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Persian Gulf War
Upon an Iraqi invasion of Kuwaitin early August of 1990 under Sadaam Hussein's leadership, fellow Arab states called on Western nations to intervene. President Geroge H.W. Bush condemmed the invasion along with the governments of Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Bush demonized the enemy to gain support to initicate a war. When Hussein refused to withdrawl from Kuwait several times, the US launched a massive air offensive known as Operation Dessert Storm which officially began the war. -
Soviet Union Falls to its Knees and the Cold War Ends
In December of 1991, as the world watched in amazement, the Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen separate countries. Its collapse was hailed by the west as a victory for freedom, a triumph of democracy over totalitarianism, and evidence of the superiority of capitalism over socialism. The United States rejoiced as its enemy was brought to its knees, ending the Cold War which had hovered over these two superpowers since the end of World War II. The Warsaw Pact and the Berlin Wall also fell. -
Failure In Somalia
On October 3, 1993, U.S. special forces stormed a compound in Mogadishu, Somalia, in order to capture aides to warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid. Commanders intended the attack to be swift and precise, but the operation quickly became a nightmare. Eighteen U.S. troops died, and eighty-four were wounded. America was left with horrific images of soldiers' bodies being dragged through the streets and angry questions as to how such a disaster could have occurred. -
Terrorists bomb American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
Terrorists bomb American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people, including 20 Americans. United States intelligence believes that Osama bin Laden, a Saudi exile and alleged terrorist leader, is behind the attacks. On August 20, the U.S. military, on orders from President Clinton, launch reprisal strikes on “terrorist related facilities” in Afghanistan, bin Laden's country of residence, and Sudan. -
House Impeaches Clinton
On December 19, 1998, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.The President's predicament flowed from an affair with the former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, and his efforts to conceal the moral lapse from lawyers in the Paula Jones case, the public, and apparently even his family. The presidency was a uniquely visible position of America, and as such carried weighty responsibilities of moral leadership. -
Bush Elected President
The presidential election of 2000 was the cause of much uproar and consternation. It was so close and a number of recounts led to lawsuits and a cliffhanger that went on for weeks. Election results hinged on Florida, where the margin of victory triggered a mandatory recount and litigations ultimately reached the United States Supreme Court. In the Bush v. Gore case, Bush became President without the popular vote, but a win in the electorial college. -
911: Al Qaeda Stricks
On September 11, 2001, four airliners were hijacked by members associated with Al Qaeda and suicide attacks against targets in the United States were carried out. 9/11 resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters. -
Operation Iraqi Freedom
In 2003, President Bush addressed the nation and announced that Operation Iraqi Freedom had begun. Bush authorized the mission to rid Iraq of tyrannical dictator Saddam Hussein and eliminate his ability to develope weapons of mass destruction. Bush received harsh criticism for the war. Critics claimed his administration primarily sought control of Iraq's vast oil resources, or that the war was in retaliation for an attempt on his father's life, ordered by Hussein. Hussein was quickly executed. -
America's First Black President
Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive. Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country. But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago. -
The Death of Osama Bin Laden
After the raid, U.S. forces took bin Laden's body to Afghanistan for identification, then buried it at sea within 24 hours of his death.Osama bin Laden, the founder and head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1:00 am Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval SEAL Team Six.
