Clinton and Clinton and BushBush

“You know, everybody

makes mistakes

when they are

president.”

“America will never

seek a permission

slip to defend the security of

our people.”

Clinton in OfficeClinton in OfficeDefeated Bush Sr. by being a New

Democrat (moderate)Al Gore was his Vice PresidentPassed the Family Medical Leave Act giving

full time employees 12 unpaid weeks to recover from illness, childbirth or help a family member heal

Created a budget surplusReformed welfareFailed to get a bill passed for universal

healthcareOklahoma City bombed by domestic terroristsColumbine High School shootings

The Fall of ClintonThe Fall of ClintonBeat out conservatives to

win re-electionClinton’s opposition came

from Republican Newt Gingrich

Balanced the budget and reduced the deficit… economy was back on track

Impeachment: Clinton was accused of perjury and obstruction of justice when the affair with White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, was discovered, but he was not removed from office

Clinton and Foreign Policy Clinton and Foreign Policy America joined the North

Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to remove trade restrictions between Canada, US and Mexico

Helped provide food for famine and support to war torn Somalia

Helped bring about an end to ethnic cleansing in Kosovo

Clinton tried to get Israel and Palestine under Yasir Arafat to sign peace agreement…unsuccessful

George W. Bush in OfficeGeorge W. Bush in OfficeElection of 2000: Bush beats Al Gore

and Joe Lieberman (first Jew) in a highly contested election in which Florida recounted their ballots because the race was so close… in the end the Supreme Court ordered an end to the recount and that the initial returns stand in Bush vs. Gore

Cut taxesPassed No Child Left Behind that

held schools accountable and penalized those that did not reach standards and improved teacher quality◦ Teachers don’t like it because it ties

funding to test scores Extended Medicare to cover

prescription drugs for senior citizens

Al-QaedaAl-Qaeda Militant group responsible for many terrorist attacks directed toward Americans

Al-Qaeda’s goal was to end American involvement in Muslim countries

led by Osama bin Laden the group exploded a bomb under the World Trade Center in 1993

America learns that the fight against terrorism will not be easy

America Under AttackAmerica Under AttackFirst time since

Pearl HarborSeptember 11, 2001:

terrorists hijacked planes, flew them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon

America rallied together just has it had done after Pearl Harbor…patriotism

The War on TerrorThe War on TerrorAl-Qaeda and Osama bin

Laden were behind attacks and were hiding in Afghanistan under the Taliban (terrorists group) which allowed for them to train new terrorists…US invades Afghanistan and overthrew Taliban in 3 months…bin Laden escaped

Improving Improving SecuritySecurity

Efforts were made to prevent further terrorists attacks

Patriot Act allows law enforcement to monitor suspected terrorists through investigating phone, library and internet records (without a warrant)

Department of Homeland Security: addition to president’s cabinet that would coordinate domestic security matters

Heightened airport security led to restrictions on liquids and electronic devices

Bush Doctrine: Bush’s foreign policy that promoted aggression to secure America from terrorists attacks, deals with preemptive strikes (attacking perceived and inevitable threats to America)

The War in IraqThe War in IraqBush suspected that Saddam Hussein

was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

Bush believed that Iraq, along with Iran and North Korea were “axis ofof evil” that threatened America and the world

Congress allowed Bush to use military force in Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom…Baghdad fell and Hussein was later captured and executed

Minority RightsMinority RightsThe most far reaching was affirmative

action which ensured that minority applicants were being considered for jobs and college admission

Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke: ◦ Bakke raised the question of reverse

discrimination◦ claimed that only reason he was rejected by

the university was because he was white◦ claimed that black applicants with lower test

scores had been admitted…◦ Supreme Court declared a quota system

could not be used to uphold racial diversity