AMERICA IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

2000 - 2012

THE 2000 ELECTION : BUSH VS. GORE

DEMOCRATIC

OPPONENT

• VICE PRESIDENT TO BILL CLINTON• DEMOCRATS WERE WEAKENED BY

CLINTON’S IMPEACHMENT SCANDAL• HURT BY EMERGENCE OF A 3RD PARTY

CANDIDATE, RALPH NADER• DOWNTURN IN THE AMERICAN ECONOMY• WON POPULAR VOTE• SWING STATE: FLORIDA

AL GORE

3RD PARTY CANDIDATE • AUTHOR

• CONSUMER ADVOCATE• TOOK ALMOST 3 MILLION VOTESRALPH

NADER

REPUBLICAN

OPPONENT

• SON OF FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH (TO COACH C AKA: DADDY BUSH)• GOVERNOR OF TEXAS• WON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2000

AFTER WINNING A MAJORITY OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE• CLOSEST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN

HISTORY!• SWING STATE: FLORIDA

GEORGE W. BUSH

ELECTION NIGHTHTTP://YOUTU.BE/JEB9HWYMPA0

COURT RULED (5 TO 4 VOTE) TO ORDER AN END TO A RECOUNT

THE FLORIDA COURTS HAD INSTRUCTED THOSE RECOUNTING TO

EVALUATE THE VOTER’S INTENT IN CASES WHERE THE BALLOT WAS NOT

CORRECTLY PUNCHED IN. THIS IS WHY THE FLORIDA COURTS

WERE OVERRULED. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT SAID THERE WAS NOT CONSISTENT STANDARD FOR

REVIEWING THE BALLOTS.

U.S. SUPREME COURT

DOMESTIC POLICY UNDER BUSH• PUSHED THROUGH A TAX CUT IN AN ATTEMPT TO REVITALIZE THE ECONOMY• FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD DROPPED INTEREST RATES TO THEIR LOWEST

LEVELS IN DECADES.• TAX CUTS REVIVED THE ECONOMY, BUT ALSO BROUGHT A RETURN TO A

HIGH FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICITS• ACTIVE IN PROMOTING EDUCATIONAL REFORM• NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND – REQUIRING ALL STATES TO TEST ALL STUDENTS IN

ENGLISH AND MATHEMATICS EACH YEAR FROM 3RD GRADE TO 8TH GRADE.

AMERICA UNDER ASSAULT

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

THE DAY WE WERE ATTACKED

• HTTP://WWW.OPRAH.COM/OPRAHSHOW/GEORGE-W-BUSH-AND-THE-INFAMOUS-7-MINUTES-ON-911-VIDEO

September 11, 2001 (9/11)Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorists boarded 4 different U.S. AirlinersAmongst the terrorists were trained pilots. They hijacked the aircrafts.2 Hit the World Trade Center (New York City)1 Our Pentagon (Washington, DC)1 crashed in Pennsylvania when the passengers resisted the terroristsMore than 3000 people were killed

GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR• OSAMA BIN LADEN & HIS ORGANIZATION AL-QAEDA TOOK CREDIT FOR THE

TERRORIST ATTACKS• AFTER THE ATTACKS ON THE UNITED STATES, OSAMA BIN LADEN WAS

SHELTERED BY THE TALIBAN-CONTROLLED GOVERNMENT OF AFGHANISTAN.• TALIBAN: A GROUP OF ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS• REFUSED TO SURRENDER OSAMA BIN LADEN TO THE UNITED STATES• BUSH LAUNCHED A GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR AGAINST THOSE NATIONS THAT

HARBORED TERRORISTS.• OCTOBER 2001, BUSH ORDERED AIR AND GROUND ASSAULTS, WHICH

TOPPLED THE TALIBAN AND DESTROYED AL-QAEDA’S BASES• BIN LADEN MANAGED TO ELUDE CAPTURE

SEPTEMBER 20, 2001 9 DAYS AFTER THE ATTACK ON THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENT BUSH ADDRESSED A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS:

“ON SEPTEMBER THE 11TH, ENEMIES OF FREEDOM COMMITTED AN ACT OF WAR AGAINST OUR COUNTRY. AMERICANS HAVE MANY QUESTIONS TONIGHT: WHO ATTACKED OUR COUNTRY? THE EVIDENCE WE HAVE GATHERED POINTS TO A … TERRORIST ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS AL-QAEDA. AL-QAEDA IS TO TERROR WHAT THE MAFIA IS TO CRIME. BUT IS GOAL IS NOT TO MAKE MONEY; ITS GOAL IS REMAKING THE WORLD- AND IMPOSING ITS RADICAL BELIEFS ON PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. OUR WAR ON TERROR BEGINS WITH AL-QAEDA, BUT DOES NOT END THERE. IT WILL NOT END UNTIL EVERY TERRORIST GROUP OF GLOBAL REACH HAS BEEN FOUND, STOPPED AND DEFEATED.”

POST 9/11• TRANSPORTATION SECURITY AGENCY (TSA): TOOK OVER SECURITY AT U.S. AIRPORTS• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: A NEW CABINET POST. ITS MISSION

WAS TO KEEP THE U.S. SECURE FROM ALL THREATS. ACTIVITIES RANGE FROM NUCLEAR DETECTION AND INTELLIGENCE COORDINATION TO PROTECTION OF HIGH-LEVEL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.• USA PATRIOT ACT OF 2001: GREATLY EXPANDED THE GOVERNMENT’S LAW

ENFORCEMENT POWERS• GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA• WATER-BOARDING : HTTP://YOUTU.BE/EEX8WEZU2WA • THE BOARD IS SLIGHTLY INVERTED TO MAKE FOR A MORE INTENSE DROWNING

FEEL - FYI

THE WAR IN IRAQ• SADDAM HUSSEIN : IRAQI DICTATOR• ADVISORS FEARED HUSSEIN WOULD PROVIDE BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL, OR

EVEN NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO ISLAMIC TERRORISTS LIKE OSAMA BIN LADEN• HUSSEIN HAD USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS BEFORE.• IRAQ WAS WARNED BY THE U.S., BRITAIN, AND SPAIN TO SURRENDER ITS WMDS

(WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION) OR FACE INVASION. • FRANCE, GERMANY, AND RUSSIA FAVORED A MORE CAUTIOUS APPROACH.• BUSH GAVE HUSSEIN 48 HOURS TO LEAVE IRAQ OR FACE INVASION. HUSSEIN

REFUSED AND MILITARY ACTION TOOK PLACE. • HUSSEIN WAS CAPTURED, TRIED FOR CRIMES AGAINST IRAQI CITIZENS AND

EXECUTED BY IRAQIS IN 2006• IRAQI VOTERS ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES DREW UP A CONSTITUTION. • IRAQ BECAME THE FIRST ARAB DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

WAR EFFORT IN IRAQ• HUSSEIN WAS DEFEATED, BUT THE WAR CONTINUED• AN INSURGENCY CONSISTING OF FORMER SUPPORTERS OF HUSSEIN, SHIITE

RADICALS, AND IRAQIS ANGRY AT FOREIGN INTERVENTION SOON AROSE• IRAQI PRISONERS AT ABU GHRAIB PRISON WERE TORTURED AND HUMILIATED,

ADDING TO THE UNPOPULARITY OF FOREIGN TROOPS ON IRAQI SOIL• BY THE END OF 2006, AS MANY AS 1000 PEOPLE WERE STILL BEING KILLED IN IRAQ

EACH MONTH• BUSH ANNOUNCED A NEW “SURGE” STRATEGY, SENDING MORE THAN 20,000

ADDITIONAL TROOPS• THEY SECURED LOCAL NEIGHBORHOODS, PROTECTED THE IRAQI POPULATION,

GUARDED IRAQ’S BOARDERS, AND STUCK OUT AT AL-QAEDA FORCES• THIS SURGE GREATLY REDUCED VIOLENCE • AMERICAN WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ THEN BECAME THE CENTRAL ISSUE IN THE

2008 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

HURRICANE KATRINA• HTTP://

VIDEO.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/VIDEO/NEWS/NEW-ORLEANS?SOURCE=RELATEDVIDEO • EVACUATION AND FLOODING OF ALMOST 80% OF NEW ORLEANS AND OTHER

PARTS OF THE GULF COAST• HIGHEST STORM SURGE AND WAVES EVER RECORDED TO HIT THE NORTH

AMERICAN CONTINENT.• SURGE AND WAVES GREATLY EXCEEDED THE ENGINEERING DESIGN OF THE

NEW ORLEANS LEVEES• MOST COSTLY HURRICANE ON RECORD• MORE THAN 1,800 PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES