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The G.I Bill
On June 22, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, better known as the G.I. Bill, in order to help soldiers secure stability as they returned to civilian life. A broadcast aired shortly after the bill was signed describes a nation preparing to welcome World War II veterans.It established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available and granted stipends covering tuition and expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools. -
The Iron Curtain
A term popularized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Union's policy of isolation during the Cold War. The barrier isolated Eastern Europe from the rest of the world.On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the Soviet Union.Separate international economic and military alliances were developed.Physically,The Iron Curtain took the form of border defenses between the countries of Europe. -
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Cold War
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The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy which stated that the US would give aid to any country threatened by communism. As in February 1947, the British had told Truman that they could no longer afford to keep British troops in Greece. This made Truman fear the spread of communism to Greece.Truman Doctrine committed the United States to a foreign policy based on Kennan's strategy of containment. Underlying his policy was the assumption that the Soviet Union sought world domination. -
The Berlin Airlift
A 327-day operation in which the U.S. and British planes flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blockaded the city in 1948. It carried more than 2.3 million tons of cargo into West Berlin due to the blockade by Russia.The Berlin Airlift could be called the first battle of the Cold War. It was when western countries delivered much needed food and supplies to the city of Berlin through the air because all other routes were blocked by the Soviet Union. -
The Fair Deal
The Fair Deal was a domestic reform proposals of the second Truman administration (1949-53); included civil rights legislation and repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, but only extensions of some New Deal programs were enacted.Truman's extension of the New Deal that increased min wage, expanded Social Security, and constructed low-income housing. When Truman finally left office in 1953, his Fair Deal was but a mixed success. -
The Beat Generation
In American in the 1950s, a new cultural and literary movement staked its claim on the nation’s consciousness. The Beat Generation wasn't a large movement in terms of sheer numbers, but in influence and cultural status they were more visible than any other generation. They saw runaway capitalism as destructive to the human spirit and antithetical to social equality. In addition to their dissatisfaction with consumer culture, they were against their traditions of parents’ generation. -
Television (News)
The news was an example of the changes in technology impacting mass media. Changes in technology affect how citizens get news, form political opinions, and interact with government
Currently, the rise of cable TV and the Internet are producing fundamental changes with unknown long-term effects. The Leading source of news for U.S. public, Televised speeches and news conferences give President ability to communicate directly with public.Televised candidate debates important. -
Period: to
The 1950's
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Korean War (The Forgotten war)
After WWII, Korea had been partitioned along the 38th parallel into a northern zone governed by the Soviet Union, and a southern zone controlled by the U.S. In 1950, after the Russians had withdrawn, leaving a communist government in the North, the North invaded the South. The U.N. raised an international army led by the U.S. to stop the North. It was the first use of U.N. military forces enforce international peace. -
Ike Turner
Ike Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk. He is most popularly known for his 1960s work with his then wife, Tina Turner, in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. life. Turner recorded for many of the key R&B record labels of the 1950s and 1960s, including Chess, Modern, Trumpet, Flair and Sue. Ike Turner died at the age of 76. -
Bill Haley and The Comets
Bill Haley and the Comets were founded and led by Bill Haley His act is considered one of the earliest architects of rockabilly and most of all classic rock and roll music. He and his band, called Bill Haley and the Saddlemen, were playing country music until he changed the band’s name into Bill Haley and the Comets.In the 1950s, Bill Haley and the Comets went on to become a national stars by scoring hits such as “Rock Around The Clock,” which critics claim, signaled the birth of rock and roll. -
Nikita Khrushchev
He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, following the death of Joseph Stalin, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. is rise ended collective leadership, but he never commanded the extraordinary powers of Stalin. He was responsible for the De-Stalinization of the USSR, as well as several liberal reforms ranging from agriculture to foreign policy. -
Dr. Jonas Salk
On March 26, 1953, American medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announces on a national radio show that he has successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes the crippling disease of polio. In 1952–an epidemic year for polio–there were 58,000 new cases reported in the United States, and more than 3,000 died from the disease. For promising eventually to eradicate the disease, which is known as “infant paralysis” because it mainly affects children. -
Domino Theory
The theory that one country falling to communism could cause its surrounding countries to be threatened by communist. The theory was first proposed by President Harry S. Truman to justify sending military aid to Greece and Turkey in the 1940s, but it became popular in the 1950s when President Dwight D. Eisenhower applied it to Southeast Asia, especially South Vietnam. The domino theory was one of the main arguments used in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. -
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was know as the "King of Rock 'N' Roll". He is the most noted Rock n Roll artist in America.Elvis Presley, earned his start with Sun records. Parents hated his new provocative style, and teenagers loved his fresh sound and appearance.This variety in opinion led to the generation gap.Elvis Presley and Rock and Roll Music changed the life of American teenagers in the 1950s. New fashions, dance moves, and inventions reached high schoolers, -
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Civil Rights
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Little Richard
Little Richard, is one of the most iconic and influential rock-and-roll artists of all time. This is mainly due to the fact that he actually “helped invent rock-and-roll” (Watrous, “Back to Basics, Little Richard Is Happy at Last”). The 1950s was a time of major change in America, as well as in the rest of the world. During this time, the Civil Rights Movement was becoming more and more active.The influence of Little Richard’s music allows him to be considered as “the architect of rock-and-roll -
Emmett Till Tragedy
Emmett Till was an African-American teenager who was lynched in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. when he went into the store to buy some candy he whistled at Carolyn Bryant. Several nights later, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother went to Till's great-uncle's house and abducted the boy. They took him away and beat and mutilated him before shooting him and sinking his body in the Tallahatchie River. Three days later, Till's body was discovered. -
Albert Sabin
Albert Sabin was a Polish American medical researcher, best known for developing the oral polio vaccine which has played a key role in eradicating the disease.Sabin conducted research into numerous viruses and diseases, including pneumonia, cancer, and numerous other illnesses. His most important work involved poliomyelitis. By 1957, Sabin had developed a live vaccine. In 1957, the World Health Organization permitted Sabin to test his vaccine in Chile, Holland, Japan, Mexico, and Sweden. -
The Civil Rights Act Of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was introduced in Eisenhower’s presidency and was the act that kick-started the civil rights legislative program that was to include the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Eisenhower had not been known for his support of the civil rights movement.Rather led the country on the issue, he had to respond to problems such as in Little Rock. He never publicly gave support to the civil rights movement. However, he did push this act during his presidency. -
The Counter Culture
The Counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment culture that spread throughout the Western world in the 1960s .The youths engaged in non-violent protests. Were against racial segregation, widespread poverty, environmental pollution caused by rapid industrialization, and discrimination of minority groups.The youths also fought for the freedom of speech and assembly.The emergence of television as a source of information and entertainment fueled the cultural change. -
Feminism
This term refers to the 1960s Women's Liberation Movement that campaigned for equal rights on issues such as employment, marital relationships, and sexual orientation. These women argued that the traditional family form is oppressive for women and children. takes away women's independence and that we need to start looking at families differently. Groups devised by Feminists devoted to spreading awareness of women's issues and their need to transform the conditions of their lives. -
The Black Power Movement
The Black Power Movement of the 1960s and 1970s was a political and social movement whose advocates believed in racial pride, self-sufficiency, and equality for all people of Black and African descent. Credited with first articulating “Black Power” in 1966, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee leader Carmichael represented a generation of black activists who participated in both Civil Rights and the Black Power movements. By the mid 1960s, many no longer saw nonviolent protests effective. -
The Chicano Mural Movement
The Chicano mural movement began in the 1960s in Mexican-American barrios throughout the Southwest. Artists began using the walls of city buildings, housing projects, schools, and churches to depict Mexican-American culture. Chicano muralism has been linked to pre-Columbian peoples of the Americas, who recorded their rituals and history on the walls of their pyramids, and Mexican revolutionary-era painters.collectively known as los tres grandes, who painted murals in the United States. -
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The 1960's
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The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in April 1960 by young people dedicated to nonviolent, direct action tactics. Although Martin Luther King, Jr. and others had hoped that SNCC would serve as the youth wing of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the students remained fiercely independent of King and SCLC, generating their own projects and strategies.The idea for a locally based, and was conceived by Ella Baker, a veteran civil rights organizer. -
The Peace Corps
Created in 1961, to help impoverished countries in Africa and Asia, to promote world peace & friendship, for young volunteers help countries help themselves through teaching and technical aid. President Kennedy viewed the Peace Corps as An Organisation that allows Americans to fulfill their responsibilities to 'world development' and world peace. Both political parties deemed it good & agreed to finance for the next half century. It also helped improve US image abroad -
Bay Of Pigs
The Bay Of Pigs was CIA operation to overthrow Fidel Castro by landing 1200 disgruntled Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs. Fails miserably and is a huge embarrassment for Kennedy, who then vows to bring down Castro. Forces Cuba ever further into the arms of the USSR. The Castro regime quickly severed the country’s formerly strong ties with the United States by expropriating U.S. economic assets in Cuba and developing close links with the Soviet Union. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
The Supreme Court during chief justice Earl Warren's 16 year tenure made decisions that impacted and continue to impact the lives of Americans to date. The Warren court was not only devoted to protecting the rights of citizens, but also expanding them. He used a loose interpretation to expand rights for both African-Americans and those accused of crimes. .He led the Supreme Court with an activist direction (Brown case) which pushed further the boundaries of civil rights in the U.S.A. -
Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby was the murderer of Lee Harvey Oswald who shot John F. Kennedy. He was a local bar owner. He pretended to be a reporter when he shot Oswald.A Dallas jury found him guilty of murdering Oswald, and he was sentenced to death. Ruby's conviction was later appealed, and he was granted a new trial. On September 1964 the Warren Commission concluded that Ruby acted alone in killing Oswald. Ruby became ill in his prison cell and died of a pulmonary embolism from lung cancer. -
The Assassination of JFK
The mortal shooting of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, as he rode in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. His accused killer was Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who had embraced Marxism and defected for a time to the Soviet Union.Oswald never stood trial for murder, because, while being transferred after having been taken into custody, he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner. Kennedy was officially declared dead at 1:00 PM. -
The Warren Commission
The Warren Commission, formally President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, commission appointed by U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson on November 29, 1963, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, and the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin, two days later. The chairman of the commission was the chief justice of the United States, Earl Warren. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Despite Kennedy’s assassination in November of 1963, his proposal culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson just a few hours after House approval on July 2, 1964. The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. It banned discriminatory practices in employment and ended segregation in public places such as swimming pools, libraries, and public schools. Passage of the act was not easy. -
The Gulf Of Tonkin Incident
It was passed on August 7, 1964, by the U.S. Congress after an alleged attack on two U.S. naval destroyers stationed off the coast of Vietnam.North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked USS mad doc in gulf of Tonkin. In a pair of assaults on the 2nd August and 4th in 1964. Basis of gulf of Tonkin resolution which committed major forced to war. Espionage mission launched by US in North coastal waters Maddox attacked by Vietnamese President Johnson sent a warning message. -
The Daisy Girl Ad
On September 7, 1964, a 60-second TV ad changed American politics forever. A 3-year-old girl in a simple dress counted as she plucked daisy petals in a sun-dappled field. Her words were supplanted by a mission-control countdown followed by a massive nuclear blast in a classic mushroom shape. The message was clear if only implicit: Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was a genocidal maniac who threatened the world’s future. Two months later, President Lyndon Johnson won easily. -
The Anti- War Movement
The antiwar movement actually consisted of a number of independent interests, often only vaguely allied and contesting each other on many issues, united only in opposition to the Vietnam War. Attracting members from college campuses, middle-class suburbs, labor unions, and government institutions, the movement gained national prominence in 1965, peaked in 1968, and remained powerful throughout the duration of the conflict. Encompassing political, racial, and cultural spheres. -
The Great Society
Great Society, political slogan used by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to identify his legislative program of national reform. In his first State of the Union message after election he proclaimed his vision of a “Great Society” and pledged to redouble the “war on poverty”. He called for an enormous program of social-welfare legislation, including federal support for education, hospital care for the aged through Social Security program, and continued enforcement of the Civil Rights Act. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act, U.S. legislation that aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented Blacks from exercising their right to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history. U.S. Congress enacted laws to protect the right of blacks to vote, but such legislation was only partially successful. -
Watts Riots
In the predominantly black Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, racial tension reaches a breaking point after two white policemen scuffle with a black motorist suspected of drunken driving. A crowd of spectators gathered near the corner of Avalon Boulevard to watch the arrest and grew angry by what they believed to be another incident of racially motivated abuse by the police. A riot soon began, spurred on by residents of Watts who were embittered after years of economic and political isolation. -
Native-American Civil Rights Movement
Native American civil rights are the civil rights of Native Americans in the United States. Because Native Americans are citizens of their tribal nations as well as the United States and those tribal nations are characterized under U.S. law as "domestic dependent nations", a special relationship that creates a particular tension between rights r tribal sovereignty and rights that individual Natives obtained as U.S. citizens.This status creates tension today. -
My Lai Massacre
The morning of March 16, 1968, soldiers of Charlie Company, a unit of the Americal Division's 11th Infantry Brigade arrived in the hamlet of My Lai in the northern part of South Vietnam.The American Army got word that the Viet Cong guerrillas had taken control of Son My and Calley sent the unit to stop the Viet Cong. American troops had brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, also led to more opposition to the war. -
Stonewall Riot
Stonewall riots, also called Stonewall uprising, series of violent confrontations that began in the early hours of June 28, 1969, between police and gay rights activists outside the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York . As the riots progressed, an international gay rights movement was born. Accustomed to more passive behavior, even from larger gay groups, the policemen called for reinforcements and barricaded themselves inside the bar while 400 people rioted -
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The 1970's
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency is an independent agency of the United States federal government for environmental protection.[2] President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA and it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. The agency is led by its Administrator, who is appointed by the President and approved by Congress. -
War Powers Resolution Act
The War Powers Act is a congressional resolution designed to limit the U.S. president’s ability to initiate or escalate military actions abroad. Enacted in 1973 with the goal of avoiding another lengthy conflict such as the Vietnam War, its effectiveness has been repeatedly questioned throughout its history, and several presidents have been accused of failing to comply with its regulations. War Powers Act has never been successfully employed to end any military mission. -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act is our nation's first line of defense against extinction.The Endangered Species Act was signed into law by President Nixon in 1973.The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found. The lead federal agencies for implementing ESA are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service. -
Roe v. Wade
On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in the case of Roe v. Wade, which recognized that the constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions — including the decision to have an abortion without interference from politicians. Over 40 years later, Americans are still standing by this decision: 7 in 10 Americans believe Roe v. Wade should remain the law of the land. -
The Heritage Foundation
Conservative ideas; The Heritage Foundation, a public policy that promotes the principles that made America great: free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. The Foundation was heavily supported by major corporations, established research centers for conservative scholars.Followers of Buckley and Friedman envisioned themselves as crusaders, working against what conservative called "the despotic aspects of egalitarianism." -
The Federal Election Commission (FEC)
A six-member bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974. The federal Election Commission administers and enforces campaign finance laws. Made to enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act. provided public financing for presidential primaries and general elections, limited presidential campaign spending, required disclosure, and attempted to limit contributions. -
The Panama Canal
In Washington, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos sign a treaty agreeing to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama at the end of the 20th century. Many in Congress opposed giving up control of the Panama Canal–an enduring symbol of U.S. power and technological prowess–but America’s colonial-type administration of the strategic waterway had long irritated Panamanians and other Latin Americans. -
Camp David Accords
Camp David Accords, agreements between Israel and Egypt signed on September 17, 1978, that led in the following year to a peace treaty between those two countries, the first such treaty between Israel and any of its Arab neighbors. Brokered by U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian Pres. The agreements became known as the Camp David Accords because the negotiations took place at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. -
The Moral Majority
An American political organization that was founded in 1979 by Jerry Falwell, a religious leader and televangelist, to advance conservative social values.The Moral Majority helped to establish the religious right as a force in American politics.It was formed in response to the social and cultural transformations that occurred in the United States. Christian fundamentalists were alarmed by a number of
developments that, threatened to undermine the country’s traditional moral values. -
Three-Mile Island
Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in USA a cooling malfunction caused part of the core to melt in the #2 reactor. The TMI-2 reactor was destroyed. Some radioactive gas was released a couple of days after the accident, but not enough to cause any above background levels to local residents.There were no injuries or adverse health effects from the Three Mile Island.Deficient control room instrumentation and inadequate emergency response training proved to be root causes of the accident. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic standoff between Iran and the United States. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981, after a group of Iranian students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran It stands as the longest hostage crisis in recorded history. -
The Election of 1980
The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, Reagan, aided by the Iran hostage crisis and a worsening economy at home, won the election in a landslide.Reagan, the former Governor of California, ridiculed Carter, and won; in the simultaneous Congressional elections, Republicans won control of the United States Senate for the first time in 28 years. -
The AIDS Crisis
The disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) first appeared in the early 1980s, and rapidly became an epidemic among homosexual men. Intravenous drug users who shared needles, blood transfusion patients, and women with infected sexual partners were also at risk of contracting AIDS.Activists, particularly in the gay community, responded by creating care and education centers, and by calling for increased government funding to help in the crisis. -
Robert Johnson
Robert L. Johnson was born on April 8, 1946, in Hickory, Mississippi. Johnson founded Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 1979 with his wife, Sheila. He became the first African-American billionaire after selling the network to Viacom in 2001. Johnson has since started a new business, the RLJ Companies, and has invested in an NBA team, a film company, and political causes and campaigns. -
Rap Music
The 1980s gave birth to one of the most compelling new forms of music that few people seemed to realize was destined to take over popular culture and work its way into the fabric of everyday life.Rap music and hip hop created a new language that rose up from the streets first as a cipher for the parties and good times that were going down on every block, but eventually serving as a , reporting on conditions in the lives of those traditionally shunted to the edges of mainstream America. -
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The 1980's
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Reaganomics
Reaganomics was the most serious attempt to change the course of U.S. economic policy of any administration since the New Deal. Reagan's 1981 Program for Economic Recovery had four major policy objectives: reduce the growth of government spending, reduce the marginal tax rates on income from both labor and capital, reduce regulation, and reduce inflation by controlling the growth of the money supply. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006, and was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. A moderate conservative, she was known for her dispassionate and meticulously researched opinions. For 24 years, She was a pioneering force on the Supreme Court and will always be remembered as acting as a sturdy guiding hand in the court’s decisions during those years and serving a swing vote in many important cases. -
Space Shuttle Program
Commander John Young and Pilot Bob Crippen flew aboard Columbia on the Space Shuttle Program's first mission.During the 1980s, Kennedy Space Center made a critical shift in focus. Instead of moving relatively quickly from one human spaceflight program to another, as in the fast-paced 1960s and 1970s, the spaceport's workforce and facilities now were geared toward preparing and launching a revolutionary new spacecraft that would further advance our capabilities in orbit: the space shuttle. -
Music Television (MTV)
On August 1, 1981, something happened to cable television something that would define pop culture, change generations, and shape an industry. The name was MTV. It launched at 12:01 in the morning, ushered in by John Lack (then the Executive Vice President of Warner-Entertainment) saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.” The first music video played on MTV was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. It served as the perfect song to bring in this new era of music. -
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles). The concept was first announced publicly by President Ronald Reagan on 23 March 1983.There were several reasons why the Reagan Administration was interested in pursuing the technology in the early 1980s. -
Reagan Doctrine
During the early years of the Reagan presidency, Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified. Reagan entered office deeply suspicious of the Soviet Union. Reagan described the Soviet Union as "an evil empire" and called for a space-based missile defense system, derided by critics as "Star Wars." In his 1985 state of the union address, President Reagan pledged his support for anti-Communist revolutions in what would become known as the "Reagan Doctrine." -
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954. In 1976, Winfrey moved to Baltimore, where she hosted a hit television chat show. She later went on to be a well known entrepreneur; created the Oprah Winfrey Show, O Magazine, the Oprah Winfrey Book Club, and the Oprah Winfrey Network; She has donated millions of dollars to various charities and organizations, with most of her money going to three foundations: The Angel Network, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, and The Oprah Winfrey Operating Foundation. -
Lionel Sosa
A son of Mexican immigrants, Sosa couldn’t speak a word of English when he started school. Sosa knew he could draw. He was the class artist for the Sydney Lanier High School class that graduated in 1957. For Sosa, success materialized as he became the biggest name nationally in the Hispanic advertising world, reaching his pinnacle in the 1990s with his company receiving annual billings of about $130 million a year. His influence in San Antonio and the rest of the nation remains strong. -
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The 1990's
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Rodney King Incident
Rodney Glen King (born April 2, 1965) is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on March 3, 1991. A bystander, George Holliday, videotaped much of the incident from a distance.The footage showed LAPD officers repeatedly striking King with their batons while other officers stood by watching, without taking any action to stop the beating. A portion of this footage was aired by news agencies around the world. -
The Election of 1992
The presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush; Democrat Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and Texas businessman Ross Perot.Bush had alienated much of his conservative base by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge against raising taxes, the economy was in a recession, and Bush's greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Clinton won a plurality in the popular vote. -
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) established a free-trade zone in North America; it was signed in 1992 by Canada, Mexico, and the United States and took effect on Jan. 1, 1994. NAFTA immediately lifted tariffs on the majority of goods produced by the signatory nations. It also calls for the gradual elimination, over a period of 15 years, of most remaining barriers to cross-border investment and to the movement of goods and services among the three countries. -
Balkans Crisis
This crisis, which first came to international attention in 1993 and flared again in 1999, occurred when the communist government of Yugoslavia collapsed and its six provinces fought each other, often utilizing "ethnic cleansing", until NATO and the UN intervened Bosnian Muslims, Serbs, and Croats were killing each other by 10,000's, US led NATO forces launched a massive aerial bombardment of Servia. In the 1990's, similar ethnic rivalries led to war. -
The World Trade Center Attack- 1993
On February 26, 1993, at 12:18 p.m., a small cell of terrorists, with links to a local radical mosque and broader Islamist terror networks, detonated about 1,200 pounds of explosives in a rental van in the underground parking garage at the World Trade Center. The terrorists fled the area after setting the bomb to explode. The explosion created a five-story crater in the sub-grade levels of the towers and undermined the floor of an adjoining hotel.The terrorist attack killed six people. -
Welfare Reform
Welfare reform in the United States began in the early 1990s culminating in the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996. With the goal of moving current and potential welfare recipients into the labor force, the act promoted work over education. The reforms were successful in reducing welfare caseloads from their peak in 1994- about one third of the 50 percent decline can be attributed to welfare reform. Employment rates for mothers increased. -
The Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA)
The Defense of Marriage Act was a United States federal law that, prior to being ruled unconstitutional, defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. DOMA, in conjunction with other statutes, had barred same-sex married couples from being recognized as "spouses" for purposes of federal laws, effectively barring them from receiving federal marriage benefits. -
The Lewinsky Affair
The Monica Lewinsky scandal began in the late 1990s, when America was rocked by a political sex scandal involving President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern in her early 20s. In 1995, the two began a sexual relationship that continued sporadically until 1997. In 1998, when news of his extramarital affair became public, Clinton denied the relationship before later admitting to “inappropriate intimate physical contact” with Lewinsky. -
Period: to
Contemporary
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Bush vs. Gore (SCOTUS case)
Bush v. Gore, case in which, on December 12, 2000, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed a Florida Supreme Court request for a selective manual recount of that state’s U.S. presidential election ballots. The 5–4 decision effectively awarded Florida’s 25 votes in the electoral college and thus the election itself—to Republican candidate George W. Bush. A clear winner had yet to emerge in that day’s U.S. presidential election between Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore. -
The Patriot Act
The Patriot Act is a U.S. law passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Its goals are to strengthen domestic security and broaden the powers of law-enforcement agencies with regards to identifying and stopping terrorists. The passing and renewal of the Patriot Act has been extremely controversial. Supporters claim that it's been instrumental in a number of investigations and arrests of terrorists, while critics counter the act gives the government too much power. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
The No Child Left Behind Act authorizes several federal education programs that are administered by the states. The law is a re authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Under the 2002 law, states are required to test students in reading and math in grades 3–8 and once in high school. All students are expected to meet or exceed state standards in reading and math by 2014.The major focus of No Child Left Behind is to close student achievement gaps. -
2nd Iraq War
The United States, along with coalition forces primarily from the United Kingdom, initiates war on Iraq. Just after explosions began to rock Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, U.S. President George W. Bush announced in a televised address, “At this hour, American forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger. Hostilities began 90 minutes after the U.S.-imposed deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or face war passed. -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. When the storm made landfall, it was a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale–it brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour–and stretched some 400 miles across. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic. Levee breaches led to massive flooding, and many people charged that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the people affected by the storm. -
The Great Recession
The Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, which makes it the longest recession since World War II. , the Great Recession was notably severe in several respects. Real gross domestic product (GDP) fell 4.3 percent from its peak in 2007 to its trough in 2009, the largest decline in the postwar era (based on data as of October 2013). The unemployment rate, which was 5 percent in December 2007, rose to 9.5 percent in June 2009, and peaked at 10 percent in October 2009. -
The Election of 2008
On November 4, 2008, after a campaign that lasted nearly two years, Americans elected Illinois senator Barack Obama their 44th president. The result was historic, as Obama, a first-term U.S. senator, became, when he was inaugurated on January 20, 2009, the country’s first African American president. He also was the first sitting U.S. senator to win election to the presidency since JFK in 1960. With the highest voter turnout rate in four decades, Obama defeated the Republican senator John McCain -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was a fiscal stimulus that ended the Great Recession. Congress approved President Obama's plan to put $787 billion into the pockets of American families and small businesses. That would boost demand and instill confidence. It was a necessary follow-up to President Bush's plan, the Troubled Asset Recovery Program. TARP ended the 2008 financial crisis by bailing out large banks. ARRA stimulated demand by sending $260 billion to families. -
Sonya Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954, in the Bronx borough of New York City. Her desire to be a judge was first inspired by the TV show Perry Mason. Sotomayor graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx in 1972. She graduated from Yale Law School and passed the bar in 1980. She became a U.S. District Court Judge in 1992 and was elevated to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998. In 2009, she was confirmed as the first Latina Supreme Court justice in U.S. history. -
Affordable Care Act (ACA) "obamacare"
Signed by President Barack Obama in 2010. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has three primary goals: expand access to health insurance, protect patients against arbitrary actions by insurance companies, and reduce costs. The purpose of Obamacare is to make it affordable for individuals to purchase health insurance. Over time America's health care system evolved to where your employer determined the quality of your health insurance. Employers liked it because it helped them retain good employees.
