Download 幻灯片 1 - Shandong University

2017/5/24
1
Cold War beginnings and the
Civil Rights Movement
• A bipolar world
• Following World War II, the United States emerged as
one of the two dominant superpowers, with Soviet Union
as its only opponent.
• The U.S. Senate, on December 4, 1945, approved U.S.
participation in the United Nations, which marked a turn
away from the traditional isolationism and toward more
international involvement.
• In the decades after World War II, the United States
became a global influence in economic, political, military,
cultural and technological affairs.
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2
Cold War beginnings and the
Civil Rights Movement
• The Beginning of Cold War
• The post-war era in the United States was
defined internationally by the beginning of the
Cold War.
• The United States and the Soviet Union
attempted to expand their influence at the
expense of the other, checked by each side’s
massive nuclear arsenal and the doctrine of
mutual assured destruction.
• The result was a series of conflicts during this
period including the Korean War and the tense
nuclear showdown of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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3
Cold War beginnings and the
Civil Rights Movement
nuclear weapons: a check of war
Examples: Indian-Pakistan conflict in 2008-2009
Suppose Sadam Hussein had had nuclear weapons, …
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Cold War beginnings and the
Civil Rights Movement
• John F. Kennedy
• John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
• Known for his charisma, he is so far the only
Roman Catholic President.
• The Kennedy’s election brought a new life and
vigor to the White House.
• During his time in office, the Cold War reached
its height with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
• He was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on
November 22, 1963.
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Cold War beginnings and the
Civil Rights Movement
The Cuban Missile Crisis (Kennedy’s national address)
Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas. (The first shot missed,
the second hit the neck, the third hit the head_
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Cold War beginnings and the
Civil Rights Movement
• The Civil Rights Movement
• Meanwhile, the American people completed their great
migration from the farms into the cities and experienced
a period of sustained economic expansion.
• At the same time, institutionalized racism across the
United States, but especially in the American South, was
increasingly challenged by the growing Civil Rights
movement and African American leaders such as Martin
Luther King, Jr.
• During the 1960s, the Jim Crow laws that legalized racial
segregation between Whites and Blacks came to an end.
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Cold War beginnings and the
Civil Rights Movement
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: I have a dream (part)
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: Assassination
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The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between
1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure segregation in all public facilities, with a
"separate but equal" status for black Americans and members of other non-white racial
groups.
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An African-American youth at a drinking fountain in
a courthouse lawn in Halifax, North Carolina, in
1938.
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The Cold War
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•
•
•
*
The Cold War continued through the 1960s and 1970s, and the United
States entered the Vietnam War, whose growing unpopularity fed already
existing social movements, including those among women, minorities and
young people.
President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society social programs and the judicial
activism of the Warren Court added to the wide range of social reform
during the 1960s and 1970s.
Feminism and the environmental movement became political forces, and
progress continued toward civil rights for all Americans.
The Counterculture Revolution swept through the nation and much of the
western world in the late sixties, dividing the already hostile environment but
also bringing forth more liberated social views.
The counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s refers to a period
between 1960 and 1973 that began in the United States as a reaction
against the conservative government, social norms of the 1950s, the
political conservatism of the Cold War period, and the US government's
extensive military intervention in Vietnam.
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The Cold War
• In the early 1970s, Johnson’s successor,
President Richard Nixon was forced by
Congress to bring the Vietnam War to a close,
and the American-backed South Vietnamese
government subsequently collapsed.
• The war had cost the lives of 58,000 American
troops and millions of Vietnamese.
• The OPEC oil embargo and slowing economic
growth led to a period of stagflation.
• Nixon’s own administration was brought to an
ignominious close with the political scandal of
Watergate.
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End of the Cold War (1980–1991)
•
•
•
•
Ronald Reagan produced a major realignment with his 1980 and 1984
landslides.
In 1980, the Reagan coalition was possible because of Democratic losses in
most social-economic groups. “Reagan Democrats” were those who usually
voted Democratic, but were attracted by Reagan’s policies, personality and
leadership, notably his social conservatism and hawkish foreign policy.
Widely regarded as a hard-line conservative, Reagan downsized
government taxation, spending, and regulation. Early during the Reagan
administration, unemployment and business failures soon entered rates
close to Depression-era levels; by 1982, the unemployment rate was 9.7
percent, and nearly 17,000 businesses failed.
Gigantic budget deficits prevented any implementation of social programs.
These trends reversed around 1983, when the inflation rate decreased from
11 to 2 percent, the unemployment rate decreased to 7.5 percent, and the
economic growth rate increased from 4.5 to 7.2 percent.
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End of the Cold War (1980–1991)
•
1980 presidential electoral votes by state. Reagan won every state, with the
exception of Minnesota, West Virginia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Georgia
and Washington, D.C.
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End of the Cold War (1980–1991)
•
1984 presidential electoral votes by state. Reagan (red) won every state,
with the exception of Minnesota, and Washington, D.C.
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End of the Cold War (1980–1991)
• Reagan took a hard line against the Soviet Union, teaming up with
friend and ally Margaret Thatcher, the British premier, against the
“Evil Empire”.
• However, he succeeded in growing the military budget and
launching a costly and complicated missile defense system called
the Strategic Defense Initiative (dubbed “Star Wars”), hoping to
intimidate the Soviets.
• Though it was never fully developed or deployed, the research and
technologies of SDI paved the way for some anti-ballistic missile
systems of today.
• Gorbachev tried to save Communism in Russia first by ending the
expensive arms race with America, then in 1989 by shedding the
East European empire.
• Communism finally collapsed in Russia in 1991, ending the USSoviet Cold War.
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End of the Cold War (1980–1991)
Reagan and Gorbachev sign the Range Nuclear Forces
(INF) Treaty at the White House in 1987.
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17
1991–present
• After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States emerged as the
world’s sole remaining superpower and continued to involve itself in
military action overseas, including the 1991 Gulf War.
• Following his election in 1992, President Bill Clinton oversaw
unprecedented gains in securities values, a side effect of the digital
revolution and new business opportunities created by the Internet.
The 1990s saw one of the longest periods of economic expansion.
Under Clinton an attempt to universalize health care, led by First
Lady Hillary Clinton failed after almost two years of work on the
controversial plan.
• In 1993, Ramzi Yousef, a Kuwaiti national, planted explosives in the
underground garage of World Trade Center and detonated them,
killing six people and injuring thousands, in what would become the
beginning of an age of terrorism. Yousef would be subsequently
captured. In 1995, a domestic terrorist bombing at the federal
building in Oklahoma City killed 168 people.
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1991–present
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States emerged as the world’s sole remaining superpower and continued to involve itself in military action overseas, including
the 1991 Gulf War. Following his election in 1992, President Bill Clinton oversaw unprecedented gains in securities values, a side effect of the digital revolution and new
business opportunities created by the Internet. The 1990s saw one of the longest periods of economic expansion. Under Clinton an attempt to universalize health care,
led by First Lady Hillary Clinton failed after almost two years of work on the controversial plan.
In 1993, Ramzi Yousef, a Kuwaiti national, planted explosives in the underground garage of World Trade Center and detonated them, killing six people and injuring
thousands, in what would become the beginning of an age of terrorism. Yousef would be subsequently captured. In 1995, a domestic terrorist bombing at the federal
building in Oklahoma City killed 168 people.
During the 1990s, the United States and allied nations found themselves under attack from Islamist terrorist groups, chiefly Al-Qaida. The regime of Saddam Hussein in
Iraq proved a continuing problem for the UN and Iraq’s neighbors in its refusal to account for previously known stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, its
violations of UN resolutions, and its support for terrorism against Israel and other countries. After the 1991 Gulf War, the US, French, and British militaries began patrolling
the Iraqi no-fly zones to protect Iraq’s Kurdish minority and Shi’ite Arab population – both of which suffered attacks from the Hussein regime before and after the 1991 Gulf
War – in Iraq’s northern and southern regions, respectively. In the aftermath of Operation Desert Fox during December 1998, Iraq announced that it would no longer
respect the no-fly zones and resumed its efforts in shooting down Allied aircraft.
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing by Al-Qaida was the first of many terrorist attacks upon Americans during the same period. Later that year in the Battle of
Mogadishu, US Army Rangers engaged Somali militias supported by Al Qaeda in an extended firefight that cost the lives of 19 soldiers. President Clinton subsequently
withdrew US combat forces from Somalia, a move described by Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as evidence of American weakness. These attacks were followed by
others including the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Next came the 2000
millennium attack plots which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport, followed by the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000, which
the government associated with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network.
US responses to these attacks included limited Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998), which failed to stop Al-Qaida’s leaders and their Taliban
supporters. Also in 1998, President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act which called for regime change in Iraq on the basis of Saddam Hussein’s possession of
weapons of mass destruction, oppression of Iraqi citizens and attacks upon other Middle Eastern countries.
In 1998, Clinton was impeached for charges of perjury and obstruction of justice that arose from an inappropriate sexual relationship with White House intern Monica
Lewinsky and a sexual harassment lawsuit from Paula Jones. He was the second president to have been impeached. The House of Representatives voted 228 to 206 on
December 19 to impeach Clinton, but on February 12, 1999, the Senate voted 55 to 45 to acquit Clinton of the charges.
The presidential election in 2000 between George W. Bush (R) and Al Gore (D) was one of the closest in the U.S. history, and helped lay the seeds for political
polarization to come. Although Bush won the majority of electoral votes, Gore won the majority of the popular vote. In the days following Election Day, the state of Florida
entered dispute over the counting of votes due to technical issues over certain Democratic votes in some counties. The Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore was decided
on December 12, 2000, ending the recount with a 5-4 vote and certifying Bush as president.
At the beginning of the new millennium, the United States found itself attacked by Islamic terrorism, with the September 11, 2001 attacks in which 19 extremists hijacked
four transcontinental airliners and intentionally crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. The passengers on the
fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, revolted causing the plane to crash into a field in Somerset County, PA. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, that plane was
intended to hit the US Capitol Building in Washington. The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, destroying the entire complex. The United States soon found
large amounts of evidence that suggested that a terrorist group, al-Qaeda, spearheaded by Osama bin Laden, was responsible for the attacks.
In response to the attacks, under the administration of President George W. Bush, the United States (with the military support of NATO and the political support of some
of the international community) launched Operation Enduring Freedom which overthrew the Taliban regime which had protected and harbored bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
With the support of large bipartisan majorities, the US Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. With a coalition of
other countries including Britain, Spain, Australia, Japan and Poland, in March 2003 President Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom which
led to the overthrow and capture of Saddam Hussein. Using the language of 1998 Iraq Liberation Act and the Clinton Administration, the reasons cited by the Bush
administration for the invasion included the spreading of democracy, the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (a key demand of the UN as well, though later
investigations found parts of the intelligence reports to be inaccurate) and the liberation of the Iraqi people. This second invasion fueled protest marches in many parts of
the world.
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded parts of the city of New Orleans and heavily damaged other areas of the gulf coast, including major damage to the Mississippi
coast. The preparation and the response of the government were criticized as ineffective and slow.
By 2006, rising prices saw Americans become increasingly conscious of the nation’s extreme dependence on steady supplies of inexpensive petroleum for energy, with
President Bush admitting a U.S. “addiction” to oil. The possibility of serious economic disruption, should conflict overseas or declining production interrupt the flow, could
not be ignored, given the instability in the Middle East and other oil-producing regions of the world. Many proposals and pilot projects for replacement energy sources,
from ethanol to wind power and solar power, received more capital funding and were pursued more seriously in the 2000s than in previous decades. The 2006 midterm
elections saw Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi become Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S.
2017/5/24
19
1991–present
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States emerged as the world’s sole remaining superpower and continued to involve itself in military action overseas, including
the 1991 Gulf War. Following his election in 1992, President Bill Clinton oversaw unprecedented gains in securities values, a side effect of the digital revolution and new
business opportunities created by the Internet. The 1990s saw one of the longest periods of economic expansion. Under Clinton an attempt to universalize health care,
led by First Lady Hillary Clinton failed after almost two years of work on the controversial plan.
In 1993, Ramzi Yousef, a Kuwaiti national, planted explosives in the underground garage of World Trade Center and detonated them, killing six people and injuring
thousands, in what would become the beginning of an age of terrorism. Yousef would be subsequently captured. In 1995, a domestic terrorist bombing at the federal
building in Oklahoma City killed 168 people.
During the 1990s, the United States and allied nations found themselves under attack from Islamist terrorist groups, chiefly Al-Qaida. The regime of Saddam Hussein in
Iraq proved a continuing problem for the UN and Iraq’s neighbors in its refusal to account for previously known stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, its
violations of UN resolutions, and its support for terrorism against Israel and other countries. After the 1991 Gulf War, the US, French, and British militaries began patrolling
the Iraqi no-fly zones to protect Iraq’s Kurdish minority and Shi’ite Arab population – both of which suffered attacks from the Hussein regime before and after the 1991 Gulf
War – in Iraq’s northern and southern regions, respectively. In the aftermath of Operation Desert Fox during December 1998, Iraq announced that it would no longer
respect the no-fly zones and resumed its efforts in shooting down Allied aircraft.
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing by Al-Qaida was the first of many terrorist attacks upon Americans during the same period. Later that year in the Battle of
Mogadishu, US Army Rangers engaged Somali militias supported by Al Qaeda in an extended firefight that cost the lives of 19 soldiers. President Clinton subsequently
withdrew US combat forces from Somalia, a move described by Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as evidence of American weakness. These attacks were followed by
others including the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Next came the 2000
millennium attack plots which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport, followed by the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000, which
the government associated with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network.
US responses to these attacks included limited Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998), which failed to stop Al-Qaida’s leaders and their Taliban
supporters. Also in 1998, President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act which called for regime change in Iraq on the basis of Saddam Hussein’s possession of
weapons of mass destruction, oppression of Iraqi citizens and attacks upon other Middle Eastern countries.
In 1998, Clinton was impeached for charges of perjury and obstruction of justice that arose from an inappropriate sexual relationship with White House intern Monica
Lewinsky and a sexual harassment lawsuit from Paula Jones. He was the second president to have been impeached. The House of Representatives voted 228 to 206 on
December 19 to impeach Clinton, but on February 12, 1999, the Senate voted 55 to 45 to acquit Clinton of the charges.
The presidential election in 2000 between George W. Bush (R) and Al Gore (D) was one of the closest in the U.S. history, and helped lay the seeds for political
polarization to come. Although Bush won the majority of electoral votes, Gore won the majority of the popular vote. In the days following Election Day, the state of Florida
entered dispute over the counting of votes due to technical issues over certain Democratic votes in some counties. The Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore was decided
on December 12, 2000, ending the recount with a 5-4 vote and certifying Bush as president.
At the beginning of the new millennium, the United States found itself attacked by Islamic terrorism, with the September 11, 2001 attacks in which 19 extremists hijacked
four transcontinental airliners and intentionally crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. The passengers on the
fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, revolted causing the plane to crash into a field in Somerset County, PA. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, that plane was
intended to hit the US Capitol Building in Washington. The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, destroying the entire complex. The United States soon found
large amounts of evidence that suggested that a terrorist group, al-Qaeda, spearheaded by Osama bin Laden, was responsible for the attacks.
In response to the attacks, under the administration of President George W. Bush, the United States (with the military support of NATO and the political support of some
of the international community) launched Operation Enduring Freedom which overthrew the Taliban regime which had protected and harbored bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
With the support of large bipartisan majorities, the US Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. With a coalition of
other countries including Britain, Spain, Australia, Japan and Poland, in March 2003 President Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom which
led to the overthrow and capture of Saddam Hussein. Using the language of 1998 Iraq Liberation Act and the Clinton Administration, the reasons cited by the Bush
administration for the invasion included the spreading of democracy, the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (a key demand of the UN as well, though later
investigations found parts of the intelligence reports to be inaccurate) and the liberation of the Iraqi people. This second invasion fueled protest marches in many parts of
the world.
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded parts of the city of New Orleans and heavily damaged other areas of the gulf coast, including major damage to the Mississippi
coast. The preparation and the response of the government were criticized as ineffective and slow.
By 2006, rising prices saw Americans become increasingly conscious of the nation’s extreme dependence on steady supplies of inexpensive petroleum for energy, with
President Bush admitting a U.S. “addiction” to oil. The possibility of serious economic disruption, should conflict overseas or declining production interrupt the flow, could
not be ignored, given the instability in the Middle East and other oil-producing regions of the world. Many proposals and pilot projects for replacement energy sources,
from ethanol to wind power and solar power, received more capital funding and were pursued more seriously in the 2000s than in previous decades. The 2006 midterm
elections saw Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi become Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S.
2017/5/24
20
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1991–present
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States emerged as the world’s sole remaining superpower and continued to involve itself in military action overseas, including
the 1991 Gulf War. Following his election in 1992, President Bill Clinton oversaw unprecedented gains in securities values, a side effect of the digital revolution and new
business opportunities created by the Internet. The 1990s saw one of the longest periods of economic expansion. Under Clinton an attempt to universalize health care,
led by First Lady Hillary Clinton failed after almost two years of work on the controversial plan.
In 1993, Ramzi Yousef, a Kuwaiti national, planted explosives in the underground garage of World Trade Center and detonated them, killing six people and injuring
thousands, in what would become the beginning of an age of terrorism. Yousef would be subsequently captured. In 1995, a domestic terrorist bombing at the federal
building in Oklahoma City killed 168 people.
During the 1990s, the United States and allied nations found themselves under attack from Islamist terrorist groups, chiefly Al-Qaida. The regime of Saddam Hussein in
Iraq proved a continuing problem for the UN and Iraq’s neighbors in its refusal to account for previously known stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, its
violations of UN resolutions, and its support for terrorism against Israel and other countries. After the 1991 Gulf War, the US, French, and British militaries began patrolling
the Iraqi no-fly zones to protect Iraq’s Kurdish minority and Shi’ite Arab population – both of which suffered attacks from the Hussein regime before and after the 1991 Gulf
War – in Iraq’s northern and southern regions, respectively. In the aftermath of Operation Desert Fox during December 1998, Iraq announced that it would no longer
respect the no-fly zones and resumed its efforts in shooting down Allied aircraft.
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing by Al-Qaida was the first of many terrorist attacks upon Americans during the same period. Later that year in the Battle of
Mogadishu, US Army Rangers engaged Somali militias supported by Al Qaeda in an extended firefight that cost the lives of 19 soldiers. President Clinton subsequently
withdrew US combat forces from Somalia, a move described by Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as evidence of American weakness. These attacks were followed by
others including the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Next came the 2000
millennium attack plots which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport, followed by the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000, which
the government associated with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network.
US responses to these attacks included limited Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998), which failed to stop Al-Qaida’s leaders and their Taliban
supporters. Also in 1998, President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act which called for regime change in Iraq on the basis of Saddam Hussein’s possession of
weapons of mass destruction, oppression of Iraqi citizens and attacks upon other Middle Eastern countries.
In 1998, Clinton was impeached for charges of perjury and obstruction of justice that arose from an inappropriate sexual relationship with White House intern Monica
Lewinsky and a sexual harassment lawsuit from Paula Jones. He was the second president to have been impeached. The House of Representatives voted 228 to 206 on
December 19 to impeach Clinton, but on February 12, 1999, the Senate voted 55 to 45 to acquit Clinton of the charges.
The presidential election in 2000 between George W. Bush (R) and Al Gore (D) was one of the closest in the U.S. history, and helped lay the seeds for political
polarization to come. Although Bush won the majority of electoral votes, Gore won the majority of the popular vote. In the days following Election Day, the state of Florida
entered dispute over the counting of votes due to technical issues over certain Democratic votes in some counties. The Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore was decided
on December 12, 2000, ending the recount with a 5-4 vote and certifying Bush as president.
At the beginning of the new millennium, the United States found itself attacked by Islamic terrorism, with the September 11, 2001 attacks in which 19 extremists hijacked
four transcontinental airliners and intentionally crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. The passengers on the
fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, revolted causing the plane to crash into a field in Somerset County, PA. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, that plane was
intended to hit the US Capitol Building in Washington. The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, destroying the entire complex. The United States soon found
large amounts of evidence that suggested that a terrorist group, al-Qaeda, spearheaded by Osama bin Laden, was responsible for the attacks.
In response to the attacks, under the administration of President George W. Bush, the United States (with the military support of NATO and the political support of some
of the international community) launched Operation Enduring Freedom which overthrew the Taliban regime which had protected and harbored bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
With the support of large bipartisan majorities, the US Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. With a coalition of
other countries including Britain, Spain, Australia, Japan and Poland, in March 2003 President Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom which
led to the overthrow and capture of Saddam Hussein. Using the language of 1998 Iraq Liberation Act and the Clinton Administration, the reasons cited by the Bush
administration for the invasion included the spreading of democracy, the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (a key demand of the UN as well, though later
investigations found parts of the intelligence reports to be inaccurate) and the liberation of the Iraqi people. This second invasion fueled protest marches in many parts of
the world.
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded parts of the city of New Orleans and heavily damaged other areas of the gulf coast, including major damage to the Mississippi
coast. The preparation and the response of the government were criticized as ineffective and slow.
By 2006, rising prices saw Americans become increasingly conscious of the nation’s extreme dependence on steady supplies of inexpensive petroleum for energy, with
President Bush admitting a U.S. “addiction” to oil. The possibility of serious economic disruption, should conflict overseas or declining production interrupt the flow, could
not be ignored, given the instability in the Middle East and other oil-producing regions of the world. Many proposals and pilot projects for replacement energy sources,
from ethanol to wind power and solar power, received more capital funding and were pursued more seriously in the 2000s than in previous decades. The 2006 midterm
elections saw Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi become Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S.
2017/5/24
21
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1991–present
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States emerged as the world’s sole remaining superpower and continued to involve itself in military action overseas, including
the 1991 Gulf War. Following his election in 1992, President Bill Clinton oversaw unprecedented gains in securities values, a side effect of the digital revolution and new
business opportunities created by the Internet. The 1990s saw one of the longest periods of economic expansion. Under Clinton an attempt to universalize health care,
led by First Lady Hillary Clinton failed after almost two years of work on the controversial plan.
In 1993, Ramzi Yousef, a Kuwaiti national, planted explosives in the underground garage of World Trade Center and detonated them, killing six people and injuring
thousands, in what would become the beginning of an age of terrorism. Yousef would be subsequently captured. In 1995, a domestic terrorist bombing at the federal
building in Oklahoma City killed 168 people.
During the 1990s, the United States and allied nations found themselves under attack from Islamist terrorist groups, chiefly Al-Qaida. The regime of Saddam Hussein in
Iraq proved a continuing problem for the UN and Iraq’s neighbors in its refusal to account for previously known stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, its
violations of UN resolutions, and its support for terrorism against Israel and other countries. After the 1991 Gulf War, the US, French, and British militaries began patrolling
the Iraqi no-fly zones to protect Iraq’s Kurdish minority and Shi’ite Arab population – both of which suffered attacks from the Hussein regime before and after the 1991 Gulf
War – in Iraq’s northern and southern regions, respectively. In the aftermath of Operation Desert Fox during December 1998, Iraq announced that it would no longer
respect the no-fly zones and resumed its efforts in shooting down Allied aircraft.
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing by Al-Qaida was the first of many terrorist attacks upon Americans during the same period. Later that year in the Battle of
Mogadishu, US Army Rangers engaged Somali militias supported by Al Qaeda in an extended firefight that cost the lives of 19 soldiers. President Clinton subsequently
withdrew US combat forces from Somalia, a move described by Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as evidence of American weakness. These attacks were followed by
others including the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Next came the 2000
millennium attack plots which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport, followed by the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000, which
the government associated with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network.
US responses to these attacks included limited Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998), which failed to stop Al-Qaida’s leaders and their Taliban
supporters. Also in 1998, President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act which called for regime change in Iraq on the basis of Saddam Hussein’s possession of
weapons of mass destruction, oppression of Iraqi citizens and attacks upon other Middle Eastern countries.
In 1998, Clinton was impeached for charges of perjury and obstruction of justice that arose from an inappropriate sexual relationship with White House intern Monica
Lewinsky and a sexual harassment lawsuit from Paula Jones. He was the second president to have been impeached. The House of Representatives voted 228 to 206 on
December 19 to impeach Clinton, but on February 12, 1999, the Senate voted 55 to 45 to acquit Clinton of the charges.
The presidential election in 2000 between George W. Bush (R) and Al Gore (D) was one of the closest in the U.S. history, and helped lay the seeds for political
polarization to come. Although Bush won the majority of electoral votes, Gore won the majority of the popular vote. In the days following Election Day, the state of Florida
entered dispute over the counting of votes due to technical issues over certain Democratic votes in some counties. The Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore was decided
on December 12, 2000, ending the recount with a 5-4 vote and certifying Bush as president.
At the beginning of the new millennium, the United States found itself attacked by Islamic terrorism, with the September 11, 2001 attacks in which 19 extremists hijacked
four transcontinental airliners and intentionally crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. The passengers on the
fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, revolted causing the plane to crash into a field in Somerset County, PA. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, that plane was
intended to hit the US Capitol Building in Washington. The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, destroying the entire complex. The United States soon found
large amounts of evidence that suggested that a terrorist group, al-Qaeda, spearheaded by Osama bin Laden, was responsible for the attacks.
In response to the attacks, under the administration of President George W. Bush, the United States (with the military support of NATO and the political support of some
of the international community) launched Operation Enduring Freedom which overthrew the Taliban regime which had protected and harbored bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
With the support of large bipartisan majorities, the US Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. With a coalition of
other countries including Britain, Spain, Australia, Japan and Poland, in March 2003 President Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom which
led to the overthrow and capture of Saddam Hussein. Using the language of 1998 Iraq Liberation Act and the Clinton Administration, the reasons cited by the Bush
administration for the invasion included the spreading of democracy, the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (a key demand of the UN as well, though later
investigations found parts of the intelligence reports to be inaccurate) and the liberation of the Iraqi people. This second invasion fueled protest marches in many parts of
the world.
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded parts of the city of New Orleans and heavily damaged other areas of the gulf coast, including major damage to the Mississippi
coast. The preparation and the response of the government were criticized as ineffective and slow.
By 2006, rising prices saw Americans become increasingly conscious of the nation’s extreme dependence on steady supplies of inexpensive petroleum for energy, with
President Bush admitting a U.S. “addiction” to oil. The possibility of serious economic disruption, should conflict overseas or declining production interrupt the flow, could
not be ignored, given the instability in the Middle East and other oil-producing regions of the world. Many proposals and pilot projects for replacement energy sources,
from ethanol to wind power and solar power, received more capital funding and were pursued more seriously in the 2000s than in previous decades. The 2006 midterm
elections saw Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi become Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S.
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