in the area from 180, 000 to 500, 000 Late November, UN authorized the use of force if Saddam did not withdraw from Kuwait by 15 January 1991 Congress voted to use force 17 January, Americans unleashed massive air attack which lasted for a month and reduced much of Iraq to rubble Iraqis fired a few missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia and set the Kuwaiti oil wells on fire PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF 23 February: Bush issued an ultimatum to pull out of Kuwait or face invasion When Saddam ignored the deadline, more than 200, 000 UN troops attacked in “Desert Storm” Between 24 and 27 February they retook Kuwait, killing tens of thousands of Iraqis and capturing even more Bush then stopped the attack and Saddam agreed to UN terms Reparations to Kuwait UN inspectors to determine whether Iraq was developing atomic and biological weapons “No-fly” zones over Kurdish territory and other strategic areas PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF Polls showed 90 percent of Americans approved Bush’s handling of war and overall performance as chief executive Bush and others expected Saddam to be driven from power When Kurds in north and pro-Iranian Muslims in south tried, Saddam used the remnants of the army to crush them Refused repeatedly to carry out terms of UN agreement, particularly by hindering arms inspection PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

WHITEWATER AND THE CLINTONS William (Bill) Clinton was caught in the S&L difficulties 1977: Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham, joined with James Mc. Dougal, a banker, to secure a loan to build vacation homes in the Ozarks The development, named Whitewater, became insolvent Mc. Dougal illegally covered the debts with a loan from a S&L he had acquired 1989: the S&L failed, costing the federal government $60 million to reimburse depositors 1992: Federal investigators claimed the Clintons had been “potential” beneficiaries of Mc. Dougal’s illegal activities PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

WHITEWATER AND THE CLINTONS The scandal emerged when Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination Soon overshadowed by news that Clinton had engaged in an extramarital affair of several years with Gennifer Flowers Clinton’s standing in the polls plummeted and he and his wife made an appearance on 60 Minutes to appeal to the American people for understanding He finished second in New Hampshire, won the Democratic nomination and named Albert Gore, senator from Tennessee, as his running mate PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE ELECTION OF 1992 Bush expected to be easily renominated but encountered stiff opposition within Republican party Patrick Buchanan, outspoken conservative Ross Perot, billionaire Texan, then announced he would run as an independent Declared both major parties were out of touch with “the people” Promised to spend $100 million of his own money on his campaign Platform had both liberal and conservative planks PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE ELECTION OF 1992 Polls showed Perot was popular in states Bush had been counting on and it seemed possible there might not be anyone with enough electoral votes to win Bush was renominated by the Republican convention Clinton accused Bush of failing to deal with the lingering economic recession and promised to undertake public works projects, to encourage private investment and to improve the nation’s education and health insurance systems 44 million people voted for Clinton, 38 million for Bush and 20 million for Perot Clinton with 370 electoral votes to Bush’s 168 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

A NEW START: CLINTON Reasons for Clinton’s success Intention to change health insurance and welfare systems and bring budget deficit under control Solid knowledge of public issues and appearance of mastery and self-confidence Had promised to end ban on gays and lesbians in the military but settled for policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” after the Joint Chiefs and a number of influential members of Congress objected PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

A NEW START: CLINTON July 1993: Clinton appointed Ruth Bader Ginsberg to the Supreme Court Ginsberg was known to believe abortion to be constitutional Clinton also indicated he would veto any bill limiting abortion rights Reversed important Bush policies by signing a revived family leave bill into law and authorizing the use of fetal tissue for research purposes Wanted to reduce the deficit by $500 billion over 5 years, half by spending cuts and half by new taxes Since a number of Democrats refused to cooperate and the Republicans were firmly against it, Clinton was forced to accept changes Effort to reform health care never came up with a viable plan to take to Congress PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

EMERGENCE OF THE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY Whitewater scandal created public pressure which forced Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint a special prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, a Republican lawyer Paula Corbin Jones, a State of Arkansas employee, charged that Clinton, while governor had asked her to engage in oral sex Clinton’s attorney denied the accusation and sought to have the case dismissed on the grounds that a president could not be sued while in office but the case continued PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

EMERGENCE OF THE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY Republicans in 1994, led by congressman Newt Gingrich of Georgia, offered voters an ambitious program to stimulate the economy by reducing both the federal debt and the federal income tax Would turn many of the function of the federal government over to the states or to private enterprise Federally administered welfare programs were to be replaced by block grants to the states Many environmental protection measures were to be repealed Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress and tried to pass their “contract with America” in the 1995 budget which Clinton vetoed, leading to an impasse The government shut down all but essential services, for a time PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE ELECTION OF 1996 Public blamed Congress, and especially Gingrich, for the shutdown and the president’s approval rating rose Upturn during and after 1991 benefited Clinton By 1996, unemployment was below 6 percent and inflation below 3 percent Dow Jones industrial stock average soared above 6000 (triple the average in 1987) Clinton was easily renominated for a second term Bob Dole from Kansas got the Republican nomination Clinton with 379 to PEARSON 159 electoral votes but the EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008 Republicans retained control of both houses of

CLINTON IMPEACHED January 1998: a judge ordered Clinton to testify in the lawsuit Paula Corbin Jones had filed against him To strengthen her case, Jones sought to show Clinton had a history of womanizing and so she subpoenaed a former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky Clinton and Lewinsky both denied an affair, which Clinton restated to TV cameras after the information was leaked Hillary Clinton denounced the charges as part of a right wing conspiracy Lewinsky had been confiding in Linda Tripp, a former White House employee, and Tripp had secretly taped some 20 hours of their conversations She turned these tapes over to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CLINTON IMPEACHED In the Tripp tapes, Lewinsky provided intimate details of sexual encounters with Clinton, making it appear Clinton and Lewinsky had lied under oath Starr threatened to indict Lewinsky for perjury In return for immunity, she repudiated her earlier testimony and admitted engaging in sexual relations with the president and being encouraged by him and his aides to provide false testimony When called to testify before the Starr grand jury in August, Clinton admitted to “inappropriate intimate contact” but stated he had not had sex according to his definition More legalisms followed PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CLINTON IMPEACHED Clinton’s testimony infuriated Starr who made public Lewinsky’s humiliatingly detailed testimony and announced that Clinton’s deceptive testimony warranted consideration by the House of Representatives for impeachment Throughout this, opinion polls suggested two in three Americans approved of Clinton’s performance as president Most Americans blamed the scandal on the intrusive Starr as much as on Clinton In the November election, Republicans nearly lost their majority in the House PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CLINTON IMPEACHED Republican leaders in the House impeached Clinton on the grounds that he had committed perjury and had obstructed justice by inducing Lewinsky and others to give false testimony in the Jones case The vote closely followed party lines The impeachment trial began in January 1999 with Chief Justice William Rehnquist presiding Republicans numbered 55, enough to control the proceedings but 12 short of the two-thirds needed to convict Democrats, while publicly critical of Clinton’s behavior, maintained that his indiscretions did not constitute “high crimes and misdemeanors” as defined by the Constitution Article accusing Clinton of perjury was defeated 55 to 45; the obstruction of justice charge was defeated with a vote of 50 to 50 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CLINTON’S LEGACY One reason Clinton survived was the health of the economy Until the final months, the Clinton years coincided with the longest economic boom in the nation’s history Clinton deserves much of the credit—by reducing the federal deficit, interest rates came down, spurring investment and economic growth By August 1998, unemployment had fallen to 4. 8 percent, the lowest level since the 1960 s Inflation was a minor 1 percent, the lowest since the 1950 s In 1998, the federal government had its first surplus since 1969 In the 2000 fiscal year, the surplus hit $237 billion PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CLINTON’S LEGACY Clinton also promoted the globalization of the economy Successfully promoted the North American Free Trade Agreement to reduce tariff barriers Congress approved in 1993 During the last half of the 1990 s, the U. S. led all industrial nations in the rate of growth of its real gross national product New global economy harmed many Union leaders complained that their members could not compete against convict or sweatshop labor in foreign countries Others complained the emphasis on worldwide economic growth was generating an environmental calamity International protests against the World Trade Organization culminated in the disruption of the 2000 meeting in Seattle, when thousands of protestors went on a rampage PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CLINTON’S LEGACY Clinton’s record in foreign affairs was mixed 1993: failed to assemble an international force to prevent “ethnic cleansing” by Serbian troops against Muslims in Bosnia Same year a U. S. initiative in Somalia, an African nation wracked by civil war and famine, ended in failure when a Somali warlord ambushed and killed 15 American commandos 1999: Clinton proposed a NATO effort to prevent Yugoslavian General Slobodan Milosevic from crushing the predominantly Muslim province of Kosovo, which was attempting to secede After several months of intense NATO bombing of Serbia, Milosevic withdrew from Kosovo Within a year, he was forced from office and into prison, awaiting trial for war crimes before a UN tribunal PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CLINTON’S LEGACY Clinton tried to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians In 1993 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yassir Arafat signed a preliminary agreement preparing the groundwork for a Palestinian state Extremists shattered the accord 1995 Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish zealot Palestinians increased suicide bombings in reaction to construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

A RACIAL DIVIDE 1990 s saw the arrest of former football star O. J. Simpson for the murder of his estranged wife and a man, both of whom were white After a tempestuous nine month trial, Simpson was acquitted To many whites, Simpson was another violent black male To many blacks, he was another wrongly accused black male 85 percent of blacks but only 34 percent of whites agreed with the not guilty verdict PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

A RACIAL DIVIDE 1992 Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall observed that educated Americans of each race appeared to have “given up on integration” After the Simpson trial, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the separatist Nation of Islam, called on African Americans to express their solidarity by participating in a “Million March” on Washington, D. C. 16 October 1995: the demonstration attracted 500, 000 marchers PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

A RACIAL DIVIDE Persistence of inequality was one reason for the new separatism 1972: Incomes of black families were one-third less than those of white families 1992: The statistic was virtually unchanged Significant casualty of the changing tone of race relations was “affirmative action” which gave minorities preference in hiring and college admission Initially justified on the grounds that the legacy of slavery and the persistence of racism put blacks at an unfair disadvantage in finding jobs or gaining admission to college Affirmative action programs spread in the 1970 s and 1980 s PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

A RACIAL DIVIDE July 1995: Regents of the University of California ordered an end to affirmative action Led to protests throughout system Following year California voters approved Proposition 209, which abolished racial and gender preferences in all government hiring and education U. S. Supreme Court let the law stand other state passed similar laws Many observed that even when blacks and whites attended the same schools, learned the same songs, rooted for the same teams, they often attended different classrooms, sat at separate tables in the cafeteria and cheered from voluntarily segregated sections of the bleachers PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

VIOLENCE AND POPULAR CULTURE Many people were concerned about the violence in popular culture The most violent film of the 1930 s, Public Enemy, and the 1974 vigilante fantasy Death Wish had body counts that topped out at 8 Three movies of the late 1980 s—Robocop, Die Hard, Rambo III—each had a death tally of 60 or more, nearly one every two minutes Trend culminated in the unimaginably violent Natural Born Killers (1994) TV networks crammed violent shows into prime time 1991: survey found that by the age of 18, the average viewer had witnessed some 40, 000 murders on TV PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

VIOLENCE AND POPULAR CULTURE 1981 Music Television (MTV) was launched featuring pop song videos Within three years, 24 million watched every day Michael Jackson’s Thriller transformed the genre as pop music acquired a harder beat and more explicit lyrics 1988 American Academy of Pediatrics expressed concern that the average teenager spent more than two hours a day watching rock videos, over half of which featured violence and three-fourths of which contained sexually suggestive material PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

VIOLENCE AND POPULAR CULTURE “Rap” emerged from the ghetto and spread by means of radio, cassettes and CDs Consisted of unpredictably metered lyrics set against an exaggeratedly heavy downbeat Rap performers conveyed, in words and gestures, an attitude of defiant, raw rage against whatever challenged their sense of manhood Appeal of rap spread beyond black audiences and led to white rappers like Eminem, whose lyrics reveled in being offensive and whose contempt knew no bounds PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

VIOLENCE AND POPULAR CULTURE Violation of social norms had long been part of adolescence Most consumers of pop violence in the 1990 s and early years of the 2000 s, had little difficulty distinguishing between cultural fantasies and everyday life But for those who had grown up in the ghettos, the culture of violence seemed to legitimate the meanness of everyday life Moreover, violence and criminality were becoming so much a part of popular culture that some adolescents retreated to wholly imaginative worlds conjured by movies, video and computer games, TV and pop music PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE ECONOMIC BOOM AND THE INTERNET Significant part of the prosperity of the 1990 s came from new technologies such as cellular phones and genetic engineering, but especially from the development of the Internet Developed in the 1970 s by U. S. military and academic institutions to coordinate research, the Internet lacked a common language Early 1990 s, Tim Berners-Lee, a British physicist working at a research institute in Switzerland, devised software that became the “grammar” of the Internet With this language, the Internet became the World Wide Web (WWW) The number of websites increased exponentially PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE ECONOMIC BOOM AND THE INTERNET In 1995, Bill Gates’s Microsoft entered the picture with its Windows operating system, which made the computer easy to use It competed with Netscape by creating a web browser—Microsoft Internet Explorer —and embedded it in its software in the Windows 95 bundle Netscape and other service providers protested that Microsoft was threatening to monopolize Internet access PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE ECONOMIC BOOM AND THE INTERNET In 1995, Jeff Bezos’s Internet company designed to sell books, Amazon. com, made its first sale Within six years its annual sales approached $3 billion and its stock soared Bezos became one of the richest men in the nation Others thought they could do the same with products from pet food to pornography Many start up companies consisted of little more than the hopes of the founders “Venture capitalists” poured billions into emerging “dot-coms” PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE ECONOMIC BOOM AND THE INTERNET In 1999, some 200 Internet companies “went public, ” selling shares in the major stock exchanges Raised $20 billion easily NASDAQ, the exchange which specialized in tech companies, had its index more than double between October 1999 and March 2000 Prices of dot-com stocks kept climbing though few companies generated profits and some lacked revenue all together Spring 2000: A selling wave hit tech stocks and spilled over to other companies Stock prices plummeted with the NASDAQ loosing nearly half its value in six months In all, some $2 trillion in stocks and stock funds disappeared PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE 2000 ELECTION: GEORGE W. BUSH WINS BY ONE VOTE During the 2000 campaign, Vice President Al Gore, secured the Democratic nomination and chose as his running mate Senator Joseph Lieberman The Republican nominee was George W. Bush, son of former president Bush, who selected the defense secretary from his father’s administration, Richard Cheney, as his running mate Consumer activist and environmentalist Ralph Nader also entered the race on the Green party ticket Main issue was what to do with the federal surplus of $1 trillion within five years Bush wanted a substantial tax cut Gore wanted to increase spending on education and shore up the social security system PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE 2000 ELECTION: GEORGE W. BUSH WINS BY ONE VOTE Gore seemed stiff, though knowledgeable while Bush ambushed the English language Candidates spent a record $1 billion to get their messages to the voters On election night, it appeared at midnight that Bush had 246 electoral votes and Gore 267 with 270 votes to win and Florida, with 25 votes, undecided Bush had a lead in Florida of 1784 out of nearly 6 million votes cast PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE 2000 ELECTION: GEORGE W. BUSH WINS BY ONE VOTE After a machine recount, Bush’s lead was reduced to several hundred votes with Democrats complaining that a punch-card ballot was confusing and that machines routinely failed to count them correctly Gore’s lawyers demanded several predominantly Democratic counties be recounted by hand Republicans claimed could not change voting procedures after the election and demanded the hand count cease Entire election wound up in courts until the Supreme Court ruled on December 12, in a 5 to 4 vote, that the selective hand recounts violated the Constitution Gore received 51 million votes and Bush received 50. 5 million Nader received nearly 3 million PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE NEW TERRORISM INTENSIFIES In the wake of the Cold War, many military dictators who had been kept afloat by the U. S. or the Soviets found themselves having to seek the support of the people in order to stay in power In many Arab nations, rulers cultivated popular support by denouncing Israel, which refused to return Palestinian land seized in the 1967 war U. S. encouraged Israel to trade land for peace but few Israelis believed the promises of Arab leaders who routinely called for the destruction of Israel and had trained and funded terrorism Because Israel relied on U. S. for support, Arab rage was increasingly directed at U. S. and at Americans abroad PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

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THE NEW TERRORISM INTENSIFIES Several dozen separate terrorist organizations were behind the attacks on American targets 1998: Osama bin Laden, the son of a Saudi oil billionaire, published a fatwa—a religious edict—to Islamic peoples throughout the world to “kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military…. ” Bin Laden was protected by an extremist Islamic group, the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan Six months later, bin Laden’s organization—al-Qaeda —had perpetrated bombings of the U. S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es-Salaam in Africa PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 At 8: 40 on the morning of September 11, 2001, Madeline Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant on American Airlines flight 11, placed a call on her cell phone to inform her supervisor in Boston that 4 Arab men had slashed the throats of two attendants, forced their way into the cockpit and taken over the plane She provided their seat numbers When asked if she knew where they were headed, she looked out the window and realized they were headed for the World Trade Center PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 The Boeing 767 was traveling at 500 miles per hour at 8: 46 when it slammed into the 96 th floor of the north tower, causing a fireball to engulf 8 or 9 floors Fifteen minutes later a second jet plowed into the 80 th floor of the south tower 50, 000 people worked in the World Trade Center As thousands fled, hundreds of firefighters charged up the stairs to try to rescue those who were trapped PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 At 9: 30 the White House received word that another hijacked airliner was barreling toward Washington, D. C. Secret Service agents rushed Cheney to an emergency command bunker below the White House At 9: 35 the airliner plunged into the Pentagon and burst into flames Cheney telephoned Bush, who was in Florida, to tell him the nation was under attack Bush authorized the Air Force to shoot down any other hijacked airliners A few minutes later a fourth hijacked airliner plowed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers had declared their intention—by cell phone—to retake the plane PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 At 9: 59, the south tower of the World Trade center collapsed followed by the north tower half an hour later Nearly 3000 lay dead in the rubble, including the Fire Chief and 350 firemen Several hundred more perished at the Pentagon and the crash of the airliner in Pennsylvania Teams of four or five Arabic speaking men had hijacked each of the planes Several of the hijackers were quickly linked to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, who had previously been indicted (but not captured) for the 1998 bombing of the U. S. embassies in East Africa and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole Bin Laden operated with impunity in Afghanistan PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 That evening, President Bush assured Americans that the terrorists would be found and made to pay for their attacks and that any government harboring them would be held equally responsible Bin Laden, in a video recording, denied involvement in the attacks but praised those who had carried them out Several weeks later, Bush declared that bin Laden would be taken “dead or alive” and offered $25 million for his death or capture Within the United States, thousands of Arabs were rounded up and detained Those with visa and immigration violations were imprisoned Several letters addressed to government officials included threats and anthrax spores which killed half a dozen postal workers and mail recipients Bush created the Office of Homeland Security headed by Tom Ridge PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

AMERICA FIGHTS BACK: WAR IN AFGHANISTAN Bin Laden was in Afghanistan protected by the Taliban had fought the Soviet invasion in the 1980 s, inflicting heavy losses with weapons and support from the U. S. Source of the anthrax letters was problematic Bush’s secretary of state, Colin Powell, maintained that U. S. troops should only be deployed when their political objective was clear, military advantage overwhelming and means of disengaging secure— Powell Doctrine Powell urged many European, Asian and Islamic states to crack down on terrorist cells in their countries and to provide assistance in the U. S. military campaign against the Taliban Persuaded anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan to join forces to topple the regime PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

AMERICA FIGHTS BACK: WAR IN AFGHANISTAN 20 September: Bush ordered the Taliban to turn over bin Laden and top al-Qaeda leaders When the Taliban refused, Bush unleashed missiles and warplanes against Taliban installations and defenses Taliban forces hunkered in bunkers to withstand bombings and fought off attacks by anti-Taliban forces Small teams of American soldiers with hand-held computers and satellite-linked navigational devices, joined with anti. Taliban contingents, marking Taliban positions with laser spotters and communicating with high altitude bombers which dropped electronically guided bombs from 30, 000 feet Taliban were driven from power with the loss of only one U. S. soldier to enemy fire PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE SECOND IRAQ WAR January 2002: After the Taliban had been crushed, Bush declared the U. S. would take “preemptive actions” against regimes that threatened it Identified Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an axis of evil Immediately after September 11, he initiated plans to attack Iraq Secretary of State Powell advised Bush not to attack Iraq If Saddam were driven from power, U. S. would be left with Iraq and the following disarray Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and others insisted Iraqis would welcome liberation and embrace democracy and a free Iraq would stimulate democratic reforms throughout the Middle East Joint Chiefs of Staff proposed an invasion of half a million troops Rumsfeld insisted on a smaller, faster, cheaper force of 125, 000 Spring 2002: CIA agents were spirited into Iraq and airplanes and soldiers were deployed to Kuwait Bush denied he had any plans to attack Iraq PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE SECOND IRAQ WAR In September, Bush sought congressional support, stating that the Iraqi leader had weapons of mass destruction Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of war appropriations Bush called on the UN to join in the attack Following the Iran-Iraq War, UN inspectors had destroyed thousands of tons of chemical weapons In recent years these inspectors had found little further evidence of these weapons PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE SECOND IRAQ WAR Powell presented “evidence” to the UN that Saddam had been building and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction that the UN inspectors had not found UN Security Council order Saddam to cooperate with UN inspectors and warned of serious consequences if he did not comply After several months, Bush grew impatient with the slow pace of the inspections When the Security Council refused to take action, Bush formed a coalition—Great Britain, Italy, Spain and a few other countries—to oust Saddam PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE SECOND IRAQ WAR 20 March 2003: American missiles and bombs—in the Shock and Awe campaign—pounded Saddam’s defenses Two armored columns roared across the Kuwaiti border into Iraq British forces moved along the coast toward the oil port of Basra TV reporters provided live coverage Iraqi resistance was disorganized and ineffective American forces advanced half way to Baghdad the first night PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

THE SECOND IRAQ WAR 4 April: U. S. Army seized the Baghdad International Airport The next morning, 800 American soldiers in tanks and armored vehicles blasted their way into downtown Baghdad Some Iraqis poured into the streets to celebrate Others looted offices, museums, stores, and hospitals Saddam disappeared and his government evaporated By mid-April, the Pentagon declared major combat operations had come to an end Iraq was in chaos and there were too few U. S. soldiers to preserve order Islamic radicals joined with Saddam supporters to attack PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008 occupation forces

2004: BUSH WINS A SECOND TERM The war became the main issue of the election campaign By January Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts was gaining in the polls and had won the Democratic nomination by April Chose Senator John Edwards as his running mate In Iraq the situation deteriorated as 60 Minutes revealed American captors had tortured Iraqi captives in the Abu Ghraib prison Casualties mounted Cost of the occupation was spiraling upward No Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had been found PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

2004: BUSH WINS A SECOND TERM At the Democratic Convention in July, Kerry emphasized his military service in Vietnam Contrast to Bush who had served in the National Guard in Alabama and Texas during the war Criticized Bush for attacking Iraq before capturing bin Laden and for starting the war with insufficient international support and insufficient troops to maintain order and rebuild Iraq PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

2004: BUSH WINS A SECOND TERM Bush mobilized conservatives and religious fundamentalists by proposing a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union between a man and a woman Kerry endorsed gay rights but endlessly qualified previous statements on same-sex marriage Bush’s campaign attacked Kerry’s war record Some Vietnam veterans seized on the fact that in 1971 Kerry had told a congressional committee that the Vietnam war was wrong and immoral Republicans also portrayed Kerry as opportunistic and Bush accused him of flip-flopping More than 12 million new voters came to the polls for one of the most divisive elections in recent history Kerry received 57 million votes but Bush got 60 million and won with 286 electoral votes to 252 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

MORE TROUBLE IN ASIA While main goal was to win in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush was increasingly concerned with political stability elsewhere in Asia When Iran acquired technology to enrich uranium, U. S. raised objections with UN Iran pushed ahead with program despite discussions Also funneled money to Hezbollah in Lebanon In the summer of 2006 after Israel destroyed much of Palestine’s power grid in a retaliatory move, Hezbollah staged a border raid that resulted in the death of 8 Israeli soldiers and the capture of two others Israel responded with massive bombing campaign of Hezbollah positions in Lebanon Hezbollah responded with shower of missiles which caused more than a million Israelis to evacuate By September, Condolezza Rice, U. S. Secretary of State, and UN officials had brokered an uneasy truce October 2006, North Korea. PEARSON exploded a nuclear bomb EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CONCERNS AT HOME By early 2000 s, crime rates were dropping and focus shifted to illegal immigrants Proposed fence on border to stop them Protestors carried Mexican flags, leading many conservative politicians to criticize them Late 2006 a compromise arranged for a 700 mile fence In 2007, Congress deadlocked over whether to make it possible for illegal immigrants to gain U. S. citizenship PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CONCERNS AT HOME Baseball players were accused of using illegal steroids Prosecutors launched an investigation in 2003 against a San Francisco laboratory Next year the grand jury testimony was illegally leaked and published By 2005 Congress was criticizing players for steroid use In August 2007, Barry Bonds, whom many believe to have taken steroids, broke Hank Aaron’s home run record PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

CONCERNS AT HOME President Bush sought to limit embryonic stem-cell research because it entailed the destruction of potential human life In the absence of federal support, universities, biotech firms and states funded stem cell research Global warming became an increasing concern In 1997 140 nations, meeting in Japan, signed the Kyoto protocols agreeing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions In 2001, insisting the protocols would harm the U. S. economy, Bush withdrew American agreement to them In 2006, mayors of over 200 U. S. cities signed a Climate Protection Agreement pledging to meet the Kyoto targets for greenhouse gas reductions by 2012 By 2007, even Bush was calling for a more aggressive, though still voluntary, response PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

HURRICANE KATRINA August 28, 2005, the National Weather Service warned that hurricane Katrina would create “devastating damage” Federal officials evacuated the Louisiana coastline Millions fled though 100, 000 residents of New Orleans, most of them poor, remained Ten thousand took refuge in the Superdome Katrina made landfall early on August 29 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

HURRICANE KATRINA Within minutes it destroyed nearly every building in Plaquemines Parish and 150 mile per hour winds ripped two holes in the Superdome Water dumped by the hurricane as it headed north caused the collapse of canals and the breeching of the Lake Pontchartrain levees, flooding much of New Orleans Rural areas were hit equally hard PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

HURRICANE KATRINA By evening, much of New Orleans was under water and 25, 000 crowded into the Superdome while those locked out took over the Convention Center At first, no one understood the dimension of the disaster and the situation worsened over the next three days Over a million people were displaced from their homes Dead bodies, sewage, rotting food and plants and factory effluents combined to form a toxic inland sea The Convention Center, housing 20, 000, descended into anarchy PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

HURRICANE KATRINA Television crews arrived long before help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Viewers saw horrible conditions even as Michael Chertoff, who oversaw FEMA, expressed satisfaction with the agency’s response By then more than 1300 were dead Many shared the blame for conditions Engineers had long warned that the levees and canals could fail but little was done to strengthen them Environmentalists and complained of the overdevelopment and erosion of coastal marshes and wetlands and were ignored Officials in New Orleans had neglected to devise an evacuation plan for those without cars and one-sixth of the police force abandoned the city before the storm struck The mayor did not respond well FEMA director was so worried about making a mistake that he did little at all Bush complimented the beleaguered director publicly PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

HURRICANE KATRINA The 1900 hurricane which destroyed the city of Galveston and killed 10, 000 people was a worse disaster than Katrina So was the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires which burned 500 blocks and killed 700— a larger proportion of the population than perished in Katrina What was so disturbing about Katrina, in addition to the loss of life, was it illustrated the nation’s vulnerability PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

IRAQ INSURGENCY INTENSIFIES Iraq suffered from a breakdown of civil society after Saddam While coalition forces attempted to halt the violence, political officials laid the foundations for a new Iraqi government 28 June 2004: the coalition transferred nominal authority to the Iraqi Governing Council whose chief task was to organize the election of a National Assembly to draft a constitution Despite targeting of polling places and warnings to stay away, nearly 8 million Iraqis voted in the 30 January 2005 elections PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

IRAQ INSURGENCY INTENSIFIES In the north, the Kurdish majority won most of the seats They sought to form a Kurdish state and secede In the south, the Shiites embraced a messianic strain of Islam and had strong ties to Iran The Sunnis dominated the region around Baghdad but constituted only 20 percent of the overall population Sunnis boycotted the election and vowed to have nothing to do with the ensuing government The Shiite dominated new government quickly drafted a constitution which struggled between elements supporting an Islamic state and those supporting individual freedoms Voters approved on 15 October 2005 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

IRAQ INSURGENCY INTENSIFIES On 22 February 2006, Musab al-Zarqawi—Jordanian born leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq—blew up the golden dome of the Askariya Mosque, a Shiite shrine Enraged Shiites attacked Summi mosques and clerics, triggering an endless cycle of reprisals Some Iraqi military and police officers formed extralegal death squads to eliminate Sunni leaders and terrorize their followers Sunni militias responded in kind PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

IRAQ INSURGENCY INTENSIFIES Fall 2006: an Iraqi tribunal convicted Saddam of killing 148 Shiites Saddam was hanged on 30 December 2006 in a proceeding that seemed less like justice and more like revenge Americans struggled to find a policy that would isolate Iran and build democracy in Iraq Also wanted Sunni participation in the government which both Shiites and Sunnis saw as absurd U. S. policies offended everyone PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

IRAQ INSURGENCY INTENSIFIES Attacks on security forces and civilians intensified In 2003 about 30 attacks occurred each day By 2005 there were 70 attacks a day By 2006 the total topped 100 As U. S. congressional elections approached, the war cost $2 billion a week and the annual U. S. deficit soared to half a trillion dollars Democrats increasingly withdrew their support from the war Some Republicans also defected Midterm elections resulted in a decisive defeat for the Republicans as Democrats gained 31 seats in the House and 5 in the Senate giving them control of Congress PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

IRAQ INSURGENCY INTENSIFIES Democrats named Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House First woman to hold the position In January 2007 when Bush called for a modest increase in troop levels in Iraq, Pelosi and the Democrats opposed the measure and voted to reduce funding for the war Bush vetoed By summer of 2007, attacks had risen to over 250 a day and the death toll of American troops approached 4, 000 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

MILESTONES PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

WEBSITES Desert Storm http: //www. desert-storm. com Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton http: //www. ipl. org/div/potus/ghwbush. html http: //www. ipl. org/div/potus/wjclinton. html Investigating the President: The Trial http: //www. cnn. com/ALLPOLITICS/resources/1998/lewins ky Kosovo http: //www. cnn. com/SPECIALS/1998/10/kosovo PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008

WEBSITES Oklahoma City Bombing http: //www. cnn. com/US/9703/okc. trial 9/11 Attacks http: //911 digitalarchives. org WEBSITE http: // PEARSON EDUCATION, INC. , PUBLISHING AS LONGMAN © 2008