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Bush's Inauguration
In his inaugural address, he reiterates his call for a much "kinder, gentler America," which many see as a subtle departure from the Reagan agenda. -
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HW Bush-Obama
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The Berlin Wall falls
US thrown into "policy limbo". Around this time, the Cold War ends between the US and the Soviet Union. This pulls Americans out of a structured formula for foreign relations. An important positive highlight includes the limitation of nuclear weapons. -
Dealing with Saddam Hussein
Going to war over Kuwait proves a hard sell on the U.S. Congress. Many Congressional leaders feel that the administration has not given enough time for economic sanctions imposed on Iraq to take effect and force Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. After a November U.N. vote backing the use of "all means necessary" to eject Hussein's army, Congress passes a war resolution of its own, though support is far from overwhelming. -
Clinton's inauguration
Clinton is inaugurated as the 42nd president, replacing George HW Bush. This would initiate his eight year presidency until he was impeached. -
Rwandan Genocide
The Clinton administration did absolutely nothing to prevent the Rwandan Genocide. 800,000 people died in less than a month. The Rwandan genocide is probably the international community's greatest failure in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Clinton was among many people who were complicit to that. -
Major implimentation of the microchip
Microchips made it possible to develop loads of new products, like personal computers and DVD players, and video games, and cell phones. Computers completely transformed the American workplace. Until the 90’s, people didn't have the interconnection of these invisible networks. It was much harder to do processes that are simple today. -
Bush's Inauguration
Bush is inaugurated on January 20th as the 43rd United States President. September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States soon after. He would then, on September 14, Bush gives his ground zero "I Can Hear You " mega phone speech. -
Employment drops drastically
A recession began in 2001 and the September 11 attacks made it much worse. And while the GDP did begin to grow again relatively quickly, employment didn't recover, hence all the description of it as a jobless recovery. 90% of the jobs lost in the 2001-2002 recession were in manufacturing, continuing a trend that we've been seeing for thirty years. The number of steel workers dropped from 520,000 in 1970 to 120,000 in 2004. And in his first term George W. Bush actually became the first President. -
Patriot Act signed into law
The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act was implimented. The Patriot Act gave the government unprecedented law enforcement powers to combat domestic terrorism, including the ability to wiretap and spy on Americans. -
Iraq War
America lost fewer than 300 soldiers, Iraq suffered somewhere between 1500 and 9500 killed in action, and the US's military objectives had been achieved clearly and quickly. And Bush claimed that the victory had forever banished the so-called Vietnam syndrome, the reluctance to use American military power for fear of becoming bogged down in another quagmire. -
US launches first air strikes on Iraq
Afghanistan was ruled by a group of Islamic fundamentalists called the Taliban who were protecting Osama Bin Laden, al Qaeda's leader. This was followed by American ground troops supporting the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance in chasing out the Taliban and setting up a new Afghan government that was friendly to the United States. This new government undid many of the worst Taliban policies, for instance allowing women and girls to go to school, and even to serve in the parliment. -
Latinos replace African Americans as the largest ethnic group
Between 1965 and 2000, the US saw almost 24 million immigrants arrive, compared with 27 million during the peak immigration period between 1880 and 1924. Fully half of new immigrants came from Latin America and the Caribbean. Latinos were the largest immigrant group by far, with Mexicans making up the largest contingent and by 2007 Latinos would replace African Americans as the second largest ethnic group. -
The Great Recession
When banks stop lending, business can't function. So the stock market collapsed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping from about 14,000 to around 8,000, which wiped out $7 trillion of shareholder wealth, and the majority of Americans had money invested in the stock market, much of it into former retirement funds. With it being harder to borrow money, Americans finally cut back on their spending, which resulted in many businesses failing, and by the end of 2008, 2.5 million jobs had be. -
Obama's Inauguration
Obama is inaugurated, replacing Bush. He comes into office during the financial crisis of the Great Recession. He speaks in his innaugural about change, and forwarding America positively for science, education, and health care. -
Stimulus package signed
A sweeping stimulus package with nearly $800 billion of new spending, most of it on infrastructure, that was signed into law just 28 days into Obama's presidency. In the end, the Recovery Act cost $787 billion, more than the government had spent on a package of programs ever before. More than The Great Society and The New Deal. -
Obamacare signed
The Affordable Care Act is arguably the most significant piece of social legislation since Medicare, and it seeks to move the United States into the ranks of countries with universal health care. Obamacare aims to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance by making it easier and less expensive for the uninsured to buy it privately. It's not a government insurance plan, but the government will subsidize those who can't afford insurance.
