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California v. Bakke
Imposed limitations on affirmative action. Stated that affirmative action could lead to reverse discrimination and if that happened it was unfair. Confirmed that the use of rigid racial quotas was not ok. -
Sandinistas
Marxist regime that took over Nicaragua. Fought with the US when they tried to release Nicaragua of the Communist. -
Religious Fundamentalism
Religious movement where the goal was to influence government by taking every word of the bible literally. -
Moral Majority
Political group made up of fundamentalist Christians. -
Ronald Reagan
Defeated Jimmy Carter in the Election of 1980. 40th President of the United States -
Trickle Down Economics
Idea that if the wealthy gained even more wealth and their success would eventually benefit the middle and lower classes -
AIDS
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome- STD that had a huge outbreak; soon called the ´gay plague´ because of its prominence in gay men, but soon affected every walk of life. No cure. -
Economic Recovery Tax Act
Passed by Reagan. Reduced individual taxes by 25%, one of the largest tax cuts in American history. Heavily supported ´Reaganomics´. -
Supply Side Economics
Economic theory called ´Reaganomics´ that President Reagan introduced that encouraged tax cuts and limited government spending. Wanted to stimulate investing and economic growth. -
PACTO Strike
Reagan fired thousands of federal air traffic controllers who broke their contract by joining their Union, called PACTO. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
President Reagan nominated her for the Supreme Court. O´Connor became the first ever woman to serve on the court. -
SDI
Strategic Defense Initiative, project introduced by Reagan. Project develops missiles that can intercept and stop enemy missiles. -
Beirut Bombings
An Arab suicide squad bombed the US embassy in Beirut killing over 60 people. Months later more Arab terrorists drove a bomb filled trucks into a marine base -
PLO
Palestine Liberation Organization. Violent radicals against Israel -
Walter Mondale
Democratic nomination to be President. Previously Jimmy Carter's vice president. -
Geraldine Ferrarro
First woman to run for vice president. Running mate of Mondale. -
Boland Amendment
Passed by Congress to stop any further aid to the contras (US backed rebels against the Sandinistas) -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Became new leader of the Soviet Union -
Glasnost and Perestroika
New reforms introduced by Gorbachev. Glasnost encouraged political freedom and Perestroika encouraged a free market. -
William Rehinquist
New Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; scaled back affirmative action when hiring and required minors to tell their parents before they had an abortion. -
Iran Contra Affair
Secret government project where America sold tanks and aircrafts to Iran military in exchange for American hostages -
Immigration Act of 1986
Made hiring new illegal immigrants illegal, but granted amnesty to illegal immigrants who were in the country before the bill was passed. -
Tear Down This Wall
Famous line from Ronald Reagan's speech, addressed to Gorbachev to try and end the Cold War -
INF Agreement
Gorbachev and Reagan met and agreed to destroy all of their intermediate range missiles -
Yasser Afarat
Leader of PLO; recognized Israel's right to exist -
George H.W. Bush
Republican nominee for the Presidential Election of 1988, was vice president to Reagan. -
Tienanmen Square
Pro Democracy students demonstrated their want for freedom in Beijing's TIananmen Square. The Chinese Communist government sent in tanks to stop it and killed hundreds -
Lech Walsea
Was elected in Poland from the Solidarity movement. Started with the fall of Communism in Poland -
Panama Invasion
President Bush ordered US troops to invade Panama to remove the autocratic General Manuel Noriega. Ordered the attack to stop Noriega from using Panama as a drug line to the US -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall was the unofficial symbol of Communism in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. It was torn down by angry protesters. -
Saddam Hussein
Dictator of Iraq and threatened Western oil sources by invading Kuwait. -
Read My Lips, No New Taxes
Promise made by Bush that he broke when he passed a Congressional bill to increase taxes. -
Americans With Disabilities Act
Passed by Bush; forbid discrimination against people with mental and physical disability when hiring someone and public accommodation. -
Internet
Invented and changed the way of everyone in the world inexplicably. Came with economic boom. -
Breakup of the Soviet Union
Multiple countries declared independence from the Soviet Union and it steadily dissolved. -
Boris Yeltsin
President of the Russian Republic. Joined with the nine now independent countries of the Soviet Union to form the Confederation of Independent States. Stopped Communism and instituted free democracy. -
Persian Gulf War
Retaliation against Saddam Hussein -
Clarence Thomas
Nominated by President Bush to the Supreme Court to replace Thurgood Marshall. Not supported by African-Americans because of his conservative views and he had multiple allegations of sexual harassment made against him. Senate accepted anyway. -
Start I and II
An agreement between US and Russia that said they would limit the number of nuclear warheads each side was allowed to have. Dropped with each Start. -
Bill Clinton
Won primaries and became Democratic Presidential nomination. First baby boomer to be nominated for President. -
Ross Perot
Billionaire who ran as independent party for President. Won 20% of popular vote, highest vote for third party since 1912 with the Progressive Party. -
Brady Bill
A gun control law named after a man that was shot and injured during the Reagan assassination attempt. Demanded a five day waiting period before purchasing a handgun. -
West Bank and Gaza Strip
PLO and Israel came to an agreement and decided that the PLO could have control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip as long as the PLO recognized Israel as a country worth existing. -
Failure of Health Reforms
Every health reform, mainly proposed by Hillary Clinton was shot down by the Republican partyq -
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Compromise created by Clinton that allowed gay and lesbian troops to be in the military as long as they did not acknowledge their sexuality openly. -
NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement; created free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico -
NRA
National Rifle Association. Heavily opposed the Brady Bill -
Deficit Reduction Budget
Passed by Congress that cut billions from spending and billions in tax increases. Increased funding for education and job traing -
WTO
The World Trade Organization; international and established to supervise trade and settle disputes with trade between all nations -
Newt Gingrich
Speaker of the House; led the Republicans when they were coming after Federal programs. -
Contract with America
Gingrich´s manifesto. Outlined their dislike of the federal programs and the way the government was spending money. Led to Republicans gaining main control of Congress -
Oklahoma City Bombings
Federal building in Oklahoma was bombed by militia movement radicals. Worst act of terrorism known to America until 9/11 -
Welfare Reform
Bill passed that reduced welfare and forced recipients of welfare to find jobs. -
Bob Dole
Republican that ran against Bill Clinton in the Election of 1996. Promised tax cuts if elected. -
Madeline Albright
First woman to serve as Secretary of State. -
G-8
An international organization that consisted of the 8 largest capitalist nations, included; US, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Russia. Had extensive control over international finances. -
Clinton Impeachment
Congress impeached President Clinton on the charges of Perjury and Obstruction of Justice. This all began with the affair he had with a White House Intern. -
Nuclear Proliferation
The fact that more countries were gaining access to nuclear weapons and testing them. -
Bosnia and Kosnovo
A Serbian dictator sent in armed forced to stop these countries from gaining independence -
Ethnic Cleansing
Thousands of religious and racial minorities were killed in the former Yugoslav provinces by a Serbian dictator -
George W. Bush
Son of President George H.W. Bush. Republican party nomination for the Election of 2000, ran against Al Gore. -
Al Gore
President Clinton's vice President. Nomination for the Democratic party during the election of 2000. Ran against George W. Bush -
Bush v. Gore
Supreme Court of Florida recounted all votes but US Supreme Court overruled them. Court ruled that Florida's recount violated the 14th Amendment -
9/11
Terrorist flied 4 planes into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Pennsylvania killing thousands. Biggest and most horrific terror attack in American history -
Al-Qaeda
Terrorist organization that performed 9/11 -
Osama Bin Laden
Leader of the Al-Qaeda. Orchestrated 9/11 and most wanted person ever by the US government -
Taliban
The government that Bin Laden was being protected under. After refusing to give up Bin Laden the US government overthrew them. -
Homeland Security
Created in response to 9/11 and included aspects of 20+ federal agencies. Included Coast Guard, Secret Service, Customs -
EU
The European Union; a combined economy that included 15 nations in Europe majority of which now have the same currency, euro. -
No Child Left Behind
Introduced nationwide testing and aimed to improve students academic performance and bridge the gap between economically privileged students and impoverished students. -
Enron
Large corporation that lied about their state earnings by utilizing accounting companies. -
Housing Bubble
The end of the technology boom convinced many investors to start moving into real-estate. -
Axis of Evil
Name given to Iraq, Iran, and North Korea by President Bush during his State of the Union Address, in a reference to terrorism. -
WMDs
Weapons of Mass Destruction. Usually nuclear and biological weapons -
Bush Tax Cuts
Bush pushed tax cuts for stock dividends, capital gains and married people. Benefitted the rich and increased national debt. -
Operation Iraqi Freedom
US troops invaded Iraq to fight against Saddam Hussein. Saddam and many other Iraqi leaders were captured. -
Abu Ghraib Prison
A prison in Iraq that was taken over by US troops. Photos were leaked and the barbaric treatment of prisoners by US soldiers appalled the American people. -
John Kerry
Vietnam War veteran who ran for President in 2004 and lost. -
Hurricane Katrina
Extreme natural disaster that destroyed majority of New Orleans. Caused Americans to criticize Bush for its lack of response and aid. -
Kyoto Accord
Agreement to try and prevent Global Warming. US walked out of the negotiations for it. -
Great Recession
Home investments flopped due to millions of home foreclosures throughout the country. ´Real estate bubble´ burst. -
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Financial institutions that were taken over by the federal government. -
Hillary Clinton
Supposed to be the Democratic nomination for the Election of 2008, but was beaten out by Barack Obama -
Barack Obama
Democratic nominee for the Presidential Election of 2008. First ever African-American President of America -
John McCain
Republican nominee for the Presidential Election of 2008. Lost to Obama. -
Sarah Palin
Running mate to John McCain. Second women on the Presidential ticket to be vice president -
DC vs. Heller
A court case that brought up the 2nd amendment and how an individual had the right to bear arms even if not connected in any way to law enforcement. -
Sonia Sotomayor
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court that was nominated by President Obama. First Associate Justice of Hispanic descent -
Dodd-Frank Act
Used to reduce risk and increase the clearness of the financial market within the United States -
Affordable Care Act
Expanded Medicaid. Demanded majority of employers provide health care, have insurance. AKA Obamacare -
Tea Party
Conservative political movement that went against Obama's economic and health care policies -
Debt Ceiling
A limit placed on the federal government about how much money they were allowed to borrow. -
Arab Spring
Violent and non-violent protests in the Middle East and Northern Africa -
Citizens United
Dealt with regulating campaign spending. -
Syrian Civil War
Came from the Iraq War. Rebels fighting against their oppressor Bashar al-Assad -
Mitt Romney
Republican nominee for President in the Election of 2012 -
Boston Marathon Bombing
A series of bombs were set off at this large marathon. 3 were killed and hundreds more injured. -
Shelby Counter v. Holder
A Supreme Court case that questioned whether parts of the Voting Rights Act were constitutional -
Same Sex Marriage
A Supreme Court Case decided that same sex marriage is legal and constitutional.
