Download George W. Bush Presidency

George W. Bush Presidency
2000–2008
Thinking Skill: Explicitly assess the
Bush presidency and consider presentday effects
2000 Presidential Election
• George W. Bush (R)
• 50,456,002 popular votes
• 271 electoral votes
• Al Gore (D)
• 50,999,897 popular votes
• 266 electoral votes
• Ralph Nader (G)
• 2,882,955 popular votes
• 0 electoral votes
2000 Presidential Election
2000 Presidential Election
2000 Presidential Election
• Florida was the key to victory; Gore had 266
& Bush 246 Electoral votes
• Bush led by @ 500 votes; mandatory recount
• Florida Supreme court rules a hand recount
of 70,000 ballots
• Supreme Court decision determined
president
• Bush v. Gore (2000)
2000 Presidential Election
What is more crucial?
-determining a winner in a timely
fashion…
OR
-determining the intent of the
voters…
George W. Bush’s domestic policy
• As Bush took office the economy began to slow.
• Dot.com profits failed to appear.
• Stock prices were hurt by dishonest accounting practice scandals.
• Bush pushed tax cuts to fulfill campaign promises and to
spur the slumping economy.
• New laws cut taxes, reduced the marriage penalty, and lowered the
estate tax.
• The economy did not improve, it went into a recession.
• Tax cuts in 2003 eliminated the tax on dividends.
Domestic Agenda/Issues
• 2001 Tax cuts
• Growing federal deficit/debt
• 2002 No Child Left Behind
• AYP/2014 deadline
• 2005 Hurricane Katrina
Bush’s Domestic Policy
Education
Health
Care
Other
Issues
• Bush announced the No Child Left Behind Act to
improve education.
• States were required to develop academic standards
and test students annually to ensure that the
standards were being met.
• In 2003 Bush updated the Medicare program.
• Included a benefit to help Medicare recipients pay for
prescription medicine.
• Established the White House Office of Faith-Based
Initiatives to help religious community-service
organizations develop greater access to federal
funding.
Bush’s Second Term
Bush ran against Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts
and won re-election in another close contest.
Bush announced his plan to reform Social Security.
By late 2005, Congress had still not acted on Bush’s idea
to privatize Social Security.
Bush also filled vacancies on the Supreme Court.
John Roberts was confirmed as Chief Justice. Bush
named Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O’Connor but
she withdrew her name from contention.
Bush nominated conservative judge Samuel Alito to
replace O’Connor in 2005.
September 11, 2001
• 19 al-Qaeda terrorists coordinated attack
• 8:45 am North Tower struck by American Airlines Flight 11
• 9:03 am South Tower struck by United Airlines Flight 175
• 9:43 am Pentagon struck by American Airlines Flight 77
• 10:10 am United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in Shanksville, PA
•
8:30 pm President Bush's Address
September 11th flight paths
Flight 11 striking the north tower
9:03 am-South Tower is hit
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKZqqSI9s&feature=BFa&list=PL74D38060FE215801&index=3
Bush learns of the attacks
Watching in horror from
“ground zero”
Response to disaster
Osama Bin Laden
Al-Qaeda -- “The Base”
Strategy
1. Provoke the United States into invading a Muslim country.
2. Incite local resistance to occupying forces.
3. Expand the conflict to neighboring countries, and engage the
U.S. in a long war of attrition.
4. Convert al-Qaeda into an ideology and set of operating
principles that can be adopted in other countries. Incite attacks
against countries allied with the U.S. until they withdraw from the
conflict.
5. The U.S. economy will finally collapse
Legacy
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How has the world changed since 9/11?
Impact on American life?
Plane/travel regulations today vs. then
Dept. of homeland security
Patriot act
9/11 commission vs. wiki leaks re: sharing of
intelligence
• Death of bin Laden May 2011
The War on Terror
• 2001 Invasion of Afghanistan
• Remove Taliban; find Osama bin Laden
• 2001 Patriot Act
• Department of Homeland Security
• 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom
• WMD/al-Qaeda link ?
• 2006 Saddam executed
• 2011 US troops leave
• 2011 bin Laden killed
2008 Economic
Crisis
Essential Skill: IR4: Reflect upon the impact of
actions on others
Background
• In the 1990’s the economy rode the internet business
(dotcom) to a ‘boom’
• By 2000, the dotcom bubble had burst
• Compounded by 9/11 and international uncertainty
• Banks around the world are looking for opportunities
to attract investors to stimulate the economy
• How do they do it?
The Subprime Mortgage Crisis
• What is a subprime mortgage?
• Subprime Mortgage: a loan made out to borrowers with
lower credit ratings
• These mortgages have higher interest rates than normal
mortgages because the banks are taking on more risk
• Banks, desperate to create liquid capital, start offering
more subprime mortgages in the early 2000’s
The Subprime Mortgage Crisis
• With lowered interest rates overall,
and the economy still healthy,
buyer were still making their
payments
• The banks saw this as
confirmation and doubled down
• Interest-Only Adjustable Rate
Mortgage: Flexible loans that
require little (to no) down
payment
The Subprime Mortgage Crisis
• Investment banks then sell the subprime mortgages
on stock exchange
• Everyday people are now investing into funds that
include these subprime mortgages
Bubble Bursts
• The market plummets
• Investors are stuck with stocks
that are quickly falling far
below their original sale price
• Buyers can longer make their
payments
• Banks aren’t collecting money
• Foreclose on houses, but the
housing prices are plummeting
as well
Obama 2008 Election
Obama
• One of the first actions
Obama takes is to introduce
a stimulus package
• $830 billon to bail out the
banks and keep
unemployment from rising
over 8%
• TARP: Troubled Assets
Relief Program
• Additional regulations to
hold regulators accountable