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Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy and poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend. One myth says that he sold his soul to the devil at a local crossroads of Mississippi highways to achieve success.He would have played mostly on street corners. -
Period: to
Civil Rights
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G.I. Bill
The G.I. Bill was created to help veterans of World War II. It established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available and granted stipends covering tuition and expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools. From 1944 to 1949, nearly 9 million veterans received close to $4 billion from the bill’s unemployment compensation program. The Veterans’ Administration offered insured loans until 1962. The Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966 extended these benefits to all veterans of the U.S -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was a political, military, and ideological barrier put up by the Soviet Union after World War II. The wall would last from 1945 to 1991. It was made to seal itself off and its dependent eastern and central European allies from open contact with the West and other non communist areas. It would start off as a simple wall, eventually evolving into a wall with weapons, guard dogs, soldiers, and much more to prevent people from crossing from the communist east to the free west. -
Truman Doctrine
With the Truman Doctrine, President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. This doctrine originated in a dramatic speech to a joint session of Congress. The Truman Doctrine was a de facto declaration of the Cold War. His address outlined the broad parameters of U.S. Cold War foreign policy: the Soviet Union was the center communist activity. -
Domino Theory
The Domino Theory states that if one country fell under communist influence or control, its neighboring countries would soon follow. Containment was the cornerstone of the Truman Doctrine as defined by a Truman speech on March 12, 1947. The Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, NATO and the United Nations then became the foundation of American foreign policy through the Reagan administration and beyond, for about 50 years. It began with the communism in China and would continue to others. -
Period: to
Cold War
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Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan is also known as the Foreign Assistance Act of 1948 or the European Recovery Program. It was enacted by the 80th United States Congress. It channeled over $13 billion to finance the economic recovery of Europe between 1948 and 1951. The Marshall Plan successfully sparked economic recovery, meeting its objective of restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole. The plan is named Sec. of St. George Marshall. -
Berlin Airlift
In June 1948, the Russians wanted Berlin all for themselves and closed all highways, railroads and canals from western-occupied Germany into western-occupied Berlin. They believed it would make it impossible for the people who lived there to get food or any other supplies and would eventually drive their enemies out. Instead of retreating from West Berlin, however, the U.S/allies decided to supply their sectors of the city from the air. This effort, was the Berlin Airlift lasting for a year. -
2nd Red Scare
The 2nd Red Square is also known as McCarthyism. It refers to the fear of communism that permeated American politics, culture, and society from the late 1940s through the 1950s, during the opening phases of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This episode of political repression lasted longer and was more pervasive than the Red Scare that followed the Bolshevik Revolution. The 2nd Red Scare predated and outlasted McCarthy, and machinery far exceeded the reach of a single maverick politician. -
Fair Deal
President Truman announces that every American has a right to expect from our government a fair deal. In a reference to FDR's New Deal policies, Truman announced his plans for domestic policy reforms including national health insurance, public housing, civil rights legislation and federal aid to education. He advocated an increase in the minimum wage and an extension of Social Security, as well as more helping with race issues in society. Truman argued for a very ambitious and liberal agenda. -
Beat Generation
The Beat Generation was a cultural and literary movement concerned about the nation’s consciousness. It was never a large movement in numbers, but in influence and cultural status they were more visible than any other aesthetic. The years immediately after the Second World War saw a wholesale reappraisal of the conventional structures of society. Just as the postwar economic boom was taking hold, students in universities were beginning to question the rampant materialism of their society. -
Television
Few inventions have had as much effect on modern American society as television. Before 1947 the number of U.S. homes with television sets could be measured in the thousands. By the late 90's, 98 percent of U.S. homes had at least one television set, and those sets were on for an average of more than seven hours a day. The typical American spends. It is significant not only that this time is being spent with television but that it is not being spent engaging in other activities, such as reading. -
Period: to
1950's
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Korean War
The Korean War was also known as the Forgotten War and went from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953. The three-year conflict in Korea put communist and capitalist forces against each other. The Korean War began when North Korean troops pushed into South Korea. Soon after, the Soviet-backed, communist administration declared itself the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Its leader was Kim Il-sung, who fought alongside communist forces during the Chinese war and was grandfather of Kim Jong-un. -
Polio Vaccine
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 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, Dr. Salk was celebrated as the great doctor-benefactor of his time. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
Earl Warren was a leader of American politics and law. He was elected California governor in 1942 and secured major reform legislation during his three terms in office. After failing to claim the Republican nomination for the presidency, he was appointed the 14th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1953. His landmark case was Brown v. Board of Education . The Warren Court also sought electoral reforms, equality in criminal justice and the defense of human rights before he retired in 1969. -
Brown V. Board of Education
BVBOE was a landmark Supreme Court Case. The justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. Brown v. BOE was one of the cornerstones of the civil rights movement, and helped establish the precedent that separate-but-equal education and other services were not, in fact, equal at all. In Oliver Brown's lawsuit, he claimed that schools for black children were not equal to the white schools after his daughter wasn't allowed into a white school. -
Bill Haley and the Comets
The central event in Haley's career was the single "Rock Around the Clock" topping the charts for eight weeks in the spring and summer of 1955, an event that most music historians identify as the dawn of the rock & roll era. Getting the song there, however, took more than a year, a period in which the band had already done unique and essential service in the cause of bringing rock & roll into the world, with the million-selling single "Shake, Rattle and Roll" to their credit. -
Emmett Till
Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, in 1955 when the fourteen-year-old was accused of whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman who was a cashier at a grocery store and wife of the store owner's son. Four days later, Bryant's husband Roy and his half-brother J.W. Milam kidnapped Till, beat him and shot him in the head. The men were tried for murder, but an all-white, male jury acquitted them. Till's murder and open casket funeral galvanized the emerging civil rights movement. -
Rosa Parks
Civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama bus, which spurred on the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott that helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation of public facilities. This led to Parks' arrest and beginning of the movement. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received many accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War lasted for 30 years. It was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War. Opposition to the war in the United States bitterly divided Americans, even the president, Richard Nixon. -
Little Richard
Little Richard was known for his defining moments in the development of rock ‘n’ roll. In 1955 Richard hooked up with Specialty Records producer ArtRupe, who’d been hunting for a piano-pounding frontman to lead a group of musicians in New Orleans. In September, Richard stepped into the recording studio and pumped out “Tutti-Frutti,” an instant Billboard hit.
Over the next year and a half, the musician churned out several more rock hits, including “Send Me Some Lovin’” and "Good Golly Miss Moly. -
Ike Turner
Ike Turner was a musician, songwriter, bandleader and producer. As a child, Turner initially played a style of blues known as boogie woogie on the piano, which he learned from Pinetop Perkins. He later learned to play guitar. In the late 1940s, Turner started a group called the Kings of Rhythm. In 1951, he and his band went to Memphis to record at the legendary Sun Studios run by recording legend Sam Phillips. Their song, "Rocket 88," is considered by to be the first rock and rock recording. -
Elvis
With a sound and style that uniquely combined Elvis' diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture. Elvis Presley's dynamic life story from his humble beginnings through his rise to stardom is a fascinating journey which has earned Elvis his still undefeated title of the 'King of Rock 'N Roll'. He was seen as controversial because of his music and moves that infatuated many. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Their attendance at the school was a test of Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark Supreme Court. On the first day of classes Gov. Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the black students’ entry into the high school. Later that month, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine into the school. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
On September 9, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The Act marked the first occasion since Reconstruction that the federal government undertook significant legislative action to help protect civil rights. Although influential southern congressman whittled down the bill's initial scope, it still included a number of important provisions for the protection of voting rights. It signaled a growing federal commitment to the cause of civil rights. -
Albert Sabin
After receiving his medical degree in 1931, Sabin immediately began research on polio. This disease had reached epidemic proportions. He joined the staff of the Rockefeller Institute in New York City later left for a post at the Children's Hospital Research Foundation in Ohio. His vaccine was free of dangerous viruses, administered orally, and effective over long period of time.Ultimately it was a live virus vaccine that was used in the United States and the rest of the world to eliminate polio. -
LSD
Free samples supplied by Sandoz Pharmaceuticals were distributed broadly, leading to wide use of this substance. This led to the boom of drug use and the boom of LSD use. It was popularized in the 1960s when American students were to “turn on, tune in, and drop out.” This created an entire counterculture of drug abuse and spread the drug from America to the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Even today, use of LSD in the United Kingdom is significantly higher than in parts of the world. -
Feminism
The feminist movement of the 60's focused on dismantling workplace inequality. It quickly became clear that the newly established Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would not enforce the law's protection of women workers, and so a group of feminists decided to found an organization that would fight gender discrimination through the courts and legislatures. In the summer of 1966, they launched the National Organization for Women (NOW), which went on to lobby Congress for pro-equality laws. -
Hippies
The hippies were part of of a countercultural movement that rejected the mores of mainstream American life. The movement originated on college campuses in the United States, although it spread to other countries, including Canada and Britain. The name derived from “hip,” a term applied to the Beats of the 1950s, such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, who were generally considered to be the precursors of hippies. The movement arose in part as opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. -
Black Power Movement
The Black Power Movement 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, SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael represented a generation of black activists who participated in both Civil Rights and the Black Power movements. By the mid 1960s, many of them no longer saw nonviolent protests as a viable and correct means of combatting racism. -
OPEC
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference by several different international countries. They had their headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in the first five years of its existence. This was moved to Vienna, Austria, on September 1, 1965. Their objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers. -
Period: to
1960's
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Freedom Rides
Freedom Rides were bus trips through the American South in 1961 to protest segregated bus terminals. The Freedom Riders were a group containing whites and blacks all with the same purpose. They tried to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters at bus stations in Alabama, South Carolina and other Southern states. The groups were confronted by arresting police officers—as well as horrific violence from white protestors—along their routes, but also drew international attention to their cause. -
Bay of Pigs
Fidel Castro drove his guerilla army into Havana and overthrew General Fulgencio Batista the nation’s American-backed president. Finally in April 1961, the CIA launched what its leaders believed would be the definitive strike: a full-scale invasion of Cuba by 1,400 American-trained Cubans who had fled their homes when Castro took over. However, the invasion did not go well: The invaders were badly outnumbered by Castro’s troops, and they surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting. -
Peace Corps
President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order #10924, establishing the Peace Corps as a new agency within the Department of State. The same day, he sent a message to Congress asking for permanent funding for the agency, which would send trained American men/women to foreign nations to assist in development efforts. The Peace Corps captured the imagination of the U.S. public, and during the week after its creation thousands of letters poured into Washington from Americans hoping to volunteer. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. There was no actual fighting involved in this crisis. Disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed to Nikita Khrushchev’s offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also removed U.S. missiles from Turkey. -
Cesar Chavez
Mexican-American Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) was a prominent union leader and labor organizer. Hardened by his early experience as a migrant worker, Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. His union joined with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee in its first strike against grape growers in California, and the two organizations later merged to become the United Farm Workers. Stressing nonviolent methods, Chavez drew attention for his causes via boycotts and more. -
Birmingham March
Activists in Birmingham, Alabama launched one of the most influential campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement known as The Birmingham Campaign. It would be the beginning of a series of lunch counter sit-ins and boycotts on downtown merchants to protest segregation laws in the city. Over the next couple months, the peaceful demonstrations would be met with violent attacks using high-pressure fire hoses and police dogs on many producing some of the most iconic images of the Civil Rights Movement. -
JFK's Assassination
Kennedy was trying to ease people in the South over the issues with Civil Rights. He would go on a tour of several cities to appease them and campaign at the same time for his second term of presidency. While in Dallas, TX, people lined the streets and waved to the Kennedys. The car turned off Main Street at Dealey Plaza and as it passed the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire suddenly reverberated in the plaza. Bullets struck the president's neck and head and he slumped over due to a brace. -
Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater was an American politician best known as a senator from Arizona and the Republican candidate for president in 1964. In 1952, he ran as a Republican for a seat in the United States Senate, and won. Goldwater represented Arizona in the senate for 30 years. His brand of conservatism stressed small government and the absolute rejection of collectivism. Goldwater was particularly suspicious of labor unions as a base of political power and decried foreign aid and unbalanced budgets. -
Daisy Girl Ad
"Daisy", sometimes known as "Daisy Girl" , was a controversial political advertisement aired on television during the 1964 United States presidential election by incumbent president Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign. Though only aired once (by the campaign), it is considered to be an important factor in Johnson's landslide victory over Barry Goldwater and an important turning point in political and advertising history. It remains one of the most controversial political advertisements ever made -
Anti War Movement
The Anti War movement began to protest the Vietnam War. It gained national prominence in 1965, after the United States began bombing North Vietnam in earnest. Anti-war marches and other protests, such as the ones organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), attracted a widening base of support over the next three years, peaking in early 1968 after the successful Tet Offensive by North Vietnamese troops proved that war’s end was nowhere in sight. It was led by the group known as hippies. -
Selma March
In 1965, in an effort to register black voters in the South, protesters marched the 54-mile route from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery and were confronted with deadly violence from local authorities and white vigilante groups. As the world watched, the protesters under the protection of federalized National Guard troops finally achieved their goal. The historic march raised much needed awareness of the difficulties faced by black voters, and the need for a national Voting Rights Act. -
Warren Burger Supreme Court
Warren Burger was the 15th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, nominated by President Richard Nixon. He didn't fulfill Nixon's desire to reverse Warren Court decisions (1953-1969). Burger's court upheld the 1966 Miranda decision, and Burger voted with the majority in the court's landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, establishing women's constitutional right to have abortions. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988. Burger was sworn in as chief justice in June 1969. -
Period: to
1970's
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Nixon Tapes
The Nixon White House tapes are audio recordings of conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and Nixon administration officials, family members, and White House staff, produced for 3 years. They were created by Nixon as a bargaining tool and to aide him in his presidential career. They were controversial because he secretly recorded people's conversations and kept the tapes in case he ever needed them to "convince" people to do what he wanted. They were part of the Watergate scandal. -
Title IX
Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. It states that no one in the U.S shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. It applies to institutions that receive federal financial assistance from ED, including state and local educational agencies. -
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal began in 1972, when several burglars were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex of buildings in Washington, D.C. This was no ordinary robbery: The prowlers were connected to Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they had been caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents. He took aggressive steps to cover up the crime afterwards, and in August 1974, after his role in the conspiracy was revealed, Nixon resigned. -
Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a right-wing think tank. Its stated mission is to formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and strong national defense. It is widely considered one of the world's most influential public policy research institutes. The Foundation wields considerable influence in Washington DC, and enjoyed particular prominence during the Reagan administration. -
Roe V. Wade
Roe v. Wade is a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional. In a majority opinion written by Justice Harry A. Blackmun, the court held that a set of Texas statutes criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a woman’s constitutional right of privacy, which it found to be implicit in the liberty guarantee of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which deals with life liberty and pursuit of happiness. -
FEC
Following reports of serious financial abuses in the 1972 presidential campaign, Congress amended the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1974 to set limits on contributions by individuals, political parties and PACs. The 1974 amendments also established an independent agency, the FEC. The FEC opened its doors in 1975 to protect the integrity of the federal campaign finance process by providing transparency and fairly enforcing and administering federal campaign finance laws -
Iran Hostage Crisis
A group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. It was caused by Jimmy Carter’s decision to allow Iran’s deposed Shah, a pro-Western autocrat who had been expelled from his country, to come to the U.S. for cancer treatment. However, the hostage-taking was about more than the Shah’s medical care: it was a dramatic way for the student revolutionaries to declare a break with Iran’s past and an end to American interference in its affairs. -
Three Mile Island
Construction of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant began in 1968. It was the site of a nuclear power plant in south central Pennsylvania. In 1979, a series of mechanical and human errors at the plant caused the worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history, resulting in a partial meltdown that released dangerous radioactive gasses into the atmosphere. Three Mile Island stoked public fears about nuclear power,no new nuclear power plants have been built in the United States since the accident -
The Moral Majority
Moral Majority, American political organization that was founded by Jerry Falwell, a religious leader and televangelist, to advance conservative social values. Although it disbanded,the Moral Majority helped to establish the religious right as a force in American politics. The Moral Majority was formed in response to the social and cultural transformations that occurred in the United States in the60s and ’70s. Christian fundamentalists were alarmed by a number of developments that moral values. -
Reaganomics
During the campaign of 1980, Ronald Reagan announced a recipe to fix the nation's economic mess. He claimed an undue tax burden, excessive government regulation, and massive social spending programs hampered growth. Reagan proposed a phased 30% tax cut for the first 3 years of his Presidency. The bulk of the cut would be concentrated at the upper income levels. The economic theory behind the wisdom of such a plan was called supply side or trickle down economics that would make the rich richer. -
VHS
The VHS is a standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes. Developed by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) in the early 1970s, and it was released in the U.S in 1980. From the 1950s, magnetic tape video recording became a major contributor to the television industry, via the first commercialized video tape recorders. At that time, the devices were used only in expensive professional environments. In the 1980s, videotape entered homes for entertainment and personal purposes. -
The Election of 1980
The United States presidential election of 1980 was between 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. Carter, after defeating Ted Kennedy for the Democratic nomination, attacked Reagan as a dangerous right-wing radical. Reagan, the former repeatedly ridiculed Carter, and won a decisive victory. Republicans won control of the U.S Senate for the first time in 28 years -
Period: to
1980's
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Sandra Day O’Conner
Sandra Day O’Connor was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981-2006, and was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She was known for her dispassionate and meticulously researched opinions. O’Connor was a pioneering force on the SCOTUS 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. Her accomplishments were acknowledged by President Obama. -
AIDS Crisis
The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in young gay men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981. Treatment of HIV/AIDS is primarily via a "drug cocktail" of protease inhibitors, and education programs to help people avoid infection. Gay and bisexual men remained disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in the US. Progress was made in the U.S. following the introduction of treatments. -
MTV
On Saturday, August 1, 1981 MTV launched with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," spoken by John Lack and played over footage of the first Space Shuttle launch countdown of Columbia and of the launch of Apollo 11. Those words were immediately followed by the original MTV theme song playing over the American flag changed to show MTV's logo changing into various textures and designs. Two of the producers, Alan Goodman and Fred Seibert used this public domain footage as a concept. -
Iran Contra Affair
The Iran–Contra affair was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. They hoped, thereby, to fund the Contras in Nicaragua while at the same time negotiating the release of several U.S. hostages. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress. -
Reagan Doctrine
The “Reagan Doctrine” was used to characterize the Reagan administration’s policy of supporting anti-Communist insurgents wherever they might be. In his 1985 State of the Union address, President Ronald Reagan called upon Congress and the American people to stand up to the Soviet Union, what he had previously called the “Evil Empire”. The Reagan administration focused much of its energy on supporting proxy armies to curtail Soviet influence sponsored by the United States in Reagan's presidency. -
Challenger Explosion
The NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff, bringing a devastating end to the spacecraft’s mission. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who would have been the first civilian in space. It was later determined that two rubber O-rings, which had been designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, had failed due to very cold temperatures on the tragic morning of the launch. -
Persian Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War, was an international conflict that was triggered by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, ordered the invasion and occupation of Kuwait with the aim of acquiring that nation’s large oil reserves, canceling a large debt Iraq owed Kuwait, and expanding Iraqi power in the region. On August 3 the United Nations Security Council called for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, and on August 6 the council imposed a worldwide ban on trade with Iraq. -
Lionel Sosa
Lionel Sosa is an independent marketing consultant and nationally recognized portrait artist. He is the founder of Sosa, Bromley, Aguilar & Associates, which became the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the U.S. Sosa is an acknowledged expert in Hispanic consumer and voter behavior and was named “One of the 25 most influential Hispanics in America” by Time Magazine. Lionel was media consultant for Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. -
Period: to
1990's
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Rodney King Incident
Rodney King was caught by the Los Angeles police after a high-speed chase. The officers pulled him out of the car and beat him brutally, while amateur cameraman George Holliday caught it all on videotape. The four L.A.P.D. officers involved were indicted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force by a police officer. However, after a three-month trial, a predominantly white jury acquitted the officers, inflaming citizens and sparking the violent 1992 Los Angeles riots. -
Election of 1992
There were two major candidates: Republican George H. W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton. Bush had alienated much of his conservative base by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge against raising taxes, the economy was in a recession, and his perceived greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East after the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War. Clinton won a in the popular vote. -
Health Care Reform
The Clinton health care plan, was a 1993 healthcare reform package proposed by the administration of President Bill Clinton and closely associated with the chair of the task force devising the plan, First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton. The president had campaigned heavily on health care in the 1992 presidential election. The task force was created in 1993, but its own processes were somewhat controversial.. Its goal was to come up with a plan to provide universal health care. -
World Trade Center Attack
Terrorists drove a rental van into a parking garage under the World Trade Center’s twin towers and lit the fuses on a homemade bomb stuffed inside. Six people died and more than 1,000 were injured in the massive explosion, which carved out a crater several stories deep and propelled smoke into the upper reaches of the skyscrapers. At the time, it was one of the worst terrorist attacks ever to occur on U.S. soil. But it would eventually be overshadowed by the terrorist attacks of September 11.. -
Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on military service dealing with gays, bisexuals, and lesbians, instituted by the Clinton Administration. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. The policy prohibited people who "demonstrate an intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces. -
NAFTA
The U.S commenced bilateral trade negotiations with Canada more than 30 years ago, resulting in the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force on 01/01/89. In 1991, bilateral talks began with Mexico, which Canada joined. The NAFTA followed, entering into force on January 1, 1994. Tariffs were eliminated progressively and all duties and quantitative restrictions, with the exception of those on a limited number of agricultural products traded with Canada, were eliminated by 2008. -
Lewinsky Affair
The Lewinsky Affair was al sex scandal involving President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern in her early 20s. In 1995, the two began a sexual relationship that continued until 1997. Lewinsky would confide in her coworker Linda Tripp about her affair with the president. When the affair became public, Clinton denied the relationship before later admitting to “inappropriate intimate physical contact”. The H.O.R impeached the president for perjury and obstruction of justice. -
DOMA
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a law that, among other things, prohibited married same-sex couples from collecting federal benefits. It was overruled on June 26, 2015 by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. This meant married gay and lesbian couples living in states that allowed same-sex marriage prior to the Court ruling were entitled to the same federal benefits and protections extended to married heterosexual couples. The SCOTUS referenced the 14th amendment. -
Al Gore
Gore remained in the Senate until presidential candidate Bill Clinton chose him as his running mate in 1992. They were elected into office that year and re-elected in 1996. In his 2000 presidential campaign, Gore won the Democratic presidential nomination after facing down an early challenge from former Senator Bill Bradley.Gore won the popular vote, but conceded defeat to Republican George W. Bush after five weeks of complex legal argument over the voting procedure in the presidential election. -
Period: to
Contemporary
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Election of 2000
The election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President Bush narrowly won election, with 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266 (with one elector abstaining in the official tally). The election was noteworthy for a controversy over the awarding of Florida's 25 electoral votes, the subsequent recount process in that state, and the unusual event of the winning candidate having received fewer popular votes than the runner-up. -
Bush v. Gore
Bush v. Gore was a decision of the SCOTUS that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election. On December 9, the Court had preliminarily halted the Florida recount that was occurring. The Electoral College was scheduled to meet to decide the election. In a decision, the Court ruled that there was an Equal Protection Clause violation in using different standards of counting in different counties and ruled that no alternative method could be established within the time limit. -
War on Terror
The War on Terror, also known as the Global War on Terrorism, is an international military campaign that was launched by the U.S. government after the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. in 2001. The naming of the campaign uses a metaphor of war to refer to a variety of actions that do not constitute a specific war as traditionally defined. U.S. president George W. Bush first used the term "war on terrorism" on 16 September 2001, and then "war on terror" a few days later in a formal speech to Congress. -
9/11 Attacks
On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked 4 airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the attacks, which enforced anti terrorist policies for protection. -
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act authorizes several federal education programs that are administered by the states.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 by providing all children with a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education. -
Hurricane Katrina
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. When the storm made landfall, it was considered a Category 3. It brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour–and also stretched about 400 miles across. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic. Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were displaced from their homes, and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage. -
Election of 2008
After a campaign that lasted nearly two years, Barack Obama, who was an Illinois senator, was elected the 44th president. He became the country’s first African American president. He also was the first sitting U.S. senator to win election to the presidency since John F. Kennedy in 1960. With the highest voter turnout rate in four decades, Obama and Delaware senator Joe Biden defeated the Republican ticket of Arizona senator John McCain who would've been the oldest president elected at the time. -
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor entered the record book as the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the High Court. She was nominated by Barack Obama. In June 2015, Sotomayor made history again (twice) when she was among the majority in two landmark Supreme Court rulings. On June 25, she was one of the six justices to uphold a critical component of the 2010 Affordable Care Act and made same sex marriage legal in all 50 states with a 5–4 majority ruling in the monumental Obergefell v. Hodges case. -
Obama Care
Obamacare, is a United States federal statute enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on 03/23/2010. The term "Obamacare" was first used by opponents, then reappropriated by supporters, and eventually used by President Obama himself.Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment, it represents the U.S. healthcare system's most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
